Sample records for fast surface based

  1. A Novel Framework Based on FastICA for High Density Surface EMG Decomposition

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Maoqi; Zhou, Ping

    2015-01-01

    This study presents a progressive FastICA peel-off (PFP) framework for high density surface electromyogram (EMG) decomposition. The novel framework is based on a shift-invariant model for describing surface EMG. The decomposition process can be viewed as progressively expanding the set of motor unit spike trains, which is primarily based on FastICA. To overcome the local convergence of FastICA, a “peel off” strategy (i.e. removal of the estimated motor unit action potential (MUAP) trains from the previous step) is used to mitigate the effects of the already identified motor units, so more motor units can be extracted. Moreover, a constrained FastICA is applied to assess the extracted spike trains and correct possible erroneous or missed spikes. These procedures work together to improve the decomposition performance. The proposed framework was validated using simulated surface EMG signals with different motor unit numbers (30, 70, 91) and signal to noise ratios (SNRs) (20, 10, 0 dB). The results demonstrated relatively large numbers of extracted motor units and high accuracies (high F1-scores). The framework was also tested with 111 trials of 64-channel electrode array experimental surface EMG signals during the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle contraction at different intensities. On average 14.1 ± 5.0 motor units were identified from each trial of experimental surface EMG signals. PMID:25775496

  2. Spherical Demons: Fast Surface Registration

    PubMed Central

    Yeo, B.T. Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

    2009-01-01

    We present the fast Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizers for the modified demons objective function can be efficiently implemented on the sphere using convolution. Based on the one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast – registration of two cortical mesh models with more than 100k nodes takes less than 5 minutes, comparable to the fastest surface registration algorithms. Moreover, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different settings: (1) parcellation in a set of in-vivo cortical surfaces and (2) Brodmann area localization in ex-vivo cortical surfaces. PMID:18979813

  3. Spherical demons: fast surface registration.

    PubMed

    Yeo, B T Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

    2008-01-01

    We present the fast Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizers for the modified demons objective function can be efficiently implemented on the sphere using convolution. Based on the one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast - registration of two cortical mesh models with more than 100k nodes takes less than 5 minutes, comparable to the fastest surface registration algorithms. Moreover, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different settings: (1) parcellation in a set of in-vivo cortical surfaces and (2) Brodmann area localization in ex-vivo cortical surfaces.

  4. FastICA peel-off for ECG interference removal from surface EMG.

    PubMed

    Chen, Maoqi; Zhang, Xu; Chen, Xiang; Zhu, Mingxing; Li, Guanglin; Zhou, Ping

    2016-06-13

    Multi-channel recording of surface electromyographyic (EMG) signals is very likely to be contaminated by electrocardiographic (ECG) interference, specifically when the surface electrode is placed on muscles close to the heart. A novel fast independent component analysis (FastICA) based peel-off method is presented to remove ECG interference contaminating multi-channel surface EMG signals. Although demonstrating spatial variability in waveform shape, the ECG interference in different channels shares the same firing instants. Utilizing the firing information estimated from FastICA, ECG interference can be separated from surface EMG by a "peel off" processing. The performance of the method was quantified with synthetic signals by combining a series of experimentally recorded "clean" surface EMG and "pure" ECG interference. It was demonstrated that the new method can remove ECG interference efficiently with little distortion to surface EMG amplitude and frequency. The proposed method was also validated using experimental surface EMG signals contaminated by ECG interference. The proposed FastICA peel-off method can be used as a new and practical solution to eliminating ECG interference from multichannel EMG recordings.

  5. Fast simulation tool for ultraviolet radiation at the earth's surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Engelsen, Ola; Kylling, Arve

    2005-04-01

    FastRT is a fast, yet accurate, UV simulation tool that computes downward surface UV doses, UV indices, and irradiances in the spectral range 290 to 400 nm with a resolution as small as 0.05 nm. It computes a full UV spectrum within a few milliseconds on a standard PC, and enables the user to convolve the spectrum with user-defined and built-in spectral response functions including the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) erythemal response function used for UV index calculations. The program accounts for the main radiative input parameters, i.e., instrumental characteristics, solar zenith angle, ozone column, aerosol loading, clouds, surface albedo, and surface altitude. FastRT is based on look-up tables of carefully selected entries of atmospheric transmittances and spherical albedos, and exploits the smoothness of these quantities with respect to atmospheric, surface, geometrical, and spectral parameters. An interactive site, http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/fastrt.html, enables the public to run the FastRT program with most input options. This page also contains updated information about FastRT and links to freely downloadable source codes and binaries.

  6. A fast button surface defects detection method based on convolutional neural network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Lizhe; Cao, Danhua; Wu, Songlin; Wu, Yubin; Wei, Taoran

    2018-01-01

    Considering the complexity of the button surface texture and the variety of buttons and defects, we propose a fast visual method for button surface defect detection, based on convolutional neural network (CNN). CNN has the ability to extract the essential features by training, avoiding designing complex feature operators adapted to different kinds of buttons, textures and defects. Firstly, we obtain the normalized button region and then use HOG-SVM method to identify the front and back side of the button. Finally, a convolutional neural network is developed to recognize the defects. Aiming at detecting the subtle defects, we propose a network structure with multiple feature channels input. To deal with the defects of different scales, we take a strategy of multi-scale image block detection. The experimental results show that our method is valid for a variety of buttons and able to recognize all kinds of defects that have occurred, including dent, crack, stain, hole, wrong paint and uneven. The detection rate exceeds 96%, which is much better than traditional methods based on SVM and methods based on template match. Our method can reach the speed of 5 fps on DSP based smart camera with 600 MHz frequency.

  7. Metadyn View: Fast web-based viewer of free energy surfaces calculated by metadynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hošek, Petr; Spiwok, Vojtěch

    2016-01-01

    Metadynamics is a highly successful enhanced sampling technique for simulation of molecular processes and prediction of their free energy surfaces. An in-depth analysis of data obtained by this method is as important as the simulation itself. Although there are several tools to compute free energy surfaces from metadynamics data, they usually lack user friendliness and a build-in visualization part. Here we introduce Metadyn View as a fast and user friendly viewer of bias potential/free energy surfaces calculated by metadynamics in Plumed package. It is based on modern web technologies including HTML5, JavaScript and Cascade Style Sheets (CSS). It can be used by visiting the web site and uploading a HILLS file. It calculates the bias potential/free energy surface on the client-side, so it can run online or offline without necessity to install additional web engines. Moreover, it includes tools for measurement of free energies and free energy differences and data/image export.

  8. Photogrammetry research for FAST eleven-meter reflector panel surface shape measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Rongwei; Zhu, Lichun; Li, Weimin; Hu, Jingwen; Zhai, Xuebing

    2010-10-01

    In order to design and manufacture the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) active reflector measuring equipment, measurement on each reflector panel surface shape was presented, static measurement of the whole neutral spherical network of nodes was performed, real-time dynamic measurement at the cable network dynamic deformation was undertaken. In the implementation process of the FAST, reflector panel surface shape detection was completed before eleven-meter reflector panel installation. Binocular vision system was constructed based on the method of binocular stereo vision in machine vision, eleven-meter reflector panel surface shape was measured with photogrammetry method. Cameras were calibrated with the feature points. Under the linearity camera model, the lighting spot array was used as calibration standard pattern, and the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters were acquired. The images were collected for digital image processing and analyzing with two cameras, feature points were extracted with the detection algorithm of characteristic points, and those characteristic points were matched based on epipolar constraint method. Three-dimensional reconstruction coordinates of feature points were analyzed and reflective panel surface shape structure was established by curve and surface fitting method. The error of reflector panel surface shape was calculated to realize automatic measurement on reflector panel surface shape. The results show that unit reflector panel surface inspection accuracy was 2.30mm, within the standard deviation error of 5.00mm. Compared with the requirement of reflector panel machining precision, photogrammetry has fine precision and operation feasibility on eleven-meter reflector panel surface shape measurement for FAST.

  9. Fast algorithm for the rendering of three-dimensional surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pritt, Mark D.

    1994-02-01

    It is often desirable to draw a detailed and realistic representation of surface data on a computer graphics display. One such representation is a 3D shaded surface. Conventional techniques for rendering shaded surfaces are slow, however, and require substantial computational power. Furthermore, many techniques suffer from aliasing effects, which appear as jagged lines and edges. This paper describes an algorithm for the fast rendering of shaded surfaces without aliasing effects. It is much faster than conventional ray tracing and polygon-based rendering techniques and is suitable for interactive use. On an IBM RISC System/6000TM workstation it renders a 1000 X 1000 surface in about 7 seconds.

  10. Fast surface-based travel depth estimation algorithm for macromolecule surface shape description.

    PubMed

    Giard, Joachim; Alface, Patrice Rondao; Gala, Jean-Luc; Macq, Benoît

    2011-01-01

    Travel Depth, introduced by Coleman and Sharp in 2006, is a physical interpretation of molecular depth, a term frequently used to describe the shape of a molecular active site or binding site. Travel Depth can be seen as the physical distance a solvent molecule would have to travel from a point of the surface, i.e., the Solvent-Excluded Surface (SES), to its convex hull. Existing algorithms providing an estimation of the Travel Depth are based on a regular sampling of the molecule volume and the use of the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. Since Travel Depth is only defined on the molecular surface, this volume-based approach is characterized by a large computational complexity due to the processing of unnecessary samples lying inside or outside the molecule. In this paper, we propose a surface-based approach that restricts the processing to data defined on the SES. This algorithm significantly reduces the complexity of Travel Depth estimation and makes possible the analysis of large macromolecule surface shape description with high resolution. Experimental results show that compared to existing methods, the proposed algorithm achieves accurate estimations with considerably reduced processing times.

  11. Inorganic Surface Coating with Fast Wetting-Dewetting Transitions for Liquid Manipulations.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yajie; Zhang, Liaoliao; Wang, Jue; Wang, Xinwei; Duan, Libing; Wang, Nan; Xiao, Fajun; Xie, Yanbo; Zhao, Jianlin

    2018-06-06

    Liquid manipulation is a fundamental issue for microfluidics and miniaturized sensors. Fast wetting-state transitions by optical methods have proven being efficient for liquid manipulations by organic surface coatings, however rarely been achieved by using inorganic coatings. Here, we report a fast optical-induced wetting-state transition surface achieved by inorganic coating, enabling tens of second transitions for a wetting-dewetting cycle, shortened from an hour, as typically reported. Here, we demonstrate a gravity-driven microfluidic reactor and switch it to a mixer after a second-step exposure in a minimum of within 80 s of UV exposure. The fast wetting-dewetting transition surfaces enable the fast switchable or erasable smart surfaces for water collection, miniature chemical reaction, or sensing systems by using inorganic surface coatings.

  12. Inversion of surface parameters using fast learning neural networks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dawson, M. S.; Olvera, J.; Fung, A. K.; Manry, M. T.

    1992-01-01

    A neural network approach to the inversion of surface scattering parameters is presented. Simulated data sets based on a surface scattering model are used so that the data may be viewed as taken from a completely known randomly rough surface. The fast learning (FL) neural network and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) trained with backpropagation learning (BP network) are tested on the simulated backscattering data. The RMS error of training the FL network is found to be less than one half the error of the BP network while requiring one to two orders of magnitude less CPU time. When applied to inversion of parameters from a statistically rough surface, the FL method is successful at recovering the surface permittivity, the surface correlation length, and the RMS surface height in less time and with less error than the BP network. Further applications of the FL neural network to the inversion of parameters from backscatter measurements of an inhomogeneous layer above a half space are shown.

  13. Surface retrievals from Hyperion EO1 using a new, fast, 1D-Var based retrieval code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thelen, Jean-Claude; Havemann, Stephan; Wong, Gerald

    2015-05-01

    We have developed a new algorithm for the simultaneous retrieval of the atmospheric profiles (temperature, humidity, ozone and aerosol) and the surface reflectance from hyperspectral radiance measurements obtained from air/space-borne, hyperspectral imagers such as Hyperion EO-1. The new scheme, proposed here, consists of a fast radiative transfer code, based on empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs), in conjunction with a 1D-Var retrieval scheme. The inclusion of an 'exact' scattering code based on spherical harmonics, allows for an accurate treatment of Rayleigh scattering and scattering by aerosols, water droplets and ice-crystals, thus making it possible to also retrieve cloud and aerosol optical properties, although here we will concentrate on non-cloudy scenes. We successfully tested this new approach using hyperspectral images taken by Hyperion EO-1, an experimental pushbroom imaging spectrometer operated by NASA.

  14. Spherical demons: fast diffeomorphic landmark-free surface registration.

    PubMed

    Yeo, B T Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert R; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

    2010-03-01

    We present the Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizors for the modified Demons objective function can be efficiently approximated on the sphere using iterative smoothing. Based on one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast. The Spherical Demons algorithm can also be modified to register a given spherical image to a probabilistic atlas. We demonstrate two variants of the algorithm corresponding to warping the atlas or warping the subject. Registration of a cortical surface mesh to an atlas mesh, both with more than 160 k nodes requires less than 5 min when warping the atlas and less than 3 min when warping the subject on a Xeon 3.2 GHz single processor machine. This is comparable to the fastest nondiffeomorphic landmark-free surface registration algorithms. Furthermore, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different applications that use registration to transfer segmentation labels onto a new image 1) parcellation of in vivo cortical surfaces and 2) Brodmann area localization in ex vivo cortical surfaces.

  15. Ultra-fast boriding of metal surfaces for improved properties

    DOEpatents

    Timur, Servet; Kartal, Guldem; Eryilmaz, Osman L.; Erdemir, Ali

    2015-02-10

    A method of ultra-fast boriding of a metal surface. The method includes the step of providing a metal component, providing a molten electrolyte having boron components therein, providing an electrochemical boriding system including an induction furnace, operating the induction furnace to establish a high temperature for the molten electrolyte, and boriding the metal surface to achieve a boride layer on the metal surface.

  16. Spherical Demons: Fast Diffeomorphic Landmark-Free Surface Registration

    PubMed Central

    Yeo, B.T. Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert R.; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

    2010-01-01

    We present the Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizors for the modified Demons objective function can be efficiently approximated on the sphere using iterative smoothing. Based on one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast. The Spherical Demons algorithm can also be modified to register a given spherical image to a probabilistic atlas. We demonstrate two variants of the algorithm corresponding to warping the atlas or warping the subject. Registration of a cortical surface mesh to an atlas mesh, both with more than 160k nodes requires less than 5 minutes when warping the atlas and less than 3 minutes when warping the subject on a Xeon 3.2GHz single processor machine. This is comparable to the fastest non-diffeomorphic landmark-free surface registration algorithms. Furthermore, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different applications that use registration to transfer segmentation labels onto a new image: (1) parcellation of in-vivo cortical surfaces and (2) Brodmann area localization in ex-vivo cortical surfaces. PMID:19709963

  17. Fast interaction of atoms with crystal surfaces: coherent lighting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gravielle, M. S.

    2017-11-01

    Quantum coherence of incident waves results essential for the observation of interference patterns in grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (FAD). In this work we investigate the influence of the impact energy and projectile mass on the transversal length of the surface area that is coherently illuminated by the atomic beam, after passing through a collimating aperture. Such a transversal coherence length controls the general features of the interference structures, being here derived by means of the Van Cittert-Zernike theorem. The coherence length is then used to build the initial coherent wave packet within the Surface Initial Value Representation (SIVR) approximation. The SIVR approach is applied to fast He and Ne atoms impinging grazingly on a LiF(001) surface along a low-indexed crystallographic direction. We found that with the same collimating setup, by varying the impact energy we would be able to control the interference mechanism that prevails in FAD patterns, switching between inter-cell and unit-cell interferences. These findings are relevant to use FAD spectra adequately as a surface analysis tool, as well as to choose the appropriate collimating scheme for the observation of interference effects in a given collision system.

  18. Fast time-of-flight camera based surface registration for radiotherapy patient positioning.

    PubMed

    Placht, Simon; Stancanello, Joseph; Schaller, Christian; Balda, Michael; Angelopoulou, Elli

    2012-01-01

    This work introduces a rigid registration framework for patient positioning in radiotherapy, based on real-time surface acquisition by a time-of-flight (ToF) camera. Dynamic properties of the system are also investigated for future gating/tracking strategies. A novel preregistration algorithm, based on translation and rotation-invariant features representing surface structures, was developed. Using these features, corresponding three-dimensional points were computed in order to determine initial registration parameters. These parameters became a robust input to an accelerated version of the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm for the fine-tuning of the registration result. Distance calibration and Kalman filtering were used to compensate for ToF-camera dependent noise. Additionally, the advantage of using the feature based preregistration over an "ICP only" strategy was evaluated, as well as the robustness of the rigid-transformation-based method to deformation. The proposed surface registration method was validated using phantom data. A mean target registration error (TRE) for translations and rotations of 1.62 ± 1.08 mm and 0.07° ± 0.05°, respectively, was achieved. There was a temporal delay of about 65 ms in the registration output, which can be seen as negligible considering the dynamics of biological systems. Feature based preregistration allowed for accurate and robust registrations even at very large initial displacements. Deformations affected the accuracy of the results, necessitating particular care in cases of deformed surfaces. The proposed solution is able to solve surface registration problems with an accuracy suitable for radiotherapy cases where external surfaces offer primary or complementary information to patient positioning. The system shows promising dynamic properties for its use in gating/tracking applications. The overall system is competitive with commonly-used surface registration technologies. Its main benefit is the

  19. COMBINED ANALYSIS OF THORIUM AND FAST NEUTRON DATA AT THE LUNAR SURFACE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O. GASNAULT; W. FELDMAN; ET AL

    2001-01-01

    The global distribution of the radioactive elements (U, K, Th) at the lunar surface is an important parameter for an understanding of lunar evolution, because they have provided continuous heat over the lifetime of the Moon. Today, only the thorium distribution is available for the whole lunar surface [1]. Another key parameter that characterize the surface of the Moon is the presence of mare basalts. These basalts are concentrated on the nearside and are represented by materials with high-Fe content, sometimes associated with high-Ti. We demonstrated elsewhere that the fast neutron measurement made by Lunar Prospector is representative of themore » average soil atomic mass [2]. is primarily dominated by Fe and Ti in basaltic terranes, and therefore the map of the fast neutrons provides a good delineation of mare basalts. We focus here on the correlated variations of thorium abundances and fast neutron fluxes averaged over areas of 360 km in diameter, in an attempt to provide a better understanding of the thorium emplacement on the surface of the Moon.« less

  20. Imaging fluorescence-correlation spectroscopy for measuring fast surface diffusion at liquid/solid interfaces.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Justin T; Harris, Joel M

    2014-08-05

    The development of techniques to probe interfacial molecular transport is important for understanding and optimizing surface-based analytical methods including surface-enhanced spectroscopies, biological assays, and chemical separations. Single-molecule-fluorescence imaging and tracking has been used to measure lateral diffusion rates of fluorescent molecules at surfaces, but the technique is limited to the study of slower diffusion, where molecules must remain relatively stationary during acquisition of an image in order to build up sufficient intensity in a spot to detect and localize the molecule. Although faster time resolution can be achieved by fluorescence-correlation spectroscopy (FCS), where intensity fluctuations in a small spot are related to the motions of molecules on the surface, long-lived adsorption events arising from surface inhomogeneity can overwhelm the correlation measurement and mask the surface diffusion of the moving population. Here, we exploit a combination of these two techniques, imaging-FCS, for measurement of fast interfacial transport at a model chromatographic surface. This is accomplished by rapid imaging of the surface using an electron-multiplied-charged-coupled-device (CCD) camera, while limiting the acquisition to a small area on the camera to allow fast framing rates. The total intensity from the sampled region is autocorrelated to determine surface diffusion rates of molecules with millisecond time resolution. The technique allows electronic control over the acquisition region, which can be used to avoid strong adsorption sites and thus minimize their contribution to the measured autocorrelation decay and to vary the acquisition area to resolve surface diffusion from adsorption and desorption kinetics. As proof of concept, imaging-FCS was used to measure surface diffusion rates, interfacial populations, and adsorption-desorption rates of 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3'3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine (DiI) on planar C18- and C1

  1. Using dynamic interferometric synthetic aperature radar (InSAR) to image fast-moving surface waves

    DOEpatents

    Vincent, Paul

    2005-06-28

    A new differential technique and system for imaging dynamic (fast moving) surface waves using Dynamic Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is introduced. This differential technique and system can sample the fast-moving surface displacement waves from a plurality of moving platform positions in either a repeat-pass single-antenna or a single-pass mode having a single-antenna dual-phase receiver or having dual physically separate antennas, and reconstruct a plurality of phase differentials from a plurality of platform positions to produce a series of desired interferometric images of the fast moving waves.

  2. Spot distribution and fast surface evolution on Vega

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petit, P.; Hébrard, E. M.; Böhm, T.; Folsom, C. P.; Lignières, F.

    2017-11-01

    Spectral signatures of surface spots were recently discovered from high cadence observations of the A star Vega. We aim at constraining the surface distribution of these photospheric inhomogeneities and investigating a possible short-term evolution of the spot pattern. Using data collected over five consecutive nights, we employ the Doppler imaging method to reconstruct three different maps of the stellar surface, from three consecutive subsets of the whole time series. The surface maps display a complex distribution of dark and bright spots, covering most of the visible fraction of the stellar surface. A number of surface features are consistently recovered in all three maps, but other features seem to evolve over the time span of observations, suggesting that fast changes can affect the surface of Vega within a few days at most. The short-term evolution is observed as emergence or disappearance of individual spots, and may also show up as zonal flows, with low- and high-latitude belts rotating faster than intermediate latitudes. It is tempting to relate the surface brightness activity to the complex magnetic field topology previously reconstructed for Vega, although strictly simultaneous brightness and magnetic maps will be necessary to assess this potential link.

  3. Effect of fast mold surface temperature evolution on iPP part morphology gradients

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liparoti, Sara; Sorrentino, Andrea; Guzman, Gustavo; Cakmak, Mukerrem; Titomanlio, Giuseppe

    2016-03-01

    The control of mold surface temperature is an important factor that affects the sample surface morphology as well as the structural gradients (orientation crystal size, and type) as well as cooling stresses. The frozen layer thickness formed during the filling stage also has a very significant effect on the flow resistance and thus on the resulting pressure drop and flow length in thin wall parts. The possibility to have a hot mold during filling and a quick cooling soon afterward is a significant process enhancement particularly for specialized applications such as micro injection molding and for the reproduction of micro structured surfaces. Up to now, several methods (electromagnetic, infrared, hot vapor fleshing etc,) were tried to achieve fast temperature evolution of the mold. Unfortunately, all these methods require a complex balance between thermal and mechanical problems, equipment cost, energy consumption, safety, molding cycle time and part quality achievable. In this work, a thin electrical resistance was designed and used to generate a fast and confined temperature variation on mold surface (by joule effect). Since the whole temperature evolution can take place in a few seconds, one can couple the advantages of a high surface temperature during filling with the advantages of a low mold temperature, fast cooling and low heating dissipation. Some experiments were performed with a commercial iPP resin. The effects of the surface temperature and of the heating time (under constant electric power) on surface finishing and on the final morphology (thickness and structure of the different layers) are explored and discussed.

  4. Effect of fast mold surface temperature evolution on iPP part morphology gradients

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liparoti, Sara; Sorrentino, Andrea; Guzman, Gustavo

    The control of mold surface temperature is an important factor that affects the sample surface morphology as well as the structural gradients (orientation crystal size, and type) as well as cooling stresses. The frozen layer thickness formed during the filling stage also has a very significant effect on the flow resistance and thus on the resulting pressure drop and flow length in thin wall parts. The possibility to have a hot mold during filling and a quick cooling soon afterward is a significant process enhancement particularly for specialized applications such as micro injection molding and for the reproduction of micromore » structured surfaces. Up to now, several methods (electromagnetic, infrared, hot vapor fleshing etc,) were tried to achieve fast temperature evolution of the mold. Unfortunately, all these methods require a complex balance between thermal and mechanical problems, equipment cost, energy consumption, safety, molding cycle time and part quality achievable. In this work, a thin electrical resistance was designed and used to generate a fast and confined temperature variation on mold surface (by joule effect). Since the whole temperature evolution can take place in a few seconds, one can couple the advantages of a high surface temperature during filling with the advantages of a low mold temperature, fast cooling and low heating dissipation. Some experiments were performed with a commercial iPP resin. The effects of the surface temperature and of the heating time (under constant electric power) on surface finishing and on the final morphology (thickness and structure of the different layers) are explored and discussed.« less

  5. Global Performance of a Fast Parameterization Scheme for Estimating Surface Solar Radiation from MODIS data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, W.; Yang, K.; Sun, Z.; Qin, J.; Niu, X.

    2016-12-01

    A fast parameterization scheme named SUNFLUX is used in this study to estimate instantaneous surface solar radiation (SSR) based on products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard both Terra and Aqua platforms. The scheme mainly takes into account the absorption and scattering processes due to clouds, aerosols and gas in the atmosphere. The estimated instantaneous SSR is evaluated against surface observations obtained from seven stations of the Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD), four stations in the North China Plain (NCP) and 40 stations of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). The statistical results for evaluation against these three datasets show that the relative root-mean-square error (RMSE) values of SUNFLUX are less than 15%, 16% and 17%, respectively. Daily SSR is derived through temporal upscaling from the MODIS-based instantaneous SSR estimates, and is validated against surface observations. The relative RMSE values for daily SSR estimates are about 16% at the seven SURFRAD stations, four NCP stations, 40 BSRN stations and 90 China Meteorological Administration (CMA) radiation stations.

  6. Study of surface energy budget and test of a newly developed fast photoacoustic spectroscopy based hygrometer in field campaign Szeged (Hungary)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tatrai, David; Nikov, Daniella; Zsolt Jász, Ervin; Bozóki, Zoltán; Szabó, Gábor; Weidinger, Tamás; András Gyöngyösi, Zénó; Kiss, Melinda; Józsa, János; Simó Diego, Gemma; Cuxart Rodamilans, Joan; Wrenger, Burkhart; Bottyán, Zsolt

    2014-05-01

    A micrometeorological field measurement campaign dedicated to study the surface energy budget and the structure of the boundary layer focusing on the transient layer forming periods during night-time was organized in the period of 10th of November to 3rd of December 2013 in the nearby of Szeged, Hungary. A temporary micrometeorological measurement station was set up at the coordinates N:46.239943; E:20.089758, approximately 1700 m far from a national meteorology station (N:46.255711; E:20.09052). In the experimental micrometeorological site different types of instruments were installed to measure numerous parameters: standard meteorological measurements (p, T, wet, wind speed and direction at three different levels, relative humidity at two levels and absolute humidity at one level) radiation budget components surface temperature and leaf wetness soil temperature, moisture and heat flux into the deeper soil layer eddy-covariance measurements (t, H, LE CO2) at 3 m level using Campbell open-path IRGA (EC150) system. At the national meteorology station (http://adatok.geo.u-szeged.hu/?lang=eng) besides their standard measurement equipment and measurement routine a SODAR was installed and continuously operated. These ground based measurements were combined with and supported by UAV, quadcopter and tethered balloon based vertical profile measurements of p, T, rh. For this measurement campaign as a modification of a previously developed airborne ready dual channel hygrometer, a fast photoacoustic spectroscopy based hygrometer was developed for absolute humidity measurements. The estimated response time of the system is faster than 15 Hz, which was achieved by the replacement of the data acquisition system and by recording the raw photoacoustic signal sampled at rate of 48 kHz for post-processing. During the campaign this new system was compared to a TDL system commercially available at Li-COR Inc. Besides the testing of the newly developed fast photoacoustic hygrometer

  7. Long lifetime fast spectrum reactor for lunar surface power system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru

    1993-01-01

    In the framework of innovative reactor research activities, a conceptual design study of fast spectrum reactor and primary system for 800 kWe lunar surface power system to be combined with potassium Rankine cycle power conversion has been conducted to meet the power requirements of the lunar base activities in the next century. The reactor subsystem is characterized by RAPID (Refueling by All Pins Integrated Design) concept to enhance inherent safety and to enable quick and simplifed refueling in every 10 years. RAPID concept affords power plant design lifetime of up to 30 years. Integrity of the reactor structure and replacement of failed primary circuits are also discussed. Substantial reduction in per-kWh cost on considering launch, emplacement, and final disposition can be expected by a long system lifetime.

  8. Surface-enhanced FAST CARS: en route to quantum nano-biophotonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Voronine, Dmitri V.; Zhang, Zhenrong; Sokolov, Alexei V.; Scully, Marlan O.

    2018-02-01

    Quantum nano-biophotonics as the science of nanoscale light-matter interactions in biological systems requires developing new spectroscopic tools for addressing the challenges of detecting and disentangling weak congested optical signals. Nanoscale bio-imaging addresses the challenge of the detection of weak resonant signals from a few target biomolecules in the presence of the nonresonant background from many undesired molecules. In addition, the imaging must be performed rapidly to capture the dynamics of biological processes in living cells and tissues. Label-free non-invasive spectroscopic techniques are required to minimize the external perturbation effects on biological systems. Various approaches were developed to satisfy these requirements by increasing the selectivity and sensitivity of biomolecular detection. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopies provide many orders of magnitude enhancement of chemically specific Raman signals. Femtosecond adaptive spectroscopic techniques for CARS (FAST CARS) were developed to suppress the nonresonant background and optimize the efficiency of the coherent optical signals. This perspective focuses on the application of these techniques to nanoscale bio-imaging, discussing their advantages and limitations as well as the promising opportunities and challenges of the combined coherence and surface enhancements in surface-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SECARS) and tip-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (TECARS) and the corresponding surface-enhanced FAST CARS techniques. Laser pulse shaping of near-field excitations plays an important role in achieving these goals and increasing the signal enhancement.

  9. A fast and accurate surface plasmon resonance system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Espinosa Sánchez, Y. M.; Luna Moreno, D.; Noé Arias, E.; Garnica Campos, G.

    2012-10-01

    In this work we propose a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) system driven by Labview software which produces a fast, simple and accuracy measurements of samples. The system takes 2000 data in a range of 20 degrees in 20 seconds and 0.01 degrees of resolution. All the information is sent from the computer to the microcontroller as an array of bytes in hexadecimal format to be analyzed. Besides to using the system in SPR measurement is possible to make measurement of the critic angle, and Brewster angle using the Abeles method.

  10. Unidirectional Fast Growth and Forced Jumping of Stretched Droplets on Nanostructured Microporous Surfaces.

    PubMed

    Aili, Abulimiti; Li, Hongxia; Alhosani, Mohamed H; Zhang, TieJun

    2016-08-24

    Superhydrophobic nanostructured surfaces have demonstrated outstanding capability in energy and water applications by promoting dropwise condensation, where fast droplet growth and efficient condensate removal are two key parameters. However, these parameters remain contradictory. Although efficient droplet removal is easily obtained through coalescence jumping on uniform superhydrophobic surfaces, simultaneously achieving fast droplet growth is still challenging. Also, on such surfaces droplets can grow to larger sizes without restriction if there is no coalescence. In this work, we show that superhydrophobic nanostructured microporous surfaces can manipulate the droplet growth and jumping. Microporous surface morphology effectively enhances the growth of droplets in pores owing to large solid-liquid contact area. At low supersaturations, the upward growth rate (1-1.5 μm/s) of these droplets in pores is observed to be around 15-25 times that of the droplets outside the pores. Meanwhile, their top curvature radius increases relatively slowly (∼0.25 μm/s) due to pore confinement, which results in a highly stretched droplet surface. We also observed forced jumping of stretched droplets in pores either through coalescence with spherical droplets outside pores or through self-pulling without coalescence. Both experimental observation and theoretical modeling reveal that excess surface free energy stored in the stretched droplet surface and micropore confinement are responsible for this pore-scale-forced jumping. These findings reveal the insightful physics of stretched droplet dynamics and offer guidelines for the design and fabrication of novel super-repellent surfaces with microporous morphology.

  11. A GPU-based mipmapping method for water surface visualization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Hua; Quan, Wei; Xu, Chao; Wu, Yan

    2018-03-01

    Visualization of water surface is a hot topic in computer graphics. In this paper, we presented a fast method to generate wide range of water surface with good image quality both near and far from the viewpoint. This method utilized uniform mesh and Fractal Perlin noise to model water surface. Mipmapping technology was enforced to the surface textures, which adjust the resolution with respect to the distance from the viewpoint and reduce the computing cost. Lighting effect was computed based on shadow mapping technology, Snell's law and Fresnel term. The render pipeline utilizes a CPU-GPU shared memory structure, which improves the rendering efficiency. Experiment results show that our approach visualizes water surface with good image quality at real-time frame rates performance.

  12. Manned and Unmanned Aircraft Effectiveness in Fast Attack Craft / Fast Inshore Attack Craft ASUW Kill Chain Execution

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    par. 4) Based on a RED projected size of 22.16 m, a sample calculation for the unadjusted single shot probability of kill for HELLFIRE missiles is...framework based on intelligent objects (SIMIO) environment to model a fast attack craft/fast inshore attack craft anti-surface warfare expanded kill chain...concept of operation efficiency. Based on the operational environment, low cost and less capable unmanned aircraft provide an alternative to the

  13. Fast protein tertiary structure retrieval based on global surface shape similarity.

    PubMed

    Sael, Lee; Li, Bin; La, David; Fang, Yi; Ramani, Karthik; Rustamov, Raif; Kihara, Daisuke

    2008-09-01

    Characterization and identification of similar tertiary structure of proteins provides rich information for investigating function and evolution. The importance of structure similarity searches is increasing as structure databases continue to expand, partly due to the structural genomics projects. A crucial drawback of conventional protein structure comparison methods, which compare structures by their main-chain orientation or the spatial arrangement of secondary structure, is that a database search is too slow to be done in real-time. Here we introduce a global surface shape representation by three-dimensional (3D) Zernike descriptors, which represent a protein structure compactly as a series expansion of 3D functions. With this simplified representation, the search speed against a few thousand structures takes less than a minute. To investigate the agreement between surface representation defined by 3D Zernike descriptor and conventional main-chain based representation, a benchmark was performed against a protein classification generated by the combinatorial extension algorithm. Despite the different representation, 3D Zernike descriptor retrieved proteins of the same conformation defined by combinatorial extension in 89.6% of the cases within the top five closest structures. The real-time protein structure search by 3D Zernike descriptor will open up new possibility of large-scale global and local protein surface shape comparison. 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  14. A New Fast Algorithm to Completely Account for Non-Lambertian Surface Reflection of The Earth

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Qin, Wen-Han; Herman, Jay R.; Ahmad, Ziauddin; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) influences not only radiance just about the surface, but that emerging from the top of the atmosphere (TOA). In this study we propose a new, fast and accurate, algorithm CASBIR (correction for anisotropic surface bidirectional reflection) to account for such influences on radiance measured above TOA. This new algorithm is based on a 4-stream theory that separates the radiation field into direct and diffuse components in both upwelling and downwelling directions. This is important because the direct component accounts for a substantial portion of incident radiation under a clear sky, and the BRDF effect is strongest in the reflection of the direct radiation reaching the surface. The model is validated by comparison with a full-scale, vector radiation transfer model for the atmosphere-surface system. The result demonstrates that CASBIR performs very well (with overall relative difference of less than one percent) for all solar and viewing zenith and azimuth angles considered in wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared over three typical, but very different surface types. Application of this algorithm includes both accounting for non-Lambertian surface scattering on the emergent radiation above TOA and a potential approach for surface BRDF retrieval from satellite measured radiance.

  15. Fast and Scalable Fabrication of Microscopic Optical Surfaces and its Application for Optical Interconnect Devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Summitt, Christopher Ryan

    The use of optical interconnects is a promising solution to the increasing demand for high speed mass data transmission used in integrated circuits as well as device to device data transfer applications. For the purpose, low cost polymer waveguides are a popular choice for routing signal between devices due to their compatibility with printed circuit boards. In optical interconnect, coupling from an external light source to such waveguides is a critical step, thus a variety of couplers have been investigated such as grating based couplers [1,2], evanescent couplers [3], and embedded mirrors [4-6]. These couplers are inherently micro-optical components which require fast and scalable fabrication for mass production with optical quality surfaces/structures. Low NA laser direct writing has been used for fast fabrication of structures such as gratings and Fresnel lenses using a linear laser direct writing scheme, though the length scale of such structures are an order of magnitude larger than the spot size of the focused laser of the tool. Nonlinear writing techniques such as with 2-photon absorption offer increased write resolution which makes it possible to fabricate sub-wavelength structures as well as having a flexibility in feature shape. However it does not allow a high speed fabrication and in general are not scalable due to limitations of speed and area induced by the tool's high NA optics. To overcome such limitations primarily imposed by NA, we propose a new micro-optic fabrication process which extends the capabilities of 1D, low NA, and thus fast and scalable, laser direct writing to fabricate a structure having a length scale close to the tool's spot size, for example, a mirror based and 45 degree optical coupler with optical surface quality. The newly developed process allows a high speed fabrication with a write speed of 2600 mm²/min by incorporating a mask based lithography method providing a blank structure which is critical to creating a 45 degree

  16. Nondestructive, fast, and cost-effective image processing method for roughness measurement of randomly rough metallic surfaces.

    PubMed

    Ghodrati, Sajjad; Kandi, Saeideh Gorji; Mohseni, Mohsen

    2018-06-01

    In recent years, various surface roughness measurement methods have been proposed as alternatives to the commonly used stylus profilometry, which is a low-speed, destructive, expensive but precise method. In this study, a novel method, called "image profilometry," has been introduced for nondestructive, fast, and low-cost surface roughness measurement of randomly rough metallic samples based on image processing and machine vision. The impacts of influential parameters such as image resolution and filtering approach for elimination of the long wavelength surface undulations on the accuracy of the image profilometry results have been comprehensively investigated. Ten surface roughness parameters were measured for the samples using both the stylus and image profilometry. Based on the results, the best image resolution was 800 dpi, and the most practical filtering method was Gaussian convolution+cutoff. In these conditions, the best and worst correlation coefficients (R 2 ) between the stylus and image profilometry results were 0.9892 and 0.9313, respectively. Our results indicated that the image profilometry predicted the stylus profilometry results with high accuracy. Consequently, it could be a viable alternative to the stylus profilometry, particularly in online applications.

  17. Laser-based fast-neutron spectroscopy (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pomerantz, Ishay; Kishon, Itay; Kleinschmidt, Annika; Schanz, Victor A.; Tebartz, Alexandra; Fernández, Juan Carlos; Gautier, Donald C.; Johnson, Randall Philip; Shimada, Tsutomu; Wurden, Glen Anthony; Roth, Markus

    2017-05-01

    Great progress has been made in recent years in realizing compact, laser-based neutron generators. These devices, however, are inapplicable for conducting energy-resolved fast-neutron radiography because of the electromagnetic noise produced by the interaction of a strong laser field with matter. To overcome this limitation, we developed a novel neutron time-of-flight detector, largely immune to electromagnetic noise. The detector is based on plastic scintillator, only a few mm in size, which is coupled to a silicon photo-multiplier by a long optical fiber. I will present results we obtained at the Trident Laser Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory during the summer of 2016. Using this detector, we recorded high resolution, low-background fast neutron spectra generated by the interaction of laser accelerated deuterons with Beryllium. The quality of these spectra was sufficient to resolve the unique neutron absorption spectra of different elements and thus it is the first demonstration of laser-based fast neutron spectroscopy. I will discuss how this achievement paves the way to realizing compact neutron radiography systems for research, security, and commercial applications.

  18. Vehicle Emission Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Provision in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This document is a memorandum regarding Vehicle Emission Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Provision in Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which provides long-term funding certainty for surface transportation infrastructure planning

  19. Comparative Evaluation of Vacuum-based Surface Sampling ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Journal Article Following a biological contamination incident, collection of surface samples is necessary to determine the extent and level of contamination, and to deem an area safe for reentry upon decontamination. Current sampling strategies targeting Bacillus anthracis spores prescribe vacuum-based methods for rough and/or porous surfaces. In this study, four commonly-used B. anthracis spore sampling devices (vacuum socks, 37 mm 0.8 µm MCE filter cassettes, 37 mm 0.3 µm PTFE filter cassettes, and 3MTM forensic filters) were comparatively evaluated for their ability to recover surface-associated spores. The vacuum sock device was evaluated at two sampling speeds (slow and fast), resulting in five total methods evaluated. Aerosolized spores (~105 cm-2) of a surrogate Bacillus species (Bacillus atrophaeus) were allowed to settle onto three material types (concrete, carpet, and upholstery). Ten replicate samples were collected using each vacuum method, from each of the three material types. In addition, stainless steel (i.e., nonporous) surfaces inoculated simultaneously were sampled with pre-moistened wipes. Recoveries from wipes of steel surfaces were utilized to verify the inoculum, and to normalize vacuum-based recoveries across trials. Recovery (CFU cm-2) and relative recovery (vacuum recovery/wipe recovery) were determined for each method and material type. Relative recoveries were compared by one-way and three-way ANOVA. Data analysis by one-

  20. Dense plasma formation on the surface of a ferroelectric induced by a driving pulse with a fast fall time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chirko, K.; Krasik, Ya. E.; Sayapin, A.; Felsteiner, J.; Bernshtam, V.

    2003-08-01

    Experimental results are presented of dense plasma formation on the surface of a BaTi-based ferroelectric sample during the fall time of a driving pulse. A negative or positive driving pulse (⩽14 kV), with a slow rise time (˜450 ns) and a fast fall time (40-200 ns), was applied to the rear electrode of the ferroelectric. It was found by different electrical, optical, and spectroscopic diagnostics that this method allows one to form a plasma with a larger density (˜3×1013 cm-3) as compared with that formed by a driving pulse with a fast rise time (⩽4×1012 cm-3). It was shown that the shorter the fall time of the driving pulse the more intense plasma formation occurs. The most uniform and dense plasma formation occurs with a positive driving pulse. In addition, it was found that the shorter the fall time of the positive driving pulse the larger are the current amplitude, the energy, and the divergence of the emitted electrons. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the surface plasma formation and the compensation process of the polarization surface charge of the ferroelectric sample.

  1. Performance of fast-setting impression materials in the reproduction of subgingival tooth surfaces without soft tissue retraction.

    PubMed

    Rudolph, Heike; Röhl, Andreas; Walter, Michael H; Luthardt, Ralph G; Quaas, Sebastian

    2014-01-01

    Fast-setting impression materials may be prone to inaccuracies due to accidental divergence from the recommended mixing protocol. This prospective randomized clinical trial aimed to assess three-dimensional (3D) deviations in the reproduction of subgingival tooth surfaces and to determine the effect of either following or purposely diverging from the recommended mixing procedure for a fast-setting addition-curing silicone (AS) and fast-setting polyether (PE). After three impressions each were taken from 96 participants, sawcut gypsum casts were fabricated with a standardized procedure and then optically digitized. Data were assessed with a computer-aided 3D analysis. For AS impressions, multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant influence of the individual tooth and the degree to which the recommended mixing protocol was violated. For PE impressions, the ambient air temperature and individual tooth showed significant effects, while divergence from the recommended mixing protocol was not of significance. The fast-setting PE material was not affected by changes in the recommended mixing protocol. For the two fast-setting materials examined, no divergences from the recommended mixing protocol of less than 2 minutes led to failures in the reproduction of the subgingival tooth surfaces.

  2. Optofluidic platforms based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

    PubMed

    Lim, Chaesung; Hong, Jongin; Chung, Bong Geun; deMello, Andrew J; Choo, Jaebum

    2010-05-01

    We report recent progress in the development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based optofluidic platforms for the fast and sensitive detection of chemical and biological analytes. In the current context, a SERS-based optofluidic platform is defined as an integrated analytical device composed of a microfluidic element and a sensitive Raman spectrometer. Optofluidic devices for SERS detection normally involve nanocolloid-based microfluidic systems or metal nanostructure-embedded microfluidic systems. In the current review, recent advances in both approaches are surveyed and assessed. Additionally, integrated real-time sensing systems that combine portable Raman spectrometers with microfluidic devices are also reviewed. Such real-time sensing systems have significant utility in environmental monitoring, forensic science and homeland defense applications.

  3. Engineering the mobility increment in pentacene-based field-effect transistors by fast cooling of polymeric modification layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ling, Haifeng; Zhang, Chenxi; Chen, Yan; Shao, Yaqing; Li, Wen; Li, Huanqun; Chen, Xudong; Yi, Mingdong; Xie, Linghai; Huang, Wei

    2017-06-01

    In this work, we investigate the effect of the cooling rate of polymeric modification layers (PMLs) on the mobility improvement of pentacene-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). In contrast to slow cooling (SC), the OFETs fabricated through fast cooling (FC) with PMLs containing side chain-phenyl rings, such as polystyrene (PS) and poly (4-vinylphenol) (PVP), show an obvious mobility incensement compared with that of π-group free polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images and x-ray diffraction (XRD) characterizations have showed that fast-cooled PMLs could effectively enhance the crystallinity of pentacene, which might be related to the optimized homogeneity of surface energy on the surface of polymeric dielectrics. Our work has demonstrated that FC treatment could be a potential strategy for performance modulation of OFETs.

  4. Efficient Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering substrates from femtosecond laser based fabrication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parmar, Vinod; Kanaujia, Pawan K.; Bommali, Ravi Kumar; Vijaya Prakash, G.

    2017-10-01

    A fast and simple femtosecond laser based methodology for efficient Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrate fabrication has been proposed. Both nano scaffold silicon (black silicon) and gold nanoparticles (Au-NP) are fabricated by femtosecond laser based technique for mass production. Nano rough silicon scaffold enables large electromagnetic fields for the localized surface plasmons from decorated metallic nanoparticles. Thus giant enhancement (approximately in the order of 104) of Raman signal arises from the mixed effects of electron-photon-phonon coupling, even at nanomolar concentrations of test organic species (Rhodamine 6G). Proposed process demonstrates the low-cost and label-less application ability from these large-area SERS substrates.

  5. A large surface photomultiplier based on SiPMs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barbarino, Giancarlo; de Asmundis, Riccardo; De Rosa, Gianfranca; Vivolo, Daniele; Mollo, Carlos Maximiliano

    2013-10-01

    Light detection through photosensitive devices represents one of the key issues for a large variety of experiments. In the recent years, Silicon PhotoMultipliers (SiPMs) based on limited Geiger-mode avalanche have been extensively studied in view of their future applications. However, their use is strongly limited by their small sensitive surfaces and by the fact that any increment in the surface turns out into an increase of the dark count rate. In the present work we describe the dark count rate reduction obtained by using a FPGA-based logical circuit for fast pre-processing of pulses from a 3×3 matrix of SiPMs. The prototype we developed supports two SiPMs: we show that a rate reduction from 6.6 Mcps (Mega counts per second) down to 0.436 Mcps at the lowest threshold (0.5 photon-equivalent) and from 1.2 kcps down to 0.02 cps for the highest threshold (3.5 photon-equivalent) is obtainable.

  6. Scatterometry—fast and robust measurements of nano-textured surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hannibal Madsen, Morten; Hansen, Poul-Erik

    2016-06-01

    Scatterometry is a fast, precise and low cost way to determine the mean pitch and dimensional parameters of periodic structures with lateral resolution of a few nanometer. It is robust enough for in-line process control and precise and accurate enough for metrology measurements. Furthermore, scatterometry is a non-destructive technique capable of measuring buried structures, for example a grating covered by a thick oxide layer. As scatterometry is a non-imaging technique, mathematical modeling is needed to retrieve structural parameters that describe a surface. In this review, the three main steps of scatterometry are discussed: the data acquisition, the simulation of diffraction efficiencies and the comparison of data and simulations. First, the intensity of the diffracted light is measured with a scatterometer as a function of incoming angle, diffraction angle and/or wavelength. We discuss the evolution of the scatterometers from the earliest angular scatterometers to the new imaging scatterometers. The basic principle of measuring diffraction efficiencies in scatterometry has remained the same since the beginning, but the instrumental improvements have made scatterometry a state-of-the-art solution for fast and accurate measurements of nano-textured surfaces. The improvements include extending the wavelength range from the visible to the extreme ultra-violet range, development of Fourier optics to measure all diffraction orders simultaneously, and an imaging scatterometer to measure area of interests smaller than the spot size. Secondly, computer simulations of the diffraction efficiencies are discussed with emphasis on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method. RCWA has, since the mid-1990s, been the preferred method for grating simulations due to the speed of the algorithms. In the beginning the RCWA method suffered from a very slow convergence rate, and we discuss the historical improvements to overcome this challenge, e.g. by the introduction of Li

  7. A ZnO nanowire-based photo-inverter with pulse-induced fast recovery.

    PubMed

    Raza, Syed Raza Ali; Lee, Young Tack; Hosseini Shokouh, Seyed Hossein; Ha, Ryong; Choi, Heon-Jin; Im, Seongil

    2013-11-21

    We demonstrate a fast response photo-inverter comprised of one transparent gated ZnO nanowire field-effect transistor (FET) and one opaque FET respectively as the driver and load. Under ultraviolet (UV) light the transfer curve of the transparent gate FET shifts to the negative side and so does the voltage transfer curve (VTC) of the inverter. After termination of UV exposure the recovery of photo-induced current takes a long time in general. This persistent photoconductivity (PPC) is due to hole trapping on the surface of ZnO NWs. Here, we used a positive voltage short pulse after UV exposure, for the first time resolving the PPC issue in nanowire-based photo-detectors by accumulating electrons at the ZnO/dielectric interface. We found that a pulse duration as small as 200 ns was sufficient to reach a full recovery to the dark state from the UV induced state, realizing a fast UV detector with a voltage output.

  8. Design and verification of the miniature optical system for small object surface profile fast scanning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chi, Sheng; Lee, Shu-Sheng; Huang, Jen, Jen-Yu; Lai, Ti-Yu; Jan, Chia-Ming; Hu, Po-Chi

    2016-04-01

    As the progress of optical technologies, different commercial 3D surface contour scanners are on the market nowadays. Most of them are used for reconstructing the surface profile of mold or mechanical objects which are larger than 50 mm×50 mm× 50 mm, and the scanning system size is about 300 mm×300 mm×100 mm. There are seldom optical systems commercialized for surface profile fast scanning for small object size less than 10 mm×10 mm×10 mm. Therefore, a miniature optical system has been designed and developed in this research work for this purpose. Since the most used scanning method of such system is line scan technology, we have developed pseudo-phase shifting digital projection technology by adopting projecting fringes and phase reconstruction method. A projector was used to project a digital fringe patterns on the object, and the fringes intensity images of the reference plane and of the sample object were recorded by a CMOS camera. The phase difference between the plane and object can be calculated from the fringes images, and the surface profile of the object was reconstructed by using the phase differences. The traditional phase shifting method was accomplished by using PZT actuator or precisely controlled motor to adjust the light source or grating and this is one of the limitations for high speed scanning. Compared with the traditional optical setup, we utilized a micro projector to project the digital fringe patterns on the sample. This diminished the phase shifting processing time and the controlled phase differences between the shifted phases become more precise. Besides, the optical path design based on a portable device scanning system was used to minimize the size and reduce the number of the system components. A screwdriver section about 7mm×5mm×5mm has been scanned and its surface profile was successfully restored. The experimental results showed that the measurement area of our system can be smaller than 10mm×10mm, the precision reached to

  9. Fast Disinfecting Antimicrobial Surfaces

    PubMed Central

    Madkour, Ahmad E.; Dabkowski, Jeffery M.; Nüsslein, Klaus; Tew, Gregory N.

    2013-01-01

    Silicon wafers and glass surfaces were functionalized with facially amphiphilic antimicrobial copolymers using the “grafting from” technique. Surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used to grow poly(butylmethacrylate)-co-poly(Boc-aminoethyl methacrylate) from the surfaces. Upon Boc-deprotection, these surfaces became highly antimicrobial and killed S. aureus and E. coli 100% in less than 5 min. The molecular weight and grafting density of the polymer were controlled by varying the polymerization time and initiator surface density. Antimicrobial studies showed that the killing efficiency of these surfaces was independent of polymer layer thickness or grafting density within the range of surfaces studied. PMID:19177651

  10. Fast modification on wheat straw outer surface by water vapor plasma and its application on composite material.

    PubMed

    Chen, Weimin; Xu, Yicheng; Shi, Shukai; Cao, Yizhong; Chen, Minzhi; Zhou, Xiaoyan

    2018-02-02

    The presence of non-poplar extracts, cutin, and wax layer in the wheat straw outer surface (WOS) greatly limit its application in bio-composite preparation. In this study, a dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma using water vapor as feeding gas was used to fast modify the WOS. The morphology, free radical concentrations, surface chemical components, and contact angles of WOS before and after plasma modification were investigated. Wheat straw was further prepared into wheat straw-based composites (WSC) and its bonding strength was evaluated by a paper tension meter. The results showed that water vapor plasma leads to the appearance of surface roughness, the generation of massive free radicals, and the introduction of oxygen-containing groups. In addition, both initial and equilibrium contact angle and the surface total free energy were significantly increased after plasma modification. These results synergistically facilitate the spread and permeation of adhesive onto the WOS and thus improve the bonding strength of all prepared WSCs. A good linear relationship between bonding strength and surface roughness parameters, contact angles, and total free energy were observed. In general, this study provided a time-saving and cost-effective modification method to realize WSC manufacture.

  11. AN EFFICIENT HIGHER-ORDER FAST MULTIPOLE BOUNDARY ELEMENT SOLUTION FOR POISSON-BOLTZMANN BASED MOLECULAR ELECTROSTATICS

    PubMed Central

    Bajaj, Chandrajit; Chen, Shun-Chuan; Rand, Alexander

    2011-01-01

    In order to compute polarization energy of biomolecules, we describe a boundary element approach to solving the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation. Our approach combines several important features including the derivative boundary formulation of the problem and a smooth approximation of the molecular surface based on the algebraic spline molecular surface. State of the art software for numerical linear algebra and the kernel independent fast multipole method is used for both simplicity and efficiency of our implementation. We perform a variety of computational experiments, testing our method on a number of actual proteins involved in molecular docking and demonstrating the effectiveness of our solver for computing molecular polarization energy. PMID:21660123

  12. FAST: FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox

    PubMed Central

    Lawrence, Travis J.; Kauffman, Kyle T.; Amrine, Katherine C. H.; Carper, Dana L.; Lee, Raymond S.; Becich, Peter J.; Canales, Claudia J.; Ardell, David H.

    2015-01-01

    FAST (FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox) provides simple, powerful open source command-line tools to filter, transform, annotate and analyze biological sequence data. Modeled after the GNU (GNU's Not Unix) Textutils such as grep, cut, and tr, FAST tools such as fasgrep, fascut, and fastr make it easy to rapidly prototype expressive bioinformatic workflows in a compact and generic command vocabulary. Compact combinatorial encoding of data workflows with FAST commands can simplify the documentation and reproducibility of bioinformatic protocols, supporting better transparency in biological data science. Interface self-consistency and conformity with conventions of GNU, Matlab, Perl, BioPerl, R, and GenBank help make FAST easy and rewarding to learn. FAST automates numerical, taxonomic, and text-based sorting, selection and transformation of sequence records and alignment sites based on content, index ranges, descriptive tags, annotated features, and in-line calculated analytics, including composition and codon usage. Automated content- and feature-based extraction of sites and support for molecular population genetic statistics make FAST useful for molecular evolutionary analysis. FAST is portable, easy to install and secure thanks to the relative maturity of its Perl and BioPerl foundations, with stable releases posted to CPAN. Development as well as a publicly accessible Cookbook and Wiki are available on the FAST GitHub repository at https://github.com/tlawrence3/FAST. The default data exchange format in FAST is Multi-FastA (specifically, a restriction of BioPerl FastA format). Sanger and Illumina 1.8+ FastQ formatted files are also supported. FAST makes it easier for non-programmer biologists to interactively investigate and control biological data at the speed of thought. PMID:26042145

  13. New fast DCT algorithms based on Loeffler's factorization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Yoon Mi; Kim, Il-Koo; Lee, Tammy; Cheon, Min-Su; Alshina, Elena; Han, Woo-Jin; Park, Jeong-Hoon

    2012-10-01

    This paper proposes a new 32-point fast discrete cosine transform (DCT) algorithm based on the Loeffler's 16-point transform. Fast integer realizations of 16-point and 32-point transforms are also provided based on the proposed transform. For the recent development of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), simplified quanti-zation and de-quantization process are proposed. Three different forms of implementation with the essentially same performance, namely matrix multiplication, partial butterfly, and full factorization can be chosen accord-ing to the given platform. In terms of the number of multiplications required for the realization, our proposed full-factorization is 3~4 times faster than a partial butterfly, and about 10 times faster than direct matrix multiplication.

  14. Diesel Engine Valve Clearance Fault Diagnosis Based on Features Extraction Techniques and FastICA-SVM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jing, Ya-Bing; Liu, Chang-Wen; Bi, Feng-Rong; Bi, Xiao-Yang; Wang, Xia; Shao, Kang

    2017-07-01

    Numerous vibration-based techniques are rarely used in diesel engines fault diagnosis in a direct way, due to the surface vibration signals of diesel engines with the complex non-stationary and nonlinear time-varying features. To investigate the fault diagnosis of diesel engines, fractal correlation dimension, wavelet energy and entropy as features reflecting the diesel engine fault fractal and energy characteristics are extracted from the decomposed signals through analyzing vibration acceleration signals derived from the cylinder head in seven different states of valve train. An intelligent fault detector FastICA-SVM is applied for diesel engine fault diagnosis and classification. The results demonstrate that FastICA-SVM achieves higher classification accuracy and makes better generalization performance in small samples recognition. Besides, the fractal correlation dimension and wavelet energy and entropy as the special features of diesel engine vibration signal are considered as input vectors of classifier FastICA-SVM and could produce the excellent classification results. The proposed methodology improves the accuracy of feature extraction and the fault diagnosis of diesel engines.

  15. Visual saliency-based fast intracoding algorithm for high efficiency video coding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Xin; Shi, Guangming; Zhou, Wei; Duan, Zhemin

    2017-01-01

    Intraprediction has been significantly improved in high efficiency video coding over H.264/AVC with quad-tree-based coding unit (CU) structure from size 64×64 to 8×8 and more prediction modes. However, these techniques cause a dramatic increase in computational complexity. An intracoding algorithm is proposed that consists of perceptual fast CU size decision algorithm and fast intraprediction mode decision algorithm. First, based on the visual saliency detection, an adaptive and fast CU size decision method is proposed to alleviate intraencoding complexity. Furthermore, a fast intraprediction mode decision algorithm with step halving rough mode decision method and early modes pruning algorithm is presented to selectively check the potential modes and effectively reduce the complexity of computation. Experimental results show that our proposed fast method reduces the computational complexity of the current HM to about 57% in encoding time with only 0.37% increases in BD rate. Meanwhile, the proposed fast algorithm has reasonable peak signal-to-noise ratio losses and nearly the same subjective perceptual quality.

  16. Surface impact on nanoparticle-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Weizhong; Liu, Lin; Chen, Hongmin; Hu, Kai; Delahunty, Ian; Gao, Shi; Xie, Jin

    2018-01-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most widely used diagnostic tools in the clinic. To improve imaging quality, MRI contrast agents, which can modulate local T1 and T2 relaxation times, are often injected prior to or during MRI scans. However, clinically used contrast agents, including Gd3+-based chelates and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), afford mediocre contrast abilities. To address this issue, there has been extensive research on developing alternative MRI contrast agents with superior r1 and r2 relaxivities. These efforts are facilitated by the fast progress in nanotechnology, which allows for preparation of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) with varied size, shape, crystallinity, and composition. Studies suggest that surface coatings can also largely affect T1 and T2 relaxations and can be tailored in favor of a high r1 or r2. However, the surface impact of NPs has been less emphasized. Herein, we review recent progress on developing NP-based T1 and T2 contrast agents, with a focus on the surface impact. PMID:29721097

  17. Interactive surface correction for 3D shape based segmentation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwarz, Tobias; Heimann, Tobias; Tetzlaff, Ralf; Rau, Anne-Mareike; Wolf, Ivo; Meinzer, Hans-Peter

    2008-03-01

    Statistical shape models have become a fast and robust method for segmentation of anatomical structures in medical image volumes. In clinical practice, however, pathological cases and image artifacts can lead to local deviations of the detected contour from the true object boundary. These deviations have to be corrected manually. We present an intuitively applicable solution for surface interaction based on Gaussian deformation kernels. The method is evaluated by two radiological experts on segmentations of the liver in contrast-enhanced CT images and of the left heart ventricle (LV) in MRI data. For both applications, five datasets are segmented automatically using deformable shape models, and the resulting surfaces are corrected manually. The interactive correction step improves the average surface distance against ground truth from 2.43mm to 2.17mm for the liver, and from 2.71mm to 1.34mm for the LV. We expect this method to raise the acceptance of automatic segmentation methods in clinical application.

  18. Scintillator-based fast ion loss measurements in the EAST.

    PubMed

    Chang, J F; Isobe, M; Ogawa, K; Huang, J; Wu, C R; Xu, Z; Jin, Z; Lin, S Y; Hu, L Q

    2016-11-01

    A new scintillator-based fast ion loss detector (FILD) has been installed on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) to investigate the fast ion loss behavior in high performance plasma with neutral beam injection (NBI) and ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH). A two dimensional 40 mm × 40 mm scintillator-coated (ZnS:Ag) stainless plate is mounted in the front of the detector, capturing the escaping fast ions. Photons from the scintillator plate are imaged with a Phantom V2010 CCD camera. The lost fast ions can be measured with the pitch angle from 60° to 120° and the gyroradius from 10 mm to 180 mm. This paper will describe the details of FILD diagnostic on EAST and describe preliminary measurements during NBI and ICRH heating.

  19. Flattening and surface-brightness of the fast-rotating star δ Persei with the visible VEGA/CHARA interferometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Challouf, M.; Nardetto, N.; Domiciano de Souza, A.; Mourard, D.; Tallon-Bosc, I.; Aroui, H.; Farrington, C.; Ligi, R.; Meilland, A.; Mouelhi, M.

    2017-08-01

    Context. Rapid rotation is a common feature for massive stars, with important consequences on their physical structure, flux distribution and evolution. Fast-rotating stars are flattened and show gravity darkening (non-uniform surface intensity distribution). Another important and less studied impact of fast-rotation in early-type stars is its influence on the surface brightness colour relation (hereafter SBCR), which could be used to derive the distance of eclipsing binaries. Aims: The purpose of this paper is to determine the flattening of the fast-rotating B-type star δ Per using visible long-baseline interferometry. A second goal is to evaluate the impact of rotation and gravity darkening on the V - K colour and surface brightness of the star. Methods: The B-type star δ Per was observed with the VEGA/CHARA interferometer, which can measure spatial resolutions down to 0.3 mas and spectral resolving power of 5000 in the visible. We first used a toy model to derive the position angle of the rotation axis of the star in the plane of the sky. Then we used a code of stellar rotation, CHARRON, in order to derive the physical parameters of the star. Finally, by considering two cases, a static reference star and our best model of δ Per, we can quantify the impact of fast rotation on the surface brightness colour relation (SBCR). Results: We find a position angle of 23 ± 6 degrees. The polar axis angular diameter of δ Per is θp = 0.544 ± 0.007 mas, and the derived flatness is r = 1.121 ± 0.013. We derive an inclination angle for the star of I = 85+ 5-20 degrees and a projected rotation velocity Vsini = 175+ 8-11 km s-1 (or 57% of the critical velocity). We find also that the rotation and inclination angle of δ Per keeps the V - K colour unchanged while it decreasing its surface-brightness by about 0.05 mag. Conclusions: Correcting the impact of rotation on the SBCR of early-type stars appears feasible using visible interferometry and dedicated models.

  20. Decadal evolution of the surface energy budget during the fast warming and global warming hiatus periods in the ERA-interim

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Xiaoming; Sejas, Sergio A.; Cai, Ming; Taylor, Patrick C.; Deng, Yi; Yang, Song

    2018-05-01

    The global-mean surface temperature has experienced a rapid warming from the 1980s to early-2000s but a muted warming since, referred to as the global warming hiatus in the literature. Decadal changes in deep ocean heat uptake are thought to primarily account for the rapid warming and subsequent slowdown. Here, we examine the role of ocean heat uptake in establishing the fast warming and warming hiatus periods in the ERA-Interim through a decomposition of the global-mean surface energy budget. We find the increase of carbon dioxide alone yields a nearly steady increase of the downward longwave radiation at the surface from the 1980s to the present, but neither accounts for the fast warming nor warming hiatus periods. During the global warming hiatus period, the transfer of latent heat energy from the ocean to atmosphere increases and the total downward radiative energy flux to the surface decreases due to a reduction of solar absorption caused primarily by an increase of clouds. The reduction of radiative energy into the ocean and the surface latent heat flux increase cause the ocean heat uptake to decrease and thus contribute to the slowdown of the global-mean surface warming. Our analysis also finds that in addition to a reduction of deep ocean heat uptake, the fast warming period is also driven by enhanced solar absorption due predominantly to a decrease of clouds and by enhanced longwave absorption mainly attributed to the air temperature feedback.

  1. Whisker Contact Detection of Rodents Based on Slow and Fast Mechanical Inputs

    PubMed Central

    Claverie, Laure N.; Boubenec, Yves; Debrégeas, Georges; Prevost, Alexis M.; Wandersman, Elie

    2017-01-01

    Rodents use their whiskers to locate nearby objects with an extreme precision. To perform such tasks, they need to detect whisker/object contacts with a high temporal accuracy. This contact detection is conveyed by classes of mechanoreceptors whose neural activity is sensitive to either slow or fast time varying mechanical stresses acting at the base of the whiskers. We developed a biomimetic approach to separate and characterize slow quasi-static and fast vibrational stress signals acting on a whisker base in realistic exploratory phases, using experiments on both real and artificial whiskers. Both slow and fast mechanical inputs are successfully captured using a mechanical model of the whisker. We present and discuss consequences of the whisking process in purely mechanical terms and hypothesize that free whisking in air sets a mechanical threshold for contact detection. The time resolution and robustness of the contact detection strategies based on either slow or fast stress signals are determined. Contact detection based on the vibrational signal is faster and more robust to exploratory conditions than the slow quasi-static component, although both slow/fast components allow localizing the object. PMID:28119582

  2. Seasonal and Interannual Fast-Ice Variability from MODIS Surface-Temperature Anomalies, and its Link to External Forcings in Atka Bay, Antarctica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paul, S.; Hoppmann, M.; Willmes, S.; Heinemann, G.

    2016-12-01

    Around Antarctica, sea ice is regularly attached to coastal features. These regions of mostly seasonal fast ice interact with the atmosphere, ocean and coastal ecosystem in a variety of ways. The growth and breakup cycles may depend on different factors, such as water- and air temperatures, wind conditions, tides, ocean swell, the passage of icebergs and the presence of nearby polynyas. However, a detailed understanding about the interaction between these factors and the fast-ice cycle is missing. In order to better understand the linkages between general fast-ice evolution and external forcing factors, we present results from an observational case study performed on the seasonal fast-ice cover of Atka Bay, eastern Weddell Sea. The ice conditions in this region are critical for the supply of the German wintering station Neumayer III. Moreover, the fast ice at Atka Bay hosts a unique ecosystem based on the presence of a sub-ice platelet layer and a large emperor penguin colony. While some qualitative characterizations on the seasonal fast-ice cycle in this region exist, no proper quantification was carried out to date. The backbone of this work is a new algorithm, which yields the first continuous time series of open-water fractions from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperatures. The open-water fractions are derived from a range of running multi-day median temperature composites, utilizing the thermal footprint of warm open water and thin ice in contrast to cold pack-ice/ice-shelf areas. This unique, and manually validated dataset allows us to monitor changes in fast-ice extent on a near daily basis, for a period of 14 years (2002-2015). In a second step, we combine these results with iceberg observations, data from the meteorological observatory, and auxiliary satellite data in order to identify the main factors governing fast-ice formation and break-up.

  3. Is the idea of a fast block to polyspermy based on artifact?

    PubMed

    Dale, Brian

    2014-08-01

    This purpose of this review is to look at the experimental evidence, both kinetic and electrophysiological, that led to the hypothesis of a fast electrical block to polyspermy in sea urchin eggs. The idea of a fast partial block, forwarded in the 1950's, that would reduce the receptivity of the egg surface by 1/20th following its interaction with the fertilizing spermatozoon, was based on experiments that treated fertilization as a first order chemical reaction. Here, I outline the criticisms of the Rothschild theory and demonstrate that the hypothesis of a fast partial block to polyspermy is unfounded. Notwithstanding, it was suggested in the 1970's that the membrane depolarization, induced by the fertilizing spermatozoon, prevented the interaction of supernumerary spermatozoa, the fast electrical block to polyspermy. While trans-membrane voltage recording has permitted a better understanding of the sequence of events occurring at fertilization, there is no evidence that depolarization prevents the interaction of supernumerary spermatozoa. Sperm entry is prevented at positive and negative potentials, in the voltage clamp configuration, however this is an artifact caused by the currents injected into the egg employed to hold the voltage constant in a non-physiological range. At permissive voltages, around -20 mV, where the current required to hold the voltage is minimal, only one spermatozoon normally enters the egg. Thus, irrespective of the egg voltage, the fertilizing spermatozoon is, in any case, attached to a privileged interaction site that permits entry and distinguishes it from supernumerary spermatozoa. Competence for monospermy is acquired during oocyte maturation and data on cortical organization in echinoderm eggs points to the actin filament system for regulating sperm entry. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Sample-Based Surface Coloring

    PubMed Central

    Bürger, Kai; Krüger, Jens; Westermann, Rüdiger

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, we present a sample-based approach for surface coloring, which is independent of the original surface resolution and representation. To achieve this, we introduce the Orthogonal Fragment Buffer (OFB)—an extension of the Layered Depth Cube—as a high-resolution view-independent surface representation. The OFB is a data structure that stores surface samples at a nearly uniform distribution over the surface, and it is specifically designed to support efficient random read/write access to these samples. The data access operations have a complexity that is logarithmic in the depth complexity of the surface. Thus, compared to data access operations in tree data structures like octrees, data-dependent memory access patterns are greatly reduced. Due to the particular sampling strategy that is employed to generate an OFB, it also maintains sample coherence, and thus, exhibits very good spatial access locality. Therefore, OFB-based surface coloring performs significantly faster than sample-based approaches using tree structures. In addition, since in an OFB, the surface samples are internally stored in uniform 2D grids, OFB-based surface coloring can efficiently be realized on the GPU to enable interactive coloring of high-resolution surfaces. On the OFB, we introduce novel algorithms for color painting using volumetric and surface-aligned brushes, and we present new approaches for particle-based color advection along surfaces in real time. Due to the intermediate surface representation we choose, our method can be used to color polygonal surfaces as well as any other type of surface that can be sampled. PMID:20616392

  5. The transport characteristics of passing fast ions produced by nonlocal overlapping of drift island surfaces and magnetic island surfaces

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cao, Jinjia; Gong, Xueyu, E-mail: gongxueyu-usc@163.com; Xiang, Dong

    The structure of the drift-island surface of passing fast ions (PFIs) is investigated in the presence of the resonant interaction with a magnetic island. Two overlapping regions of the drift-island surface and the magnetic island surface are found, one corresponding to local overlapping region and the other to non-local one. Here, the word “nonlocal” denotes that the resonances in the core plasma can have effects on the PFIs near the plasma boundary, while the “local” represents that the PFIs just near the resonant location are influenced. The nonlocal overlapping constructs a transport path along which the PFIs can become losses.more » There are three kinds of drift-island surfaces to join in forming the transport paths. A pitch angle region, which is called pitch angle gap, is found near the plasma boundary, where the drift-island surface cannot be formed and few PFIs are lost. The pitch-angle selective features of PFI losses are obtained by analyzing the three kinds of drift-island surfaces. The coupling between the crowd drift island surfaces and the collision can induce the prompt losses of PFIs and rapidly slowing down of PFI energy. The time of the prompt losses and the slowing down rate are calculated. Qualitatively, the theoretical results are in well agreement with the experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade [M. García-Muñoz et al., Nucl. Fusion 47, L10 (2007)].« less

  6. E-FAST-Exposure and Fate Assessment Screening Tool Version 2014

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    E-FAST estimates potential exposures to the general population and surface water concentrations based on releases from industrial operations and basic physical-chemical properties and fate parameters of the substance

  7. MetaSensing's FastGBSAR: ground based radar for deformation monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rödelsperger, Sabine; Meta, Adriano

    2014-10-01

    The continuous monitoring of ground deformation and structural movement has become an important task in engineering. MetaSensing introduces a novel sensor system, the Fast Ground Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (FastGBSAR), based on innovative technologies that have already been successfully applied to airborne SAR applications. The FastGBSAR allows the remote sensing of deformations of a slope or infrastructure from up to a distance of 4 km. The FastGBSAR can be setup in two different configurations: in Real Aperture Radar (RAR) mode it is capable of accurately measuring displacements along a linear range profile, ideal for monitoring vibrations of structures like bridges and towers (displacement accuracy up to 0.01 mm). Modal parameters can be determined within half an hour. Alternatively, in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) configuration it produces two-dimensional displacement images with an acquisition time of less than 5 seconds, ideal for monitoring areal structures like dams, landslides and open pit mines (displacement accuracy up to 0.1 mm). The MetaSensing FastGBSAR is the first ground based SAR instrument on the market able to produce two-dimensional deformation maps with this high acquisition rate. By that, deformation time series with a high temporal and spatial resolution can be generated, giving detailed information useful to determine the deformation mechanisms involved and eventually to predict an incoming failure. The system is fully portable and can be quickly installed on bedrock or a basement. The data acquisition and processing can be fully automated leading to a low effort in instrument operation and maintenance. Due to the short acquisition time of FastGBSAR, the coherence between two acquisitions is very high and the phase unwrapping is simplified enormously. This yields a high density of resolution cells with good quality and high reliability of the acquired deformations. The deformation maps can directly be used as input into an Early

  8. A portable intra-oral scanner based on sinusoidal pattern of fast phase-shifting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jan, Chia-Ming; Lin, Ying-Chieh

    2016-03-01

    This paper presented our current research about the intra-oral scanner made by MIRDC. Utilizing the sinusoidal pattern for fast phase-shifting technique to deal with 3D digitalization of human dental surface profile, the development of pseudo-phase shifting digital projection can easily achieve one type of full-field scanning instead of the common technique of the laser line scanning. Based on traditional Moiré method, we adopt projecting fringes and retrieve phase reconstruction to forward phase unwrapping. The phase difference between the plane and object can be exactly calculated from the desired fringe images, and the surface profile of object was probably reconstructed by using the phase differences information directly. According to our algorithm of space mapping between projections and capturing orientation exchange of our intra-oral scanning configuration, the system we made certainly can be proved to achieve the required accuracy of +/-10μm to deal with intra-oral scanning on the basis of utilizing active triangulation method. The final purpose aimed to the scanning of object surface profile with its size about 10x10x10mm3.

  9. Planetary Surface Analysis Using Fast Laser Spectroscopic Techniques: Combined Microscopic Raman, LIBS, and Fluorescence Spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blacksberg, J.; Rossman, G. R.; Maruyama, Y.; Charbon, E.

    2011-12-01

    In situ exploration of planetary surfaces has to date required multiple techniques that, when used together, yield important information about their formation histories and evolution. We present a time-resolved laser spectroscopic technique that could potentially collect complementary sets of data providing information on mineral structure, composition, and hydration state. Using a picosecond-scale pulsed laser and a fast time-resolved detector we can simultaneously collect spectra from Raman, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and fluorescence emissions that are separated in time due to the unique decay times of each process. The use of a laser with high rep rate (40 KHz) and low pulse energy (1 μJ/pulse) allows us to rapidly collect high signal to noise Raman spectra while minimizing sample damage. Increasing the pulse energy by about an order of magnitude creates a microscopic plasma near the surface and enables the collection of LIBS spectra at an unusually high rep rate and low pulse energy. Simultaneously, broader fluorescence peaks can be detected with lifetimes varying from nanosecond to microsecond. We will present Raman, LIBS, and fluorescence spectra obtained on natural mineral samples such as sulfates, clays, pyroxenes and carbonates that are of interest for Mars mineralogy. We demonstrate this technique using a photocathode-based streak camera detector as well as a newly-developed solid state Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) sensor array based on Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. We will discuss the impact of system design and detector choice on science return of a potential planetary surface mission, with a specific focus on size, weight, power, and complexity. The research described here was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

  10. A Randomized Field Trial of the Fast ForWord Language Computer-Based Training Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borman, Geoffrey D.; Benson, James G.; Overman, Laura

    2009-01-01

    This article describes an independent assessment of the Fast ForWord Language computer-based training program developed by Scientific Learning Corporation. Previous laboratory research involving children with language-based learning impairments showed strong effects on their abilities to recognize brief and fast sequences of nonspeech and speech…

  11. On-line surface inspection using cylindrical lens-based spectral domain low-coherence interferometry.

    PubMed

    Tang, Dawei; Gao, Feng; Jiang, X

    2014-08-20

    We present a spectral domain low-coherence interferometry (SD-LCI) method that is effective for applications in on-line surface inspection because it can obtain a surface profile in a single shot. It has an advantage over existing spectral interferometry techniques by using cylindrical lenses as the objective lenses in a Michelson interferometric configuration to enable the measurement of long profiles. Combined with a modern high-speed CCD camera, general-purpose graphics processing unit, and multicore processors computing technology, fast measurement can be achieved. By translating the tested sample during the measurement procedure, real-time surface inspection was implemented, which is proved by the large-scale 3D surface measurement in this paper. ZEMAX software is used to simulate the SD-LCI system and analyze the alignment errors. Two step height surfaces were measured, and the captured interferograms were analyzed using a fast Fourier transform algorithm. Both 2D profile results and 3D surface maps closely align with the calibrated specifications given by the manufacturer.

  12. Identifying factors associated with fast food consumption among adolescents in Beijing China using a theory-based approach.

    PubMed

    Ma, R; Castellanos, D C; Bachman, J

    2016-07-01

    China is in the midst of the nutrition transition with increasing rates of obesity and dietary changes. One contributor is the increase in fast food chains within the country. The purpose of this study was to develop a theory-based instrument that explores influencing factors of fast food consumption in adolescents residing in Beijing, China. Cross-sectional study. Value expectancy and theory of planned behaviour were utilised to explore influencing factors of fast food consumption in the target population. There were 201 Chinese adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficients were used to examine internal reliability of the theory-based questionnaire. Bivariate correlations and a MANOVA were utilised to determine the relationship between theory-based constructs, body mass index (BMI)-for-age and fast food intake frequency as well as to determine differences in theory-based scores among fast food consumption frequency groupings. The theory-based questionnaire showed good reliability. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the theory-based subcategory scores between fast food frequency groups. A significant positive correlation was observed between times per week fast food was consumed and each theory-based subscale score. Using BMI-for-age of 176 participants, 81% were normal weight and 19% were considered overweight or obese. Results showed consumption of fast food to be on average 1.50 ± 1.33 per week. The relationship between BMI-for-age and times per week fast food was consumed was not significant. As the nutrition transition continues and fast food chains expand, it is important to explore factors effecting fast food consumption in China. Interventions targeting influencing factors can be developed to encourage healthy dietary choice in the midst of this transition. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Safety and feasibility of fasting in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy.

    PubMed

    Dorff, Tanya B; Groshen, Susan; Garcia, Agustin; Shah, Manali; Tsao-Wei, Denice; Pham, Huyen; Cheng, Chia-Wei; Brandhorst, Sebastian; Cohen, Pinchas; Wei, Min; Longo, Valter; Quinn, David I

    2016-06-10

    Short-term starvation prior to chemotherapy administration protects mice against toxicity. We undertook dose-escalation of fasting prior to platinum-based chemotherapy to determine safety and feasibility in cancer patients. 3 cohorts fasted before chemotherapy for 24, 48 and 72 h (divided as 48 pre-chemo and 24 post-chemo) and recorded all calories consumed. Feasibility was defined as ≥ 3/6 subjects in each cohort consuming ≤ 200 kcal per 24 h during the fast period without excess toxicity. Oxidative stress was evaluated in leukocytes using the COMET assay. Insulin, glucose, ketones, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) were measured as biomarkers of the fasting state. The median age of our 20 subjects was 61, and 85 % were women. Feasibility criteria were met. Fasting-related toxicities were limited to ≤ grade 2, most commonly fatigue, headache, and dizziness. The COMET assay indicated reduced DNA damage in leukocytes from subjects who fasted for ≥48 h (p = 0.08). There was a non-significant trend toward less grade 3 or 4 neutropenia in the 48 and 72 h cohorts compared to 24 h cohort (p = 0.17). IGF-1 levels decreased by 30, 33 and 8 % in the 24, 48 and 72 h fasting cohorts respectively after the first fasting period. Fasting for 72 h around chemotherapy administration is safe and feasible for cancer patients. Biomarkers such as IGF-1 may facilitate assessment of differences in chemotherapy toxicity in subgroups achieving the physiologic fasting state. An onging randomized trial is studying the effect of 72 h of fasting. NCT00936364 , registered propectively on July 9, 2009.

  14. Combined experimental and theoretical study of fast atom diffraction on the β2(2×4) reconstructed GaAs(001) surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Debiossac, M.; Zugarramurdi, A.; Khemliche, H.; Roncin, P.; Borisov, A. G.; Momeni, A.; Atkinson, P.; Eddrief, M.; Finocchi, F.; Etgens, V. H.

    2014-10-01

    A grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD or FAD) setup, installed on a molecular beam epitaxy chamber, has been used to characterize the β2(2×4) reconstruction of a GaAs(001) surface at 530∘C under an As4 overpressure. Using a 400-eV 4He beam, high-resolution diffraction patterns with up to eighty well-resolved diffraction orders are observed simultaneously, providing a detailed fingerprint of the surface structure. Experimental diffraction data are in good agreement with results from quantum scattering calculations based on an ab initio projectile-surface interaction potential. Along with exact calculations, we show that a straightforward semiclassical analysis allows the features of the diffraction chart to be linked to the main characteristics of the surface reconstruction topography. Our results demonstrate that GIFAD is a technique suitable for measuring in situ the subtle details of complex surface reconstructions. We have performed measurements at very small incidence angles, where the kinetic energy of the projectile motion perpendicular to the surface can be reduced to less than 1 meV. This allowed the depth of the attractive van der Waals potential well to be estimated as -8.7 meV in very good agreement with results reported in literature.

  15. Curve Set Feature-Based Robust and Fast Pose Estimation Algorithm

    PubMed Central

    Hashimoto, Koichi

    2017-01-01

    Bin picking refers to picking the randomly-piled objects from a bin for industrial production purposes, and robotic bin picking is always used in automated assembly lines. In order to achieve a higher productivity, a fast and robust pose estimation algorithm is necessary to recognize and localize the randomly-piled parts. This paper proposes a pose estimation algorithm for bin picking tasks using point cloud data. A novel descriptor Curve Set Feature (CSF) is proposed to describe a point by the surface fluctuation around this point and is also capable of evaluating poses. The Rotation Match Feature (RMF) is proposed to match CSF efficiently. The matching process combines the idea of the matching in 2D space of origin Point Pair Feature (PPF) algorithm with nearest neighbor search. A voxel-based pose verification method is introduced to evaluate the poses and proved to be more than 30-times faster than the kd-tree-based verification method. Our algorithm is evaluated against a large number of synthetic and real scenes and proven to be robust to noise, able to detect metal parts, more accurately and more than 10-times faster than PPF and Oriented, Unique and Repeatable (OUR)-Clustered Viewpoint Feature Histogram (CVFH). PMID:28771216

  16. Neighborhood fast food availability and fast food consumption.

    PubMed

    Oexle, Nathalie; Barnes, Timothy L; Blake, Christine E; Bell, Bethany A; Liese, Angela D

    2015-09-01

    Recent nutritional and public health research has focused on how the availability of various types of food in a person's immediate area or neighborhood influences his or her food choices and eating habits. It has been theorized that people living in areas with a wealth of unhealthy fast-food options may show higher levels of fast-food consumption, a factor that often coincides with being overweight or obese. However, measuring food availability in a particular area is difficult to achieve consistently: there may be differences in the strict physical locations of food options as compared to how individuals perceive their personal food availability, and various studies may use either one or both of these measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between weekly fast-food consumption and both a person's perceived availability of fast-food and an objective measure of fast-food presence - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - within that person's neighborhood. A randomly selected population-based sample of eight counties in South Carolina was used to conduct a cross-sectional telephone survey assessing self-report fast-food consumption and perceived availability of fast food. GIS was used to determine the actual number of fast-food outlets within each participant's neighborhood. Using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we found that neither perceived availability nor GIS-based presence of fast-food was significantly associated with weekly fast-food consumption. Our findings indicate that availability might not be the dominant factor influencing fast-food consumption. We recommend using subjective availability measures and considering individual characteristics that could influence both perceived availability of fast food and its impact on fast-food consumption. If replicated, our findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing fast-food consumption by limiting neighborhood fast-food availability might not be completely effective

  17. Mass spectrometric studies of fast pyrolysis of cellulose

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Degenstein, John; Hurt, Matt; Murria, Priya

    2015-01-01

    A fast pyrolysis probe/linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer combination was used to study the primary fast pyrolysis products (those that first leave the hot pyrolysis surface) of cellulose, cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, cellopentaose, and cellohexaose, as well as of cellobiosan, cellotriosan, and cellopentosan, at 600°C. Similar products with different branching ratios were found for the oligosaccharides and cellulose, as reported previously. However, identical products (with the exception of two) with similar branching ratios were measured for cellotriosan (and cellopentosan) and cellulose. This result demonstrates that cellotriosan is an excellent small-molecule surrogate for studies of the fast pyrolysis of cellulose andmore » also that most fast pyrolysis products of cellulose do not originate from the reducing end. Based on several observations, the fast pyrolysis of cellulose is suggested to initiate predominantly via two competing processes: the formation of anhydro-oligosaccharides, such as cellobiosan, cellotriosan, and cellopentosan (major route), and the elimination of glycolaldehyde (or isomeric) units from the reducing end of oligosaccharides formed from cellulose during fast pyrolysis.« less

  18. Near midplane scintillator-based fast ion loss detector on DIII-D.

    PubMed

    Chen, X; Fisher, R K; Pace, D C; García-Muñoz, M; Chavez, J A; Heidbrink, W W; Van Zeeland, M A

    2012-10-01

    A new scintillator-based fast-ion loss detector (FILD) installed near the outer midplane of the plasma has been commissioned on DIII-D. This detector successfully measures coherent fast ion losses produced by fast-ion driven instabilities (≤500 kHz). Combined with the first FILD at ∼45° below the outer midplane [R. K. Fisher, et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 10D307 (2010)], the two-detector system measures poloidal variation of losses. The phase space sensitivity of the new detector (gyroradius r(L) ∼ [1.5-8] cm and pitch angle α ∼ [35°-85°]) is calibrated using neutral beam first orbit loss measurements. Since fast ion losses are localized poloidally, having two FILDs at different poloidal locations allows for the study of losses over a wider range of plasma shapes and types of loss orbits.

  19. Infrared video based gas leak detection method using modified FAST features

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Min; Hong, Hanyu; Huang, Likun

    2018-03-01

    In order to detect the invisible leaking gas that is usually dangerous and easily leads to fire or explosion in time, many new technologies have arisen in the recent years, among which the infrared video based gas leak detection is widely recognized as a viable tool. However, all the moving regions of a video frame can be detected as leaking gas regions by the existing infrared video based gas leak detection methods, without discriminating the property of each detected region, e.g., a walking person in a video frame may be also detected as gas by the current gas leak detection methods.To solve this problem, we propose a novel infrared video based gas leak detection method in this paper, which is able to effectively suppress strong motion disturbances.Firstly, the Gaussian mixture model(GMM) is used to establish the background model.Then due to the observation that the shapes of gas regions are different from most rigid moving objects, we modify the Features From Accelerated Segment Test (FAST) algorithm and use the modified FAST (mFAST) features to describe each connected component. In view of the fact that the statistical property of the mFAST features extracted from gas regions is different from that of other motion regions, we propose the Pixel-Per-Points (PPP) condition to further select candidate connected components.Experimental results show that the algorithm is able to effectively suppress most strong motion disturbances and achieve real-time leaking gas detection.

  20. Electrostatic interaction based approach to thrombin detection by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Hu, Juan; Zheng, Peng-Cheng; Jiang, Jian-Hui; Shen, Guo-Li; Yu, Ru-Qin; Liu, Guo-Kun

    2009-01-01

    We have developed an electrostatic interaction based biosensor for thrombin detection using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). This method utilized the electrostatic interaction between capture (thrombin aptamer) and probe (crystal violet, CV) molecules. The specific interaction between thrombin and aptamer could weaken the electrostatic barrier effect from the negative charged aptamer SAMs to the diffusion process of the positively charged CV from the bulk solution to the Au nanoparticle surface. Therefore, the more the bound thrombin, the more the CV molecules near the Au nanoparticle surface and the stronger the observed Raman signal of CV, provided the Raman detections were set at the same time point for each case. This procedure presented a highly specific selectivity and a linear detection of thrombin in the range from 0.1 nM to 10 nM with a detection limit of about 20 pM and realized the thrombin detection in human blood serum solution directly. The electrostatic interaction based technique provides an easy and fast-responding optical platform for a "signal-on" detection of proteins, which might be applicable for the real time assay of proteins.

  1. Fast global image smoothing based on weighted least squares.

    PubMed

    Min, Dongbo; Choi, Sunghwan; Lu, Jiangbo; Ham, Bumsub; Sohn, Kwanghoon; Do, Minh N

    2014-12-01

    This paper presents an efficient technique for performing a spatially inhomogeneous edge-preserving image smoothing, called fast global smoother. Focusing on sparse Laplacian matrices consisting of a data term and a prior term (typically defined using four or eight neighbors for 2D image), our approach efficiently solves such global objective functions. In particular, we approximate the solution of the memory-and computation-intensive large linear system, defined over a d-dimensional spatial domain, by solving a sequence of 1D subsystems. Our separable implementation enables applying a linear-time tridiagonal matrix algorithm to solve d three-point Laplacian matrices iteratively. Our approach combines the best of two paradigms, i.e., efficient edge-preserving filters and optimization-based smoothing. Our method has a comparable runtime to the fast edge-preserving filters, but its global optimization formulation overcomes many limitations of the local filtering approaches. Our method also achieves high-quality results as the state-of-the-art optimization-based techniques, but runs ∼10-30 times faster. Besides, considering the flexibility in defining an objective function, we further propose generalized fast algorithms that perform Lγ norm smoothing (0 < γ < 2) and support an aggregated (robust) data term for handling imprecise data constraints. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our techniques in a range of image processing and computer graphics applications.

  2. Fast and Exact Fiber Surfaces for Tetrahedral Meshes.

    PubMed

    Klacansky, Pavol; Tierny, Julien; Carr, Hamish; Zhao Geng

    2017-07-01

    Isosurfaces are fundamental geometrical objects for the analysis and visualization of volumetric scalar fields. Recent work has generalized them to bivariate volumetric fields with fiber surfaces, the pre-image of polygons in range space. However, the existing algorithm for their computation is approximate, and is limited to closed polygons. Moreover, its runtime performance does not allow instantaneous updates of the fiber surfaces upon user edits of the polygons. Overall, these limitations prevent a reliable and interactive exploration of the space of fiber surfaces. This paper introduces the first algorithm for the exact computation of fiber surfaces in tetrahedral meshes. It assumes no restriction on the topology of the input polygon, handles degenerate cases and better captures sharp features induced by polygon bends. The algorithm also allows visualization of individual fibers on the output surface, better illustrating their relationship with data features in range space. To enable truly interactive exploration sessions, we further improve the runtime performance of this algorithm. In particular, we show that it is trivially parallelizable and that it scales nearly linearly with the number of cores. Further, we study acceleration data-structures both in geometrical domain and range space and we show how to generalize interval trees used in isosurface extraction to fiber surface extraction. Experiments demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm over previous work, both in terms of accuracy and running time, with up to two orders of magnitude speedups. This improvement enables interactive edits of range polygons with instantaneous updates of the fiber surface for exploration purpose. A VTK-based reference implementation is provided as additional material to reproduce our results.

  3. Characterization of Heavy Oxide Inorganic Scintillator Crystals for Direct Detection of Fast Neutrons Based on Inelastic Scattering

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-03-01

    HEAVY OXIDE INORGANIC SCINTILLATOR CRYSTALS FOR DIRECT DETECTION OF FAST NEUTRONS BASED ON INELASTIC SCATTERING by Philip R. Rusiecki...HEAVY OXIDE INORGANIC SCINTILLATOR CRYSTALS FOR DIRECT DETECTION OF FAST NEUTRONS BASED ON INELASTIC SCATTERING 6. AUTHOR(S) Philip R. Rusiecki 7...ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Heavy oxide inorganic scintillators may prove viable in the detection of fast neutrons based on the mechanism of

  4. Surface-Enhanced Separation of Water from Hydrocarbons: Potential Dewatering Membranes for the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Pine Biomass

    DOE PAGES

    Engtrakul, Dr. Chaiwat; Hu, Michael Z.; Bischoff, Brian L; ...

    2016-01-01

    The impact of surface-selective coatings on water permeation through a membrane when exposed to catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) vapor products was studied by tailoring the surface properties of the membrane coating from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic. Our approach utilized high-performance architectured surface-selective (HiPAS) membranes that were inserted after a CFP reactor. At this insertion point, the inner wall surface of a tubular membrane was exposed to a mixture of water and upgraded product vapors, including light gases and deoxygenated hydrocarbons. Under proper membrane operating conditions, a high selectivity for water over 1-ring upgraded biomass pyrolysis hydrocarbons was observed due to amore » surface-enhanced capillary condensation process. Owing to this surface-enhanced effect, HiPAS membranes have the potential to enable high flux separations suggesting that water can be selectively removed from the CFP product vapors.« less

  5. Surface-Enhanced Separation of Water from Hydrocarbons: Potential Dewatering Membranes for the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Pine Biomass

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Engtrakul, Chaiwat; Hu, Michael Z.; Bischoff, Brian L.

    2016-10-20

    The impact of surface-selective coatings on water permeation through a membrane when exposed to catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) vapor products was studied by tailoring the surface properties of the membrane coating from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic. Our approach used high-performance architectured surface-selective (HiPAS) membranes that were inserted after a CFP reactor. At this insertion point, the inner wall surface of a tubular membrane was exposed to a mixture of water and upgraded product vapors, including light gases and deoxygenated hydrocarbons. Under proper membrane operating conditions, a high selectivity for water over one-ring upgraded biomass pyrolysis hydrocarbons was observed as a resultmore » of a surface-enhanced capillary condensation process. Owing to this surface-enhanced effect, HiPAS membranes have the potential to enable high flux separations, suggesting that water can be selectively removed from the CFP product vapors.« less

  6. Fast Beam-Based BPM Calibration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bertsche, K.; Loos, H.; Nuhn, H.-D.

    2012-10-15

    The Alignment Diagnostic System (ADS) of the LCLS undulator system indicates that the 33 undulator quadrupoles have extremely high position stability over many weeks. However, beam trajectory straightness and lasing efficiency degrade more quickly than this. A lengthy Beam Based Alignment (BBA) procedure must be executed every two to four weeks to re-optimize the X-ray beam parameters. The undulator system includes RF cavity Beam Position Monitors (RFBPMs), several of which are utilized by an automatic feedback system to align the incoming electron-beam trajectory to the undulator axis. The beam trajectory straightness degradation has been traced to electronic drifts of themore » gain and offset of the BPMs used in the beam feedback system. To quickly recover the trajectory straightness, we have developed a fast beam-based procedure to recalibrate the BPMs. This procedure takes advantage of the high-precision monitoring capability of the ADS, which allows highly repeatable positioning of undulator quadrupoles. This report describes the ADS, the position stability of the LCLS undulator quadrupoles, and some results of the new recovery procedure.« less

  7. Fast image matching algorithm based on projection characteristics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Lijuan; Yue, Xiaobo; Zhou, Lijun

    2011-06-01

    Based on analyzing the traditional template matching algorithm, this paper identified the key factors restricting the speed of matching and put forward a brand new fast matching algorithm based on projection. Projecting the grayscale image, this algorithm converts the two-dimensional information of the image into one-dimensional one, and then matches and identifies through one-dimensional correlation, meanwhile, because of normalization has been done, when the image brightness or signal amplitude increasing in proportion, it could also perform correct matching. Experimental results show that the projection characteristics based image registration method proposed in this article could greatly improve the matching speed, which ensuring the matching accuracy as well.

  8. FastChem: An ultra-fast equilibrium chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kitzmann, Daniel; Stock, Joachim

    2018-04-01

    FastChem is an equilibrium chemistry code that calculates the chemical composition of the gas phase for given temperatures and pressures. Written in C++, it is based on a semi-analytic approach, and is optimized for extremely fast and accurate calculations.

  9. Application of Fast Dynamic Allan Variance for the Characterization of FOGs-Based Measurement While Drilling.

    PubMed

    Wang, Lu; Zhang, Chunxi; Gao, Shuang; Wang, Tao; Lin, Tie; Li, Xianmu

    2016-12-07

    The stability of a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) in measurement while drilling (MWD) could vary with time because of changing temperature, high vibration, and sudden power failure. The dynamic Allan variance (DAVAR) is a sliding version of the Allan variance. It is a practical tool that could represent the non-stationary behavior of the gyroscope signal. Since the normal DAVAR takes too long to deal with long time series, a fast DAVAR algorithm has been developed to accelerate the computation speed. However, both the normal DAVAR algorithm and the fast algorithm become invalid for discontinuous time series. What is worse, the FOG-based MWD underground often keeps working for several days; the gyro data collected aboveground is not only very time-consuming, but also sometimes discontinuous in the timeline. In this article, on the basis of the fast algorithm for DAVAR, we make a further advance in the fast algorithm (improved fast DAVAR) to extend the fast DAVAR to discontinuous time series. The improved fast DAVAR and the normal DAVAR are used to responsively characterize two sets of simulation data. The simulation results show that when the length of the time series is short, the improved fast DAVAR saves 78.93% of calculation time. When the length of the time series is long ( 6 × 10 5 samples), the improved fast DAVAR reduces calculation time by 97.09%. Another set of simulation data with missing data is characterized by the improved fast DAVAR. Its simulation results prove that the improved fast DAVAR could successfully deal with discontinuous data. In the end, a vibration experiment with FOGs-based MWD has been implemented to validate the good performance of the improved fast DAVAR. The results of the experience testify that the improved fast DAVAR not only shortens computation time, but could also analyze discontinuous time series.

  10. Application of Fast Dynamic Allan Variance for the Characterization of FOGs-Based Measurement While Drilling

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Lu; Zhang, Chunxi; Gao, Shuang; Wang, Tao; Lin, Tie; Li, Xianmu

    2016-01-01

    The stability of a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) in measurement while drilling (MWD) could vary with time because of changing temperature, high vibration, and sudden power failure. The dynamic Allan variance (DAVAR) is a sliding version of the Allan variance. It is a practical tool that could represent the non-stationary behavior of the gyroscope signal. Since the normal DAVAR takes too long to deal with long time series, a fast DAVAR algorithm has been developed to accelerate the computation speed. However, both the normal DAVAR algorithm and the fast algorithm become invalid for discontinuous time series. What is worse, the FOG-based MWD underground often keeps working for several days; the gyro data collected aboveground is not only very time-consuming, but also sometimes discontinuous in the timeline. In this article, on the basis of the fast algorithm for DAVAR, we make a further advance in the fast algorithm (improved fast DAVAR) to extend the fast DAVAR to discontinuous time series. The improved fast DAVAR and the normal DAVAR are used to responsively characterize two sets of simulation data. The simulation results show that when the length of the time series is short, the improved fast DAVAR saves 78.93% of calculation time. When the length of the time series is long (6×105 samples), the improved fast DAVAR reduces calculation time by 97.09%. Another set of simulation data with missing data is characterized by the improved fast DAVAR. Its simulation results prove that the improved fast DAVAR could successfully deal with discontinuous data. In the end, a vibration experiment with FOGs-based MWD has been implemented to validate the good performance of the improved fast DAVAR. The results of the experience testify that the improved fast DAVAR not only shortens computation time, but could also analyze discontinuous time series. PMID:27941600

  11. New horizons in selective laser sintering surface roughness characterization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vetterli, M.; Schmid, M.; Knapp, W.; Wegener, K.

    2017-12-01

    Powder-based additive manufacturing of polymers and metals has evolved from a prototyping technology to an industrial process for the fabrication of small to medium series of complex geometry parts. Unfortunately due to the processing of powder as a basis material and the successive addition of layers to produce components, a significant surface roughness inherent to the process has been observed since the first use of such technologies. A novel characterization method based on an elastomeric pad coated with a reflective layer, the Gelsight, was found to be reliable and fast to characterize surfaces processed by selective laser sintering (SLS) of polymers. With help of this method, a qualitative and quantitative investigation of SLS surfaces is feasible. Repeatability and reproducibility investigations are performed for both 2D and 3D areal roughness parameters. Based on the good results, the Gelsight is used for the optimization of vertical SLS surfaces. A model built on laser scanning parameters is proposed and after confirmation could achieve a roughness reduction of 10% based on the S q parameter. The Gelsight could be successfully identified as a fast, reliable and versatile surface topography characterization method as it applies to all kind of surfaces.

  12. Fast Transport of Water Droplets over a Thermo-Switchable Surface Using Rewritable Wettability Gradient.

    PubMed

    Banuprasad, Theneyur Narayanaswamy; Vinay, Thamarasseril Vijayan; Subash, Cherumannil Karumuthil; Varghese, Soney; George, Sajan D; Varanakkottu, Subramanyan Namboodiri

    2017-08-23

    In spite of the reported temperature dependent tunability in wettability of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) surfaces for below and above lower critical solution temperature (32 °C), the transport of water droplets is inhibited by the large contact angle hysteresis. Herein, for the first time, we report on-demand, fast, and reconfigurable droplet manipulation over a PNIPAAm grafted structured polymer surface using temperature-induced wettability gradient. Our study reveals that the PNIPAAm grafted on intrinsically superhydrophobic surfaces exhibit hydrophilic nature with high contact angle hysteresis below 30 °C and superhydrophobic nature with ultralow contact angle hysteresis above 36 °C. The transition region between 30 and 36 °C is characterized by a large change in water contact angle (∼100°) with a concomitant change in contact angle hysteresis. By utilizing this "transport zone" wherein driving forces overcome the frictional forces, we demonstrate macroscopic transport of water drops with a maximum transport velocity of approximately 40 cm/s. The theoretical calculations on the force measurements concur with dominating behavior of driving forces across the transport zone. The tunability in transport velocity by varying the temperature gradient along the surface or the inclination angle of the surface (maximum angle of 15° with a reduced velocity 0.4 mm/s) is also elucidated. In addition, as a practical application, coalescence of water droplets is demonstrated by using the temperature controlled wettability gradient. The presented results are expected to provide new insights on the design and fabrication of smart multifunctional surfaces for applications such as biochemical analysis, self-cleaning, and microfluidics.

  13. Fast and ultrafast endocytosis.

    PubMed

    Watanabe, Shigeki; Boucrot, Emmanuel

    2017-08-01

    Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is the main endocytic pathway supporting housekeeping functions in cells. However, CME may be too slow to internalize proteins from the cell surface during certain physiological processes such as reaction to stress hormones ('fight-or-flight' reaction), chemotaxis or compensatory endocytosis following exocytosis of synaptic vesicles or hormone-containing vesicles. These processes take place on a millisecond to second timescale and thus require very rapid cellular reaction to prevent overstimulation or exhaustion of the response. There are several fast endocytic processes identified so far: macropinocytosis, activity-dependent bulk endocytosis (ABDE), fast-endophilin-mediated endocytosis (FEME), kiss-and-run and ultrafast endocytosis. All are clathrin-independent and are not constitutively active but may use different molecular mechanisms to rapidly remove receptors and proteins from the cell surface. Here, we review our current understanding of fast and ultrafast endocytosis, their functions, and molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A MEMS-based super fast dew point hygrometer—construction and medical applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jachowicz, Ryszard S.; Weremczuk, Jerzy; Paczesny, Daniel; Tarapata, Grzegorz

    2009-12-01

    The paper shows how MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) technology and a modified principle of fast temperature control (by heat injection instead of careful control of cooling) can considerably improve the dynamic parameters of dew point hygrometers. Some aspects of MEMS-type integrated sensor construction and technology, whole measurement system design, the control algorithm to run the system as well as empirical dynamic parameters from the tests are discussed too. The hygrometer can easily obtain five to six measurements per second with an uncertainty of less than 0.3 K. The meter range is between -10 °C and 40 °C dew point. In the second part of the paper (section 2), two different successful applications in medicine based on fast humidity measurements have been discussed. Some specific constructions of these super fast dew point hygrometers based on a MEMS sensor as well as limited empirical results from clinical tests have been reported too.

  15. Surface stress-based biosensors.

    PubMed

    Sang, Shengbo; Zhao, Yuan; Zhang, Wendong; Li, Pengwei; Hu, Jie; Li, Gang

    2014-01-15

    Surface stress-based biosensors, as one kind of label-free biosensors, have attracted lots of attention in the process of information gathering and measurement for the biological, chemical and medical application with the development of technology and society. This kind of biosensors offers many advantages such as short response time (less than milliseconds) and a typical sensitivity at nanogram, picoliter, femtojoule and attomolar level. Furthermore, it simplifies sample preparation and testing procedures. In this work, progress made towards the use of surface stress-based biosensors for achieving better performance is critically reviewed, including our recent achievement, the optimally circular membrane-based biosensors and biosensor array. The further scientific and technological challenges in this field are also summarized. Critical remark and future steps towards the ultimate surface stress-based biosensors are addressed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Nanostructured surfaces for analysis of anticancer drug and cell diagnosis based on electrochemical and SERS tools.

    PubMed

    El-Said, Waleed A; Yoon, Jinho; Choi, Jeong-Woo

    2018-01-01

    Discovering new anticancer drugs and screening their efficacy requires a huge amount of resources and time-consuming processes. The development of fast, sensitive, and nondestructive methods for the in vitro and in vivo detection of anticancer drugs' effects and action mechanisms have been done to reduce the time and resources required to discover new anticancer drugs. For the in vitro and in vivo detection of the efficiency, distribution, and action mechanism of anticancer drugs, the applications of electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical cell chips and optical techniques such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have been developed based on the nanostructured surface. Research focused on electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique have been reviewed here; electrochemical cell chips based on nanostructured surfaces have been developed for the in vitro detection of cell viability and the evaluation of the effects of anticancer drugs, which showed the high capability to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of several chemicals at low concentrations. SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface have been used as label-free, simple, and nondestructive techniques for the in vitro and in vivo monitoring of the distribution, mechanism, and metabolism of different anticancer drugs at the cellular level. The use of electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface should be good tools to detect the effects and action mechanisms of anticancer drugs.

  17. Nanostructured surfaces for analysis of anticancer drug and cell diagnosis based on electrochemical and SERS tools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El-Said, Waleed A.; Yoon, Jinho; Choi, Jeong-Woo

    2018-04-01

    Discovering new anticancer drugs and screening their efficacy requires a huge amount of resources and time-consuming processes. The development of fast, sensitive, and nondestructive methods for the in vitro and in vivo detection of anticancer drugs' effects and action mechanisms have been done to reduce the time and resources required to discover new anticancer drugs. For the in vitro and in vivo detection of the efficiency, distribution, and action mechanism of anticancer drugs, the applications of electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical cell chips and optical techniques such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have been developed based on the nanostructured surface. Research focused on electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique have been reviewed here; electrochemical cell chips based on nanostructured surfaces have been developed for the in vitro detection of cell viability and the evaluation of the effects of anticancer drugs, which showed the high capability to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of several chemicals at low concentrations. SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface have been used as label-free, simple, and nondestructive techniques for the in vitro and in vivo monitoring of the distribution, mechanism, and metabolism of different anticancer drugs at the cellular level. The use of electrochemical cell chips and the SERS technique based on the nanostructured surface should be good tools to detect the effects and action mechanisms of anticancer drugs.

  18. PL-PatchSurfer: a novel molecular local surface-based method for exploring protein-ligand interactions.

    PubMed

    Hu, Bingjie; Zhu, Xiaolei; Monroe, Lyman; Bures, Mark G; Kihara, Daisuke

    2014-08-27

    Structure-based computational methods have been widely used in exploring protein-ligand interactions, including predicting the binding ligands of a given protein based on their structural complementarity. Compared to other protein and ligand representations, the advantages of a surface representation include reduced sensitivity to subtle changes in the pocket and ligand conformation and fast search speed. Here we developed a novel method named PL-PatchSurfer (Protein-Ligand PatchSurfer). PL-PatchSurfer represents the protein binding pocket and the ligand molecular surface as a combination of segmented surface patches. Each patch is characterized by its geometrical shape and the electrostatic potential, which are represented using the 3D Zernike descriptor (3DZD). We first tested PL-PatchSurfer on binding ligand prediction and found it outperformed the pocket-similarity based ligand prediction program. We then optimized the search algorithm of PL-PatchSurfer using the PDBbind dataset. Finally, we explored the utility of applying PL-PatchSurfer to a larger and more diverse dataset and showed that PL-PatchSurfer was able to provide a high early enrichment for most of the targets. To the best of our knowledge, PL-PatchSurfer is the first surface patch-based method that treats ligand complementarity at protein binding sites. We believe that using a surface patch approach to better understand protein-ligand interactions has the potential to significantly enhance the design of new ligands for a wide array of drug-targets.

  19. PL-PatchSurfer: A Novel Molecular Local Surface-Based Method for Exploring Protein-Ligand Interactions

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Bingjie; Zhu, Xiaolei; Monroe, Lyman; Bures, Mark G.; Kihara, Daisuke

    2014-01-01

    Structure-based computational methods have been widely used in exploring protein-ligand interactions, including predicting the binding ligands of a given protein based on their structural complementarity. Compared to other protein and ligand representations, the advantages of a surface representation include reduced sensitivity to subtle changes in the pocket and ligand conformation and fast search speed. Here we developed a novel method named PL-PatchSurfer (Protein-Ligand PatchSurfer). PL-PatchSurfer represents the protein binding pocket and the ligand molecular surface as a combination of segmented surface patches. Each patch is characterized by its geometrical shape and the electrostatic potential, which are represented using the 3D Zernike descriptor (3DZD). We first tested PL-PatchSurfer on binding ligand prediction and found it outperformed the pocket-similarity based ligand prediction program. We then optimized the search algorithm of PL-PatchSurfer using the PDBbind dataset. Finally, we explored the utility of applying PL-PatchSurfer to a larger and more diverse dataset and showed that PL-PatchSurfer was able to provide a high early enrichment for most of the targets. To the best of our knowledge, PL-PatchSurfer is the first surface patch-based method that treats ligand complementarity at protein binding sites. We believe that using a surface patch approach to better understand protein-ligand interactions has the potential to significantly enhance the design of new ligands for a wide array of drug-targets. PMID:25167137

  20. Super-resolution Doppler beam sharpening method using fast iterative adaptive approach-based spectral estimation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mao, Deqing; Zhang, Yin; Zhang, Yongchao; Huang, Yulin; Yang, Jianyu

    2018-01-01

    Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) is a critical technology for airborne radar ground mapping in forward-squint region. In conventional DBS technology, the narrow-band Doppler filter groups formed by fast Fourier transform (FFT) method suffer from low spectral resolution and high side lobe levels. The iterative adaptive approach (IAA), based on the weighted least squares (WLS), is applied to the DBS imaging applications, forming narrower Doppler filter groups than the FFT with lower side lobe levels. Regrettably, the IAA is iterative, and requires matrix multiplication and inverse operation when forming the covariance matrix, its inverse and traversing the WLS estimate for each sampling point, resulting in a notably high computational complexity for cubic time. We propose a fast IAA (FIAA)-based super-resolution DBS imaging method, taking advantage of the rich matrix structures of the classical narrow-band filtering. First, we formulate the covariance matrix via the FFT instead of the conventional matrix multiplication operation, based on the typical Fourier structure of the steering matrix. Then, by exploiting the Gohberg-Semencul representation, the inverse of the Toeplitz covariance matrix is computed by the celebrated Levinson-Durbin (LD) and Toeplitz-vector algorithm. Finally, the FFT and fast Toeplitz-vector algorithm are further used to traverse the WLS estimates based on the data-dependent trigonometric polynomials. The method uses the Hermitian feature of the echo autocorrelation matrix R to achieve its fast solution and uses the Toeplitz structure of R to realize its fast inversion. The proposed method enjoys a lower computational complexity without performance loss compared with the conventional IAA-based super-resolution DBS imaging method. The results based on simulations and measured data verify the imaging performance and the operational efficiency.

  1. Laser-based surface preparation of composite laminates leads to improved electrodes for electrical measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almuhammadi, Khaled; Selvakumaran, Lakshmi; Alfano, Marco; Yang, Yang; Bera, Tushar Kanti; Lubineau, Gilles

    2015-12-01

    Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a low-cost, fast and effective structural health monitoring technique that can be used on carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). Electrodes are a key component of any EIT system and as such they should feature low resistivity as well as high robustness and reproducibility. Surface preparation is required prior to bonding of electrodes. Currently this task is mostly carried out by traditional sanding. However this is a time consuming procedure which can also induce damage to surface fibers and lead to spurious electrode properties. Here we propose an alternative processing technique based on the use of pulsed laser irradiation. The processing parameters that result in selective removal of the electrically insulating resin with minimum surface fiber damage are identified. A quantitative analysis of the electrical contact resistance is presented and the results are compared with those obtained using sanding.

  2. Solution for Minimizing Surface Heating Effect for Fast Open-Path CO2 Flux Measurements in Cold Environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hupp, J. R.; Burba, G. G.; McDermitt, D. K.; Anderson, D. J.; Eckles, R. D.

    2010-12-01

    Open-path design of the high speed gas analyzers is a well-established configuration widely used for measurements of CO2 fluxes and concentrations. This configuration has advantages and deficiencies. Advantages include excellent frequency response, long-term stability, low sensitivity to window contamination, low-power pump-free operation, and infrequent calibration requirements. Deficiencies include susceptibility to precipitation and icing, and a potential need for instrument surface heating correction in extremely cold environments. In spite of the deficiencies, open-path measurements often provide data coverage that would not have been possible using traditional closed-path approach. Data loss from precipitation and icing may not always be prevented for the open-path instruments, while heating effect does not pose a problem for CO2 flux in warm environments. Even in cold environments, the impact of heating on CO2 flux is much smaller than other well-known effects, such as Webb-Pearman-Leuning terms, or frequency response corrections for closed-path analyzers. Nonetheless, instrument surface heating effect in cold environments could be addressed scientifically, via developing the theoretical corrections, and instrumentally, via measuring fast integrated air temperature in the optical path, or via enclosing the open-path instrument into a low-power short-intake design. Here we provide an alternative way to minimize or eliminate open-path heating effect, achieved by minimizing or eliminating the temperature gradient between the instrument surface and ambient air. Open-path low temperature controlled design is discussed in comparison with two other approaches (e.g., traditional open-path design and closed-path design) in terms of their field performance for Eddy Covariance flux measurements in the cold. This study presents field data from a new open-path CO2/H2O gas analyzer, LI-7500A, based on the LI-7500 model modified to produce substantially less heat during

  3. Fast and accurate grid representations for atom-based docking with partner flexibility.

    PubMed

    de Vries, Sjoerd J; Zacharias, Martin

    2017-06-30

    Macromolecular docking methods can broadly be divided into geometric and atom-based methods. Geometric methods use fast algorithms that operate on simplified, grid-like molecular representations, while atom-based methods are more realistic and flexible, but far less efficient. Here, a hybrid approach of grid-based and atom-based docking is presented, combining precalculated grid potentials with neighbor lists for fast and accurate calculation of atom-based intermolecular energies and forces. The grid representation is compatible with simultaneous multibody docking and can tolerate considerable protein flexibility. When implemented in our docking method ATTRACT, grid-based docking was found to be ∼35x faster. With the OPLSX forcefield instead of the ATTRACT coarse-grained forcefield, the average speed improvement was >100x. Grid-based representations may allow atom-based docking methods to explore large conformational spaces with many degrees of freedom, such as multiple macromolecules including flexibility. This increases the domain of biological problems to which docking methods can be applied. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. FPS-RAM: Fast Prefix Search RAM-Based Hardware for Forwarding Engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaitsu, Kazuya; Yamamoto, Koji; Kuroda, Yasuto; Inoue, Kazunari; Ata, Shingo; Oka, Ikuo

    Ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) is becoming very popular for designing high-throughput forwarding engines on routers. However, TCAM has potential problems in terms of hardware and power costs, which limits its ability to deploy large amounts of capacity in IP routers. In this paper, we propose new hardware architecture for fast forwarding engines, called fast prefix search RAM-based hardware (FPS-RAM). We designed FPS-RAM hardware with the intent of maintaining the same search performance and physical user interface as TCAM because our objective is to replace the TCAM in the market. Our RAM-based hardware architecture is completely different from that of TCAM and has dramatically reduced the costs and power consumption to 62% and 52%, respectively. We implemented FPS-RAM on an FPGA to examine its lookup operation.

  5. Polydimethylsiloxane-Based Superhydrophobic Surfaces on Steel Substrate: Fabrication, Reversibly Extreme Wettability and Oil-Water Separation.

    PubMed

    Su, Xiaojing; Li, Hongqiang; Lai, Xuejun; Zhang, Lin; Liang, Tao; Feng, Yuchun; Zeng, Xingrong

    2017-01-25

    Functional surfaces for reversibly switchable wettability and oil-water separation have attracted much interest with pushing forward an immense influence on fundamental research and industrial application in recent years. This article proposed a facile method to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces on steel substrates via electroless replacement deposition of copper sulfate (CuSO 4 ) and UV curing of vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). PDMS-based superhydrophobic surfaces exhibited water contact angle (WCA) close to 160° and water sliding angle (WSA) lower than 5°, preserving outstanding chemical stability that maintained superhydrophobicity immersing in different aqueous solutions with pH values from 1 to 13 for 12 h. Interestingly, the superhydrophobic surface could dramatically switch to the superhydrophilic state under UV irradiation and then gradually recover to the highly hydrophobic state with WCA at 140° after dark storage. The underlying mechanism was also investigated by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Additionally, the PDMS-based steel mesh possessed high separation efficiency and excellent reusability in oil-water separation. Our studies provide a simple, fast, and economical fabrication method for wettability-transformable superhydrophobic surfaces and have the potential applications in microfluidics, the biomedical field, and oil spill cleanup.

  6. Fast wavelet based algorithms for linear evolution equations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Engquist, Bjorn; Osher, Stanley; Zhong, Sifen

    1992-01-01

    A class was devised of fast wavelet based algorithms for linear evolution equations whose coefficients are time independent. The method draws on the work of Beylkin, Coifman, and Rokhlin which they applied to general Calderon-Zygmund type integral operators. A modification of their idea is applied to linear hyperbolic and parabolic equations, with spatially varying coefficients. A significant speedup over standard methods is obtained when applied to hyperbolic equations in one space dimension and parabolic equations in multidimensions.

  7. Algorithms and applications of aberration correction and American standard-based digital evaluation in surface defects evaluating system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Fan; Cao, Pin; Yang, Yongying; Li, Chen; Chai, Huiting; Zhang, Yihui; Xiong, Haoliang; Xu, Wenlin; Yan, Kai; Zhou, Lin; Liu, Dong; Bai, Jian; Shen, Yibing

    2016-11-01

    The inspection of surface defects is one of significant sections of optical surface quality evaluation. Based on microscopic scattering dark-field imaging, sub-aperture scanning and stitching, the Surface Defects Evaluating System (SDES) can acquire full-aperture image of defects on optical elements surface and then extract geometric size and position information of defects with image processing such as feature recognization. However, optical distortion existing in the SDES badly affects the inspection precision of surface defects. In this paper, a distortion correction algorithm based on standard lattice pattern is proposed. Feature extraction, polynomial fitting and bilinear interpolation techniques in combination with adjacent sub-aperture stitching are employed to correct the optical distortion of the SDES automatically in high accuracy. Subsequently, in order to digitally evaluate surface defects with American standard by using American military standards MIL-PRF-13830B to judge the surface defects information obtained from the SDES, an American standard-based digital evaluation algorithm is proposed, which mainly includes a judgment method of surface defects concentration. The judgment method establishes weight region for each defect and adopts the method of overlap of weight region to calculate defects concentration. This algorithm takes full advantage of convenience of matrix operations and has merits of low complexity and fast in running, which makes itself suitable very well for highefficiency inspection of surface defects. Finally, various experiments are conducted and the correctness of these algorithms are verified. At present, these algorithms have been used in SDES.

  8. Polysaccharide-based antibiofilm surfaces.

    PubMed

    Junter, Guy-Alain; Thébault, Pascal; Lebrun, Laurent

    2016-01-01

    Surface treatment by natural or modified polysaccharide polymers is a promising means to fight against implant-associated biofilm infections. The present review focuses on polysaccharide-based coatings that have been proposed over the last ten years to impede biofilm formation on material surfaces exposed to bacterial contamination. Anti-adhesive and bactericidal coatings are considered. Besides classical hydrophilic coatings based on hyaluronic acid and heparin, the promising anti-adhesive properties of the algal polysaccharide ulvan are underlined. Surface functionalization by antimicrobial chitosan and derivatives is extensively surveyed, in particular chitosan association with other polysaccharides in layer-by-layer assemblies to form both anti-adhesive and bactericidal coatings. Bacterial contamination of surfaces, leading to biofilm formation, is a major problem in fields as diverse as medicine, first, but also food and cosmetics. Many prophylactic strategies have emerged to try to eliminate or reduce bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on surfaces of materials exposed to bacterial contamination, in particular implant materials. Polysaccharides are widely distributed in nature. A number of these natural polymers display antibiofilm properties. Hence, surface treatment by natural or modified polysaccharides is a promising means to fight against implant-associated biofilm infections. The present manuscript is an in-depth look at polysaccharide-based antibiofilm surfaces that have been proposed over the last ten years. This review, which is a novelty compared to published literature, will bring well documented and updated information to readers of Acta Biomaterialia. Copyright © 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Integration of remote sensing based surface information into a three-dimensional microclimate model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heldens, Wieke; Heiden, Uta; Esch, Thomas; Mueller, Andreas; Dech, Stefan

    2017-03-01

    Climate change urges cities to consider the urban climate as part of sustainable planning. Urban microclimate models can provide knowledge on the climate at building block level. However, very detailed information on the area of interest is required. Most microclimate studies therefore make use of assumptions and generalizations to describe the model area. Remote sensing data with area wide coverage provides a means to derive many parameters at the detailed spatial and thematic scale required by urban climate models. This study shows how microclimate simulations for a series of real world urban areas can be supported by using remote sensing data. In an automated process, surface materials, albedo, LAI/LAD and object height have been derived and integrated into the urban microclimate model ENVI-met. Multiple microclimate simulations have been carried out both with the dynamic remote sensing based input data as well as with manual and static input data to analyze the impact of the RS-based surface information and the suitability of the applied data and techniques. A valuable support of the integration of the remote sensing based input data for ENVI-met is the use of an automated processing chain. This saves tedious manual editing and allows for fast and area wide generation of simulation areas. The analysis of the different modes shows the importance of high quality height data, detailed surface material information and albedo.

  10. Small-size pedestrian detection in large scene based on fast R-CNN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Shengke; Yang, Na; Duan, Lianghua; Liu, Lu; Dong, Junyu

    2018-04-01

    Pedestrian detection is a canonical sub-problem of object detection with high demand during recent years. Although recent deep learning object detectors such as Fast/Faster R-CNN have shown excellent performance for general object detection, they have limited success for small size pedestrian detection in large-view scene. We study that the insufficient resolution of feature maps lead to the unsatisfactory accuracy when handling small instances. In this paper, we investigate issues involving Fast R-CNN for pedestrian detection. Driven by the observations, we propose a very simple but effective baseline for pedestrian detection based on Fast R-CNN, employing the DPM detector to generate proposals for accuracy, and training a fast R-CNN style network to jointly optimize small size pedestrian detection with skip connection concatenating feature from different layers to solving coarseness of feature maps. And the accuracy is improved in our research for small size pedestrian detection in the real large scene.

  11. Fasting time and vitamin B12 levels in a community-based population.

    PubMed

    Orton, Dennis J; Naugler, Christopher; Sadrzadeh, S M Hossein

    2016-07-01

    Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin (Cbl), is an essential vitamin that manifests with numerous severe but non-specific symptoms in cases of deficiency. Assessing Cbl status often requires fasting, although this requirement is not standard between institutions. This study evaluated the impact of fasting on Cbl levels in a large community-based cohort in an effort to promote standardization of Cbl testing between sites. Laboratory data for Cbl, fasting time, patient age and sex were obtained from laboratory information service from Calgary Laboratory Services (CLS) for the period of April 2011 to June 2015. CLS is the sole supplier of laboratory services in the Southern Alberta region in Canada (population, approximately 1.4 million). To investigate potential sex-specific effects of fasting on Cbl levels, males and females were analyzed separately using linear regression models. A total of 346,957 individual patient results (196,849 females, 146,085 males) were obtained. The mean plasma Cbl level was 386.5 (±195.6) pmol/L and 412.0 (±220.8) pmol/L for males and females, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed fasting had no significant association with Cbl levels in females; however a statistically significant decrease of 0.9pmol/L/hour fasting (p<0.001) was noted in males. The broad population variance in Cbl suggests the slight gender-specific differences noted in this study are insignificant. Despite this, fasting has the potential to contribute to higher rates of Cbl deficiency in men. Together, these data suggest fasting should be excluded as a requirement for evaluating plasma Cbl. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Fast image-based mitral valve simulation from individualized geometry.

    PubMed

    Villard, Pierre-Frederic; Hammer, Peter E; Perrin, Douglas P; Del Nido, Pedro J; Howe, Robert D

    2018-04-01

    Common surgical procedures on the mitral valve of the heart include modifications to the chordae tendineae. Such interventions are used when there is extensive leaflet prolapse caused by chordae rupture or elongation. Understanding the role of individual chordae tendineae before operating could be helpful to predict whether the mitral valve will be competent at peak systole. Biomechanical modelling and simulation can achieve this goal. We present a method to semi-automatically build a computational model of a mitral valve from micro CT (computed tomography) scans: after manually picking chordae fiducial points, the leaflets are segmented and the boundary conditions as well as the loading conditions are automatically defined. Fast finite element method (FEM) simulation is carried out using Simulation Open Framework Architecture (SOFA) to reproduce leaflet closure at peak systole. We develop three metrics to evaluate simulation results: (i) point-to-surface error with the ground truth reference extracted from the CT image, (ii) coaptation surface area of the leaflets and (iii) an indication of whether the simulated closed leaflets leak. We validate our method on three explanted porcine hearts and show that our model predicts the closed valve surface with point-to-surface error of approximately 1 mm, a reasonable coaptation surface area, and absence of any leak at peak systole (maximum closed pressure). We also evaluate the sensitivity of our model to changes in various parameters (tissue elasticity, mesh accuracy, and the transformation matrix used for CT scan registration). We also measure the influence of the positions of the chordae tendineae on simulation results and show that marginal chordae have a greater influence on the final shape than intermediate chordae. The mitral valve simulation can help the surgeon understand valve behaviour and anticipate the outcome of a procedure. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Rule-based reasoning is fast and belief-based reasoning can be slow: Challenging current explanations of belief-bias and base-rate neglect.

    PubMed

    Newman, Ian R; Gibb, Maia; Thompson, Valerie A

    2017-07-01

    It is commonly assumed that belief-based reasoning is fast and automatic, whereas rule-based reasoning is slower and more effortful. Dual-Process theories of reasoning rely on this speed-asymmetry explanation to account for a number of reasoning phenomena, such as base-rate neglect and belief-bias. The goal of the current study was to test this hypothesis about the relative speed of belief-based and rule-based processes. Participants solved base-rate problems (Experiment 1) and conditional inferences (Experiment 2) under a challenging deadline; they then gave a second response in free time. We found that fast responses were informed by rules of probability and logical validity, and that slow responses incorporated belief-based information. Implications for Dual-Process theories and future research options for dissociating Type I and Type II processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Bifunctional nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-based leukemia biomarker detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mehn, Dora; Morasso, Carlo; Vanna, Renzo; Schiumarini, Domitilla; Bedoni, Marzia; Ciceri, Fabio; Gramatica, Furio

    2014-03-01

    The Wilms tumor gene (WT1) is a biomarker overexpressed in more than 90% of acute myeloid leukemia patients. Fast and sensitive detection of the WT1 in blood samples would allow monitoring of the minimal residual disease during clinical remission and would permit early detection of a potential relapse in acute myeloid leukemia. In this work, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) based detection of the WT1 sequence using bifunctional, magnetic core - gold shell nanoparticles is presented. The classical co-precipitation method was applied to generate magnetic nanoparticles which were coated with a gold shell after modification with aminopropyltriethoxy silane and subsequent deposition of gold nanoparticle seeds. Simple hydroquinone based reduction procedure was applied for the shell growing in water based reaction mixture at room temperature. Thiolated ssDNA probes of the WT1 sequence were immobilized as capture oligonucleotides on the gold surface. Malachite green was applied both for testing the amplification performance of the core-shell colloidal SERS substrate and also as label dye of the target DNA sequence. The SERS enhancer efficacy of the core-shell nanomaterial was compared with the efficacy of classical spherical gold particles produced using the conventional citrate reduction method. The core-shell particles were found not only to provide an opportunity for facile separation in a heterogeneous reaction system but also to be superior regarding robustness as SERS enhancers.

  15. Image processing for grazing incidence fast atom diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Debiossac, Maxime; Roncin, Philippe

    2016-09-01

    Grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD, or FAD) has developed as a surface sensitive technique. Compared with thermal energies helium diffraction (TEAS or HAS), GIFAD is less sensitive to thermal decoherence but also more demanding in terms of surface coherence, the mean distance between defects. Such high quality surfaces can be obtained from freshly cleaved crystals or in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) chamber where a GIFAD setup has been installed allowing in situ operation. Based on recent publications by Atkinson et al. (2014) and Debiossac et al. (2014), the paper describes in detail the basic steps needed to measure the relative intensities of the diffraction spots. Care is taken to outline the underlying physical assumptions.

  16. A Fast MEANSHIFT Algorithm-Based Target Tracking System

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Jian

    2012-01-01

    Tracking moving targets in complex scenes using an active video camera is a challenging task. Tracking accuracy and efficiency are two key yet generally incompatible aspects of a Target Tracking System (TTS). A compromise scheme will be studied in this paper. A fast mean-shift-based Target Tracking scheme is designed and realized, which is robust to partial occlusion and changes in object appearance. The physical simulation shows that the image signal processing speed is >50 frame/s. PMID:22969397

  17. Automated classification of articular cartilage surfaces based on surface texture.

    PubMed

    Stachowiak, G P; Stachowiak, G W; Podsiadlo, P

    2006-11-01

    In this study the automated classification system previously developed by the authors was used to classify articular cartilage surfaces with different degrees of wear. This automated system classifies surfaces based on their texture. Plug samples of sheep cartilage (pins) were run on stainless steel discs under various conditions using a pin-on-disc tribometer. Testing conditions were specifically designed to produce different severities of cartilage damage due to wear. Environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM) (ESEM) images of cartilage surfaces, that formed a database for pattern recognition analysis, were acquired. The ESEM images of cartilage were divided into five groups (classes), each class representing different wear conditions or wear severity. Each class was first examined and assessed visually. Next, the automated classification system (pattern recognition) was applied to all classes. The results of the automated surface texture classification were compared to those based on visual assessment of surface morphology. It was shown that the texture-based automated classification system was an efficient and accurate method of distinguishing between various cartilage surfaces generated under different wear conditions. It appears that the texture-based classification method has potential to become a useful tool in medical diagnostics.

  18. Fast neutron mutants database and web displays at SoyBase

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    SoyBase, the USDA-ARS soybean genetics and genomics database, has been expanded to include data for the fast neutron mutants produced by Bolon, Vance, et al. In addition to the expected text and sequence homology searches and visualization of the indels in the context of the genome sequence viewer, ...

  19. Multirate-based fast parallel algorithms for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform.

    PubMed

    Tao, Liang; Kwan, Hon Keung

    2012-07-01

    Novel algorithms for the multirate and fast parallel implementation of the 2-D discrete Hartley transform (DHT)-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform (RDGT) and its inverse transform are presented in this paper. A 2-D multirate-based analysis convolver bank is designed for the 2-D RDGT, and a 2-D multirate-based synthesis convolver bank is designed for the 2-D inverse RDGT. The parallel channels in each of the two convolver banks have a unified structure and can apply the 2-D fast DHT algorithm to speed up their computations. The computational complexity of each parallel channel is low and is independent of the Gabor oversampling rate. All the 2-D RDGT coefficients of an image are computed in parallel during the analysis process and can be reconstructed in parallel during the synthesis process. The computational complexity and time of the proposed parallel algorithms are analyzed and compared with those of the existing fastest algorithms for 2-D discrete Gabor transforms. The results indicate that the proposed algorithms are the fastest, which make them attractive for real-time image processing.

  20. Numerical Study on Wake Flow Field Characteristic of the Base-Bleed Unit under Fast Depressurization Process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xue, Xiaochun; Yu, Yonggang

    2017-04-01

    Numerical analyses have been performed to study the influence of fast depressurization on the wake flow field of the base-bleed unit (BBU) with a secondary combustion when the base-bleed projectile is propelled out of the muzzle. Two-dimensional axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations for a multi-component chemically reactive system is solved by Fortran program to calculate the couplings of the internal flow field and wake flow field with consideration of the combustion of the base-bleed propellant and secondary combustion effect. Based on the comparison with the experiments, the unsteady variation mechanism and secondary combustion characteristic of wake flow field under fast depressurization process is obtained numerically. The results show that in the fast depressurization process, the variation extent of the base pressure of the BBU is larger in first 0.9 ms and then decreases gradually and after 1.5 ms, it remains basically stable. The pressure and temperature of the base-bleed combustion chamber experience the decrease and pickup process. Moreover, after the pressure and temperature decrease to the lowest point, the phenomenon that the external gases are flowing back into the base-bleed combustion chamber appears. Also, with the decrease of the initial pressure, the unsteady process becomes shorter and the temperature gradient in the base-bleed combustion chamber declines under the fast depressurization process, which benefits the combustion of the base-bleed propellant.

  1. A fast and reliable readout method for quantitative analysis of surface-enhanced Raman scattering nanoprobes on chip surface

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chang, Hyejin; Jeong, Sinyoung; Ko, Eunbyeol

    2015-05-15

    Surface-enhanced Raman scattering techniques have been widely used for bioanalysis due to its high sensitivity and multiplex capacity. However, the point-scanning method using a micro-Raman system, which is the most common method in the literature, has a disadvantage of extremely long measurement time for on-chip immunoassay adopting a large chip area of approximately 1-mm scale and confocal beam point of ca. 1-μm size. Alternative methods such as sampled spot scan with high confocality and large-area scan method with enlarged field of view and low confocality have been utilized in order to minimize the measurement time practically. In this study, wemore » analyzed the two methods in respect of signal-to-noise ratio and sampling-led signal fluctuations to obtain insights into a fast and reliable readout strategy. On this basis, we proposed a methodology for fast and reliable quantitative measurement of the whole chip area. The proposed method adopted a raster scan covering a full area of 100 μm × 100 μm region as a proof-of-concept experiment while accumulating signals in the CCD detector for single spectrum per frame. One single scan with 10 s over 100 μm × 100 μm area yielded much higher sensitivity compared to sampled spot scanning measurements and no signal fluctuations attributed to sampled spot scan. This readout method is able to serve as one of key technologies that will bring quantitative multiplexed detection and analysis into practice.« less

  2. Surface similarity-based molecular query-retrieval

    PubMed Central

    Singh, Rahul

    2007-01-01

    Background Discerning the similarity between molecules is a challenging problem in drug discovery as well as in molecular biology. The importance of this problem is due to the fact that the biochemical characteristics of a molecule are closely related to its structure. Therefore molecular similarity is a key notion in investigations targeting exploration of molecular structural space, query-retrieval in molecular databases, and structure-activity modelling. Determining molecular similarity is related to the choice of molecular representation. Currently, representations with high descriptive power and physical relevance like 3D surface-based descriptors are available. Information from such representations is both surface-based and volumetric. However, most techniques for determining molecular similarity tend to focus on idealized 2D graph-based descriptors due to the complexity that accompanies reasoning with more elaborate representations. Results This paper addresses the problem of determining similarity when molecules are described using complex surface-based representations. It proposes an intrinsic, spherical representation that systematically maps points on a molecular surface to points on a standard coordinate system (a sphere). Molecular surface properties such as shape, field strengths, and effects due to field super-positioningcan then be captured as distributions on the surface of the sphere. Surface-based molecular similarity is subsequently determined by computing the similarity of the surface-property distributions using a novel formulation of histogram-intersection. The similarity formulation is not only sensitive to the 3D distribution of the surface properties, but is also highly efficient to compute. Conclusion The proposed method obviates the computationally expensive step of molecular pose-optimisation, can incorporate conformational variations, and facilitates highly efficient determination of similarity by directly comparing molecular surfaces

  3. Evaluating Fast Maximum Likelihood-Based Phylogenetic Programs Using Empirical Phylogenomic Data Sets

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Xiaofan; Shen, Xing-Xing; Hittinger, Chris Todd

    2018-01-01

    Abstract The sizes of the data matrices assembled to resolve branches of the tree of life have increased dramatically, motivating the development of programs for fast, yet accurate, inference. For example, several different fast programs have been developed in the very popular maximum likelihood framework, including RAxML/ExaML, PhyML, IQ-TREE, and FastTree. Although these programs are widely used, a systematic evaluation and comparison of their performance using empirical genome-scale data matrices has so far been lacking. To address this question, we evaluated these four programs on 19 empirical phylogenomic data sets with hundreds to thousands of genes and up to 200 taxa with respect to likelihood maximization, tree topology, and computational speed. For single-gene tree inference, we found that the more exhaustive and slower strategies (ten searches per alignment) outperformed faster strategies (one tree search per alignment) using RAxML, PhyML, or IQ-TREE. Interestingly, single-gene trees inferred by the three programs yielded comparable coalescent-based species tree estimations. For concatenation-based species tree inference, IQ-TREE consistently achieved the best-observed likelihoods for all data sets, and RAxML/ExaML was a close second. In contrast, PhyML often failed to complete concatenation-based analyses, whereas FastTree was the fastest but generated lower likelihood values and more dissimilar tree topologies in both types of analyses. Finally, data matrix properties, such as the number of taxa and the strength of phylogenetic signal, sometimes substantially influenced the programs’ relative performance. Our results provide real-world gene and species tree phylogenetic inference benchmarks to inform the design and execution of large-scale phylogenomic data analyses. PMID:29177474

  4. Fast and accurate face recognition based on image compression

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Yufeng; Blasch, Erik

    2017-05-01

    Image compression is desired for many image-related applications especially for network-based applications with bandwidth and storage constraints. The face recognition community typical reports concentrate on the maximal compression rate that would not decrease the recognition accuracy. In general, the wavelet-based face recognition methods such as EBGM (elastic bunch graph matching) and FPB (face pattern byte) are of high performance but run slowly due to their high computation demands. The PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis) algorithms run fast but perform poorly in face recognition. In this paper, we propose a novel face recognition method based on standard image compression algorithm, which is termed as compression-based (CPB) face recognition. First, all gallery images are compressed by the selected compression algorithm. Second, a mixed image is formed with the probe and gallery images and then compressed. Third, a composite compression ratio (CCR) is computed with three compression ratios calculated from: probe, gallery and mixed images. Finally, the CCR values are compared and the largest CCR corresponds to the matched face. The time cost of each face matching is about the time of compressing the mixed face image. We tested the proposed CPB method on the "ASUMSS face database" (visible and thermal images) from 105 subjects. The face recognition accuracy with visible images is 94.76% when using JPEG compression. On the same face dataset, the accuracy of FPB algorithm was reported as 91.43%. The JPEG-compressionbased (JPEG-CPB) face recognition is standard and fast, which may be integrated into a real-time imaging device.

  5. Gelatin Nano-coating for Inhibiting Surface Crystallization of Amorphous Drugs.

    PubMed

    Teerakapibal, Rattavut; Gui, Yue; Yu, Lian

    2018-01-05

    Inhibit the fast surface crystallization of amorphous drugs with gelatin nano-coatings. The free surface of amorphous films of indomethacin or nifedipine was coated by a gelatin solution (type A or B) and dried. The coating's effect on surface crystallization was evaluated. Coating thickness was estimated from mass change after coating. For indomethacin (weak acid, pK a  = 4.5), a gelatin coating of either type deposited at pH 5 and 10 inhibited its fast surface crystal growth. The coating thickness was 20 ± 10 nm. A gelatin coating deposited at pH 3, however, provided no protective effect. These results suggest that an effective gelatin coating does not require that the drug and the polymer have opposite charges. The ineffective pH 3 coating might reflect the poor wetting of indomethacin's neutral, hydrophobic surface by the coating solution. For nifedipine (weak base, pK a  = 2.6), a gelatin coating of either type deposited at pH 5 inhibited its fast surface crystal growth. Gelatin nano-coatings can be conveniently applied to amorphous drugs from solution to inhibit fast surface crystallization. Unlike strong polyelectrolyte coatings, a protective gelatin coating does not require strict pairing of opposite charges. This could make gelatin coating a versatile, pharmaceutically acceptable coating for stabilizing amorphous drugs.

  6. Conceptual design of a fast-ignition laser fusion reactor based on a dry wall chamber

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ogawa, Y.; Goto, T.; Okano, K.; Asaoka, Y.; Hiwatari, R.; Someya, Y.

    2008-05-01

    The fast ignition is quite attractive for a compact laser fusion reactor, because a sufficiently high pellet gain is available with a small input energy. We designed an inertial fusion reactor based on Fast-ignition Advanced Laser fusion reactor CONcept, called FALCON-D, where a dry wall is employed for a chamber wall. A simple point model shows that the pellet gain G~100 is available with laser energies of 350kJ for implosion, 50kJ for heating. This results in the fusion yield of 40 MJ in one shot. By increasing the repetition rate up to 30 Hz, the fusion power of 1.2 GWth becomes available. Plant system analysis shows the net electric power to be about 0.4 GWe In the fast ignition it is available to employ a low aspect ratio pellet, which is favorable for the stability during the implosion phase. Here the pellet aspect ratio is reduced to be 2 ~ 4, and the optimization of the pulse shape for the implosion laser are carried out by using the 1-D hydrodynamic simulation code ILESTA-1D. A ferritic steel with a tungsten armour is employed for the chamber wall. The feasibility of this dry wall concept is studied from various engineering aspects such as surface melting, physical and chemical sputtering, blistering and exfoliation by helium retention, and thermo-mechanical fatigue, and it is found that blistering and exfoliation due to the helium retention and fatigue failure due to cyclic thermal load are major concerns. The cost analysis shows that the construction cost is moderate but the cost of electricity is slightly expensive.

  7. A Fast Smoothing Algorithm for Post-Processing of Surface Reflectance Spectra Retrieved from Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Data

    PubMed Central

    Gao, Bo-Cai; Liu, Ming

    2013-01-01

    Surface reflectance spectra retrieved from remotely sensed hyperspectral imaging data using radiative transfer models often contain residual atmospheric absorption and scattering effects. The reflectance spectra may also contain minor artifacts due to errors in radiometric and spectral calibrations. We have developed a fast smoothing technique for post-processing of retrieved surface reflectance spectra. In the present spectral smoothing technique, model-derived reflectance spectra are first fit using moving filters derived with a cubic spline smoothing algorithm. A common gain curve, which contains minor artifacts in the model-derived reflectance spectra, is then derived. This gain curve is finally applied to all of the reflectance spectra in a scene to obtain the spectrally smoothed surface reflectance spectra. Results from analysis of hyperspectral imaging data collected with the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data are given. Comparisons between the smoothed spectra and those derived with the empirical line method are also presented. PMID:24129022

  8. Influence of diurnal variation and fasting on serum iron concentrations in a community-based population.

    PubMed

    Nguyen, Leonard T; Buse, Joshua D; Baskin, Leland; Sadrzadeh, S M Hossein; Naugler, Christopher

    2017-12-01

    Serum iron is an important clinical test to help identify cases of iron deficiency or overload. Fluctuations caused by diurnal variation and diet are thought to influence test results, which may affect clinical patient management. We examined the impact of these preanalytical factors on iron concentrations in a large community-based cohort. Serum iron concentration, blood collection time, fasting duration, patient age and sex were obtained for community-based clinical testing from the Laboratory Information Service at Calgary Laboratory Services for the period of January 2011 to December 2015. A total of 276,307 individual test results were obtained. Iron levels were relatively high over a long period from 8:00 to 15:00. Mean concentrations were highest at blood collection times of 11:00 for adult men and 12:00 for adult women and children, however iron levels peaked as late as 15:00 in teenagers. With regard to fasting, iron levels required approximately 5h post-prandial time to return to a baseline, except for children and teenage females where no significant variation was seen until after 11h fasting. After 10h fasting, iron concentrations in all patient groups gradually increased to higher levels compared to earlier fasting times. Serum iron concentrations remain reasonably stable during most daytime hours for testing purposes. In adults, blood collection after 5 to 9h fasting provides a representative estimate of a patient's iron levels. For patients who have fasted overnight, i.e. ≥12h fasting, clinicians should be aware that iron concentrations may be elevated beyond otherwise usual levels. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Fast MAS 1H NMR Study of Water Adsorption and Dissociation on the (100) Surface of Ceria Nanocubes: A Fully Hydroxylated, Hydrophobic Ceria Surface

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gill, Lance; Beste, Ariana; Chen, Banghao

    1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to study hydroxylic surface species on ceria nanocubes, a crystalline, high-surface-area CeO 2 that presents mostly (100) facets. Water adsorption and desorption experiments in combination with fast magic angle spinning (MAS, 20–40 kHz) 1H NMR provide high-resolution 1H spectra that allow the observation of ten resonance bands (water or hydroxyl) on or under the (100) surface. Assignments were made using a combination of adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption, quantitative spin counting, deuterium exchange, spin–lattice (T 1) and spin–spin (T 2) relaxation, and DFT calculations. In air, the (100) surface exists as a fullymore » hydroxylated surface. Water adsorption and dissociation on dry ceria surfaces occur first at oxygen vacancies, but Ce 3+ centers are not required since water dissociation is barrier-less on the fully oxidized surface. Surface $-$OH functionality occurs in two resolved bands representing isolated $-$OH (1 ppm) and hydrogen-bonded $-$OH (9 ppm), the latter being dominant. Deuterium exchange of surface hydroxyls with D 2O does not occur under mild or forcing conditions. Despite large differences in the T 1 of surface hydroxyls and physisorbed water, surface hydroxyl T 1 values are independent of the presence or absence of physisorbed water, demonstrating that the protons within these two functional group pools are not in intimate contact. These observations show that, once hydroxylated, the surface $-$OH functionality preferentially forms hydrogen bonds with surface lattice oxygen, i.e., the hydroxylated (100) surface of ceria is hydrophobic. Near this surface it is energetically more favorable for physisorbed water to hydrogen bond to itself rather than to the surface. DFT calculations support this notion. Impurity Na + remaining in incompletely washed ceria nanocubes increases the surface hydrophilicity. In conclusion, sharp, low-field resonances observed in spectra

  10. Fast MAS 1H NMR Study of Water Adsorption and Dissociation on the (100) Surface of Ceria Nanocubes: A Fully Hydroxylated, Hydrophobic Ceria Surface

    DOE PAGES

    Gill, Lance; Beste, Ariana; Chen, Banghao; ...

    2017-03-22

    1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to study hydroxylic surface species on ceria nanocubes, a crystalline, high-surface-area CeO 2 that presents mostly (100) facets. Water adsorption and desorption experiments in combination with fast magic angle spinning (MAS, 20–40 kHz) 1H NMR provide high-resolution 1H spectra that allow the observation of ten resonance bands (water or hydroxyl) on or under the (100) surface. Assignments were made using a combination of adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption, quantitative spin counting, deuterium exchange, spin–lattice (T 1) and spin–spin (T 2) relaxation, and DFT calculations. In air, the (100) surface exists as a fullymore » hydroxylated surface. Water adsorption and dissociation on dry ceria surfaces occur first at oxygen vacancies, but Ce 3+ centers are not required since water dissociation is barrier-less on the fully oxidized surface. Surface $-$OH functionality occurs in two resolved bands representing isolated $-$OH (1 ppm) and hydrogen-bonded $-$OH (9 ppm), the latter being dominant. Deuterium exchange of surface hydroxyls with D 2O does not occur under mild or forcing conditions. Despite large differences in the T 1 of surface hydroxyls and physisorbed water, surface hydroxyl T 1 values are independent of the presence or absence of physisorbed water, demonstrating that the protons within these two functional group pools are not in intimate contact. These observations show that, once hydroxylated, the surface $-$OH functionality preferentially forms hydrogen bonds with surface lattice oxygen, i.e., the hydroxylated (100) surface of ceria is hydrophobic. Near this surface it is energetically more favorable for physisorbed water to hydrogen bond to itself rather than to the surface. DFT calculations support this notion. Impurity Na + remaining in incompletely washed ceria nanocubes increases the surface hydrophilicity. In conclusion, sharp, low-field resonances observed in spectra

  11. (abstract) A Low-Cost Mission to 2060 Chiron Based on the Pluto Fast Flyby

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stern, S. A.; Salvo, C. G.; Wallace, R. A.; Weinstein, S. S.; Weissman, P. R.

    1994-01-01

    The Pluto Fast Flyby-based mission to Chiron described in this paper is a low cost, scientifically rewarding, focused mission in the outer solar system. The proposed mission will make a flyby of 2060 Chiron, an active 'comet' with over 10(sup 4) times the mass of Halley, and an eccentric, Saturn-crossing orbit which ranges from 8.5 to 19 AU. This mission concept achieves the flyby 4.2 years after launch on a direct trajectory from Earth, is independent of Jupiter launch windows, and fits within Discovery cost guidelines. This mission offers the scientific opportunity to examine a class of object left unsampled by the trail-blazing Mariners, Pioneers, Voyagers, and missions to Halley. Spacecraft reconnaissance of Chiron addresses unique objectives relating to cometary science, other small bodies, the structure of quasi-bound atmospheres on modest-sized bodies, and the origin of primitive bodies and the giant planets. Owing to Chiron's large size (180surface morphology, surface composition, internal structure, surface activity (including the nature of Chiron's outbursts), and origin. Engineering analysis indicates that the spacecraft is capable of navigating to and encountering Chiron at close approach distances of less than 5 000 km, well inside the 50 000 to 150 000 km coma, and perhaps within the collisional chemistry zone of the coma. The low cost of the proposed Chiron mission is based on the opportunity to use the planned Pluto Flyby spare spacecraft and a Proton Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) (the pluto spacecraft is being designed to be compatible with a Proton launch). Backup

  12. Flywheel-Based Fast Charging Station - FFCS for Electric Vehicles and Public Transportation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gabbar, Hossam A.; Othman, Ahmed M.

    2017-08-01

    This paper demonstrates novel Flywheel-based Fast Charging Station (FFCS) for high performance and profitable charging infrastructures for public electric buses. The design criteria will be provided for fast charging stations. The station would support the private and open charging framework. Flywheel Energy storage system is utilized to offer advanced energy storage for charging stations to achieve clean public transportation, including electric buses with reducing GHG, including CO2 emission reduction. The integrated modelling and management system in the station is performed by a decision-based control platform that coordinates the power streams between the quick chargers, the flywheel storage framework, photovoltaic cells and the network association. There is a tidy exchange up between the capacity rate of flywheel framework and the power rating of the network association.”

  13. Flexible Ag-C60 nano-biosensors based on surface plasmon coupled emission for clinical and forensic applications.

    PubMed

    Mulpur, Pradyumna; Yadavilli, Sairam; Mulpur, Praharsha; Kondiparthi, Neeharika; Sengupta, Bishwambhar; Rao, Apparao M; Podila, Ramakrishna; Kamisetti, Venkataramaniah

    2015-10-14

    The relatively low sensitivity of fluorescence detection schemes, which are mainly limited by the isotropic nature of fluorophore emission, can be overcome by utilizing surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE). In this study, we demonstrate directional emission from fluorophores on flexible Ag-C60 SPCE sensor platforms for point-of-care sensing, in healthcare and forensic sensing scenarios, with at least 10 times higher sensitivity than traditional fluorescence sensing schemes. Adopting the highly sensitive Ag-C60 SPCE platform based on glass and novel low-cost flexible substrates, we report the unambiguous detection of acid-fast Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacteria at densities as low as 20 Mtb mm(-2); from non-acid-fast bacteria (e.g., E. coli and S. aureus), and the specific on-site detection of acid-fast sperm cells in human semen samples. In combination with the directional emission and high-sensitivity of SPCE platforms, we also demonstrate the utility of smartphones that can replace expensive and cumbersome detectors to enable rapid hand-held detection of analytes in resource-limited settings; a much needed critical advance to biosensors, for developing countries.

  14. Fast neutron sensitivity of neutron detectors based on Boron-10 converter layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mauri, G.; Messi, F.; Kanaki, K.; Hall-Wilton, R.; Karnickis, E.; Khaplanov, A.; Piscitelli, F.

    2018-03-01

    In the last few years many detector technologies for thermal neutron detection have been developed in order to face the shortage of 3He, which is now much less available and more expensive. Moreover the 3He-based detectors can not fulfil the requirements in performance, e.g. the spatial resolution and the counting rate capability needed for the new instruments. The Boron-10-based gaseous detectors have been proposed as a suitable choice. This and other alternative technologies are being developed at ESS. Higher intensities mean higher signals but higher background as well. The signal-to-background ratio is an important feature to study, in particular the γ-ray and the fast neutron contributions. This paper investigates, for the first time, the fast neutrons sensitivity of 10B-based thermal neutron detector. It presents the study of the detector response as a function of energy threshold and the underlying physical mechanisms. The latter are explained with the help of theoretical considerations and simulations.

  15. MR imaging of the inner ear: comparison of a three-dimensional fast spin-echo sequence with use of a dedicated quadrature-surface coil with a gadolinium-enhanced spoiled gradient-recalled sequence.

    PubMed

    Naganawa, S; Ito, T; Fukatsu, H; Ishigaki, T; Nakashima, T; Ichinose, N; Kassai, Y; Miyazaki, M

    1998-09-01

    To prospectively evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the inner ear with a long echo train, three-dimensional (3D), asymmetric Fourier-transform, fast spin-echo (SE) sequence with use of a dedicated quadrature-surface phased-array coil to detect vestibular schwannoma in the cerebellopontine angle and the internal auditory canal. In 205 patients (410 ears) with ear symptoms, 1.5-T MR imaging was performed with unenhanced 3D asymmetric fast SE and gadolinium-enhanced 3D gradient-recalled (SPGR) sequences with use of a quadrature surface phased-array coil. The 3D asymmetric fast SE images were reviewed by two radiologists, with the gadolinium-enhanced 3D SPGR images used as the standard of reference. Nineteen lesions were detected in the 410 ears (diameter range, 2-30 mm; mean, 10.5 mm +/- 6.4 [standard deviation]; five lesions were smaller than 5 mm). With 3D asymmetric fast SE, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, respectively, were 100%, 99.5%, and 99.5% for observer 1 and 100%, 99.7%, and 99.8% for observer 2. The unenhanced 3D asymmetric fast SE sequence with a quadrature-surface phased-array coli allows the reliable detection of vestibular schwannoma in the cerebellopontine angle and internal auditory canal.

  16. Fast method to compute scattering by a buried object under a randomly rough surface: PILE combined with FB-SA.

    PubMed

    Bourlier, Christophe; Kubické, Gildas; Déchamps, Nicolas

    2008-04-01

    A fast, exact numerical method based on the method of moments (MM) is developed to calculate the scattering from an object below a randomly rough surface. Déchamps et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A23, 359 (2006)] have recently developed the PILE (propagation-inside-layer expansion) method for a stack of two one-dimensional rough interfaces separating homogeneous media. From the inversion of the impedance matrix by block (in which two impedance matrices of each interface and two coupling matrices are involved), this method allows one to calculate separately and exactly the multiple-scattering contributions inside the layer in which the inverses of the impedance matrices of each interface are involved. Our purpose here is to apply this method for an object below a rough surface. In addition, to invert a matrix of large size, the forward-backward spectral acceleration (FB-SA) approach of complexity O(N) (N is the number of unknowns on the interface) proposed by Chou and Johnson [Radio Sci.33, 1277 (1998)] is applied. The new method, PILE combined with FB-SA, is tested on perfectly conducting circular and elliptic cylinders located below a dielectric rough interface obeying a Gaussian process with Gaussian and exponential height autocorrelation functions.

  17. Child and Parent Voices on a Community-Based Prevention Program (FAST)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fearnow-Kenney, Melodie; Hill, Patricia; Gore, Nicole

    2016-01-01

    Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a collaborative program involving schools, families, and community-based partners in efforts to prevent substance use, juvenile delinquency, school failure, child abuse and neglect, mental health problems, and violence. Although evaluated extensively, there remains a dearth of qualitative data on child and…

  18. Scaling Trapped Ion Quantum Computers Using Fast Gates and Microtraps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ratcliffe, Alexander K.; Taylor, Richard L.; Hope, Joseph J.; Carvalho, André R. R.

    2018-06-01

    Most attempts to produce a scalable quantum information processing platform based on ion traps have focused on the shuttling of ions in segmented traps. We show that an architecture based on an array of microtraps with fast gates will outperform architectures based on ion shuttling. This system requires higher power lasers but does not require the manipulation of potentials or shuttling of ions. This improves optical access, reduces the complexity of the trap, and reduces the number of conductive surfaces close to the ions. The use of fast gates also removes limitations on the gate time. Error rates of 10-5 are shown to be possible with 250 mW laser power and a trap separation of 100 μ m . The performance of the gates is shown to be robust to the limitations in the laser repetition rate and the presence of many ions in the trap array.

  19. Automatic building detection based on Purposive FastICA (PFICA) algorithm using monocular high resolution Google Earth images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghaffarian, Saman; Ghaffarian, Salar

    2014-11-01

    This paper proposes an improved FastICA model named as Purposive FastICA (PFICA) with initializing by a simple color space transformation and a novel masking approach to automatically detect buildings from high resolution Google Earth imagery. ICA and FastICA algorithms are defined as Blind Source Separation (BSS) techniques for unmixing source signals using the reference data sets. In order to overcome the limitations of the ICA and FastICA algorithms and make them purposeful, we developed a novel method involving three main steps: 1-Improving the FastICA algorithm using Moore-Penrose pseudo inverse matrix model, 2-Automated seeding of the PFICA algorithm based on LUV color space and proposed simple rules to split image into three regions; shadow + vegetation, baresoil + roads and buildings, respectively, 3-Masking out the final building detection results from PFICA outputs utilizing the K-means clustering algorithm with two number of clusters and conducting simple morphological operations to remove noises. Evaluation of the results illustrates that buildings detected from dense and suburban districts with divers characteristics and color combinations using our proposed method have 88.6% and 85.5% overall pixel-based and object-based precision performances, respectively.

  20. Arikan and Alamouti matrices based on fast block-wise inverse Jacket transform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Moon Ho; Khan, Md Hashem Ali; Kim, Kyeong Jin

    2013-12-01

    Recently, Lee and Hou (IEEE Signal Process Lett 13: 461-464, 2006) proposed one-dimensional and two-dimensional fast algorithms for block-wise inverse Jacket transforms (BIJTs). Their BIJTs are not real inverse Jacket transforms from mathematical point of view because their inverses do not satisfy the usual condition, i.e., the multiplication of a matrix with its inverse matrix is not equal to the identity matrix. Therefore, we mathematically propose a fast block-wise inverse Jacket transform of orders N = 2 k , 3 k , 5 k , and 6 k , where k is a positive integer. Based on the Kronecker product of the successive lower order Jacket matrices and the basis matrix, the fast algorithms for realizing these transforms are obtained. Due to the simple inverse and fast algorithms of Arikan polar binary and Alamouti multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) non-binary matrices, which are obtained from BIJTs, they can be applied in areas such as 3GPP physical layer for ultra mobile broadband permutation matrices design, first-order q-ary Reed-Muller code design, diagonal channel design, diagonal subchannel decompose for interference alignment, and 4G MIMO long-term evolution Alamouti precoding design.

  1. Correlation-coefficient-based fast template matching through partial elimination.

    PubMed

    Mahmood, Arif; Khan, Sohaib

    2012-04-01

    Partial computation elimination techniques are often used for fast template matching. At a particular search location, computations are prematurely terminated as soon as it is found that this location cannot compete with an already known best match location. Due to the nonmonotonic growth pattern of the correlation-based similarity measures, partial computation elimination techniques have been traditionally considered inapplicable to speed up these measures. In this paper, we show that partial elimination techniques may be applied to a correlation coefficient by using a monotonic formulation, and we propose basic-mode and extended-mode partial correlation elimination algorithms for fast template matching. The basic-mode algorithm is more efficient on small template sizes, whereas the extended mode is faster on medium and larger templates. We also propose a strategy to decide which algorithm to use for a given data set. To achieve a high speedup, elimination algorithms require an initial guess of the peak correlation value. We propose two initialization schemes including a coarse-to-fine scheme for larger templates and a two-stage technique for small- and medium-sized templates. Our proposed algorithms are exact, i.e., having exhaustive equivalent accuracy, and are compared with the existing fast techniques using real image data sets on a wide variety of template sizes. While the actual speedups are data dependent, in most cases, our proposed algorithms have been found to be significantly faster than the other algorithms.

  2. FastMag: Fast micromagnetic simulator for complex magnetic structures (invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, R.; Li, S.; Lubarda, M. V.; Livshitz, B.; Lomakin, V.

    2011-04-01

    A fast micromagnetic simulator (FastMag) for general problems is presented. FastMag solves the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation and can handle multiscale problems with a high computational efficiency. The simulator derives its high performance from efficient methods for evaluating the effective field and from implementations on massively parallel graphics processing unit (GPU) architectures. FastMag discretizes the computational domain into tetrahedral elements and therefore is highly flexible for general problems. The magnetostatic field is computed via the superposition principle for both volume and surface parts of the computational domain. This is accomplished by implementing efficient quadrature rules and analytical integration for overlapping elements in which the integral kernel is singular. Thus, discretized superposition integrals are computed using a nonuniform grid interpolation method, which evaluates the field from N sources at N collocated observers in O(N) operations. This approach allows handling objects of arbitrary shape, allows easily calculating of the field outside the magnetized domains, does not require solving a linear system of equations, and requires little memory. FastMag is implemented on GPUs with ?> GPU-central processing unit speed-ups of 2 orders of magnitude. Simulations are shown of a large array of magnetic dots and a recording head fully discretized down to the exchange length, with over a hundred million tetrahedral elements on an inexpensive desktop computer.

  3. Sparsity-based fast CGH generation using layer-based approach for 3D point cloud model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Hak Gu; Jeong, Hyunwook; Ro, Yong Man

    2017-03-01

    Computer generated hologram (CGH) is becoming increasingly important for a 3-D display in various applications including virtual reality. In the CGH, holographic fringe patterns are generated by numerically calculating them on computer simulation systems. However, a heavy computational cost is required to calculate the complex amplitude on CGH plane for all points of 3D objects. This paper proposes a new fast CGH generation based on the sparsity of CGH for 3D point cloud model. The aim of the proposed method is to significantly reduce computational complexity while maintaining the quality of the holographic fringe patterns. To that end, we present a new layer-based approach for calculating the complex amplitude distribution on the CGH plane by using sparse FFT (sFFT). We observe the CGH of a layer of 3D objects is sparse so that dominant CGH is rapidly generated from a small set of signals by sFFT. Experimental results have shown that the proposed method is one order of magnitude faster than recently reported fast CGH generation.

  4. A Method for Extracting the Free Energy Surface and Conformational Dynamics of Fast-Folding Proteins from Single Molecule Photon Trajectories

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy holds the promise of providing direct measurements of protein folding free energy landscapes and conformational motions. However, fulfilling this promise has been prevented by technical limitations, most notably, the difficulty in analyzing the small packets of photons per millisecond that are typically recorded from individual biomolecules. Such limitation impairs the ability to accurately determine conformational distributions and resolve sub-millisecond processes. Here we develop an analytical procedure for extracting the conformational distribution and dynamics of fast-folding proteins directly from time-stamped photon arrival trajectories produced by single molecule FRET experiments. Our procedure combines the maximum likelihood analysis originally developed by Gopich and Szabo with a statistical mechanical model that describes protein folding as diffusion on a one-dimensional free energy surface. Using stochastic kinetic simulations, we thoroughly tested the performance of the method in identifying diverse fast-folding scenarios, ranging from two-state to one-state downhill folding, as a function of relevant experimental variables such as photon count rate, amount of input data, and background noise. The tests demonstrate that the analysis can accurately retrieve the original one-dimensional free energy surface and microsecond folding dynamics in spite of the sub-megahertz photon count rates and significant background noise levels of current single molecule fluorescence experiments. Therefore, our approach provides a powerful tool for the quantitative analysis of single molecule FRET experiments of fast protein folding that is also potentially extensible to the analysis of any other biomolecular process governed by sub-millisecond conformational dynamics. PMID:25988351

  5. A Method for Extracting the Free Energy Surface and Conformational Dynamics of Fast-Folding Proteins from Single Molecule Photon Trajectories.

    PubMed

    Ramanathan, Ravishankar; Muñoz, Victor

    2015-06-25

    Single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy holds the promise of providing direct measurements of protein folding free energy landscapes and conformational motions. However, fulfilling this promise has been prevented by technical limitations, most notably, the difficulty in analyzing the small packets of photons per millisecond that are typically recorded from individual biomolecules. Such limitation impairs the ability to accurately determine conformational distributions and resolve sub-millisecond processes. Here we develop an analytical procedure for extracting the conformational distribution and dynamics of fast-folding proteins directly from time-stamped photon arrival trajectories produced by single molecule FRET experiments. Our procedure combines the maximum likelihood analysis originally developed by Gopich and Szabo with a statistical mechanical model that describes protein folding as diffusion on a one-dimensional free energy surface. Using stochastic kinetic simulations, we thoroughly tested the performance of the method in identifying diverse fast-folding scenarios, ranging from two-state to one-state downhill folding, as a function of relevant experimental variables such as photon count rate, amount of input data, and background noise. The tests demonstrate that the analysis can accurately retrieve the original one-dimensional free energy surface and microsecond folding dynamics in spite of the sub-megahertz photon count rates and significant background noise levels of current single molecule fluorescence experiments. Therefore, our approach provides a powerful tool for the quantitative analysis of single molecule FRET experiments of fast protein folding that is also potentially extensible to the analysis of any other biomolecular process governed by sub-millisecond conformational dynamics.

  6. User's Guide for a Modular Flutter Analysis Software System (Fast Version 1.0)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Desmarais, R. N.; Bennett, R. M.

    1978-01-01

    The use and operation of a group of computer programs to perform a flutter analysis of a single planar wing are described. This system of programs is called FAST for Flutter Analysis System, and consists of five programs. Each program performs certain portions of a flutter analysis and can be run sequentially as a job step or individually. FAST uses natural vibration modes as input data and performs a conventional V-g type of solution. The unsteady aerodynamics programs in FAST are based on the subsonic kernel function lifting-surface theory although other aerodynamic programs can be used. Application of the programs is illustrated by a sample case of a complete flutter calculation that exercises each program.

  7. Rule-Based Reasoning Is Fast and Belief-Based Reasoning Can Be Slow: Challenging Current Explanations of Belief-Bias and Base-Rate Neglect

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Ian R.; Gibb, Maia; Thompson, Valerie A.

    2017-01-01

    It is commonly assumed that belief-based reasoning is fast and automatic, whereas rule-based reasoning is slower and more effortful. Dual-Process theories of reasoning rely on this speed-asymmetry explanation to account for a number of reasoning phenomena, such as base-rate neglect and belief-bias. The goal of the current study was to test this…

  8. An Approach in Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning: A Fast, GPU-Based Monte Carlo Method.

    PubMed

    Karbalaee, Mojtaba; Shahbazi-Gahrouei, Daryoush; Tavakoli, Mohammad B

    2017-01-01

    An accurate and fast radiation dose calculation is essential for successful radiation radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to implement a new graphic processing unit (GPU) based radiation therapy treatment planning for accurate and fast dose calculation in radiotherapy centers. A program was written for parallel running based on GPU. The code validation was performed by EGSnrc/DOSXYZnrc. Moreover, a semi-automatic, rotary, asymmetric phantom was designed and produced using a bone, the lung, and the soft tissue equivalent materials. All measurements were performed using a Mapcheck dosimeter. The accuracy of the code was validated using the experimental data, which was obtained from the anthropomorphic phantom as the gold standard. The findings showed that, compared with those of DOSXYZnrc in the virtual phantom and for most of the voxels (>95%), <3% dose-difference or 3 mm distance-to-agreement (DTA) was found. Moreover, considering the anthropomorphic phantom, compared to the Mapcheck dose measurements, <5% dose-difference or 5 mm DTA was observed. Fast calculation speed and high accuracy of GPU-based Monte Carlo method in dose calculation may be useful in routine radiation therapy centers as the core and main component of a treatment planning verification system.

  9. Surface layer characteristics derived from fast-response micrometeorological observations over a mountain peak in the central Himalayas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Solanki, Raman; Dhaka, Surendra; Rajeev, Kunjukrishnapillai; Singh, Narendra; Nadimpally, Kirankumar

    Diurnal evolution of atmospheric boundary layer over hilly terrains is highly complex and least understood. Fast-response micrometeorological observations carried out at Manora Peak, Nainital (29.2°N, 79.3°E, 1960 m ASL), a hill station located in the Central Himalayas during March-2013 to February-2014 has been used to investigate diurnal variations in the surface layer characteristics, energy budget and atmospheric circulation over complex terrains. This study mainly employs tower-based sonic anemometer observations (25 Hz) carried out at two levels (12 m and 27 m above the ground level) which are used to derive the variations of zonal, meridional and vertical winds, virtual temperature, momentum flux, turbulent kinetic energy, and Monin-Obukhov stability parameter during fair-weather conditions. In general, this station is manifested by warm and dry conditions as well as relatively high wind speed during pre-monsoon season (March-May); while highly moist conditions prevail during the summer monsoon season (June-September). The sensible heat flux (SHF) undergoes a prominent diurnal variation during winter and pre-monsoon seasons with peak values (200 to 400 Wm-2) occurring between 11-15 Local Time (LT) and weakly negative values (typically -20 Wm-2) during night, the latter indicating a downward transfer of heat from atmosphere to surface. The noon-time peak values systematically increases from winter to pre-monsoon season. Remarkably, the large noon-time values of SHF observed during the pre-monsoon season over this station (peak SHF of more than 400 Wm-2 during May) arise from the forced lifting of air masses, caused by the prevailing horizontal winds that blow perpendicular to the mountain. The intricate details of the surface layer parameters and fluxes over this site will assist in investigating how such a complex topography influences the flux generation process.

  10. Fast online Monte Carlo-based IMRT planning for the MRI linear accelerator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bol, G. H.; Hissoiny, S.; Lagendijk, J. J. W.; Raaymakers, B. W.

    2012-03-01

    The MRI accelerator, a combination of a 6 MV linear accelerator with a 1.5 T MRI, facilitates continuous patient anatomy updates regarding translations, rotations and deformations of targets and organs at risk. Accounting for these demands high speed, online intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) re-optimization. In this paper, a fast IMRT optimization system is described which combines a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation engine for online beamlet generation and a fast inverse dose optimization algorithm. Tightly conformal IMRT plans are generated for four phantom cases and two clinical cases (cervix and kidney) in the presence of the magnetic fields of 0 and 1.5 T. We show that for the presented cases the beamlet generation and optimization routines are fast enough for online IMRT planning. Furthermore, there is no influence of the magnetic field on plan quality and complexity, and equal optimization constraints at 0 and 1.5 T lead to almost identical dose distributions.

  11. HT-FRTC: a fast radiative transfer code using kernel regression

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thelen, Jean-Claude; Havemann, Stephan; Lewis, Warren

    2016-09-01

    The HT-FRTC is a principal component based fast radiative transfer code that can be used across the electromagnetic spectrum from the microwave through to the ultraviolet to calculate transmittance, radiance and flux spectra. The principal components cover the spectrum at a very high spectral resolution, which allows very fast line-by-line, hyperspectral and broadband simulations for satellite-based, airborne and ground-based sensors. The principal components are derived during a code training phase from line-by-line simulations for a diverse set of atmosphere and surface conditions. The derived principal components are sensor independent, i.e. no extra training is required to include additional sensors. During the training phase we also derive the predictors which are required by the fast radiative transfer code to determine the principal component scores from the monochromatic radiances (or fluxes, transmittances). These predictors are calculated for each training profile at a small number of frequencies, which are selected by a k-means cluster algorithm during the training phase. Until recently the predictors were calculated using a linear regression. However, during a recent rewrite of the code the linear regression was replaced by a Gaussian Process (GP) regression which resulted in a significant increase in accuracy when compared to the linear regression. The HT-FRTC has been trained with a large variety of gases, surface properties and scatterers. Rayleigh scattering as well as scattering by frozen/liquid clouds, hydrometeors and aerosols have all been included. The scattering phase function can be fully accounted for by an integrated line-by-line version of the Edwards-Slingo spherical harmonics radiation code or approximately by a modification to the extinction (Chou scaling).

  12. Fast traffic sign recognition with a rotation invariant binary pattern based feature.

    PubMed

    Yin, Shouyi; Ouyang, Peng; Liu, Leibo; Guo, Yike; Wei, Shaojun

    2015-01-19

    Robust and fast traffic sign recognition is very important but difficult for safe driving assistance systems. This study addresses fast and robust traffic sign recognition to enhance driving safety. The proposed method includes three stages. First, a typical Hough transformation is adopted to implement coarse-grained location of the candidate regions of traffic signs. Second, a RIBP (Rotation Invariant Binary Pattern) based feature in the affine and Gaussian space is proposed to reduce the time of traffic sign detection and achieve robust traffic sign detection in terms of scale, rotation, and illumination. Third, the techniques of ANN (Artificial Neutral Network) based feature dimension reduction and classification are designed to reduce the traffic sign recognition time. Compared with the current work, the experimental results in the public datasets show that this work achieves robustness in traffic sign recognition with comparable recognition accuracy and faster processing speed, including training speed and recognition speed.

  13. Fast reconstruction of off-axis digital holograms based on digital spatial multiplexing.

    PubMed

    Sha, Bei; Liu, Xuan; Ge, Xiao-Lu; Guo, Cheng-Shan

    2014-09-22

    A method for fast reconstruction of off-axis digital holograms based on digital multiplexing algorithm is proposed. Instead of the existed angular multiplexing (AM), the new method utilizes a spatial multiplexing (SM) algorithm, in which four off-axis holograms recorded in sequence are synthesized into one SM function through multiplying each hologram with a tilted plane wave and then adding them up. In comparison with the conventional methods, the SM algorithm simplifies two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier transforms (FTs) of four N*N arrays into a 1.25-D FTs of one N*N arrays. Experimental results demonstrate that, using the SM algorithm, the computational efficiency can be improved and the reconstructed wavefronts keep the same quality as those retrieved based on the existed AM method. This algorithm may be useful in design of a fast preview system of dynamic wavefront imaging in digital holography.

  14. Fibrous structure in GaSb surfaces irradiated with fast Cu cluster ions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsuchida, Hidetsugu; Nitta, Noriko; Yanagida, Yusuke; Okumura, Yuya; Murase, Ryu

    2018-04-01

    The effect of fast cluster irradiation on the formation of fibrous structures is investigated for single crystal GaSb surfaces irradiated by Cun+ ions (n = 1-3) with an energy of 0.4 MeV/atom at ion fluences up to 5 × 1015 cm-2. We study the cluster size dependence on the growth of fibrous network structures. With increasing cluster size, the shape of the fiber changed from rod-like to spherical. To quantitatively evaluate this cluster effect, a fiber diameter d in rod or spherical portion is examined as a function of ion fluence Φ and cluster size n. We find that the fiber diameter nonlinearly increases and follows the relation d ∝nα×Φ , with α≈2 . This evidently implies that the amount of defects generated by n-sized cluster bombardments varies as n2 for n ≤3 . Cluster ion irradiation enhances the defect generation owing to the overlap between cascades of individual cluster constituents and is therefore effective for the growth of nanofibers.

  15. Variable disparity-motion estimation based fast three-view video coding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bae, Kyung-Hoon; Kim, Seung-Cheol; Hwang, Yong Seok; Kim, Eun-Soo

    2009-02-01

    In this paper, variable disparity-motion estimation (VDME) based 3-view video coding is proposed. In the encoding, key-frame coding (KFC) based motion estimation and variable disparity estimation (VDE) for effectively fast three-view video encoding are processed. These proposed algorithms enhance the performance of 3-D video encoding/decoding system in terms of accuracy of disparity estimation and computational overhead. From some experiments, stereo sequences of 'Pot Plant' and 'IVO', it is shown that the proposed algorithm's PSNRs is 37.66 and 40.55 dB, and the processing time is 0.139 and 0.124 sec/frame, respectively.

  16. Surface water mass composition changes captured by cores of Arctic land-fast sea ice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, I. J.; Eicken, H.; Mahoney, A. R.; Van Hale, R.; Gough, A. J.; Fukamachi, Y.; Jones, J.

    2016-04-01

    In the Arctic, land-fast sea ice growth can be influenced by fresher water from rivers and residual summer melt. This paper examines a method to reconstruct changes in water masses using oxygen isotope measurements of sea ice cores. To determine changes in sea water isotope composition over the course of the ice growth period, the output of a sea ice thermodynamic model (driven with reanalysis data, observations of snow depth, and freeze-up dates) is used along with sea ice oxygen isotope measurements and an isotopic fractionation model. Direct measurements of sea ice growth rates are used to validate the output of the sea ice growth model. It is shown that for sea ice formed during the 2011/2012 ice growth season at Barrow, Alaska, large changes in isotopic composition of the ocean waters were captured by the sea ice isotopic composition. Salinity anomalies in the ocean were also tracked by moored instruments. These data indicate episodic advection of meteoric water, having both lower salinity and lower oxygen isotopic composition, during the winter sea ice growth season. Such advection of meteoric water during winter is surprising, as no surface meltwater and no local river discharge should be occurring at this time of year in that area. How accurately changes in water masses as indicated by oxygen isotope composition can be reconstructed using oxygen isotope analysis of sea ice cores is addressed, along with methods/strategies that could be used to further optimize the results. The method described will be useful for winter detection of meteoric water presence in Arctic fast ice regions, which is important for climate studies in a rapidly changing Arctic. Land-fast sea ice effective fractionation coefficients were derived, with a range of +1.82‰ to +2.52‰. Those derived effective fractionation coefficients will be useful for future water mass component proportion calculations. In particular, the equations given can be used to inform choices made when

  17. Chemistry of fast electrons

    PubMed Central

    Maximoff, Sergey N.; Head-Gordon, Martin P.

    2009-01-01

    A chemicurrent is a flux of fast (kinetic energy ≳ 0.5−1.3 eV) metal electrons caused by moderately exothermic (1−3 eV) chemical reactions over high work function (4−6 eV) metal surfaces. In this report, the relation between chemicurrent and surface chemistry is elucidated with a combination of top-down phenomenology and bottom-up atomic-scale modeling. Examination of catalytic CO oxidation, an example which exhibits a chemicurrent, reveals 3 constituents of this relation: The localization of some conduction electrons to the surface via a reduction reaction, 0.5 O2 + δe− → Oδ− (Red); the delocalization of some surface electrons into a conduction band in an oxidation reaction, Oδ− + CO → CO2δ− → CO2 + δe− (Ox); and relaxation without charge transfer (Rel). Juxtaposition of Red, Ox, and Rel produces a daunting variety of metal electronic excitations, but only those that originate from CO2 reactive desorption are long-range and fast enough to dominate the chemicurrent. The chemicurrent yield depends on the universality class of the desorption process and the distribution of the desorption thresholds. This analysis implies a power-law relation with exponent 2.66 between the chemicurrent and the heat of adsorption, which is consistent with experimental findings for a range of systems. This picture also applies to other oxidation-reduction reactions over high work function metal surfaces. PMID:19561296

  18. A Novel Fast and Secure Approach for Voice Encryption Based on DNA Computing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kakaei Kate, Hamidreza; Razmara, Jafar; Isazadeh, Ayaz

    2018-06-01

    Today, in the world of information communication, voice information has a particular importance. One way to preserve voice data from attacks is voice encryption. The encryption algorithms use various techniques such as hashing, chaotic, mixing, and many others. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed for voice encryption based on three different schemes to increase flexibility and strength of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm uses an innovative encoding scheme, the DNA encryption technique and a permutation function to provide a secure and fast solution for voice encryption. The algorithm is evaluated based on various measures including signal to noise ratio, peak signal to noise ratio, correlation coefficient, signal similarity and signal frequency content. The results demonstrate applicability of the proposed method in secure and fast encryption of voice files

  19. Registration of surface structures using airborne focused ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Sundström, N; Börjesson, P O; Holmer, N G; Olsson, L; Persson, H W

    1991-01-01

    A low-cost measuring system, based on a personal computer combined with standard equipment for complex measurements and signal processing, has been assembled. Such a system increases the possibilities for small hospitals and clinics to finance advanced measuring equipment. A description of equipment developed for airborne ultrasound together with a personal computer-based system for fast data acquisition and processing is given. Two air-adapted ultrasound transducers with high lateral resolution have been developed. Furthermore, a few results for fast and accurate estimation of signal arrival time are presented. The theoretical estimation models developed are applied to skin surface profile registrations.

  20. Development of fast neutron radiography system based on portable neutron generator

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yi, Chia Jia, E-mail: gei-i-kani@hotmail.com; Nilsuwankosit, Sunchai, E-mail: sunchai.n@chula.ac.th

    Due to the high installation cost, the safety concern and the immobility of the research reactors, the neutron radiography system based on portable neutron generator is proposed. Since the neutrons generated from a portable neutron generator are mostly the fast neutrons, the system is emphasized on using the fast neutrons for the purpose of conducting the radiography. In order to suppress the influence of X-ray produced by the neutron generator, a combination of a shielding material sandwiched between two identical imaging plates is used. A binary XOR operation is then applied for combining the information from the imaging plates. Themore » raw images obtained confirm that the X-ray really has a large effect and that XOR operation can help enhance the effect of the neutrons.« less

  1. A real-time surface inspection system for precision steel balls based on machine vision

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Yi-Ji; Tsai, Jhy-Cherng; Hsu, Ya-Chen

    2016-07-01

    Precision steel balls are one of the most fundament components for motion and power transmission parts and they are widely used in industrial machinery and the automotive industry. As precision balls are crucial for the quality of these products, there is an urgent need to develop a fast and robust system for inspecting defects of precision steel balls. In this paper, a real-time system for inspecting surface defects of precision steel balls is developed based on machine vision. The developed system integrates a dual-lighting system, an unfolding mechanism and inspection algorithms for real-time signal processing and defect detection. The developed system is tested under feeding speeds of 4 pcs s-1 with a detection rate of 99.94% and an error rate of 0.10%. The minimum detectable surface flaw area is 0.01 mm2, which meets the requirement for inspecting ISO grade 100 precision steel balls.

  2. Fast Marching Tree: a Fast Marching Sampling-Based Method for Optimal Motion Planning in Many Dimensions*

    PubMed Central

    Janson, Lucas; Schmerling, Edward; Clark, Ashley; Pavone, Marco

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we present a novel probabilistic sampling-based motion planning algorithm called the Fast Marching Tree algorithm (FMT*). The algorithm is specifically aimed at solving complex motion planning problems in high-dimensional configuration spaces. This algorithm is proven to be asymptotically optimal and is shown to converge to an optimal solution faster than its state-of-the-art counterparts, chiefly PRM* and RRT*. The FMT* algorithm performs a “lazy” dynamic programming recursion on a predetermined number of probabilistically-drawn samples to grow a tree of paths, which moves steadily outward in cost-to-arrive space. As such, this algorithm combines features of both single-query algorithms (chiefly RRT) and multiple-query algorithms (chiefly PRM), and is reminiscent of the Fast Marching Method for the solution of Eikonal equations. As a departure from previous analysis approaches that are based on the notion of almost sure convergence, the FMT* algorithm is analyzed under the notion of convergence in probability: the extra mathematical flexibility of this approach allows for convergence rate bounds—the first in the field of optimal sampling-based motion planning. Specifically, for a certain selection of tuning parameters and configuration spaces, we obtain a convergence rate bound of order O(n−1/d+ρ), where n is the number of sampled points, d is the dimension of the configuration space, and ρ is an arbitrarily small constant. We go on to demonstrate asymptotic optimality for a number of variations on FMT*, namely when the configuration space is sampled non-uniformly, when the cost is not arc length, and when connections are made based on the number of nearest neighbors instead of a fixed connection radius. Numerical experiments over a range of dimensions and obstacle configurations confirm our the-oretical and heuristic arguments by showing that FMT*, for a given execution time, returns substantially better solutions than either PRM* or RRT

  3. Classical And Quantum Rainbow Scattering From Surfaces

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Winter, H.; Schueller, A.; Busch, M.

    2011-06-01

    The structure of clean and adsorbate covered surfaces as well as of ultrathin films can be investigated by grazing scattering of fast atoms. We present two recent experimental techniques which allow one to study the structure of ordered arrangements of surface atoms in detail. (1) Rainbow scattering under axial surface channeling conditions, and (2) fast atom diffraction. Our examples demonstrate the attractive features of grazing fast atom scattering as a powerful analytical tool in studies on the structure of surfaces. We will concentrate our discussion on the structure of ultrathin silica films on a Mo(112) surface and of adsorbed oxygenmore » atoms on a Fe(110) surface.« less

  4. Fast Traffic Sign Recognition with a Rotation Invariant Binary Pattern Based Feature

    PubMed Central

    Yin, Shouyi; Ouyang, Peng; Liu, Leibo; Guo, Yike; Wei, Shaojun

    2015-01-01

    Robust and fast traffic sign recognition is very important but difficult for safe driving assistance systems. This study addresses fast and robust traffic sign recognition to enhance driving safety. The proposed method includes three stages. First, a typical Hough transformation is adopted to implement coarse-grained location of the candidate regions of traffic signs. Second, a RIBP (Rotation Invariant Binary Pattern) based feature in the affine and Gaussian space is proposed to reduce the time of traffic sign detection and achieve robust traffic sign detection in terms of scale, rotation, and illumination. Third, the techniques of ANN (Artificial Neutral Network) based feature dimension reduction and classification are designed to reduce the traffic sign recognition time. Compared with the current work, the experimental results in the public datasets show that this work achieves robustness in traffic sign recognition with comparable recognition accuracy and faster processing speed, including training speed and recognition speed. PMID:25608217

  5. Biomolecular surface construction by PDE transform.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Qiong; Yang, Siyang; Wei, Guo-Wei

    2012-03-01

    This work proposes a new framework for the surface generation based on the partial differential equation (PDE) transform. The PDE transform has recently been introduced as a general approach for the mode decomposition of images, signals, and data. It relies on the use of arbitrarily high-order PDEs to achieve the time-frequency localization, control the spectral distribution, and regulate the spatial resolution. The present work provides a new variational derivation of high-order PDE transforms. The fast Fourier transform is utilized to accomplish the PDE transform so as to avoid stringent stability constraints in solving high-order PDEs. As a consequence, the time integration of high-order PDEs can be done efficiently with the fast Fourier transform. The present approach is validated with a variety of test examples in two-dimensional and three-dimensional settings. We explore the impact of the PDE transform parameters, such as the PDE order and propagation time, on the quality of resulting surfaces. Additionally, we utilize a set of 10 proteins to compare the computational efficiency of the present surface generation method and a standard approach in Cartesian meshes. Moreover, we analyze the present method by examining some benchmark indicators of biomolecular surface, that is, surface area, surface-enclosed volume, solvation free energy, and surface electrostatic potential. A test set of 13 protein molecules is used in the present investigation. The electrostatic analysis is carried out via the Poisson-Boltzmann equation model. To further demonstrate the utility of the present PDE transform-based surface method, we solve the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations with a PDE transform surface of a protein. Second-order convergence is observed for the electrostatic potential and concentrations. Finally, to test the capability and efficiency of the present PDE transform-based surface generation method, we apply it to the construction of an excessively large biomolecule, a

  6. Biomolecular surface construction by PDE transform

    PubMed Central

    Zheng, Qiong; Yang, Siyang; Wei, Guo-Wei

    2011-01-01

    This work proposes a new framework for the surface generation based on the partial differential equation (PDE) transform. The PDE transform has recently been introduced as a general approach for the mode decomposition of images, signals, and data. It relies on the use of arbitrarily high order PDEs to achieve the time-frequency localization, control the spectral distribution, and regulate the spatial resolution. The present work provides a new variational derivation of high order PDE transforms. The fast Fourier transform is utilized to accomplish the PDE transform so as to avoid stringent stability constraints in solving high order PDEs. As a consequence, the time integration of high order PDEs can be done efficiently with the fast Fourier transform. The present approach is validated with a variety of test examples in two and three-dimensional settings. We explore the impact of the PDE transform parameters, such as the PDE order and propagation time, on the quality of resulting surfaces. Additionally, we utilize a set of 10 proteins to compare the computational efficiency of the present surface generation method and the MSMS approach in Cartesian meshes. Moreover, we analyze the present method by examining some benchmark indicators of biomolecular surface, i.e., surface area, surface enclosed volume, solvation free energy and surface electrostatic potential. A test set of 13 protein molecules is used in the present investigation. The electrostatic analysis is carried out via the Poisson-Boltzmann equation model. To further demonstrate the utility of the present PDE transform based surface method, we solve the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations with a PDE transform surface of a protein. Second order convergence is observed for the electrostatic potential and concentrations. Finally, to test the capability and efficiency of the present PDE transform based surface generation method, we apply it to the construction of an excessively large biomolecule, a virus

  7. Grid-Based Surface Generalized Born Model for Calculation of Electrostatic Binding Free Energies.

    PubMed

    Forouzesh, Negin; Izadi, Saeed; Onufriev, Alexey V

    2017-10-23

    Fast and accurate calculation of solvation free energies is central to many applications, such as rational drug design. In this study, we present a grid-based molecular surface implementation of "R6" flavor of the generalized Born (GB) implicit solvent model, named GBNSR6. The speed, accuracy relative to numerical Poisson-Boltzmann treatment, and sensitivity to grid surface parameters are tested on a set of 15 small protein-ligand complexes and a set of biomolecules in the range of 268 to 25099 atoms. Our results demonstrate that the proposed model provides a relatively successful compromise between the speed and accuracy of computing polar components of the solvation free energies (ΔG pol ) and binding free energies (ΔΔG pol ). The model tolerates a relatively coarse grid size h = 0.5 Å, where the grid artifact error in computing ΔΔG pol remains in the range of k B T ∼ 0.6 kcal/mol. The estimated ΔΔG pol s are well correlated (r 2 = 0.97) with the numerical Poisson-Boltzmann reference, while showing virtually no systematic bias and RMSE = 1.43 kcal/mol. The grid-based GBNSR6 model is available in Amber (AmberTools) package of molecular simulation programs.

  8. Fast parallel approach for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform.

    PubMed

    Tao, Liang; Kwan, Hon Keung

    2009-12-01

    Two-dimensional fast Gabor transform algorithms are useful for real-time applications due to the high computational complexity of the traditional 2-D complex-valued discrete Gabor transform (CDGT). This paper presents two block time-recursive algorithms for 2-D DHT-based real-valued discrete Gabor transform (RDGT) and its inverse transform and develops a fast parallel approach for the implementation of the two algorithms. The computational complexity of the proposed parallel approach is analyzed and compared with that of the existing 2-D CDGT algorithms. The results indicate that the proposed parallel approach is attractive for real time image processing.

  9. Fast correction approach for wavefront sensorless adaptive optics based on a linear phase diversity technique.

    PubMed

    Yue, Dan; Nie, Haitao; Li, Ye; Ying, Changsheng

    2018-03-01

    Wavefront sensorless (WFSless) adaptive optics (AO) systems have been widely studied in recent years. To reach optimum results, such systems require an efficient correction method. This paper presents a fast wavefront correction approach for a WFSless AO system mainly based on the linear phase diversity (PD) technique. The fast closed-loop control algorithm is set up based on the linear relationship between the drive voltage of the deformable mirror (DM) and the far-field images of the system, which is obtained through the linear PD algorithm combined with the influence function of the DM. A large number of phase screens under different turbulence strengths are simulated to test the performance of the proposed method. The numerical simulation results show that the method has fast convergence rate and strong correction ability, a few correction times can achieve good correction results, and can effectively improve the imaging quality of the system while needing fewer measurements of CCD data.

  10. A fast double shutter for CCD-based metrology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geisler, R.

    2017-02-01

    Image based metrology such as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) depends on the comparison of two images of an object taken in fast succession. Cameras for these applications provide the so-called `double shutter' mode: One frame is captured with a short exposure time and in direct succession a second frame with a long exposure time can be recorded. The difference in the exposure times is typically no problem since illumination is provided by a pulsed light source such as a laser and the measurements are performed in a darkened environment to prevent ambient light from accumulating in the long second exposure time. However, measurements of self-luminous processes (e.g. plasma, combustion ...) as well as experiments in ambient light are difficult to perform and require special equipment (external shutters, highspeed image sensors, multi-sensor systems ...). Unfortunately, all these methods incorporate different drawbacks such as reduced resolution, degraded image quality, decreased light sensitivity or increased susceptibility to decalibration. In the solution presented here, off-the-shelf CCD sensors are used with a special timing to combine neighbouring pixels in a binning-like way. As a result, two frames of short exposure time can be captured in fast succession. They are stored in the on-chip vertical register in a line-interleaved pattern, read out in the common way and separated again by software. The two resultant frames are completely congruent; they expose no insensitive lines or line shifts and thus enable sub-pixel accurate measurements. A third frame can be captured at the full resolution analogue to the double shutter technique. Image based measurement techniques such as PIV can benefit from this mode when applied in bright environments. The third frame is useful e.g. for acceleration measurements or for particle tracking applications.

  11. Ultrastructure and morphology of biofilms on thermoplastic orthodontic appliances in 'fast' and 'slow' plaque formers.

    PubMed

    Low, Bernard; Lee, Wilson; Seneviratne, C J; Samaranayake, Lakshman P; Hägg, Urban

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the morphological features and distribution of biofilms on Invisalign orthodontic appliances, in a sample of 'slow' and 'fast' plaque formers using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fifty-six Chinese male/female volunteers (aged 19-39 years) were screened for their plaque-forming rate using the plaque percentage index (PPI) coupled with digital photography and computer-based image analysis, after a period of 48 hours of abstinence from oral hygiene procedures. Eleven volunteers (seven males/four females) representing the lowest and highest ends of the plaque formation spectrum were chosen as slow and fast plaque formers, respectively. The subjects wore a full-coverage splint appliance, in which four tiles of Invisalign material were embedded. These tiles were collected at intervals of 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours, as well as 3, 7, and 14 days, immediately fixed in 10 per cent paraformaldehyde in 0.2 M cacodylate buffer solution and prepared for SEM. The surface configuration of the Invisalign appliance was visualized, as well as the chronological pattern of biofilm formation. Significance between fast and slow plaque formers was determined using a Student's t-test. Colonization appeared to centre initially on the raised edges or textured surfaces of the appliance, and initial adhesion was quicker and more abundant in the fast plaque-forming group. In the later stages of biofilm development, both groups showed no discernible differences in biofilm accrual on the surfaces, but the fast group displayed a more complex biofilm structure. More recessed and sheltered areas of the appliance, such as the cusp tips and attachment dimples, harboured more biofilm than the flat surfaces. Hence, it seems that the novel Invisialign orthodontic appliance is a useful tool to investigate the features of biofilm formation in time-course studies.

  12. Fast photo-induced color changes of Ag particles deposited on single-crystalline TiO2 surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Y. J.; Liu, W. Z.; Chen, A.; Shi, L.; Liu, X. H.; Zi, J.

    2018-05-01

    It is well known that surface-plasmon enhanced photo-electrochemical effect or photo-thermal effect of metallic particles on a semiconductor substrate or in a suspension may result in color changes. Such character could be potentially applicable to colorimetric sensors, optical filters, and data storage devices. However, usually the response time for color changes is too long to be practically applied. In this letter, we found that the response rate of color changes could be controlled by the annealing condition of the semiconductor substrate, and changes larger than 10% in spectra were observed after only 1-min exposure to light. Furthermore, such fast response was applied to realize wavelength-dependent "write" and "read" applications with high spatial resolution.

  13. Infrared-spectroscopic single-shot laser mapping ellipsometry: Proof of concept for fast investigations of structured surfaces and interactions in organic thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Furchner, Andreas; Kratz, Christoph; Gkogkou, Dimitra; Ketelsen, Helge; Hinrichs, Karsten

    2017-11-01

    We present a novel infrared-spectroscopic laser mapping ellipsometer based on a single-shot measurement concept. The ellipsometric set-up employs multiple analyzers and detectors to simultaneously measure the sample's optical response under different analyzer azimuths. An essential component is a broadly tunable quantum cascade laser (QCL) covering the important marker region of 1800-1540 cm-1. The ellipsometer allows for fast single-wavelength as well as spectroscopic studies with thin-film sensitivity at temporal resolutions of 60 ms per wavelength. We applied the single-shot mapping ellipsometer for the characterization of metal-island enhancement surfaces as well as of molecular interactions in organic thin films. In less than 3 min, a linescan with 1600 steps revealed profile and infrared-enhancement properties of a gradient gold-island film for sensing applications. Spectroscopic measurements were performed to probe the amide I band of thin films of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) [PNIPAAm], a stimuli-responsive polymer for bioapplications. The QCL spectra agree well with conventional FT-IR ellipsometric results, showing different band components associated with hydrogen-bond interactions between polymer and adsorbed water. Multi-wavelength ellipsometric maps were used to analyze homogeneity and surface contaminations of the polymer films.

  14. Pulse shape discrimination based on fast signals from silicon photomultipliers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Junhao; Wei, Zhiyong; Fang, Meihua; Zhang, Zixia; Cheng, Can; Wang, Yi; Su, Huiwen; Ran, Youquan; Zhu, Qingwei; Zhang, He; Duan, Kai; Chen, Ming; Liu, Meng

    2018-06-01

    Recent developments in organic plastic scintillators capable of pulse shape discrimination (PSD) enable a breakthrough in discrimination between neutrons and gammas. Plastic scintillator detectors coupled with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) offer many advantages, such as lower power consumption, smaller volume, and especially insensitivity to magnetic fields, compared with conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A SensL SiPM has two outputs: a standard output and a fast output. It is known that the charge injected into the fast output electrode is typically approximately 2% of the total charge generated during the avalanche, whereas the charge injected into the standard output electrode is nearly 98% of the total. Fast signals from SiPMs exhibit better performance in terms of timing and time-correlated measurements compared with standard signals. The pulse duration of a standard signal is on the order of hundreds of nanoseconds, whereas the pulse duration of the main monopole waveform of a fast signal is a few tens of nanoseconds. Fast signals are traditionally thought to be suitable for photon counting at very high speeds but unsuitable for PSD due to the partial charge collection. Meanwhile, the standard outputs of SiPMs coupled with discriminating scintillators have yielded nice PSD performances, but there have been no reports on PSD using fast signals. Our analysis shows that fast signals can also provide discrimination if the rate of charge injection into the fast output electrode is fixed for each event, even though only a portion of the charge is collected. In this work, we achieved successful PSD using fast signals; meanwhile, using a coincidence timing window of less 3 nanoseconds between the readouts from both ends of the detector reduced the influence of the high SiPM dark current. We experimentally achieved good timing performance and PSD capability simultaneously.

  15. One-Dimensional Porous Silicon Nanowires with Large Surface Area for Fast Charge⁻Discharge Lithium-Ion Batteries.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xu; Bi, Qinsong; Sajjad, Muhammad; Wang, Xu; Ren, Yang; Zhou, Xiaowei; Xu, Wen; Liu, Zhu

    2018-04-27

    In this study, one-dimensional porous silicon nanowire (1D⁻PSiNW) arrays were fabricated by one-step metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) to etch phosphorus-doped silicon wafers. The as-prepared mesoporous 1D⁻PSiNW arrays here had especially high specific surface areas of 323.47 m²·g -1 and were applied as anodes to achieve fast charge⁻discharge performance for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The 1D⁻PSiNWs anodes with feature size of ~7 nm exhibited reversible specific capacity of 2061.1 mAh·g -1 after 1000 cycles at a high current density of 1.5 A·g -1 . Moreover, under the ultrafast charge⁻discharge current rate of 16.0 A·g -1 , the 1D⁻PSiNWs anodes still maintained 586.7 mAh·g -1 capacity even after 5000 cycles. This nanoporous 1D⁻PSiNW with high surface area is a potential anode candidate for the ultrafast charge⁻discharge in LIBs with high specific capacity and superior cycling performance.

  16. Distributed Function Mining for Gene Expression Programming Based on Fast Reduction.

    PubMed

    Deng, Song; Yue, Dong; Yang, Le-chan; Fu, Xiong; Feng, Ya-zhou

    2016-01-01

    For high-dimensional and massive data sets, traditional centralized gene expression programming (GEP) or improved algorithms lead to increased run-time and decreased prediction accuracy. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a new improved algorithm called distributed function mining for gene expression programming based on fast reduction (DFMGEP-FR). In DFMGEP-FR, fast attribution reduction in binary search algorithms (FAR-BSA) is proposed to quickly find the optimal attribution set, and the function consistency replacement algorithm is given to solve integration of the local function model. Thorough comparative experiments for DFMGEP-FR, centralized GEP and the parallel gene expression programming algorithm based on simulated annealing (parallel GEPSA) are included in this paper. For the waveform, mushroom, connect-4 and musk datasets, the comparative results show that the average time-consumption of DFMGEP-FR drops by 89.09%%, 88.85%, 85.79% and 93.06%, respectively, in contrast to centralized GEP and by 12.5%, 8.42%, 9.62% and 13.75%, respectively, compared with parallel GEPSA. Six well-studied UCI test data sets demonstrate the efficiency and capability of our proposed DFMGEP-FR algorithm for distributed function mining.

  17. Fast-responding bio-based shape memory thermoplastic polyurethanes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Petrovic, Zoran S.; Milic, Jelena; Zhang, Fan

    Fast response shape-memory polyurethanes were prepared from bio-based polyols, diphenyl methane diisocyanate and butane diol. The bio-based polyester polyols were synthesized from 9-hydroxynonanoic acid, a product obtained by ozonolysis of fatty acids extracted from soy oil and castor oil. The morphology of polyurethanes was investigated by synchrotron ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, which revealed the inter-domain spacing between the hard and soft phases, the degree of phase separation, and the level of intermixing between the hard and soft phases. We also conducted thorough investigations of the thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties of the polyurethanes, and found that high crystallization rate ofmore » the soft segment gives these polyurethanes unique properties suitable for shapememory applications, such as adjustable transition temperatures, high degree of elastic elongations, and good mechanical strength. In conclusion, these materials are also potentially biodegradable and biocompatible, therefore suitable for biomedical and environmental applications.« less

  18. Fast-responding bio-based shape memory thermoplastic polyurethanes

    DOE PAGES

    Petrovic, Zoran S.; Milic, Jelena; Zhang, Fan; ...

    2017-05-31

    Fast response shape-memory polyurethanes were prepared from bio-based polyols, diphenyl methane diisocyanate and butane diol. The bio-based polyester polyols were synthesized from 9-hydroxynonanoic acid, a product obtained by ozonolysis of fatty acids extracted from soy oil and castor oil. The morphology of polyurethanes was investigated by synchrotron ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, which revealed the inter-domain spacing between the hard and soft phases, the degree of phase separation, and the level of intermixing between the hard and soft phases. We also conducted thorough investigations of the thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties of the polyurethanes, and found that high crystallization rate ofmore » the soft segment gives these polyurethanes unique properties suitable for shapememory applications, such as adjustable transition temperatures, high degree of elastic elongations, and good mechanical strength. In conclusion, these materials are also potentially biodegradable and biocompatible, therefore suitable for biomedical and environmental applications.« less

  19. Fast-Responding Bio-Based Shape Memory Thermoplastic Polyurethanes.

    PubMed

    Petrović, Zoran S; Milić, Jelena; Zhang, Fan; Ilavsky, Jan

    2017-07-14

    Novel fast response shape-memory polyurethanes were prepared from bio-based polyols, diphenyl methane diisocyanate and butane diol for the first time. The bio-based polyester polyols were synthesized from 9-hydroxynonanoic acid, a product obtained by ozonolysis of fatty acids extracted from soy oil and castor oil. The morphology of polyurethanes was investigated by synchrotron ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, which revealed the inter-domain spacing between the hard and soft phases, the degree of phase separation, and the level of intermixing between the hard and soft phases. We also conducted thorough investigations of the thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties of the polyurethanes, and found that high crystallization rate of the soft segment gives these polyurethanes unique properties suitable for shape-memory applications, such as adjustable transition temperatures, high degree of elastic elongations, and good mechanical strength. These materials are also potentially biodegradable and biocompatible, therefore suitable for biomedical and environmental applications.

  20. Fast single image dehazing based on image fusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Haibo; Yang, Jie; Wu, Zhengping; Zhang, Qingnian

    2015-01-01

    Images captured in foggy weather conditions often fade the colors and reduce the contrast of the observed objects. An efficient image fusion method is proposed to remove haze from a single input image. First, the initial medium transmission is estimated based on the dark channel prior. Second, the method adopts an assumption that the degradation level affected by haze of each region is the same, which is similar to the Retinex theory, and uses a simple Gaussian filter to get the coarse medium transmission. Then, pixel-level fusion is achieved between the initial medium transmission and coarse medium transmission. The proposed method can recover a high-quality haze-free image based on the physical model, and the complexity of the proposed method is only a linear function of the number of input image pixels. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can allow a very fast implementation and achieve better restoration for visibility and color fidelity compared to some state-of-the-art methods.

  1. Fast graph-based relaxed clustering for large data sets using minimal enclosing ball.

    PubMed

    Qian, Pengjiang; Chung, Fu-Lai; Wang, Shitong; Deng, Zhaohong

    2012-06-01

    Although graph-based relaxed clustering (GRC) is one of the spectral clustering algorithms with straightforwardness and self-adaptability, it is sensitive to the parameters of the adopted similarity measure and also has high time complexity O(N(3)) which severely weakens its usefulness for large data sets. In order to overcome these shortcomings, after introducing certain constraints for GRC, an enhanced version of GRC [constrained GRC (CGRC)] is proposed to increase the robustness of GRC to the parameters of the adopted similarity measure, and accordingly, a novel algorithm called fast GRC (FGRC) based on CGRC is developed in this paper by using the core-set-based minimal enclosing ball approximation. A distinctive advantage of FGRC is that its asymptotic time complexity is linear with the data set size N. At the same time, FGRC also inherits the straightforwardness and self-adaptability from GRC, making the proposed FGRC a fast and effective clustering algorithm for large data sets. The advantages of FGRC are validated by various benchmarking and real data sets.

  2. To fast, or not to fast before chemotherapy, that is the question.

    PubMed

    Caccialanza, Riccardo; Cereda, Emanuele; De Lorenzo, Francesco; Farina, Gabriella; Pedrazzoli, Paolo

    2018-03-27

    Fasting in disease prevention and treatment has recently become a popular topic, particularly in the context of oncology. Unfortunately, the growing attention paid by the media has created a background of speculations and ambiguous messages. The attitude towards the role of fasting in cancer patients should be very cautious, as the risk of malnutrition/sarcopenia and disinformation may be associated with this approach. Whether the results obtained by fasting in the cellular and animal models can be transferred to cancer patients is still to be ascertained. At the moment, more preclinical studies are required to determine in which cancers, at which stage, and in what combinations fasting, fasting-mimicking diets or caloric restriction mimetics may prove effective. So, despite the "rumors" of marketing and media, nowadays fasting and calorie restriction around CT represent only a promising intuition, which requires proper efforts and time to be validated by evidence-based clinical data.

  3. A cargo inspection system based on pulsed fast neutron analysis (PFNA).

    PubMed

    Ipe, N E; Olsher, R; Ryge, P; Mrozack, J; Thieu, J

    2005-01-01

    A cargo inspection system based on pulsed fast neutron analysis (PFNA) is to be used at a border crossing to detect explosives and contraband hidden in trucks and cargo containers. Neutrons are produced by the interaction of deuterons in a deuterium target mounted on a moveable scan arm. The collimated pulsed fast neutron beam is used to determine the location and composition of objects in a cargo container. The neutrons produce secondary gamma rays that are characteristic of the object's elemental composition. The cargo inspection system building consists of an accelerator room and an inspection tunnel. The accelerator room is shielded and houses the injector, accelerator and the neutron production gas target. The inspection tunnel is partially shielded. The truck or container to be inspected will be moved through the inspection tunnel by a conveyor system. The facility and radiation source terms considered in the shielding design are described.

  4. SpotCaliper: fast wavelet-based spot detection with accurate size estimation.

    PubMed

    Püspöki, Zsuzsanna; Sage, Daniel; Ward, John Paul; Unser, Michael

    2016-04-15

    SpotCaliper is a novel wavelet-based image-analysis software providing a fast automatic detection scheme for circular patterns (spots), combined with the precise estimation of their size. It is implemented as an ImageJ plugin with a friendly user interface. The user is allowed to edit the results by modifying the measurements (in a semi-automated way), extract data for further analysis. The fine tuning of the detections includes the possibility of adjusting or removing the original detections, as well as adding further spots. The main advantage of the software is its ability to capture the size of spots in a fast and accurate way. http://bigwww.epfl.ch/algorithms/spotcaliper/ zsuzsanna.puspoki@epfl.ch Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Preparation of surface enhanced Raman substrate and its characterization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Y.; Wang, J. Y.; Wang, J. Q.

    2017-10-01

    Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a fast, convenient and highly sensitive detection technique, and preparing the good effect and repeatable substrate is the key to realize the trace amount and quantitative detection in the field of food safety detection. In this paper, a surface enhanced Raman substrate based on submicrometer silver particles structure was prepared by chemical deposition method, and characterized its structure and optical properties.

  6. Fast-Food Environments and Family Fast-Food Intake in Nonmetropolitan Areas

    PubMed Central

    Longacre, Meghan R.; Drake, Keith M.; MacKenzie, Todd A.; Gibson, Lucinda; Owens, Peter; Titus, Linda J.; Beach, Michael L.; Dalton, Madeline A.

    2012-01-01

    Background Little is known about the influence of in-town fast-food availability on family-level fast-food intake in nonmetropolitan areas. Purpose The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the presence of chain fast-food outlets was associated with fast-food intake among adolescents and parents, and to assess whether this relationship was moderated by family access to motor vehicles. Methods Telephone surveys were conducted with 1547 adolescent–parent dyads in 32 New Hampshire and Vermont communities between 2007 and 2008. Fast-food intake in the past week was measured through self-report. In-town fast-food outlets were located and enumerated using an onsite audit. Family motor vehicle access was categorized based on the number of vehicles per licensed drivers in the household. Poisson regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios (RRs). Analyses were conducted in 2011. Results About half (52.1%) of adolescents and 34.7% of parents consumed fast food at least once in the past week. Adolescents and parents who lived in towns with five or more fast-food outlets were about 30% more likely to eat fast food compared to those in towns with no fast-food outlets, even after adjusting for individual, family, and town characteristics (RR=1.29, 95% CI= 1.10, 1.51; RR=1.32, 95% CI=1.07,1.62, respectively). Interaction models demonstrated that the influence of in-town fast-food outlets on fast-food intake was strongest among families with low motor vehicle access. Conclusions In nonmetropolitan areas, household transportation should be considered as an important moderator of the relationship between in-town fast-food outlets and family intake. PMID:22608373

  7. Fast-food environments and family fast-food intake in nonmetropolitan areas.

    PubMed

    Longacre, Meghan R; Drake, Keith M; MacKenzie, Todd A; Gibson, Lucinda; Owens, Peter; Titus, Linda J; Beach, Michael L; Dalton, Madeline A

    2012-06-01

    Little is known about the influence of in-town fast-food availability on family-level fast-food intake in nonmetropolitan areas. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the presence of chain fast-food outlets was associated with fast-food intake among adolescents and parents, and to assess whether this relationship was moderated by family access to motor vehicles. Telephone surveys were conducted with 1547 adolescent-parent dyads in 32 New Hampshire and Vermont communities between 2007 and 2008. Fast-food intake in the past week was measured through self-report. In-town fast-food outlets were located and enumerated using an onsite audit. Family motor vehicle access was categorized based on the number of vehicles per licensed drivers in the household. Poisson regression was used to determine unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios (RRs). Analyses were conducted in 2011. About half (52.1%) of adolescents and 34.7% of parents consumed fast food at least once in the past week. Adolescents and parents who lived in towns with five or more fast-food outlets were about 30% more likely to eat fast food compared to those in towns with no fast-food outlets, even after adjusting for individual, family, and town characteristics (RR=1.29, 95% CI= 1.10, 1.51; RR=1.32, 95% CI=1.07, 1.62, respectively). Interaction models demonstrated that the influence of in-town fast-food outlets on fast-food intake was strongest among families with low motor vehicle access. In nonmetropolitan areas, household transportation should be considered as an important moderator of the relationship between in-town fast-food outlets and family intake. Copyright © 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Automatic aneurysm neck detection using surface Voronoi diagrams.

    PubMed

    Cárdenes, Rubén; Pozo, José María; Bogunovic, Hrvoje; Larrabide, Ignacio; Frangi, Alejandro F

    2011-10-01

    A new automatic approach for saccular intracranial aneurysm isolation is proposed in this work. Due to the inter- and intra-observer variability in manual delineation of the aneurysm neck, a definition based on a minimum cost path around the aneurysm sac is proposed that copes with this variability and is able to make consistent measurements along different data sets, as well as to automate and speedup the analysis of cerebral aneurysms. The method is based on the computation of a minimal path along a scalar field obtained on the vessel surface, to find the aneurysm neck in a robust and fast manner. The computation of the scalar field on the surface is obtained using a fast marching approach with a speed function based on the exponential of the distance from the centerline bifurcation between the aneurysm dome and the parent vessels. In order to assure a correct topology of the aneurysm sac, the neck computation is constrained to a region defined by a surface Voronoi diagram obtained from the branches of the vessel centerline. We validate this method comparing our results in 26 real cases with manual aneurysm isolation obtained using a cut-plane, and also with results obtained using manual delineations from three different observers by comparing typical morphological measures. © 2011 IEEE

  9. A rate-constrained fast full-search algorithm based on block sum pyramid.

    PubMed

    Song, Byung Cheol; Chun, Kang-Wook; Ra, Jong Beom

    2005-03-01

    This paper presents a fast full-search algorithm (FSA) for rate-constrained motion estimation. The proposed algorithm, which is based on the block sum pyramid frame structure, successively eliminates unnecessary search positions according to rate-constrained criterion. This algorithm provides the identical estimation performance to a conventional FSA having rate constraint, while achieving considerable reduction in computation.

  10. Surface-based prostate registration with biomechanical regularization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van de Ven, Wendy J. M.; Hu, Yipeng; Barentsz, Jelle O.; Karssemeijer, Nico; Barratt, Dean; Huisman, Henkjan J.

    2013-03-01

    Adding MR-derived information to standard transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) images for guiding prostate biopsy is of substantial clinical interest. A tumor visible on MR images can be projected on ultrasound by using MRUS registration. A common approach is to use surface-based registration. We hypothesize that biomechanical modeling will better control deformation inside the prostate than a regular surface-based registration method. We developed a novel method by extending a surface-based registration with finite element (FE) simulation to better predict internal deformation of the prostate. For each of six patients, a tetrahedral mesh was constructed from the manual prostate segmentation. Next, the internal prostate deformation was simulated using the derived radial surface displacement as boundary condition. The deformation field within the gland was calculated using the predicted FE node displacements and thin-plate spline interpolation. We tested our method on MR guided MR biopsy imaging data, as landmarks can easily be identified on MR images. For evaluation of the registration accuracy we used 45 anatomical landmarks located in all regions of the prostate. Our results show that the median target registration error of a surface-based registration with biomechanical regularization is 1.88 mm, which is significantly different from 2.61 mm without biomechanical regularization. We can conclude that biomechanical FE modeling has the potential to improve the accuracy of multimodal prostate registration when comparing it to regular surface-based registration.

  11. Fast Erase Method and Apparatus For Digital Media

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oakely, Ernest C. (Inventor)

    2006-01-01

    A non-contact fast erase method for erasing information stored on a magnetic or optical media. The magnetic media element includes a magnetic surface affixed to a toroidal conductor and stores information in a magnetic polarization pattern. The fast erase method includes applying an alternating current to a planar inductive element positioned near the toroidal conductor, inducing an alternating current in the toroidal conductor, and heating the magnetic surface to a temperature that exceeds the Curie-point so that information stored on the magnetic media element is permanently erased. The optical disc element stores information in a plurality of locations being defined by pits and lands in a toroidal conductive layer. The fast erase method includes similarly inducing a plurality of currents in the optical media element conductive layer and melting a predetermined portion of the conductive layer so that the information stored on the optical medium is destroyed.

  12. Calculation of fast neutron removal cross sections for different lunar soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tellili, B.; Elmahroug, Y.; Souga, C.

    2014-01-01

    The interaction of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs) with the lunar surface produces secondary radiations as neutrons. The study of the production and attenuation of these neutrons in the lunar soil is very important to estimate the annual ambient dose equivalent on the lunar surface and for lunar nuclear spectroscopy. Also, understanding the attenuation of fast neutrons in lunar soils can help in measuring of the lunar neutron density profile and to measure the neutron flux on the lunar surface. In this paper, the attenuation of fast neutrons in different lunar soils is investigated. The macroscopic effective removal cross section (ΣR) of fast neutrons was theoretically calculated from the mass removal cross-section values (ΣR/ρ) for various elements in soils. The obtained values of (ΣR) were discussed according to the density. The results show that the attenuation of fast neutrons is more important in the landing sites of Apollo 12 and Luna 16 than the other landing sites of Apollo and Luna missions.

  13. Formulation and optimization of fast dissolving intraoral drug delivery system for clobazam using response surface methodology

    PubMed Central

    Bala, Rajni; Khanna, Sushil; Pawar, Pravin K.

    2013-01-01

    Clobazam is a newer 1,5-benzodiazepine used for the treatment of epilepsy. It is better tolerated and less sedating than other benzodiazepines. Absorption of the drug can be impacted by oral fast dissolving dosage form; this may have implications for epilepsy in pediatrics and those having difficulty in swallowing tablets/capsules resulting in improved patient compliance. The purpose of the present investigation was to formulate and optimize clobazam oro-dissolving tablets by direct compression method using response surface methodology (RSM). Oro-dispersible tablets of clobazam were prepared by direct compression method using crospovidone (2-6%) as a superdisintegrant, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) (20-40%) was used as diluents along with directly compressible mannitol to enhance mouth feel. A 32 full factorial design was applied to investigate the combined effect of two formulation variables: amount of crospovidone and MCC over the independent variables disintegration time, wetting time and percent drug release. Disintegration time showed by all formulations was found to be in the range of 24.3-193 s based on evaluation parameters the formulation containing 6% of crospovidone and 30% of MCC showed promising performance against all other formulations. The results demonstrated that the RSM could efficiently be applied for the formulation of clobazam oro-dispersible tablets; therefore, constitute an advance in the management of epileptic attacks. PMID:24083203

  14. Surface topography study of prepared 3D printed moulds via 3D printer for silicone elastomer based nasal prosthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdullah, Abdul Manaf; Din, Tengku Noor Daimah Tengku; Mohamad, Dasmawati; Rahim, Tuan Noraihan Azila Tuan; Akil, Hazizan Md; Rajion, Zainul Ahmad

    2016-12-01

    Conventional prosthesis fabrication is highly depends on the hand creativity of laboratory technologist. The development in 3D printing technology offers a great help in fabricating affordable and fast yet esthetically acceptable prostheses. This study was conducted to discover the potential of 3D printed moulds for indirect silicone elastomer based nasal prosthesis fabrication. Moulds were designed using computer aided design (CAD) software (Solidworks, USA) and converted into the standard tessellation language (STL) file. Three moulds with layer thickness of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3mm were printed utilizing polymer filament based 3D printer (Makerbot Replicator 2X, Makerbot, USA). Another one mould was printed utilizing liquid resin based 3D printer (Objet 30 Scholar, Stratasys, USA) as control. The printed moulds were then used to fabricate maxillofacial silicone specimens (n=10)/mould. Surface profilometer (Surfcom Flex, Accretech, Japan), digital microscope (KH77000, Hirox, USA) and scanning electron microscope (Quanta FEG 450, Fei, USA) were used to measure the surface roughness as well as the topological properties of fabricated silicone. Statistical analysis of One-Way ANOVA was employed to compare the surface roughness of the fabricated silicone elastomer. Result obtained demonstrated significant differences in surface roughness of the fabricated silicone (p<0.01). Further post hoc analysis also revealed significant differences in silicone fabricated using different 3D printed moulds (p<0.01). A 3D printed mould was successfully prepared and characterized. With surface topography that could be enhanced, inexpensive and rapid mould fabrication techniques, polymer filament based 3D printer is potential for indirect silicone elastomer based nasal prosthesis fabrication.

  15. Do Adolescents Who Live or Go to School Near Fast Food Restaurants Eat More Frequently From Fast Food Restaurants?

    PubMed Central

    Forsyth, Ann; Wall, Melanie; Larson, Nicole; Story, Mary; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

    2012-01-01

    This population-based study examined whether residential or school neighborhood access to fast food restaurants is related to adolescents’ eating frequency of fast food. A classroom-based survey of racially/ethnically diverse adolescents (n=2,724) in 20 secondary schools in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota was used to assess eating frequency at five types of fast food restaurants. Black, Hispanic, and Native American adolescents lived near more fast food restaurants than white and Asian adolescents and also ate at fast food restaurants more often. After controlling for individual-level socio-demographics, adolescent males living near high numbers fast food restaurants ate more frequently from these venues compared to their peers. PMID:23064515

  16. Optimization-Based Calibration of FAST.Farm Parameters Against SOWFA: Preprint

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Moreira, Paula D; Annoni, Jennifer; Jonkman, Jason

    2018-01-04

    FAST.Farm is a medium-delity wind farm modeling tool that can be used to assess power and loads contributions of wind turbines in a wind farm. The objective of this paper is to undertake a calibration procedure to set the user parameters of FAST.Farm to accurately represent results from large-eddy simulations. The results provide an in- depth analysis of the comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulations before and after calibration. The comparison of FAST.Farm and large-eddy simulation results are presented with respect to streamwise and radial velocity components as well as wake-meandering statistics (mean and standard deviation) in the lateral andmore » vertical directions under different atmospheric and turbine operating conditions.« less

  17. A Fast and Robust Poisson-Boltzmann Solver Based on Adaptive Cartesian Grids

    PubMed Central

    Boschitsch, Alexander H.; Fenley, Marcia O.

    2011-01-01

    An adaptive Cartesian grid (ACG) concept is presented for the fast and robust numerical solution of the 3D Poisson-Boltzmann Equation (PBE) governing the electrostatic interactions of large-scale biomolecules and highly charged multi-biomolecular assemblies such as ribosomes and viruses. The ACG offers numerous advantages over competing grid topologies such as regular 3D lattices and unstructured grids. For very large biological molecules and multi-biomolecule assemblies, the total number of grid-points is several orders of magnitude less than that required in a conventional lattice grid used in the current PBE solvers thus allowing the end user to obtain accurate and stable nonlinear PBE solutions on a desktop computer. Compared to tetrahedral-based unstructured grids, ACG offers a simpler hierarchical grid structure, which is naturally suited to multigrid, relieves indirect addressing requirements and uses fewer neighboring nodes in the finite difference stencils. Construction of the ACG and determination of the dielectric/ionic maps are straightforward, fast and require minimal user intervention. Charge singularities are eliminated by reformulating the problem to produce the reaction field potential in the molecular interior and the total electrostatic potential in the exterior ionic solvent region. This approach minimizes grid-dependency and alleviates the need for fine grid spacing near atomic charge sites. The technical portion of this paper contains three parts. First, the ACG and its construction for general biomolecular geometries are described. Next, a discrete approximation to the PBE upon this mesh is derived. Finally, the overall solution procedure and multigrid implementation are summarized. Results obtained with the ACG-based PBE solver are presented for: (i) a low dielectric spherical cavity, containing interior point charges, embedded in a high dielectric ionic solvent – analytical solutions are available for this case, thus allowing rigorous

  18. Flight Deck Surface Trajectory-Based Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Foyle, David C.; Hooey, Becky L.; Bakowski, Deborah L.

    2017-01-01

    Surface Trajectory-Based Operations (STBO) is a future concept for surface operations where time requirements are incorporated into taxi operations to support surface planning and coordination. Pilot-in-the-loop flight deck simulations have been conducted to study flight deck displays algorithms to aid pilots in complying with the time requirements of time-based taxi operations (i.e., at discrete locations in 3 12 D operations or at all points along the route in 4DT operations). The results of these studies (conformance, time-of-arrival error, eye-tracking data, and safety ratings) are presented. Flight deck simulation work done in collaboration with DLR is described. Flight deck research issues in future auto-taxi operations are also introduced.

  19. Common and Specific Factors Approaches to Home-Based Treatment: I-FAST and MST

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Mo Yee; Greene, Gilbert J.; Fraser, J. Scott; Edwards, Shivani G.; Grove, David; Solovey, Andrew D.; Scott, Pamela

    2013-01-01

    Objectives: This study examined the treatment outcomes of integrated families and systems treatment (I-FAST), a moderated common factors approach, in reference to multisystemic therapy (MST), an established specific factor approach, for treating at risk children and adolescents and their families in an intensive community-based setting. Method:…

  20. Fast automatic 3D liver segmentation based on a three-level AdaBoost-guided active shape model

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    He, Baochun; Huang, Cheng; Zhou, Shoujun

    Purpose: A robust, automatic, and rapid method for liver delineation is urgently needed for the diagnosis and treatment of liver disorders. Until now, the high variability in liver shape, local image artifacts, and the presence of tumors have complicated the development of automatic 3D liver segmentation. In this study, an automatic three-level AdaBoost-guided active shape model (ASM) is proposed for the segmentation of the liver based on enhanced computed tomography images in a robust and fast manner, with an emphasis on the detection of tumors. Methods: The AdaBoost voxel classifier and AdaBoost profile classifier were used to automatically guide three-levelmore » active shape modeling. In the first level of model initialization, fast automatic liver segmentation by an AdaBoost voxel classifier method is proposed. A shape model is then initialized by registration with the resulting rough segmentation. In the second level of active shape model fitting, a prior model based on the two-class AdaBoost profile classifier is proposed to identify the optimal surface. In the third level, a deformable simplex mesh with profile probability and curvature constraint as the external force is used to refine the shape fitting result. In total, three registration methods—3D similarity registration, probability atlas B-spline, and their proposed deformable closest point registration—are used to establish shape correspondence. Results: The proposed method was evaluated using three public challenge datasets: 3Dircadb1, SLIVER07, and Visceral Anatomy3. The results showed that our approach performs with promising efficiency, with an average of 35 s, and accuracy, with an average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.94 ± 0.02, 0.96 ± 0.01, and 0.94 ± 0.02 for the 3Dircadb1, SLIVER07, and Anatomy3 training datasets, respectively. The DSC of the SLIVER07 testing and Anatomy3 unseen testing datasets were 0.964 and 0.933, respectively. Conclusions: The proposed automatic

  1. Fast automatic 3D liver segmentation based on a three-level AdaBoost-guided active shape model.

    PubMed

    He, Baochun; Huang, Cheng; Sharp, Gregory; Zhou, Shoujun; Hu, Qingmao; Fang, Chihua; Fan, Yingfang; Jia, Fucang

    2016-05-01

    A robust, automatic, and rapid method for liver delineation is urgently needed for the diagnosis and treatment of liver disorders. Until now, the high variability in liver shape, local image artifacts, and the presence of tumors have complicated the development of automatic 3D liver segmentation. In this study, an automatic three-level AdaBoost-guided active shape model (ASM) is proposed for the segmentation of the liver based on enhanced computed tomography images in a robust and fast manner, with an emphasis on the detection of tumors. The AdaBoost voxel classifier and AdaBoost profile classifier were used to automatically guide three-level active shape modeling. In the first level of model initialization, fast automatic liver segmentation by an AdaBoost voxel classifier method is proposed. A shape model is then initialized by registration with the resulting rough segmentation. In the second level of active shape model fitting, a prior model based on the two-class AdaBoost profile classifier is proposed to identify the optimal surface. In the third level, a deformable simplex mesh with profile probability and curvature constraint as the external force is used to refine the shape fitting result. In total, three registration methods-3D similarity registration, probability atlas B-spline, and their proposed deformable closest point registration-are used to establish shape correspondence. The proposed method was evaluated using three public challenge datasets: 3Dircadb1, SLIVER07, and Visceral Anatomy3. The results showed that our approach performs with promising efficiency, with an average of 35 s, and accuracy, with an average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.94 ± 0.02, 0.96 ± 0.01, and 0.94 ± 0.02 for the 3Dircadb1, SLIVER07, and Anatomy3 training datasets, respectively. The DSC of the SLIVER07 testing and Anatomy3 unseen testing datasets were 0.964 and 0.933, respectively. The proposed automatic approach achieves robust, accurate, and fast liver

  2. Surface-functionalized, pH-responsive poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based microparticles for intranasal vaccine delivery: Effect of surface modification with chitosan and mannan.

    PubMed

    Li, Ze; Xiong, Fangfang; He, Jintian; Dai, Xiaojing; Wang, Gaizhen

    2016-12-01

    In the present study, surface-functionalized, pH-responsive poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles were investigated for nasal delivery of hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg). pH-responsive PLGA, chitosan modified PLGA (CS-PLGA), mannan modified PLGA (MN-PLGA), mannan and chitosan co-modified PLGA (MN-CS-PLGA) microparticles were prepared utilizing a double-emulsion method. Antigen was released rapidly from four types of microparticles at pH5.0 and pH 6.0, but slowly released at pH 7.4. Mannan and chitosan surface modification enhanced intracellular microparticle uptake by macrophages. Following intracellular macrophage antigen uptake, antigen release occurred in three different patterns: fast release from PLGA and MN-PLGA microparticles in endosomes/lysosomes, slow release from CS-PLGA microparticles in cytoplasm and a combination of fast release and slow release patterns from MN-CS-PLGA microparticles. Furthermore, chitosan coating modification increased the residence time of CS-PLGA and MN-CS-PLGA microparticles in the nasal cavity. In vivo immunogenicity studies indicated that MN-CS-PLGA microparticles induced stronger humoral and cell-mediated immune responses compared with PLGA, MN-PLGA and CS-PLGA microparticles. These results suggest that surface modification of pH-responsive PLGA microparticles with mannan and chitosan is a promising tool for nasal delivery of HBsAg. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. A fast point-cloud computing method based on spatial symmetry of Fresnel field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Xiangxiang; Zhang, Kai; Shen, Chuan; Zhu, Wenliang; Wei, Sui

    2017-10-01

    Aiming at the great challenge for Computer Generated Hologram (CGH) duo to the production of high spatial-bandwidth product (SBP) is required in the real-time holographic video display systems. The paper is based on point-cloud method and it takes advantage of the propagating reversibility of Fresnel diffraction in the propagating direction and the fringe pattern of a point source, known as Gabor zone plate has spatial symmetry, so it can be used as a basis for fast calculation of diffraction field in CGH. A fast Fresnel CGH method based on the novel look-up table (N-LUT) method is proposed, the principle fringe patterns (PFPs) at the virtual plane is pre-calculated by the acceleration algorithm and be stored. Secondly, the Fresnel diffraction fringe pattern at dummy plane can be obtained. Finally, the Fresnel propagation from dummy plan to hologram plane. The simulation experiments and optical experiments based on Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) is setup to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method under the premise of ensuring the quality of 3D reconstruction the method proposed in the paper can be applied to shorten the computational time and improve computational efficiency.

  4. Fast ion transport at a gas-metal interface

    DOE PAGES

    McDevitt, Christopher J.; Tang, Xian-Zhu; Guo, Zehua

    2017-11-06

    Fast ion transport and the resulting fusion yield reduction are computed at a gas-metal interface. The extent of fusion yield reduction is observed to depend sensitively on the charge state of the surrounding pusher material and the width of the atomically mixed region. These sensitivities suggest that idealized boundary conditions often implemented at the gas-pusher interface for the purpose of estimating fast ion loss will likely overestimate fusion reactivity reduction in several important limits. Additionally, the impact of a spatially complex material interface is investigated by considering a collection of droplets of the pusher material immersed in a DT plasma.more » It is found that for small Knudsen numbers, the extent of fusion yield reduction scales with the surface area of the material interface. As the Knudsen number is increased, but, the simple surface area scaling is broken, suggesting that hydrodynamic mix has a nontrivial impact on the extent of fast ion losses.« less

  5. A FAST ITERATIVE METHOD FOR SOLVING THE EIKONAL EQUATION ON TRIANGULATED SURFACES*

    PubMed Central

    Fu, Zhisong; Jeong, Won-Ki; Pan, Yongsheng; Kirby, Robert M.; Whitaker, Ross T.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents an efficient, fine-grained parallel algorithm for solving the Eikonal equation on triangular meshes. The Eikonal equation, and the broader class of Hamilton–Jacobi equations to which it belongs, have a wide range of applications from geometric optics and seismology to biological modeling and analysis of geometry and images. The ability to solve such equations accurately and efficiently provides new capabilities for exploring and visualizing parameter spaces and for solving inverse problems that rely on such equations in the forward model. Efficient solvers on state-of-the-art, parallel architectures require new algorithms that are not, in many cases, optimal, but are better suited to synchronous updates of the solution. In previous work [W. K. Jeong and R. T. Whitaker, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 30 (2008), pp. 2512–2534], the authors proposed the fast iterative method (FIM) to efficiently solve the Eikonal equation on regular grids. In this paper we extend the fast iterative method to solve Eikonal equations efficiently on triangulated domains on the CPU and on parallel architectures, including graphics processors. We propose a new local update scheme that provides solutions of first-order accuracy for both architectures. We also propose a novel triangle-based update scheme and its corresponding data structure for efficient irregular data mapping to parallel single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) processors. We provide detailed descriptions of the implementations on a single CPU, a multicore CPU with shared memory, and SIMD architectures with comparative results against state-of-the-art Eikonal solvers. PMID:22641200

  6. Fast hierarchical knowledge-based approach for human face detection in color images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Jun; Gong, Jie; Zhang, Guilin; Hu, Ruolan

    2001-09-01

    This paper presents a fast hierarchical knowledge-based approach for automatically detecting multi-scale upright faces in still color images. The approach consists of three levels. At the highest level, skin-like regions are determinated by skin model, which is based on the color attributes hue and saturation in HSV color space, as well color attributes red and green in normalized color space. In level 2, a new eye model is devised to select human face candidates in segmented skin-like regions. An important feature of the eye model is that it is independent of the scale of human face. So it is possible for finding human faces in different scale with scanning image only once, and it leads to reduction the computation time of face detection greatly. In level 3, a human face mosaic image model, which is consistent with physical structure features of human face well, is applied to judge whether there are face detects in human face candidate regions. This model includes edge and gray rules. Experiment results show that the approach has high robustness and fast speed. It has wide application perspective at human-computer interactions and visual telephone etc.

  7. Improved switching reliability achieved in HfOx based RRAM with mountain-like surface-graphited carbon layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tao, Ye; Ding, Wentao; Wang, Zhongqiang; Xu, Haiyang; Zhao, Xiaoning; Li, Xuhong; Liu, Weizhen; Ma, Jiangang; Liu, Yichun

    2018-05-01

    In this work, we demonstrated an effective method to improve the switching reliability of HfOx based RRAM device by inserting mountain-like surface-graphited carbon (MSGC) layer. The MSGC layer was fabricated through thermal annealing of amorphous carbon (a-C) film with high sp2 proportion (49.7%) under 500 °C on Pt substrate, whose characteristics were validated by XPS and Raman spectrums. The local electric-field (LEF) was enhanced around the nanoscale tips of MSGC layer due to large surface curvature, which leads to simplified CFs and localization of resistive switching region. It takes responsibility to the reduction of high/low resistance states (HRS/LRS) fluctuation from 173.8%/64.9% to 23.6%/6.5%, respectively. In addition, the resulting RRAM devices exhibited fast switching speed (<65 ns), good retention (>104 s at 85 °C) and low cycling degradation. This method could be promising to develop reliable and repeatable high-performance RRAM for practical applications.

  8. A fast and accurate dihedral interpolation loop subdivision scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Zhuo; An, Yalei; Wang, Zhongshuai; Yu, Ke; Zhong, Si; Lan, Rushi; Luo, Xiaonan

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we propose a fast and accurate dihedral interpolation Loop subdivision scheme for subdivision surfaces based on triangular meshes. In order to solve the problem of surface shrinkage, we keep the limit condition unchanged, which is important. Extraordinary vertices are handled using modified Butterfly rules. Subdivision schemes are computationally costly as the number of faces grows exponentially at higher levels of subdivision. To address this problem, our approach is to use local surface information to adaptively refine the model. This is achieved simply by changing the threshold value of the dihedral angle parameter, i.e., the angle between the normals of a triangular face and its adjacent faces. We then demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for various 3D graphic triangular meshes, and extensive experimental results show that it can match or exceed the expected results at lower computational cost.

  9. Fast generation of three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state based on the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants in coupled cavities.

    PubMed

    Huang, Xiao-Bin; Chen, Ye-Hong; Wang, Zhe

    2016-05-24

    In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme to fast generate three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state by constructing shortcuts to adiabatic passage (STAP) based on the "Lewis-Riesenfeld (LR) invariants" in spatially separated cavities connected by optical fibers. Numerical simulations illustrate that the scheme is not only fast, but robust against the decoherence caused by atomic spontaneous emission, cavity losses and the fiber photon leakages. This might be useful to realize fast and noise-resistant quantum information processing for multi-qubit systems.

  10. Micro- and nano-porous surface patterns prepared by surface-confined directional melt crystallization of solvent

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Byoung Soo; Kim, Hyun Jin; An, Suyeong; Chi, Sangwon; Kim, Junseok; Lee, Jonghwi

    2017-07-01

    Recently, numerous attempts have been made to engineer micro- and nano-porous surface patterns or to develop convenient preparation methods for the practical applications of self-cleaning surfaces, water-repellent surfaces, novel textures, etc. Herein, we introduce a simple, cheap, and repeatable crystallization-based method to produce porous surface structures, on any surface of already fabricated polymeric materials. Contact of the solvent phase with cooled polymer surfaces enabled the limited dissolution of the surfaces and the subsequent extremely fast melt crystallization of the solvent. After removing the crystals, various micro- and nano-porous patterns were obtained, whose pore sizes ranged over three orders of magnitude. Pore depth was linearly dependent on the dissolution time. Crystal growth was mainly directed normal to the surfaces, but it was also controlled in-plane, resulting in cylindrical or lamellar structures. Superhydrophobic surfaces were successfully prepared on both polystyrene and polycarbonate. This process offers a novel surface engineering tool for a variety of polymer surfaces, whose topology can be conveniently controlled over a wide range by crystal engineering.

  11. Displacement, distance, and shape measurements of fast-rotating rough objects by two mutually tilted interference fringe systems.

    PubMed

    Günther, Philipp; Kuschmierz, Robert; Pfister, Thorsten; Czarske, Jürgen W

    2013-05-01

    The precise distance measurement of fast-moving rough surfaces is important in several applications such as lathe monitoring. A nonincremental interferometer based on two mutually tilted interference fringe systems has been realized for this task. The distance is coded in the phase difference between the generated interference signals corresponding to the fringe systems. Large tilting angles between the interference fringe systems are necessary for a high sensitivity. However, due to the speckle effect at rough surfaces, different envelopes and phase jumps of the interference signals occur. At large tilting angles, these signals become dissimilar, resulting in a small correlation coefficient and a high measurement uncertainty. Based on a matching of illumination and receiving optics, the correlation coefficient and the phase difference estimation have been improved significantly. For axial displacement measurements of recurring rough surfaces, laterally moving with velocities of 5 m/s, an uncertainty of 110 nm has been attained. For nonrecurring surfaces, a distance measurement uncertainty of 830 nm has been achieved. Incorporating the additionally measured lateral velocity and the rotational speed, the two-dimensional shape of rotating objects results. Since the measurement uncertainty of the displacement, distance, and shape is nearly independent of the lateral surface velocity, this technique is predestined for fast-rotating objects, such as crankshafts, camshafts, vacuum pump shafts, or turning parts of lathes.

  12. Improved FFT-based numerical inversion of Laplace transforms via fast Hartley transform algorithm

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hwang, Chyi; Lu, Ming-Jeng; Shieh, Leang S.

    1991-01-01

    The disadvantages of numerical inversion of the Laplace transform via the conventional fast Fourier transform (FFT) are identified and an improved method is presented to remedy them. The improved method is based on introducing a new integration step length Delta(omega) = pi/mT for trapezoidal-rule approximation of the Bromwich integral, in which a new parameter, m, is introduced for controlling the accuracy of the numerical integration. Naturally, this method leads to multiple sets of complex FFT computations. A new inversion formula is derived such that N equally spaced samples of the inverse Laplace transform function can be obtained by (m/2) + 1 sets of N-point complex FFT computations or by m sets of real fast Hartley transform (FHT) computations.

  13. Precision and accuracy in smFRET based structural studies—A benchmark study of the Fast-Nano-Positioning System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nagy, Julia; Eilert, Tobias; Michaelis, Jens

    2018-03-01

    Modern hybrid structural analysis methods have opened new possibilities to analyze and resolve flexible protein complexes where conventional crystallographic methods have reached their limits. Here, the Fast-Nano-Positioning System (Fast-NPS), a Bayesian parameter estimation-based analysis method and software, is an interesting method since it allows for the localization of unknown fluorescent dye molecules attached to macromolecular complexes based on single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) measurements. However, the precision, accuracy, and reliability of structural models derived from results based on such complex calculation schemes are oftentimes difficult to evaluate. Therefore, we present two proof-of-principle benchmark studies where we use smFRET data to localize supposedly unknown positions on a DNA as well as on a protein-nucleic acid complex. Since we use complexes where structural information is available, we can compare Fast-NPS localization to the existing structural data. In particular, we compare different dye models and discuss how both accuracy and precision can be optimized.

  14. Extremely Fast Numerical Integration of Ocean Surface Wave Dynamics

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-09-30

    sub-processor must be added as shown in the blue box of Fig. 1. We first consider the Kadomtsev - Petviashvili (KP) equation ηt + coηx +αηηx + βη ...analytic integration of the so-called “soliton equations ,” I have discovered how the GFT can be used to solved higher order equations for which study...analytical study and extremely fast numerical integration of the extended nonlinear Schroedinger equation for fully three dimensional wave motion

  15. Fast and precise dense grid size measurement method based on coaxial dual optical imaging system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Jiping; Peng, Xiang; Yu, Jiping; Hao, Jian; Diao, Yan; Song, Tao; Li, Ameng; Lu, Xiaowei

    2015-10-01

    Test sieves with dense grid structure are widely used in many fields, accurate gird size calibration is rather critical for success of grading analysis and test sieving. But traditional calibration methods suffer from the disadvantages of low measurement efficiency and shortage of sampling number of grids which could lead to quality judgment risk. Here, a fast and precise test sieve inspection method is presented. Firstly, a coaxial imaging system with low and high optical magnification probe is designed to capture the grid images of the test sieve. Then, a scaling ratio between low and high magnification probes can be obtained by the corresponding grids in captured images. With this, all grid dimensions in low magnification image can be obtained by measuring few corresponding grids in high magnification image with high accuracy. Finally, by scanning the stage of the tri-axis platform of the measuring apparatus, whole surface of the test sieve can be quickly inspected. Experiment results show that the proposed method can measure the test sieves with higher efficiency compare to traditional methods, which can measure 0.15 million grids (gird size 0.1mm) within only 60 seconds, and it can measure grid size range from 20μm to 5mm precisely. In a word, the presented method can calibrate the grid size of test sieve automatically with high efficiency and accuracy. By which, surface evaluation based on statistical method can be effectively implemented, and the quality judgment will be more reasonable.

  16. A fluctuation-induced plasma transport diagnostic based upon fast-Fourier transform spectral analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Powers, E. J.; Kim, Y. C.; Hong, J. Y.; Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.

    1978-01-01

    A diagnostic, based on fast Fourier-transform spectral analysis techniques, that provides experimental insight into the relationship between the experimentally observable spectral characteristics of the fluctuations and the fluctuation-induced plasma transport is described. The model upon which the diagnostic technique is based and its experimental implementation is discussed. Some characteristic results obtained during the course of an experimental study of fluctuation-induced transport in the electric field dominated NASA Lewis bumpy torus plasma are presented.

  17. DAN instrument for NASA`s MSL mission: fast science data processing and instrument commanding for Mars surface operations and for field tests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vostrukhin, A.; Kozyrev, A.; Litvak, M.; Malakhov, A.; Mitrofanov, I.; Mokrousov, M.; Sanin, A.; Tretyakov, V.

    2009-04-01

    The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument is contributed by Russian Space Agency to NASA for Mars Science Laboratory mission which was originally scheduled for 2009 and now is shifted to 2011. The design of DAN instrument is partially inherited from HEND instrument for NASA's Mars Odyssey, which now successfully operates providing global mapping of martian neutron albedo, searching the distribution of martian water and observing the martian seasonal cycles. DAN is specially designed as an active neutron instrument for surface operations onboard mobile platforms. It is able to focus science investigations on local surface area around rover with horizontal resolution about 1 meter and vertical penetration about 0.5 m. The primary goal of DAN is the exploration of the hydrogen content of the bulk Martian subsurface material. This data will be used to estimate the content of chemically bound water in the hydrated minerals. The concept of DAN operations is based on combination of neutron activation analysis and neutron well logging tequnique, which are commonly used in the Earth geological applications. DAN consists blocks of Detectors and Electronics (DE) and Pulse Neutron Generator (PNG). The last one is used to irradiate the martian subsurface by pulses of 14MeV neutrons with changeable frequency up to 10 Hz. The first one detects post-pulse afterglow of neutrons, as they were thermalized down to epithermal and thermal energies within the martian subsurface. The result of detections are so called die away curves of neutrons afterglow, which show flux and time profile of thermalized neutrons and bring to us the observational signature of layering structure of martian regolith in part of depth distribution of Hydrogen (most effective element for thermalization of neutrons). In this study we focus on the development, verification and validation of DAN fast data processing and commanding. It is necessary to perform deconvolution from counting statistic in DAN

  18. Fast assembling microarrays of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Au nanoparticle clusters as reproducible substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ye, Min; Wei, Zewen; Hu, Fei; Wang, Jianxin; Ge, Guanglu; Hu, Zhiyuan; Shao, Mingwang; Lee, Shuit-Tong; Liu, Jian

    2015-08-01

    It is currently a very active research area to develop new types of substrates which integrate various nanomaterials for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques. Here we report a unique approach to prepare SERS substrates with reproducible performance. It features silicon mold-assisted magnetic assembling of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Au nanoparticle clusters (NCs) into arrayed microstructures on a wafer scale. This approach enables the fabrication of both silicon-based and hydrogel-based substrates in a sequential manner. We have demonstrated that strong SERS signals can be harvested from these substrates due to an efficient coupling effect between Fe3O4@Au NCs, with enhancement factors >106. These substrates have been confirmed to provide reproducible SERS signals, with low variations in different locations or batches of samples. We investigate the spatial distributions of electromagnetic field enhancement around Fe3O4@Au NCs assemblies using finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The procedure to prepare the substrates is straightforward and fast. The silicon mold can be easily cleaned out and refilled with Fe3O4@Au NCs assisted by a magnet, therefore being re-useable for many cycles. Our approach has integrated microarray technologies and provided a platform for thousands of independently addressable SERS detection, in order to meet the requirements of a rapid, robust, and high throughput performance.It is currently a very active research area to develop new types of substrates which integrate various nanomaterials for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques. Here we report a unique approach to prepare SERS substrates with reproducible performance. It features silicon mold-assisted magnetic assembling of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Au nanoparticle clusters (NCs) into arrayed microstructures on a wafer scale. This approach enables the fabrication of both silicon-based and hydrogel-based substrates in a sequential manner. We have

  19. A fast mass spring model solver for high-resolution elastic objects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Mianlun; Yuan, Zhiyong; Zhu, Weixu; Zhang, Guian

    2017-03-01

    Real-time simulation of elastic objects is of great importance for computer graphics and virtual reality applications. The fast mass spring model solver can achieve visually realistic simulation in an efficient way. Unfortunately, this method suffers from resolution limitations and lack of mechanical realism for a surface geometry model, which greatly restricts its application. To tackle these problems, in this paper we propose a fast mass spring model solver for high-resolution elastic objects. First, we project the complex surface geometry model into a set of uniform grid cells as cages through *cages mean value coordinate method to reflect its internal structure and mechanics properties. Then, we replace the original Cholesky decomposition method in the fast mass spring model solver with a conjugate gradient method, which can make the fast mass spring model solver more efficient for detailed surface geometry models. Finally, we propose a graphics processing unit accelerated parallel algorithm for the conjugate gradient method. Experimental results show that our method can realize efficient deformation simulation of 3D elastic objects with visual reality and physical fidelity, which has a great potential for applications in computer animation.

  20. Fast and slow light generated by surface plasmon wave and gold grating coupling effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amiri, Iraj S.; Ariannejad, M. M.; Tajdidzadeh, M.; Sorger, Volker J.; Ling, Xi; Yupapin, P.

    2018-06-01

    We present here the results of a simulation of the effect of gold and graphene coatings on silicon micro-ring resonators. We studied the effect of different radii of graphene on the time delay, from which one an interesting aspect of light pulse behaviors, such as fast light, was numerically investigated. The obtained results indicate that the time delay can be varied, which is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Fast and slow light pulse trains can be obtained by modifying the throughput port, which forms the gold grating length. The temporal gaps between the fast and slow light in the used graphene and gold are 140 and 168 fs, respectively, which can be tuned by varying the radius or grating length. The obtained results show that such a device may be useful in applications requiring fast and slow light pulse train pairs, such as optical switching, sensors, communications, and security applications.

  1. Fast and slow light generated by surface plasmon wave and gold grating coupling effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amiri, Iraj S.; Ariannejad, M. M.; Tajdidzadeh, M.; Sorger, Volker J.; Ling, Xi; Yupapin, P.

    2018-01-01

    We present here the results of a simulation of the effect of gold and graphene coatings on silicon micro-ring resonators. We studied the effect of different radii of graphene on the time delay, from which one an interesting aspect of light pulse behaviors, such as fast light, was numerically investigated. The obtained results indicate that the time delay can be varied, which is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Fast and slow light pulse trains can be obtained by modifying the throughput port, which forms the gold grating length. The temporal gaps between the fast and slow light in the used graphene and gold are 140 and 168 fs, respectively, which can be tuned by varying the radius or grating length. The obtained results show that such a device may be useful in applications requiring fast and slow light pulse train pairs, such as optical switching, sensors, communications, and security applications.

  2. Ablation experiment and threshold calculation of titanium alloy irradiated by ultra-fast pulse laser

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zheng, Buxiang; Jiang, Gedong; Wang, Wenjun, E-mail: wenjunwang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

    The interaction between an ultra-fast pulse laser and a material's surface has become a research hotspot in recent years. Micromachining of titanium alloy with an ultra-fast pulse laser is a very important research direction, and it has very important theoretical significance and application value in investigating the ablation threshold of titanium alloy irradiated by ultra-fast pulse lasers. Irradiated by a picosecond pulse laser with wavelengths of 1064 nm and 532 nm, the surface morphology and feature sizes, including ablation crater width (i.e. diameter), ablation depth, ablation area, ablation volume, single pulse ablation rate, and so forth, of the titanium alloymore » were studied, and their ablation distributions were obtained. The experimental results show that titanium alloy irradiated by a picosecond pulse infrared laser with a 1064 nm wavelength has better ablation morphology than that of the green picosecond pulse laser with a 532 nm wavelength. The feature sizes are approximately linearly dependent on the laser pulse energy density at low energy density and the monotonic increase in laser pulse energy density. With the increase in energy density, the ablation feature sizes are increased. The rate of increase in the feature sizes slows down gradually once the energy density reaches a certain value, and gradually saturated trends occur at a relatively high energy density. Based on the linear relation between the laser pulse energy density and the crater area of the titanium alloy surface, and the Gaussian distribution of the laser intensity on the cross section, the ablation threshold of titanium alloy irradiated by an ultra-fast pulse laser was calculated to be about 0.109 J/cm{sup 2}.« less

  3. Fast simulated annealing inversion of surface waves on pavement using phase-velocity spectra

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ryden, N.; Park, C.B.

    2006-01-01

    The conventional inversion of surface waves depends on modal identification of measured dispersion curves, which can be ambiguous. It is possible to avoid mode-number identification and extraction by inverting the complete phase-velocity spectrum obtained from a multichannel record. We use the fast simulated annealing (FSA) global search algorithm to minimize the difference between the measured phase-velocity spectrum and that calculated from a theoretical layer model, including the field setup geometry. Results show that this algorithm can help one avoid getting trapped in local minima while searching for the best-matching layer model. The entire procedure is demonstrated on synthetic and field data for asphalt pavement. The viscoelastic properties of the top asphalt layer are taken into account, and the inverted asphalt stiffness as a function of frequency compares well with laboratory tests on core samples. The thickness and shear-wave velocity of the deeper embedded layers are resolved within 10% deviation from those values measured separately during pavement construction. The proposed method may be equally applicable to normal soil site investigation and in the field of ultrasonic testing of materials. ?? 2006 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

  4. Fast DCNN based on FWT, intelligent dropout and layer skipping for image retrieval.

    PubMed

    ElAdel, Asma; Zaied, Mourad; Amar, Chokri Ben

    2017-11-01

    Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) can be marked as a powerful tool for object and image classification and retrieval. However, the training stage of such networks is highly consuming in terms of storage space and time. Also, the optimization is still a challenging subject. In this paper, we propose a fast DCNN based on Fast Wavelet Transform (FWT), intelligent dropout and layer skipping. The proposed approach led to improve the image retrieval accuracy as well as the searching time. This was possible thanks to three key advantages: First, the rapid way to compute the features using FWT. Second, the proposed intelligent dropout method is based on whether or not a unit is efficiently and not randomly selected. Third, it is possible to classify the image using efficient units of earlier layer(s) and skipping all the subsequent hidden layers directly to the output layer. Our experiments were performed on CIFAR-10 and MNIST datasets and the obtained results are very promising. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC films in a vertical hot-wall CVD

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guoguo, Yan; Feng, Zhang; Yingxi, Niu; Fei, Yang; Xingfang, Liu; Lei, Wang; Wanshun, Zhao; Guosheng, Sun; Yiping, Zeng

    2016-06-01

    Chloride-based fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC epilayers was performed on 4° off-axis 4H-SiC substrates in a home-made vertical hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system using H2-SiH4-C2H4-HCl. The effect of the SiH4/H2 ratio and reactor pressure on the growth rate of 4H-SiC epilayers has been studied successively. The growth rate increase in proportion to the SiH4/H2 ratio and the influence mechanism of chlorine has been investigated. With the reactor pressure increasing from 40 to 100 Torr, the growth rate increased to 52 μm/hand then decreased to 47 μm/h, which is due to the joint effect of H2 and HCl etching as well as the formation of Si clusters at higher reactor pressure. The surface root mean square (RMS) roughness keeps around 1 nm with the growth rate increasing to 49 μm/h. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) demonstrate that 96.7 μm thick 4H-SiC layers of good uniformity in thickness and doping with high crystal quality can be achieved. These results prove that chloride-based fast epitaxy is an advanced growth technique for 4H-SiC homoepitaxy. Project supported by the National High Technology R&D Program of China (No. 2014AA041402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61474113, 61274007, 61574140), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 4132076, 4132074), the Program of State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute (No. SGRI-WD-71-14-004), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS.

  6. Surface engineering approaches to micropattern surfaces for cell-based assays.

    PubMed

    Falconnet, Didier; Csucs, Gabor; Grandin, H Michelle; Textor, Marcus

    2006-06-01

    The ability to produce patterns of single or multiple cells through precise surface engineering of cell culture substrates has promoted the development of cellular bioassays that provide entirely new insights into the factors that control cell adhesion to material surfaces, cell proliferation, differentiation and molecular signaling pathways. The ability to control shape and spreading of attached cells and cell-cell contacts through the form and dimension of the cell-adhesive patches with high precision is important. Commitment of stem cells to different specific lineages depends strongly on cell shape, implying that controlled microenvironments through engineered surfaces may not only be a valuable approach towards fundamental cell-biological studies, but also of great importance for the design of cell culture substrates for tissue engineering. Furthermore, cell patterning is an important tool for organizing cells on transducers for cell-based sensing and cell-based drug discovery concepts. From a material engineering standpoint, patterning approaches have greatly profited by combining microfabrication technologies, such as photolithography, with biochemical functionalization to present to the cells biological cues in spatially controlled regions where the background is rendered non-adhesive ("non-fouling") by suitable chemical modification. The focus of this review is on the surface engineering aspects of biologically motivated micropatterning of two-dimensional (flat) surfaces with the aim to provide an introductory overview and critical assessment of the many techniques described in the literature. In particular, the importance of non-fouling surface chemistries, the combination of hard and soft lithography with molecular assembly techniques as well as a number of less well known, but useful patterning approaches, including direct cell writing, are discussed.

  7. Design and development of a profilometer for the fast and accurate characterization of optical surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gómez-Pedrero, José A.; Rodríguez-Ibañez, Diego; Alonso, José; Quirgoa, Juan A.

    2015-09-01

    With the advent of techniques devised for the mass production of optical components made with surfaces of arbitrary form (also known as free form surfaces) in the last years, a parallel development of measuring systems adapted for these new kind of surfaces constitutes a real necessity for the industry. Profilometry is one of the preferred methods for the assessment of the quality of a surface, and is widely employed in the optical fabrication industry for the quality control of its products. In this work, we present the design, development and assembly of a new profilometer with five axis of movement, specifically suited to the measurement of medium size (up to 150 mm of diameter) "free-form" optical surfaces with sub-micrometer accuracy and low measuring times. The apparatus is formed by three X, Y, Z linear motorized positioners plus and additional angular and a tilt positioner employed to locate accurately the surface to be measured and the probe which can be a mechanical or an optical one, being optical one a confocal sensor based on chromatic aberration. Both optical and mechanical probes guarantee an accuracy lower than the micrometer in the determination of the surface height, thus ensuring an accuracy in the surface curvatures of the order of 0.01 D or better. An original calibration procedure based on the measurement of a precision sphere has been developed in order to correct the perpendicularity error between the axes of the linear positioners. To reduce the measuring time of the profilometer, a custom electronics, based on an Arduino™ controller, have been designed and produced in order to synchronize the five motorized positioners and the optical and mechanical probes so that a medium size surface (around 10 cm of diameter) with a dynamic range in curvatures of around 10 D, can be measured in less than 300 seconds (using three axes) keeping the resolution in height and curvature in the figures mentioned above.

  8. Influence of off-great-circle propagation of Rayleigh waves on event-based surface wave tomography in Northeast China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Haopeng; Ni, Sidao; Chu, Risheng; Chong, Jiajun; Liu, Zhikun; Zhu, Liangbao

    2018-05-01

    Surface waves are generally assumed to propagate along great-circle paths in most surface-wave tomography. However, when lateral heterogeneity is strong, off-great-circle propagation may occur and deteriorate surface wave tomography results based on the great-circle assumption. In this study, we used teleseismic waveforms recorded by the NECESSArray in Northeast China to study off-great-circle propagation of Rayleigh waves using the beamforming method and evaluated the influence of off-great-circle propagation on event-based surface wave tomography. The results show that arrival angle anomalies generally increase with decreasing period. The arrival angle anomalies at 60 and 50 s periods are smaller than that at 40 and 30 s periods, which indicates that the off-great-circle propagation is relatively weak for longer periods. At 30 s period, the arrival angle anomalies are relatively larger and some of the measurements can exceed 20°, which represents a strong off-great-circle propagation effect. In some areas, the arrival angle anomalies of adjacent events differ significantly, which may be attributed to multipathing propagation of surface waves. To evaluate the influence of off-great-circle propagation on event-based surface wave tomography, we used measured arrival angle anomalies to correct two-station phase velocity measurements, and performed azimuthal anisotropy tomography using dispersion datasets with and without the arrival angle correction. At longer periods, such as 60 s, the influence of off-great-circle propagation on surface wave tomography is weak even though the corrected model has better data fit than the uncorrected model. However, the influence of off-great-circle propagation is non-negligible at short periods. The tomography results at 30 s period show that the differences in phase velocity, the strength of anisotropy and the fast direction can be as large as 1.5 per cent, 1.0 per cent and 30°, respectively. Furthermore, the corrected phase

  9. Fast surface crystallization of amorphous griseofulvin below T g.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Lei; Jona, Janan; Nagapudi, Karthik; Wu, Tian

    2010-08-01

    To study crystal growth rates of amorphous griseofulvin (GSF) below its glass transition temperature (T (g)) and the effect of surface crystallization on the overall crystallization kinetics of amorphous GSF. Amorphous GSF was generated by melt quenching. Surface and bulk crystal growth rates were determined using polarized light microscope. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Raman microscopy were used to identify the polymorph of the crystals. Crystallization kinetics of amorphous GSF powder stored at 40 degrees C (T (g)-48 degrees C) and room temperature (T (g)-66 degrees C) was monitored using XRPD. Crystal growth at the surface of amorphous GSF is 10- to 100-fold faster than that in the bulk. The surface crystal growth can be suppressed by an ultrathin gold coating. Below T (g), the crystallization of amorphous GSF powder was biphasic with a rapid initial crystallization stage dominated by the surface crystallization and a slow or suspended late stage controlled by the bulk crystallization. GSF exhibits the fastest surface crystallization kinetics among the known amorphous pharmaceutical solids. Well below T (g), surface crystallization dominated the overall crystallization kinetics of amorphous GSF powder. Thus, surface crystallization should be distinguished from bulk crystallization in studying, modeling and controlling the crystallization of amorphous solids.

  10. Inexpensive and fast pathogenic bacteria screening using field-effect transistors.

    PubMed

    Formisano, Nello; Bhalla, Nikhil; Heeran, Mel; Reyes Martinez, Juana; Sarkar, Amrita; Laabei, Maisem; Jolly, Pawan; Bowen, Chris R; Taylor, John T; Flitsch, Sabine; Estrela, Pedro

    2016-11-15

    While pathogenic bacteria contribute to a large number of globally important diseases and infections, current clinical diagnosis is based on processes that often involve culturing which can be time-consuming. Therefore, innovative, simple, rapid and low-cost solutions to effectively reduce the burden of bacterial infections are urgently needed. Here we demonstrate a label-free sensor for fast bacterial detection based on metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). The electric charge of bacteria binding to the glycosylated gates of a MOSFET enables quantification in a straightforward manner. We show that the limit of quantitation is 1.9×10(5) CFU/mL with this simple device, which is more than 10,000-times lower than is achieved with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF) on the same modified surfaces. Moreover, the measurements are extremely fast and the sensor can be mass produced at trivial cost as a tool for initial screening of pathogens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Ab Initio Surface Phase Diagrams for Coadsorption of Aromatics and Hydrogen on the Pt(111) Surface

    DOE PAGES

    Ferguson, Glen Allen; Vorotnikov, Vassili; Wunder, Nicholas; ...

    2016-11-02

    Supported metal catalysts are commonly used for the hydrogenation and deoxygenation of biomass-derived aromatic compounds in catalytic fast pyrolysis. To date, the substrate-adsorbate interactions under reaction conditions crucial to these processes remain poorly understood, yet understanding this is critical to constructing detailed mechanistic models of the reactions important to catalytic fast pyrolysis. Density functional theory (DFT) has been used in identifying mechanistic details, but many of these works assume surface models that are not representative of realistic conditions, for example, under which the surface is covered with some concentration of hydrogen and aromatic compounds. In this study, we investigate hydrogen-guaiacolmore » coadsorption on Pt(111) using van der Waals-corrected DFT and ab initio thermodynamics over a range of temperatures and pressures relevant to bio-oil upgrading. We find that relative coverage of hydrogen and guaiacol is strongly dependent on the temperature and pressure of the system. Under conditions relevant to ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP; 620-730 K, 1-10 bar), guaiacol and hydrogen chemisorb to the surface with a submonolayer hydrogen (~0.44 ML H), while under conditions relevant to hydrotreating (470-580 K, 10-200 bar), the surface exhibits a full-monolayer hydrogen coverage with guaiacol physisorbed to the surface. These results correlate with experimentally observed selectivities, which show ring saturation to methoxycyclohexanol at hydrotreating conditions and deoxygenation to phenol at CFP-relevant conditions. Additionally, the vibrational energy of the adsorbates on the surface significantly contributes to surface energy at higher coverage. Ignoring this contribution results in not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively incorrect interpretation of coadsorption, shifting the phase boundaries by more than 200 K and ~10-20 bar and predicting no guaiacol adsorption under CFP and hydrotreating conditions

  12. Ultra-fast quantitative imaging using ptychographic iterative engine based digital micro-mirror device

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Aihui; Tian, Xiaolin; Kong, Yan; Jiang, Zhilong; Liu, Fei; Xue, Liang; Wang, Shouyu; Liu, Cheng

    2018-01-01

    As a lensfree imaging technique, ptychographic iterative engine (PIE) method can provide both quantitative sample amplitude and phase distributions avoiding aberration. However, it requires field of view (FoV) scanning often relying on mechanical translation, which not only slows down measuring speed, but also introduces mechanical errors decreasing both resolution and accuracy in retrieved information. In order to achieve high-accurate quantitative imaging with fast speed, digital micromirror device (DMD) is adopted in PIE for large FoV scanning controlled by on/off state coding by DMD. Measurements were implemented using biological samples as well as USAF resolution target, proving high resolution in quantitative imaging using the proposed system. Considering its fast and accurate imaging capability, it is believed the DMD based PIE technique provides a potential solution for medical observation and measurements.

  13. Fast Flux Watch: A mechanism for online detection of fast flux networks.

    PubMed

    Al-Duwairi, Basheer N; Al-Hammouri, Ahmad T

    2014-07-01

    Fast flux networks represent a special type of botnets that are used to provide highly available web services to a backend server, which usually hosts malicious content. Detection of fast flux networks continues to be a challenging issue because of the similar behavior between these networks and other legitimate infrastructures, such as CDNs and server farms. This paper proposes Fast Flux Watch (FF-Watch), a mechanism for online detection of fast flux agents. FF-Watch is envisioned to exist as a software agent at leaf routers that connect stub networks to the Internet. The core mechanism of FF-Watch is based on the inherent feature of fast flux networks: flux agents within stub networks take the role of relaying client requests to point-of-sale websites of spam campaigns. The main idea of FF-Watch is to correlate incoming TCP connection requests to flux agents within a stub network with outgoing TCP connection requests from the same agents to the point-of-sale website. Theoretical and traffic trace driven analysis shows that the proposed mechanism can be utilized to efficiently detect fast flux agents within a stub network.

  14. Isotachophoresis-Based Surface Immunoassay.

    PubMed

    Paratore, Federico; Zeidman Kalman, Tal; Rosenfeld, Tally; Kaigala, Govind V; Bercovici, Moran

    2017-07-18

    In the absence of amplification methods for proteins, the immune-detection of low-abundance proteins using antibodies is fundamentally limited by binding kinetic rates. Here, we present a new class of surface-based immunoassays in which protein-antibody reaction is accelerated by isotachophoresis (ITP). We demonstrate the use of ITP to preconcentrate and deliver target proteins to a surface decorated with specific antibodies, where effective utilization of the focused sample is achieved by modulating the driving electric field (stop-and-diffuse ITP mode) or applying a counter flow that opposes the ITP motion (counterflow ITP mode). Using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a model protein, we carry out an experimental optimization of the ITP-based immunoassay and demonstrate a 1300-fold improvement in limit of detection compared to a standard immunoassay, in a 6 min protein-antibody reaction. We discuss the design of buffer chemistries for other protein systems and, in concert with experiments, provide full analytical solutions for the two operation modes, elucidating the interplay between reaction, diffusion, and accumulation time scales and enabling the prediction and design of future immunoassays.

  15. Development and testing of instrumentation for ship-based UAV measurements of ocean surface processes and the marine atmospheric boundary layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reineman, B. D.; Lenain, L.; Statom, N.; Melville, W. K.

    2012-12-01

    We have developed instrumentation packages for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure ocean surface processes along with momentum fluxes and latent, sensible, and radiative heat fluxes in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). The packages have been flown over land on BAE Manta C1s and over water on Boeing-Insitu ScanEagles. The low altitude required for accurate surface flux measurements (< 30 m) is below the typical safety limit of manned research aircraft; however, with advances in laser altimeters, small-aircraft flight control, and real-time kinematic differential GPS, low-altitude flight is now within the capability of small UAV platforms. Fast-response turbulence, hygrometer, and temperature probes permit turbulent flux measurements, and short- and long-wave radiometers allow the determination of net radiation, surface temperature, and albedo. Onboard laser altimetry and high-resolution visible and infrared video permit observations of surface waves and fine-scale (O(10) cm) ocean surface temperature structure. Flight tests of payloads aboard ScanEagle UAVs were conducted in April 2012 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (Dahlgren, VA), where measurements of water vapor, heat, and momentum fluxes were made from low-altitude (31-m) UAV flights over water (Potomac River). ScanEagles are capable of ship-based launch and recovery, which can extend the reach of research vessels and enable scientific measurements out to ranges of O(10-100) km and altitudes up to 5 km. UAV-based atmospheric and surface observations can complement observations of surface and subsurface phenomena made from a research vessel and avoid the well-known problems of vessel interference in MABL measurements. We present a description of the instrumentation, summarize results from flight tests, and discuss potential applications of these UAVs for ship-based MABL studies.

  16. Fast turn-on osmium coated cathode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marrian, C. R. K.; Haas, G. A.; Shih, A.

    1984-03-01

    This abstract discloses a fast turn-on refractory coated cathode comprising a porous tungsten metal matrix impregnated with barium calcium aluminate and coated with osmium. The osmium coating has a planned series of interruptions with each interruption being on the order of several microns in width to thereby expose the tungsten. These interruptions permit the barium and oxygen from the impregnant to rise to the cathode surface during activation or reactivation to form a desired near monolayer of barium and oxygen to enhance electron emission. Thus, this cathode design provides a fast turn-on characteristic even after shelf storage.

  17. Psychophysically based model of surface gloss perception

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferwerda, James A.; Pellacini, Fabio; Greenberg, Donald P.

    2001-06-01

    In this paper we introduce a new model of surface appearance that is based on quantitative studies of gloss perception. We use image synthesis techniques to conduct experiments that explore the relationships between the physical dimensions of glossy reflectance and the perceptual dimensions of glossy appearance. The product of these experiments is a psychophysically-based model of surface gloss, with dimensions that are both physically and perceptually meaningful and scales that reflect our sensitivity to gloss variations. We demonstrate that the model can be used to describe and control the appearance of glossy surfaces in synthesis images, allowing prediction of gloss matches and quantification of gloss differences. This work represents some initial steps toward developing psychophyscial models of the goniometric aspects of surface appearance to complement widely-used colorimetric models.

  18. Enzyme-Regulated Fast Self-Healing of a Pillararene-Based Hydrogel.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xin; Xu, Jiayun; Lang, Chao; Qiao, Shanpeng; An, Guo; Fan, Xiaotong; Zhao, Linlu; Hou, Chunxi; Liu, Junqiu

    2017-06-12

    Self-healing, one of the exciting properties of materials, is frequently used to repair the damage of biological and artificial systems. Here we have used enzymatic catalysis approaches to develop a fast self-healing hydrogel, which has been constructed by dynamic aldimine cross-linking of pillar[5]arene-derivant and dialdehyde-functionalized PEG followed by encapsulation of glucose oxidase (GOx) and catalase (CAT). In specific, the two hydroxyl groups at terminal of PEG 4000 are functionalized with benzaldehydes that can interact with amino-containing pillar[5]arene-derivant through dynamic aldimine cross-links, resulting in reversible dynamic hydrogels. Modulus analysis indicated that storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G″) of the hydrogel increased obviously as the concentration of dialdehyde-functionalized PEG 4000 (DF-PEG 4000 ) increased or the pH values decreased. Once glucose oxidase (GOx) and catalase (CAT) are located, the hydrogel could be fast repaired, with self-healing efficiency up to 100%. Notably tensile test showed that the repair process of pillararene-based hydrogel can finish in several minutes upon enzyme catalysis, while it needed more than 24 h to achieve this recovery without enzymes. This enzyme-regulated self-healing hydrogel would hold promise for delivering drugs and for soft tissue regeneration in the future.

  19. Cheap and fast measuring roughness on big surfaces with an imprint method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schopf, C.; Liebl, J.; Rascher, R.

    2017-10-01

    Roughness, shape and structure of a surface offer information on the state, shape and surface characteristics of a component. Particularly the roughness of the surface dictates the subsequent polishing of the optical surface. The roughness is usually measured by a white light interferometer, which is limited by the size of the components. Using a moulding method of surfaces that are difficult to reach, an imprint is taken and analysed regarding to roughness and structure. This moulding compound method is successfully used in dental technology. In optical production, the moulding compound method is advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). The "replica method" has been around in metal analysis and processing. Film is used in order to take an impression of a surface. Then, it is analysed for structures. In optical production, compound moulding seems advantageous in roughness determination in inaccessible spots or on large components (astrological optics). In preliminary trials, different glass samples with different roughness levels were manufactured. Imprints were taken from these samples (based on DIN 54150 "Abdruckverfahren für die Oberflächenprüfung"). The objective of these feasibility tests was to determine the limits of this method (smallest roughness determinable / highest roughness). The roughness of the imprint was compared with the roughness of the glass samples. By comparing the results, the uncertainty of the measuring method was determined. The spectrum for the trials ranged from rough grind (0.8 μm rms), over finishing grind (0.6 μm rms) to polishing (0.1 μm rms).

  20. A fast image matching algorithm based on key points

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Huilin; Wang, Ying; An, Ru; Yan, Peng

    2014-05-01

    Image matching is a very important technique in image processing. It has been widely used for object recognition and tracking, image retrieval, three-dimensional vision, change detection, aircraft position estimation, and multi-image registration. Based on the requirements of matching algorithm for craft navigation, such as speed, accuracy and adaptability, a fast key point image matching method is investigated and developed. The main research tasks includes: (1) Developing an improved celerity key point detection approach using self-adapting threshold of Features from Accelerated Segment Test (FAST). A method of calculating self-adapting threshold was introduced for images with different contrast. Hessian matrix was adopted to eliminate insecure edge points in order to obtain key points with higher stability. This approach in detecting key points has characteristics of small amount of computation, high positioning accuracy and strong anti-noise ability; (2) PCA-SIFT is utilized to describe key point. 128 dimensional vector are formed based on the SIFT method for the key points extracted. A low dimensional feature space was established by eigenvectors of all the key points, and each eigenvector was projected onto the feature space to form a low dimensional eigenvector. These key points were re-described by dimension-reduced eigenvectors. After reducing the dimension by the PCA, the descriptor was reduced to 20 dimensions from the original 128. This method can reduce dimensions of searching approximately near neighbors thereby increasing overall speed; (3) Distance ratio between the nearest neighbour and second nearest neighbour searching is regarded as the measurement criterion for initial matching points from which the original point pairs matched are obtained. Based on the analysis of the common methods (e.g. RANSAC (random sample consensus) and Hough transform cluster) used for elimination false matching point pairs, a heuristic local geometric restriction

  1. LSAH: a fast and efficient local surface feature for point cloud registration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Rongrong; Zhu, Feng; Wu, Qingxiao; Kong, Yanzi

    2018-04-01

    Point cloud registration is a fundamental task in high level three dimensional applications. Noise, uneven point density and varying point cloud resolutions are the three main challenges for point cloud registration. In this paper, we design a robust and compact local surface descriptor called Local Surface Angles Histogram (LSAH) and propose an effectively coarse to fine algorithm for point cloud registration. The LSAH descriptor is formed by concatenating five normalized sub-histograms into one histogram. The five sub-histograms are created by accumulating a different type of angle from a local surface patch respectively. The experimental results show that our LSAH is more robust to uneven point density and point cloud resolutions than four state-of-the-art local descriptors in terms of feature matching. Moreover, we tested our LSAH based coarse to fine algorithm for point cloud registration. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm is robust and efficient as well.

  2. Fast volumetric imaging with patterned illumination via digital micro-mirror device-based temporal focusing multiphoton microscopy.

    PubMed

    Chang, Chia-Yuan; Hu, Yvonne Yuling; Lin, Chun-Yu; Lin, Cheng-Han; Chang, Hsin-Yu; Tsai, Sheng-Feng; Lin, Tzu-Wei; Chen, Shean-Jen

    2016-05-01

    Temporal focusing multiphoton microscopy (TFMPM) has the advantage of area excitation in an axial confinement of only a few microns; hence, it can offer fast three-dimensional (3D) multiphoton imaging. Herein, fast volumetric imaging via a developed digital micromirror device (DMD)-based TFMPM has been realized through the synchronization of an electron multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) with a dynamic piezoelectric stage for axial scanning. The volumetric imaging rate can achieve 30 volumes per second according to the EMCCD frame rate of more than 400 frames per second, which allows for the 3D Brownian motion of one-micron fluorescent beads to be spatially observed. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the dynamic HiLo structural multiphoton microscope can reject background noise by way of the fast volumetric imaging with high-speed DMD patterned illumination.

  3. Search for Chemically Bound Water in the Surface Layer of Mars Based on HEND/Mars Odyssey Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Basilevsky, A. T.; Litvak, M. L.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Boynton, W.; Saunders, R. S.

    2003-01-01

    This study is emphasized on search for signatures of chemically bound water in surface layer of Mars based on data acquired by High Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) which is part of the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS). Fluxes of epithermal (probe the upper 1-2 m) and fast (the upper 20-30 cm) neutrons, considered in this work, were measured since mid February till mid June 2002. First analysis of this data set with emphasis of chemically bound water was made. Early publications of the GRS results reported low neutron flux at high latitudes, interpreted as signature of ground water ice, and in two low latitude areas: Arabia and SW of Olympus Mons (SWOM), interpreted as 'geographic variations in the amount of chemically and/or physically bound H2O and or OH...'. It is clear that surface materials of Mars do contain chemically bound water, but its amounts are poorly known and its geographic distribution was not analyzed.

  4. GPU-accelerated non-uniform fast Fourier transform-based compressive sensing spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

    PubMed

    Xu, Daguang; Huang, Yong; Kang, Jin U

    2014-06-16

    We implemented the graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated compressive sensing (CS) non-uniform in k-space spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT). Kaiser-Bessel (KB) function and Gaussian function are used independently as the convolution kernel in the gridding-based non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) algorithm with different oversampling ratios and kernel widths. Our implementation is compared with the GPU-accelerated modified non-uniform discrete Fourier transform (MNUDFT) matrix-based CS SD OCT and the GPU-accelerated fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based CS SD OCT. It was found that our implementation has comparable performance to the GPU-accelerated MNUDFT-based CS SD OCT in terms of image quality while providing more than 5 times speed enhancement. When compared to the GPU-accelerated FFT based-CS SD OCT, it shows smaller background noise and less side lobes while eliminating the need for the cumbersome k-space grid filling and the k-linear calibration procedure. Finally, we demonstrated that by using a conventional desktop computer architecture having three GPUs, real-time B-mode imaging can be obtained in excess of 30 fps for the GPU-accelerated NUFFT based CS SD OCT with frame size 2048(axial) × 1,000(lateral).

  5. Plasma surface figuring of large optical components

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jourdain, R.; Castelli, M.; Morantz, P.; Shore, P.

    2012-04-01

    Fast figuring of large optical components is well known as a highly challenging manufacturing issue. Different manufacturing technologies including: magnetorheological finishing, loose abrasive polishing, ion beam figuring are presently employed. Yet, these technologies are slow and lead to expensive optics. This explains why plasma-based processes operating at atmospheric pressure have been researched as a cost effective means for figure correction of metre scale optical surfaces. In this paper, fast figure correction of a large optical surface is reported using the Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) process. Achievements are shown following the scaling-up of the RAP figuring process to a 400 mm diameter area of a substrate made of Corning ULE®. The pre-processing spherical surface is characterized by a 3 metres radius of curvature, 2.3 μm PVr (373nm RMS), and 1.2 nm Sq nanometre roughness. The nanometre scale correction figuring system used for this research work is named the HELIOS 1200, and it is equipped with a unique plasma torch which is driven by a dedicated tool path algorithm. Topography map measurements were carried out using a vertical work station instrumented by a Zygo DynaFiz interferometer. Figuring results, together with the processing times, convergence levels and number of iterations, are reported. The results illustrate the significant potential and advantage of plasma processing for figuring correction of large silicon based optical components.

  6. Surface/Interface Carrier-Transport Modulation for Constructing Photon-Alternative Ultraviolet Detectors Based on Self-Bending-Assembled ZnO Nanowires.

    PubMed

    Guo, Zhen; Zhou, Lianqun; Tang, Yuguo; Li, Lin; Zhang, Zhiqi; Yang, Hongbo; Ma, Hanbin; Nathan, Arokia; Zhao, Dongxu

    2017-09-13

    Surface/interface charge-carrier generation, diffusion, and recombination/transport modulation are especially important in the construction of photodetectors with high efficiency in the field of nanoscience. In the paper, a kind of ultraviolet (UV) detector is designed based on ZnO nanostructures considering photon-trapping, surface plasmonic resonance (SPR), piezophototronic effects, interface carrier-trapping/transport control, and collection. Through carefully optimized surface/interface carrier-transport modulation, a designed device with detectivity as high as 1.69 × 10 16 /1.71 × 10 16 cm·Hz 1/2 /W irradiating with 380 nm photons under ultralow bias of 0.2 V is realized by alternating nanoparticle/nanowire active layers, respectively, and the designed UV photodetectors show fast and slow recovery processes of 0.27 and 4.52 ms, respectively, which well-satisfy practical needs. Further, it is observed that UV photodetection could be performed within an alternative response by varying correlated key parameters, through efficient surface/interface carrier-transport modulation, spectrally resolved photoresponse of the detector revealing controlled detection in the UV region based on the ZnO nanomaterial, photodetection allowed or limited by varying the active layers, irradiation distance from one of the electrodes, standing states, or electric field. The detailed carrier generation, diffusion, and recombination/transport processes are well illustrated to explain charge-carrier dynamics contributing to the photoresponse behavior.

  7. Direct measurement of sub-Debye-length attraction between oppositely charged surfaces.

    PubMed

    Kampf, Nir; Ben-Yaakov, Dan; Andelman, David; Safran, S A; Klein, Jacob

    2009-09-11

    Using a surface force balance with fast video analysis, we have measured directly the attractive forces between oppositely charged solid surfaces (charge densities sigma(+), sigma(-)) across water over the entire range of interaction, in particular, at surface separations D below the Debye screening length lambda(S). At very low salt concentration we find a long-ranged attraction between the surfaces (onset ca. 100 nm), whose variation at Dbased on solving the Poisson-Boltzmann theory, when due account is taken of the independently-determined surface charge asymmetry (sigma(+) not equal to |sigma(-)|).

  8. Self-calibrating generalized phase-shifting interferometry of three phase-steps based on geometric concept of volume enclosed by a surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meneses-Fabian, Cruz

    2016-12-01

    This paper presents a non-iterative, fast, and simple algorithm for phase retrieval, in phase-shifting interferometry of three unknown and unequal phase-steps, based on the geometric concept of the volume enclosed by a surface. This approach can be divided in three stages; first the background is eliminated by the subtraction of two interferograms, for obtaining a secondary pattern; second, a surface is built by the product of two secondary patterns and the volume enclosed by this surface is computed; and third, the ratio between two enclosed volumes is approximated to a constant that depends on the phase-steps, with which a system of equations is established, and its solution allows the measurement of the phase-steps to be obtained. Additional advantages of this approach are its immunity to noise, and its capacity to support high spatial variations in the illumination. This approach is theoretically described and is numerically and experimentally verified.

  9. Discrete Surface Evolution and Mesh Deformation for Aircraft Icing Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thompson, David; Tong, Xiaoling; Arnoldus, Qiuhan; Collins, Eric; McLaurin, David; Luke, Edward; Bidwell, Colin S.

    2013-01-01

    Robust, automated mesh generation for problems with deforming geometries, such as ice accreting on aerodynamic surfaces, remains a challenging problem. Here we describe a technique to deform a discrete surface as it evolves due to the accretion of ice. The surface evolution algorithm is based on a smoothed, face-offsetting approach. We also describe a fast algebraic technique to propagate the computed surface deformations into the surrounding volume mesh while maintaining geometric mesh quality. Preliminary results presented here demonstrate the ecacy of the approach for a sphere with a prescribed accretion rate, a rime ice accretion, and a more complex glaze ice accretion.

  10. Lunar base surface mission operations. Lunar Base Systems Study (LBSS) task 4.1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1987-01-01

    The purpose was to perform an analysis of the surface operations associated with a human-tended lunar base. Specifically, the study defined surface elements and developed mission manifests for a selected base scenario, determined the nature of surface operations associated with this scenario, generated a preliminary crew extravehicular and intravehicular activity (EVA/IVA) time resource schedule for conducting the missions, and proposed concepts for utilizing remotely operated equipment to perform repetitious or hazardous surface tasks. The operations analysis was performed on a 6 year period of human-tended lunar base operation prior to permanent occupancy. The baseline scenario was derived from a modified version of the civil needs database (CNDB) scenario. This scenario emphasizes achievement of a limited set of science and exploration objectives while emplacing the minimum habitability elements required for a permanent base.

  11. FAST - A multiprocessed environment for visualization of computational fluid dynamics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bancroft, Gordon V.; Merritt, Fergus J.; Plessel, Todd C.; Kelaita, Paul G.; Mccabe, R. Kevin

    1991-01-01

    The paper presents the Flow Analysis Software Toolset (FAST) to be used for fluid-mechanics analysis. The design criteria for FAST including the minimization of the data path in the computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) process, consistent user interface, extensible software architecture, modularization, and the isolation of three-dimensional tasks from the application programmer are outlined. Each separate process communicates through the FAST Hub, while other modules such as FAST Central, NAS file input, CFD calculator, surface extractor and renderer, titler, tracer, and isolev might work together to generate the scene. An interprocess communication package making it possible for FAST to operate as a modular environment where resources could be shared among different machines as well as a single host is discussed.

  12. Electrically controllable twisted-coiled artificial muscle actuators using surface-modified polyester fibers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Jungwoo; Yoo, Ji Wang; Seo, Hee Won; Lee, Youngkwan; Suhr, Jonghwan; Moon, Hyungpil; Koo, Ja Choon; Ryeol Choi, Hyouk; Hunt, Robert; Kim, Kwang Jin; Kim, Soo Hyun; Nam, Jae-Do

    2017-03-01

    As a new class of thermally activated actuators based on polymeric fibers, we investigated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarns for the development of a twisted-coiled polymer fiber actuator (TCA). The PET yarn TCA exhibited the maximum linear actuation up to 8.9% by external heating at above the glass transition temperature, 160 °C-180 °C. The payload of the actuator was successfully correlated with the preload and training-load conditions by an empirical equation. Furthermore, the PET-based TCA was electrically driven by Joule heating after the PET surface was metallization with silver. For the fast and precise control of PET yarn TCA, electroless silver plating was conducted to form electrical conductive layers on the PET fiber surface. The silver plated PET-based TCA was tested by Joule heating and the tensile actuation was increased up to 12.1% (6 V) due to the enhanced surface hardness and slippage of PET fibers. Overall, silver plating of the polymeric yarn provided a fast actuation speed and enhanced actuation performance of the TCA actuator by Joule heating, providing a great potential for being used in artificial muscle for biomimetic machines including robots, industrial actuators and powered exoskeletons.

  13. Parallel, stochastic measurement of molecular surface area.

    PubMed

    Juba, Derek; Varshney, Amitabh

    2008-08-01

    Biochemists often wish to compute surface areas of proteins. A variety of algorithms have been developed for this task, but they are designed for traditional single-processor architectures. The current trend in computer hardware is towards increasingly parallel architectures for which these algorithms are not well suited. We describe a parallel, stochastic algorithm for molecular surface area computation that maps well to the emerging multi-core architectures. Our algorithm is also progressive, providing a rough estimate of surface area immediately and refining this estimate as time goes on. Furthermore, the algorithm generates points on the molecular surface which can be used for point-based rendering. We demonstrate a GPU implementation of our algorithm and show that it compares favorably with several existing molecular surface computation programs, giving fast estimates of the molecular surface area with good accuracy.

  14. Three-dimensional spatiotemporal features for fast content-based retrieval of focal liver lesions.

    PubMed

    Roy, Sharmili; Chi, Yanling; Liu, Jimin; Venkatesh, Sudhakar K; Brown, Michael S

    2014-11-01

    Content-based image retrieval systems for 3-D medical datasets still largely rely on 2-D image-based features extracted from a few representative slices of the image stack. Most 2 -D features that are currently used in the literature not only model a 3-D tumor incompletely but are also highly expensive in terms of computation time, especially for high-resolution datasets. Radiologist-specified semantic labels are sometimes used along with image-based 2-D features to improve the retrieval performance. Since radiological labels show large interuser variability, are often unstructured, and require user interaction, their use as lesion characterizing features is highly subjective, tedious, and slow. In this paper, we propose a 3-D image-based spatiotemporal feature extraction framework for fast content-based retrieval of focal liver lesions. All the features are computer generated and are extracted from four-phase abdominal CT images. Retrieval performance and query processing times for the proposed framework is evaluated on a database of 44 hepatic lesions comprising of five pathological types. Bull's eye percentage score above 85% is achieved for three out of the five lesion pathologies and for 98% of query lesions, at least one same type of lesion is ranked among the top two retrieved results. Experiments show that the proposed system's query processing is more than 20 times faster than other already published systems that use 2-D features. With fast computation time and high retrieval accuracy, the proposed system has the potential to be used as an assistant to radiologists for routine hepatic tumor diagnosis.

  15. Controlled nanostructrures formation by ultra fast laser pulses for color marking.

    PubMed

    Dusser, B; Sagan, Z; Soder, H; Faure, N; Colombier, J P; Jourlin, M; Audouard, E

    2010-02-01

    Precise nanostructuration of surface and the subsequent upgrades in material properties is a strong outcome of ultra fast laser irradiations. Material characteristics can be designed on mesoscopic scales, carrying new optical properties. We demonstrate in this work, the possibility of achieving material modifications using ultra short pulses, via polarization dependent structures generation, that can generate specific color patterns. These oriented nanostructures created on the metal surface, called ripples, are typically smaller than the laser wavelength and in the range of visible spectrum. In this way, a complex colorization process of the material, involving imprinting, calibration and reading, has been performed to associate a priori defined colors. This new method based on the control of the laser-driven nanostructure orientation allows cumulating high quantity of information in a minimal surface, proposing new applications for laser marking and new types of identifying codes.

  16. Test of a prototype neutron spectrometer based on diamond detectors in a fast reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Osipenko, M.; Ripani, M.; Ricco, G.

    2015-07-01

    A prototype of neutron spectrometer based on diamond detectors has been developed. This prototype consists of a {sup 6}Li neutron converter sandwiched between two CVD diamond crystals. The radiation hardness of the diamond crystals makes it suitable for applications in low power research reactors, while a low sensitivity to gamma rays and low leakage current of the detector permit to reach good energy resolution. A fast coincidence between two crystals is used to reject background. The detector was read out using two different electronic chains connected to it by a few meters of cable. The first chain was based onmore » conventional charge-sensitive amplifiers, the other used a custom fast charge amplifier developed for this purpose. The prototype has been tested at various neutron sources and showed its practicability. In particular, the detector was calibrated in a TRIGA thermal reactor (LENA laboratory, University of Pavia) with neutron fluxes of 10{sup 8} n/cm{sup 2}s and at the 3 MeV D-D monochromatic neutron source named FNG (ENEA, Rome) with neutron fluxes of 10{sup 6} n/cm{sup 2}s. The neutron spectrum measurement was performed at the TAPIRO fast research reactor (ENEA, Casaccia) with fluxes of 10{sup 9} n/cm{sup 2}s. The obtained spectra were compared to Monte Carlo simulations, modeling detector response with MCNP and Geant4. (authors)« less

  17. A surface ice module for wind turbine dynamic response simulation using FAST

    DOE PAGES

    Yu, Bingbin; Karr, Dale G.; Song, Huimin; ...

    2016-06-03

    It is a fact that developing offshore wind energy has become more and more serious worldwide in recent years. Many of the promising offshore wind farm locations are in cold regions that may have ice cover during wintertime. The challenge of possible ice loads on offshore wind turbines raises the demand of modeling capacity of dynamic wind turbine response under the joint action of ice, wind, wave, and current. The simulation software FAST is an open source computer-aided engineering (CAE) package maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In this paper, a new module of FAST for assessing the dynamicmore » response of offshore wind turbines subjected to ice forcing is presented. In the ice module, several models are presented which involve both prescribed forcing and coupled response. For conditions in which the ice forcing is essentially decoupled from the structural response, ice forces are established from existing models for brittle and ductile ice failure. For conditions in which the ice failure and the structural response are coupled, such as lock-in conditions, a rate-dependent ice model is described, which is developed in conjunction with a new modularization framework for FAST. In this paper, analytical ice mechanics models are presented that incorporate ice floe forcing, deformation, and failure. For lower speeds, forces slowly build until the ice strength is reached and ice fails resulting in a quasi-static condition. For intermediate speeds, the ice failure can be coupled with the structural response and resulting in coinciding periods of the ice failure and the structural response. A third regime occurs at high speeds of encounter in which brittle fracturing of the ice feature occurs in a random pattern, which results in a random vibration excitation of the structure. An example wind turbine response is simulated under ice loading of each of the presented models. This module adds to FAST the capabilities for analyzing the response of wind

  18. The fast kinematic magnetic dynamo and the dissipationless limit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Finn, John M.; Ott, Edward

    1990-01-01

    The evolution of the magnetic field in models that incorporate chaotic field line stretching, field cancellation, and finite magnetic Reynolds number is examined analytically and numerically. Although the models used here are highly idealized, it is claimed that they display and illustrate typical behavior relevant to fast magnetic dynamic behavior. It is shown, in particular, that consideration of magnetic flux through a finite fixed surface provides a simple and effective way of deducing fast dynamo behavior from the zero resistivity equation. Certain aspects of the fast dynamo problem can thus be reduced to a study of nonlinear dynamic properties of the underlying flow.

  19. Devices based on surface plasmon interference filters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, Yu (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    Devices based on surface plasmon filters having at least one metal-dielectric interface to support surface plasmon waves. A multi-layer-coupled surface plasmon notch filter is provided to have more than two symmetric metal-dielectric interfaces coupled with one another to produce a transmission spectral window with desired spectral profile and bandwidth. Such notch filters can form various color filtering devices for color flat panel displays.

  20. A Fast Method of Deriving the Kirchhoff Formula for Moving Surfaces

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farassat, F.; Posey, Joe W.

    2007-01-01

    The Kirchhoff formula for a moving surface is very useful in many wave propagation problems, particularly in the prediction of noise from rotating machinery. Several publications in the last two decades have presented derivations of the Kirchhoff formula for moving surfaces in both time and frequency domains. Here we present a method originally developed by Farassat and Myers in time domain that is both simple and direct. It is based on generalized function theory and the useful concept of imbedding the problem in the unbounded three-dimensional space. We derive an inhomogeneous wave equation with the source terms that involve Dirac delta functions with their supports on the moving data surface. This wave equation is then solved using the simple free space Green's function of the wave equation resulting in the Kirchhoff formula. The algebraic manipulations are minimal and simple. We do not need the Green's theorem in four dimensions and there is no ambiguity in the interpretation of any terms in the final formulas. Furthermore, this method also gives the simplest derivation of the classical Kirchhoff formula which has a fairly lengthy derivation in physics and applied mathematics books. The Farassat-Myers method can be used easily in frequency domain.

  1. Preliminary investigation of a water-based method for fast integrating mobility spectrometry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Spielman, Steven R.; Hering, Susanne V.; Kuang, Chongai

    A water-based condensational growth channel was developed for imaging mobility-separated particles within a parallel plate separation channel of the Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer (FIMS). Reported are initial tests of that system, in which the alcohol condenser of the FIMS was replaced by a water-based condensational growth channel. Tests with monodispersed sodium chloride aerosol verify that the water-condensational growth maintained the laminar flow, while providing sufficient growth for particle imaging. Particle positions mapped onto particle mobility, in accordance with theoretical expectations. Particles ranging in size from 12 nm to 100 nm were counted with the same efficiency as with a butanol-based ultrafine particlemore » counter, once inlet and line losses were taken into account.« less

  2. Preliminary investigation of a water-based method for fast integrating mobility spectrometry

    DOE PAGES

    Spielman, Steven R.; Hering, Susanne V.; Kuang, Chongai; ...

    2017-06-06

    A water-based condensational growth channel was developed for imaging mobility-separated particles within a parallel plate separation channel of the Fast Integrated Mobility Spectrometer (FIMS). Reported are initial tests of that system, in which the alcohol condenser of the FIMS was replaced by a water-based condensational growth channel. Tests with monodispersed sodium chloride aerosol verify that the water-condensational growth maintained the laminar flow, while providing sufficient growth for particle imaging. Particle positions mapped onto particle mobility, in accordance with theoretical expectations. Particles ranging in size from 12 nm to 100 nm were counted with the same efficiency as with a butanol-based ultrafine particlemore » counter, once inlet and line losses were taken into account.« less

  3. The Derivation of the Gradient of the Acoustic Pressure on a Moving Surface for Application to the Fast Scattering Code (FSC)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farassat, F.; Brentner, Kenneth S.

    2005-01-01

    In this paper we develop an analytic expression for calculation of the the acoustic pressure from a rotating blade on a moving surface for application to the Fast Scattering Code (FSC). The analytic result is intended to be used in the helicopter noise prediction code PSU-WOPWOP. One of the goals of the derivation is obtaining a result that will not use any more information than are needed for the prediction of the thickness and loading noise. The result derived here achieves this goal and its incorporation in PSU-WOPWOP is straight forward and attainable.

  4. Fasting glucose, obesity, and coronary artery calcification in community-based people without diabetes.

    PubMed

    Rutter, Martin K; Massaro, Joseph M; Hoffmann, Udo; O'Donnell, Christopher J; Fox, Caroline S

    2012-09-01

    Our objective was to assess whether impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and obesity are independently related to coronary artery calcification (CAC) in a community-based population. We assessed CAC using multidetector computed tomography in 3,054 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean [SD] age was 50 [10] years, 49% were women, 29% had IFG, and 25% were obese) free from known vascular disease or diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that IFG (5.6-6.9 mmol/L) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m(2)) were independently associated with high CAC (>90th percentile for age and sex) after adjusting for hypertension, lipids, smoking, and medication. High CAC was significantly related to IFG in an age- and sex-adjusted model (odds ratio 1.4 [95% CI 1.1-1.7], P = 0.002; referent: normal fasting glucose) and after further adjustment for obesity (1.3 [1.0-1.6], P = 0.045). However, IFG was not associated with high CAC in multivariable-adjusted models before (1.2 [0.9-1.4], P = 0.20) or after adjustment for obesity. Obesity was associated with high CAC in age- and sex-adjusted models (1.6 [1.3-2.0], P < 0.001) and in multivariable models that included IFG (1.4 [1.1-1.7], P = 0.005). Multivariable-adjusted spline regression models suggested nonlinear relationships linking high CAC with BMI (J-shaped), waist circumference (J-shaped), and fasting glucose. In this community-based cohort, CAC was associated with obesity, but not IFG, after adjusting for important confounders. With the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and nondiabetic hyperglycemia, these data underscore the importance of obesity in the pathogenesis of CAC.

  5. Crystal plastic earthquakes in dolostones: from slow to fast ruptures.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Passelegue, F. X.; Aubry, J.; Nicolas, A.; Fondriest, M.; Schubnel, A.; Di Toro, G.

    2017-12-01

    Dolostone is the most dominant lithology of the seismogenic upper crust around the Mediterranean Sea. Understanding the internal mechanisms controlling fault friction is crucial for understanding seismicity along active faults. Displacement in such fault zones is frequently highlighted by highly reflective (mirror-like) slip surfaces, created by thin films of nanogranular fault rock. Using saw-cut dolostone samples coming from natural fault zones, we conducted stick-slip experiments under triaxial loading conditions at 30, 60 and 90 MPa confining pressure and temperature ranging from 30 to 100 degrees C. At 30 and 65 degrees C, only slow rupture was observed and the experimental fault exhibits frictional behaviour, i.e. a dependence of normal stress on peak shear stress. At 65 degrees C, a strengthening behaviour is observed after the main rupture, leading to a succession of slow rupture. At 100 degrees C, the macroscopic behaviour of the fault becomes ductile, and no dependence of pressure on the peak shear stress is observed. In addition, the increase of the confining pressure up to 60 and 90 MPa allow the transition from slow to fast rupture, highlighted by the records of acoustic activity and by dynamic stress drop occurring in a few tens of microseconds. Using strain gages located along the fault surface and acoustic transducers, we were able to measure the rupture velocities during slow and fast rupture. Slow ruptures propagated around 0.1 m/s, in agreement with natural observations. Fast ruptures propagated up to supershear velocities, i.e. faster than the shear wave speed (>3500 m/s). A complete study of the microstructures was realized before and after ruptures. Slow ruptures lead to the production of mirror-like surface driven by the production of nanograins due to dislocation processes. Fast ruptures induce the production of amorphous material along the fault surface, which may come from decarbonation and melting processes. We demonstrate that the

  6. Pole Photogrammetry with AN Action Camera for Fast and Accurate Surface Mapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gonçalves, J. A.; Moutinho, O. F.; Rodrigues, A. C.

    2016-06-01

    High resolution and high accuracy terrain mapping can provide height change detection for studies of erosion, subsidence or land slip. A UAV flying at a low altitude above the ground, with a compact camera, acquires images with resolution appropriate for these change detections. However, there may be situations where different approaches may be needed, either because higher resolution is required or the operation of a drone is not possible. Pole photogrammetry, where a camera is mounted on a pole, pointing to the ground, is an alternative. This paper describes a very simple system of this kind, created for topographic change detection, based on an action camera. These cameras have high quality and very flexible image capture. Although radial distortion is normally high, it can be treated in an auto-calibration process. The system is composed by a light aluminium pole, 4 meters long, with a 12 megapixel GoPro camera. Average ground sampling distance at the image centre is 2.3 mm. The user moves along a path, taking successive photos, with a time lapse of 0.5 or 1 second, and adjusting the speed in order to have an appropriate overlap, with enough redundancy for 3D coordinate extraction. Marked ground control points are surveyed with GNSS for precise georeferencing of the DSM and orthoimage that are created by structure from motion processing software. An average vertical accuracy of 1 cm could be achieved, which is enough for many applications, for example for soil erosion. The GNSS survey in RTK mode with permanent stations is now very fast (5 seconds per point), which results, together with the image collection, in a very fast field work. If an improved accuracy is needed, since image resolution is 1/4 cm, it can be achieved using a total station for the control point survey, although the field work time increases.

  7. Fast online and index-based algorithms for approximate search of RNA sequence-structure patterns

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background It is well known that the search for homologous RNAs is more effective if both sequence and structure information is incorporated into the search. However, current tools for searching with RNA sequence-structure patterns cannot fully handle mutations occurring on both these levels or are simply not fast enough for searching large sequence databases because of the high computational costs of the underlying sequence-structure alignment problem. Results We present new fast index-based and online algorithms for approximate matching of RNA sequence-structure patterns supporting a full set of edit operations on single bases and base pairs. Our methods efficiently compute semi-global alignments of structural RNA patterns and substrings of the target sequence whose costs satisfy a user-defined sequence-structure edit distance threshold. For this purpose, we introduce a new computing scheme to optimally reuse the entries of the required dynamic programming matrices for all substrings and combine it with a technique for avoiding the alignment computation of non-matching substrings. Our new index-based methods exploit suffix arrays preprocessed from the target database and achieve running times that are sublinear in the size of the searched sequences. To support the description of RNA molecules that fold into complex secondary structures with multiple ordered sequence-structure patterns, we use fast algorithms for the local or global chaining of approximate sequence-structure pattern matches. The chaining step removes spurious matches from the set of intermediate results, in particular of patterns with little specificity. In benchmark experiments on the Rfam database, our improved online algorithm is faster than the best previous method by up to factor 45. Our best new index-based algorithm achieves a speedup of factor 560. Conclusions The presented methods achieve considerable speedups compared to the best previous method. This, together with the expected

  8. Physically-Based Models for the Reflection, Transmission and Subsurface Scattering of Light by Smooth and Rough Surfaces, with Applications to Realistic Image Synthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Xiao Dong

    This thesis studies light scattering processes off rough surfaces. Analytic models for reflection, transmission and subsurface scattering of light are developed. The results are applicable to realistic image generation in computer graphics. The investigation focuses on the basic issue of how light is scattered locally by general surfaces which are neither diffuse nor specular; Physical optics is employed to account for diffraction and interference which play a crucial role in the scattering of light for most surfaces. The thesis presents: (1) A new reflectance model; (2) A new transmittance model; (3) A new subsurface scattering model. All of these models are physically-based, depend on only physical parameters, apply to a wide range of materials and surface finishes and more importantly, provide a smooth transition from diffuse-like to specular reflection as the wavelength and incidence angle are increased or the surface roughness is decreased. The reflectance and transmittance models are based on the Kirchhoff Theory and the subsurface scattering model is based on Energy Transport Theory. They are valid only for surfaces with shallow slopes. The thesis shows that predicted reflectance distributions given by the reflectance model compare favorably with experiment. The thesis also investigates and implements fast ways of computing the reflectance and transmittance models. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates that a high level of realistic image generation can be achieved due to the physically -correct treatment of the scattering processes by the reflectance model.

  9. Bio-Inspired Functional Surfaces Based on Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures.

    PubMed

    Müller, Frank A; Kunz, Clemens; Gräf, Stephan

    2016-06-15

    Nature developed numerous solutions to solve various technical problems related to material surfaces by combining the physico-chemical properties of a material with periodically aligned micro/nanostructures in a sophisticated manner. The utilization of ultra-short pulsed lasers allows mimicking numerous of these features by generating laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). In this review paper, we describe the physical background of LIPSS generation as well as the physical principles of surface related phenomena like wettability, reflectivity, and friction. Then we introduce several biological examples including e.g., lotus leafs, springtails, dessert beetles, moth eyes, butterfly wings, weevils, sharks, pangolins, and snakes to illustrate how nature solves technical problems, and we give a comprehensive overview of recent achievements related to the utilization of LIPSS to generate superhydrophobic, anti-reflective, colored, and drag resistant surfaces. Finally, we conclude with some future developments and perspectives related to forthcoming applications of LIPSS-based surfaces.

  10. Fast Physically Correct Refocusing for Sparse Light Fields Using Block-Based Multi-Rate View Interpolation.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chao-Tsung; Wang, Yu-Wen; Huang, Li-Ren; Chin, Jui; Chen, Liang-Gee

    2017-02-01

    Digital refocusing has a tradeoff between complexity and quality when using sparsely sampled light fields for low-storage applications. In this paper, we propose a fast physically correct refocusing algorithm to address this issue in a twofold way. First, view interpolation is adopted to provide photorealistic quality at infocus-defocus hybrid boundaries. Regarding its conventional high complexity, we devised a fast line-scan method specifically for refocusing, and its 1D kernel can be 30× faster than the benchmark View Synthesis Reference Software (VSRS)-1D-Fast. Second, we propose a block-based multi-rate processing flow for accelerating purely infocused or defocused regions, and a further 3- 34× speedup can be achieved for high-resolution images. All candidate blocks of variable sizes can interpolate different numbers of rendered views and perform refocusing in different subsampled layers. To avoid visible aliasing and block artifacts, we determine these parameters and the simulated aperture filter through a localized filter response analysis using defocus blur statistics. The final quadtree block partitions are then optimized in terms of computation time. Extensive experimental results are provided to show superior refocusing quality and fast computation speed. In particular, the run time is comparable with the conventional single-image blurring, which causes serious boundary artifacts.

  11. Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe3O4/PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gu, Shu-Ying; Jin, Sheng-Peng; Gao, Xie-Feng; Mu, Jian

    2016-05-01

    Polylactide-based polyurethane shape memory nanocomposites (Fe3O4/PLAUs) with fast magnetic responsiveness are presented. For the purpose of fast response and homogeneous dispersion of magnetic nanoparticles, oleic acid was used to improve the dispersibility of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. A homogeneous distribution of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix was obtained for nanocomposites with low Fe3O4 loading content. A small agglomeration was observed for nanocomposites with 6 wt% and 9 wt% loading content, leading to a small decline in the mechanical properties. PLAU and its nanocomposites have glass transition around 52 °C, which can be used as the triggering temperature. PLAU and its nanocomposites have shape fixity ratios above 99%, shape recovery ratios above 82% for the first cycle and shape recovery ratios above 91% for the second cycle. PLAU and its nanocomposites also exhibit a fast water bath or magnetic responsiveness. The magnetic recovery time decreases with an increase in the loading content of Fe3O4 nanoparticles due to an improvement in heating performance for increased weight percentage of fillers. The nanocomposites have fast responses in an alternating magnetic field and have potential application in biomedical areas such as intravascular stent.

  12. Characterization of gloss properties of differently treated polymer coating surfaces by surface clarity measurement methodology.

    PubMed

    Gruber, Dieter P; Buder-Stroisznigg, Michael; Wallner, Gernot; Strauß, Bernhard; Jandel, Lothar; Lang, Reinhold W

    2012-07-10

    With one measurement configuration, existing gloss measurement methodologies are generally restricted to specific gloss levels. A newly developed image-analytical gloss parameter called "clarity" provides the possibility to describe the perceptual result of a broad range of different gloss levels with one setup. In order to analyze and finally monitor the perceived gloss of products, a fast and flexible method also for the automated inspection is highly demanded. The clarity parameter is very fast to calculate and therefore usable for fast in-line surface inspection. Coated metal specimens were deformed by varying degree and polished afterwards in order to study the clarity parameter regarding the quantification of varying surface gloss types and levels. In order to analyze the correlation with the human gloss perception a study was carried out in which experts were asked to assess gloss properties of a series of surface samples under standardized conditions. The study confirmed clarity to exhibit considerably better correlation to the human perception than alternative gloss parameters.

  13. Fast gene ontology based clustering for microarray experiments.

    PubMed

    Ovaska, Kristian; Laakso, Marko; Hautaniemi, Sampsa

    2008-11-21

    Analysis of a microarray experiment often results in a list of hundreds of disease-associated genes. In order to suggest common biological processes and functions for these genes, Gene Ontology annotations with statistical testing are widely used. However, these analyses can produce a very large number of significantly altered biological processes. Thus, it is often challenging to interpret GO results and identify novel testable biological hypotheses. We present fast software for advanced gene annotation using semantic similarity for Gene Ontology terms combined with clustering and heat map visualisation. The methodology allows rapid identification of genes sharing the same Gene Ontology cluster. Our R based semantic similarity open-source package has a speed advantage of over 2000-fold compared to existing implementations. From the resulting hierarchical clustering dendrogram genes sharing a GO term can be identified, and their differences in the gene expression patterns can be seen from the heat map. These methods facilitate advanced annotation of genes resulting from data analysis.

  14. Design of fast earth-return trajectories from a lunar base

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anhorn, Walter

    1991-09-01

    The Apollo Lunar Program utilized efficient transearth trajectories which employed parking orbits in order to minimize energy requirements. This thesis concentrates on a different type of transearth trajectory. These are direct-ascent, hyperbolic trajectories which omit the parking orbits in order to achieve short flight times to and from a future lunar base. The object of the thesis is the development of a three-dimensional transearth trajectory model and associated computer program for exploring trade-offs between flight-time and energy, given various mission constraints. The program also targets the Moon with a hyperbolic trajectory, which can be used for targeting Earth impact points. The first-order model is based on an Earth-centered conic and a massless spherical Moon, using MathCAD version 3.0. This model is intended as the basis for future patched-conic formulations for the design of fast Earth-return trajectories. Applications include placing nuclear deterrent arsenals on the Moon, various space support related activities, and finally protection against Earth-threatening asteroids and comets using lunar bases.

  15. A novel Fast Gas Chromatography based technique for higher time resolution measurements of speciated monoterpenes in air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, C. E.; Kato, S.; Nakashima, Y.; Kajii, Y.

    2013-12-01

    Biogenic emissions supply the largest fraction of non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the biosphere to the atmospheric boundary layer, and typically comprise a complex mixture of reactive terpenes. Due to this chemical complexity, achieving comprehensive measurements of biogenic VOC (BVOC) in air within a satisfactory time resolution is analytically challenging. To address this, we have developed a novel, fully automated Fast Gas Chromatography (Fast-GC) based technique to provide higher time resolution monitoring of monoterpenes (and selected other C9-C15 terpenes) during plant emission studies and in ambient air. To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply a Fast-GC based separation technique to achieve quantification of terpenes in air. Three chromatography methods have been developed for atmospheric terpene analysis under different sampling scenarios. Each method facilitates chromatographic separation of selected BVOC within a significantly reduced analysis time compared to conventional GC methods, whilst maintaining the ability to quantify individual monoterpene structural isomers. Using this approach, the C10-C15 BVOC composition of single plant emissions may be characterised within a ~ 14 min analysis time. Moreover, in situ quantification of 12 monoterpenes in unpolluted ambient air may be achieved within an ~ 11 min chromatographic separation time (increasing to ~ 19 min when simultaneous quantification of multiple oxygenated C9-C10 terpenoids is required, and/or when concentrations of anthropogenic VOC are significant). This corresponds to a two- to fivefold increase in measurement frequency compared to conventional GC methods. Here we outline the technical details and analytical capability of this chromatographic approach, and present the first in situ Fast-GC observations of 6 monoterpenes and the oxygenated BVOC linalool in ambient air. During this field deployment within a suburban forest ~ 30 km west of central Tokyo, Japan, the

  16. Fast and slow responses of Southern Ocean sea surface temperature to SAM in coupled climate models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostov, Yavor; Marshall, John; Hausmann, Ute; Armour, Kyle C.; Ferreira, David; Holland, Marika M.

    2017-03-01

    We investigate how sea surface temperatures (SSTs) around Antarctica respond to the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) on multiple timescales. To that end we examine the relationship between SAM and SST within unperturbed preindustrial control simulations of coupled general circulation models (GCMs) included in the Climate Modeling Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). We develop a technique to extract the response of the Southern Ocean SST (55°S-70°S) to a hypothetical step increase in the SAM index. We demonstrate that in many GCMs, the expected SST step response function is nonmonotonic in time. Following a shift to a positive SAM anomaly, an initial cooling regime can transition into surface warming around Antarctica. However, there are large differences across the CMIP5 ensemble. In some models the step response function never changes sign and cooling persists, while in other GCMs the SST anomaly crosses over from negative to positive values only 3 years after a step increase in the SAM. This intermodel diversity can be related to differences in the models' climatological thermal ocean stratification in the region of seasonal sea ice around Antarctica. Exploiting this relationship, we use observational data for the time-mean meridional and vertical temperature gradients to constrain the real Southern Ocean response to SAM on fast and slow timescales.

  17. Bio-Inspired Functional Surfaces Based on Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures

    PubMed Central

    Müller, Frank A.; Kunz, Clemens; Gräf, Stephan

    2016-01-01

    Nature developed numerous solutions to solve various technical problems related to material surfaces by combining the physico-chemical properties of a material with periodically aligned micro/nanostructures in a sophisticated manner. The utilization of ultra-short pulsed lasers allows mimicking numerous of these features by generating laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). In this review paper, we describe the physical background of LIPSS generation as well as the physical principles of surface related phenomena like wettability, reflectivity, and friction. Then we introduce several biological examples including e.g., lotus leafs, springtails, dessert beetles, moth eyes, butterfly wings, weevils, sharks, pangolins, and snakes to illustrate how nature solves technical problems, and we give a comprehensive overview of recent achievements related to the utilization of LIPSS to generate superhydrophobic, anti-reflective, colored, and drag resistant surfaces. Finally, we conclude with some future developments and perspectives related to forthcoming applications of LIPSS-based surfaces. PMID:28773596

  18. UKIRT fast guide system improvements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balius, Al; Rees, Nicholas P.

    1997-09-01

    The United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT) has recently undergone the first major upgrade program since its construction. One part of the upgrade program was an adaptive tip-tilt secondary mirror closed with a CCD system collectively called the fast guide system. The installation of the new secondary and associated systems was carried out in the first half of 1996. Initial testing of the fast guide system has shown great improvement in guide accuracy. The initial installation included a fixed integration time CCD. In the first part of 1997 an integration time controller based on computed guide star luminosity was implemented in the fast guide system. Also, a Kalman type estimator was installed in the image tracking loop based on a dynamic model and knowledge of the statistical properties of the guide star position error measurement as a function of computed guide star magnitude and CCD integration time. The new configuration was tested in terms of improved guide performance nd graceful degradation when tracking faint guide stars. This paper describes the modified fast guide system configuration and reports the results of performance tests.

  19. Nanorod-Based Fast-Response Pressure-Sensitive Paints

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bencic, Timothy; VanderWal, Randall

    2007-01-01

    A proposed program of research and development would be devoted to exploitation of nanomaterials in pressuresensitive paints (PSPs), which are used on wind-tunnel models for mapping surface pressures associated with flow fields. Heretofore, some success has been achieved in measuring steady-state pressures by use of PSPs, but success in measuring temporally varying pressures has been elusive because of the inherent slowness of the optical responses of these materials. A PSP contains a dye that luminesces in a suitable wavelength range in response to photoexcitation in a shorter wavelength range. The luminescence is quenched by oxygen at a rate proportional to the partial pressure of oxygen and thus proportional to the pressure of air. As a result, the intensity of luminescence varies inversely with the pressure of air. The major problem in developing a PSP that could be easily applied to a wind-tunnel model and could be useful for measuring rapidly varying pressure is to provide very high gas diffusivity for rapid, easy transport of oxygen to and from active dye molecules. Most PSPs include polymer-base binders, which limit the penetration of oxygen to dye molecules, thereby reducing responses to pressure fluctuations. The proposed incorporation of nanomaterials (somewhat more specifically, nanorods) would result in paints having nanostructured surfaces that, relative to conventional PSP surfaces, would afford easier and more nearly complete access of oxygen molecules to dye molecules. One measure of greater access is effective surface area: For a typical PSP as proposed applied to a given solid surface, the nanometer-scale structural features would result in an exposed surface area more than 100 times that of a conventional PSP, and the mass of proposed PSP needed to cover the surface would be less than tenth of the mass of the conventional PSP. One aspect of the proposed development would be to synthesize nanorods of Si/SiO2, in both tangle-mat and regular- array

  20. A fast-neutron detection detector based on fission material and large sensitive 4H silicon carbide Schottky diode detector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Linyue; Liu, Jinliang; Zhang, Jianfu; Chen, Liang; Zhang, Xianpeng; Zhang, Zhongbing; Ruan, Jinlu; Jin, Peng; Bai, Song; Ouyang, Xiaoping

    2017-12-01

    Silicon carbide radiation detectors are attractive in the measurement of the total numbers of pulsed fast neutrons emitted from nuclear fusion and fission devices because of high neutron-gamma discrimination and good radiation resistance. A fast-neutron detection system was developed based on a large-area 4H-SiC Schottky diode detector and a 235U fission target. Excellent pulse-height spectra of fission fragments induced by mono-energy deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion neutrons and continuous energy fission neutrons were obtained. The detector is proven to be a good candidate for pulsed fast neutron detection in a complex radiation field.

  1. A fast reconstruction algorithm for fluorescence optical diffusion tomography based on preiteration.

    PubMed

    Song, Xiaolei; Xiong, Xiaoyun; Bai, Jing

    2007-01-01

    Fluorescence optical diffusion tomography in the near-infrared (NIR) bandwidth is considered to be one of the most promising ways for noninvasive molecular-based imaging. Many reconstructive approaches to it utilize iterative methods for data inversion. However, they are time-consuming and they are far from meeting the real-time imaging demands. In this work, a fast preiteration algorithm based on the generalized inverse matrix is proposed. This method needs only one step of matrix-vector multiplication online, by pushing the iteration process to be executed offline. In the preiteration process, the second-order iterative format is employed to exponentially accelerate the convergence. Simulations based on an analytical diffusion model show that the distribution of fluorescent yield can be well estimated by this algorithm and the reconstructed speed is remarkably increased.

  2. Bottom-up fabrication of paper-based microchips by blade coating of cellulose microfibers on a patterned surface.

    PubMed

    Gao, Bingbing; Liu, Hong; Gu, Zhongze

    2014-12-23

    We report a method for the bottom-up fabrication of paper-based capillary microchips by the blade coating of cellulose microfibers on a patterned surface. The fabrication process is similar to the paper-making process in which an aqueous suspension of cellulose microfibers is used as the starting material and is blade-coated onto a polypropylene substrate patterned using an inkjet printer. After water evaporation, the cellulose microfibers form a porous, hydrophilic, paperlike pattern that wicks aqueous solution by capillary action. This method enables simple, fast, inexpensive fabrication of paper-based capillary channels with both width and height down to about 10 μm. When this method is used, the capillary microfluidic chip for the colorimetric detection of glucose and total protein is fabricated, and the assay requires only 0.30 μL of sample, which is 240 times smaller than for paper devices fabricated using photolithography.

  3. Fast Growth of GaN Epilayers via Laser-Assisted Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition for Ultraviolet Photodetector Applications.

    PubMed

    Rabiee Golgir, Hossein; Li, Da Wei; Keramatnejad, Kamran; Zou, Qi Ming; Xiao, Jun; Wang, Fei; Jiang, Lan; Silvain, Jean-François; Lu, Yong Feng

    2017-06-28

    In this study, we successfully developed a carbon dioxide (CO 2 )-laser-assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LMOCVD) approach to fast synthesis of high-quality gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers on Al 2 O 3 [sapphire(0001)] substrates. By employing a two-step growth procedure, high crystallinity and smooth GaN epilayers with a fast growth rate of 25.8 μm/h were obtained. The high crystallinity was confirmed by a combination of techniques, including X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. By optimizing growth parameters, the ∼4.3-μm-thick GaN films grown at 990 °C for 10 min showed a smooth surface with a root-mean-square surface roughness of ∼1.9 nm and excellent thickness uniformity with sharp GaN/substrate interfaces. The full-width at half-maximum values of the GaN(0002) X-ray rocking curve of 313 arcsec and the GaN(101̅2) X-ray rocking curve of 390 arcsec further confirmed the high crystallinity of the GaN epilayers. We also fabricated ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors based on the as-grown GaN layers, which exhibited a high responsivity of 0.108 A W -1 at 367 nm and a fast response time of ∼125 ns, demonstrating its high optical quality with potential in optoelectronic applications. Our strategy thus provides a simple and cost-effective means toward fast and high-quality GaN heteroepitaxy growth suitable for fabricating high-performance GaN-based UV detectors.

  4. A thermodynamically based definition of fast verses slow heating in secondary explosives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Henson, Bryan; Smilowitz, Laura

    2013-06-01

    The thermal response of energetic materials is often categorized according to the rate of heating as either fast or slow, e.g. slow cook-off. Such categorizations have most often followed some operational rationale, without a material based definition. We have spent several years demonstrating that for the energetic material octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) a single mechanism of thermal response reproduces times to ignition independent of rate or means of heating over the entire range of thermal response. HMX is unique in that bulk melting is rarely observed in either thermal ignition or combustion. We have recently discovered a means of expressing this mechanism for HMX in a reduced form applicable to many secondary explosives. We will show that with this mechanism a natural definition of fast versus slow rates of heating emerges, related to the rate of melting, and we use this to illustrate why HMX does not exhibit melting, and why a number of other secondary explosives do, and require the two separate categories.

  5. Fast Fourier-based deconvolution for three-dimensional acoustic source identification with solid spherical arrays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Yang; Chu, Zhigang; Shen, Linbang; Ping, Guoli; Xu, Zhongming

    2018-07-01

    Being capable of demystifying the acoustic source identification result fast, Fourier-based deconvolution has been studied and applied widely for the delay and sum (DAS) beamforming with two-dimensional (2D) planar arrays. It is, however so far, still blank in the context of spherical harmonics beamforming (SHB) with three-dimensional (3D) solid spherical arrays. This paper is motivated to settle this problem. Firstly, for the purpose of determining the effective identification region, the premise of deconvolution, a shift-invariant point spread function (PSF), is analyzed with simulations. To make the premise be satisfied approximately, the opening angle in elevation dimension of the surface of interest should be small, while no restriction is imposed to the azimuth dimension. Then, two kinds of deconvolution theories are built for SHB using the zero and the periodic boundary conditions respectively. Both simulations and experiments demonstrate that the periodic boundary condition is superior to the zero one, and fits the 3D acoustic source identification with solid spherical arrays better. Finally, four periodic boundary condition based deconvolution methods are formulated, and their performance is disclosed both with simulations and experimentally. All the four methods offer enhanced spatial resolution and reduced sidelobe contaminations over SHB. The recovered source strength approximates to the exact one multiplied with a coefficient that is the square of the focus distance divided by the distance from the source to the array center, while the recovered pressure contribution is scarcely affected by the focus distance, always approximating to the exact one.

  6. Fasting Glucose, Obesity, and Coronary Artery Calcification in Community-Based People Without Diabetes

    PubMed Central

    Rutter, Martin K.; Massaro, Joseph M.; Hoffmann, Udo; O’Donnell, Christopher J.; Fox, Caroline S.

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVE Our objective was to assess whether impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and obesity are independently related to coronary artery calcification (CAC) in a community-based population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We assessed CAC using multidetector computed tomography in 3,054 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean [SD] age was 50 [10] years, 49% were women, 29% had IFG, and 25% were obese) free from known vascular disease or diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that IFG (5.6–6.9 mmol/L) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) were independently associated with high CAC (>90th percentile for age and sex) after adjusting for hypertension, lipids, smoking, and medication. RESULTS High CAC was significantly related to IFG in an age- and sex-adjusted model (odds ratio 1.4 [95% CI 1.1–1.7], P = 0.002; referent: normal fasting glucose) and after further adjustment for obesity (1.3 [1.0–1.6], P = 0.045). However, IFG was not associated with high CAC in multivariable-adjusted models before (1.2 [0.9–1.4], P = 0.20) or after adjustment for obesity. Obesity was associated with high CAC in age- and sex-adjusted models (1.6 [1.3–2.0], P < 0.001) and in multivariable models that included IFG (1.4 [1.1–1.7], P = 0.005). Multivariable-adjusted spline regression models suggested nonlinear relationships linking high CAC with BMI (J-shaped), waist circumference (J-shaped), and fasting glucose. CONCLUSIONS In this community-based cohort, CAC was associated with obesity, but not IFG, after adjusting for important confounders. With the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and nondiabetic hyperglycemia, these data underscore the importance of obesity in the pathogenesis of CAC. PMID:22773705

  7. Fast neutron counting in a mobile, trailer-based search platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayward, Jason P.; Sparger, John; Fabris, Lorenzo; Newby, Robert J.

    2017-12-01

    Trailer-based search platforms for detection of radiological and nuclear threats are often based upon coded aperture gamma-ray imaging, because this method can be rendered insensitive to local variations in gamma background while still localizing the source well. Since gamma source emissions are rather easily shielded, in this work we consider the addition of fast neutron counting to a mobile platform for detection of sources containing Pu. A proof-of-concept system capable of combined gamma and neutron coded-aperture imaging was built inside of a trailer and used to detect a 252Cf source while driving along a roadway. Neutron detector types employed included EJ-309 in a detector plane and EJ-299-33 in a front mask plane. While the 252Cf gamma emissions were not readily detectable while driving by at 16.9 m standoff, the neutron emissions can be detected while moving. Mobile detection performance for this system and a scaled-up system design are presented, along with implications for threat sensing.

  8. A DTN-Based Multiple Access Fast Forward Service for the NASA Space Network

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Israel, David; Davis, Faith; Marquart. Jane

    2011-01-01

    The NASA Space Network provides a demand access return link service capable of providing users a space link "on demand". An equivalent service in the forward link direction is not possible due to Tracking and Data Relay Spacecraft (TDRS) constraints. A Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN)-based Multiple Access Fast Forward (MAFF) service has been proposed to provide a forward link to a user as soon as possible. Previous concept studies have identified a basic architecture and implementation approach. This paper reviews the user scenarios and benefits of an MAFF service and proposes an implementation approach based on the use of DTN protocols.

  9. Training and Validation of the Fast PCRTM_Solar Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Q.; Liu, X.; Wu, W.; Yang, P.; Wang, C.

    2015-12-01

    Fast and accurate radiative transfer model is the key for satellite data assimilation for remote sensing application. The simulation of the satellite remote sensing radiances is very complicated since many physical processes, such as absorption, emission, and scattering, are involved due to the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and earth surface, water vapor, clouds, aerosols, and gas molecules in the sky. The principal component-based radiative transfer model (PCRTM) has been developed for various passive IR and MW instruments. In this work, we extended PCRTM to including the contribution from solar radiation. The cloud/aerosol bidirectional reflectances have been carefully calculated using the well-known Discrete-Ordinate-Method Radiative Transfer (DISORT) model under over 10 millions of diverse conditions with varying cloud particle size, wavelength, satellite viewing direction, and solar angles. The obtained results were compressed significantly using principal component analysis and used in the mono domain radiance calculation. We used 1352 different atmosphere profiles, each of them has different surface skin temperatures and surface pressures in our training. Different surface emissivity spectra were derived from ASTER database and emissivity models. Some artificially generated emissivity spectra were also used to account for diverse surface types of the earth. Concentrations of sixteen trace gases were varied systematically in the training and the remaining trace gas contributions were accounted for as a fixed gas. Training was done in both clear and cloudy skies conditions. Finally the nonlocal thermal equilibrium (NLTE) induced radiance change was included for daytime conditions. We have updated the PCRTM model for instruments such as IASI, NASTI, CrIS, AIRS, and SHIS. The training results show that the PCRTM model can calculate thousands of channel radiances by computing only a few hundreds of mono radiances. This greatly increased the

  10. Towards radiation hard converter material for SiC-based fast neutron detectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tripathi, S.; Upadhyay, C.; Nagaraj, C. P.; Venkatesan, A.; Devan, K.

    2018-05-01

    In the present work, Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulations have been carried out to study the neutron detection efficiency of the various neutron to other charge particle (recoil proton) converter materials. The converter material is placed over Silicon Carbide (SiC) in Fast Neutron detectors (FNDs) to achieve higher neutron detection efficiency as compared to bare SiC FNDs. Hydrogenous converter material such as High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is preferred over other converter materials due to the virtue of its high elastic scattering reaction cross-section for fast neutron detection at room temperature. Upon interaction with fast neutrons, hydrogenous converter material generates recoil protons which liberate e-hole pairs in the active region of SiC detector to provide a detector signal. The neutron detection efficiency offered by HDPE converter is compared with several other hydrogenous materials viz., 1) Lithium Hydride (LiH), 2) Perylene, 3) PTCDA . It is found that, HDPE, though providing highest efficiency among various studied materials, cannot withstand high temperature and harsh radiation environment. On the other hand, perylene and PTCDA can sustain harsh environments, but yields low efficiency. The analysis carried out reveals that LiH is a better material for neutron to other charge particle conversion with competent efficiency and desired radiation hardness. Further, the thickness of LiH has also been optimized for various mono-energetic neutron beams and Am-Be neutron source generating a neutron fluence of 109 neutrons/cm2. The optimized thickness of LiH converter for fast neutron detection is found to be ~ 500 μm. However, the estimated efficiency for fast neutron detection is only 0.1%, which is deemed to be inadequate for reliable detection of neutrons. A sensitivity study has also been done investigating the gamma background effect on the neutron detection efficiency for various energy threshold of Low-Level Discriminator (LLD). The detection

  11. FAST Spacecraft Battery Design and Performance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jung, David S.; Rao, Gopalakrishna; Ahmad, Anisa

    1997-01-01

    The Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Explorer spacecraft is to study the physical processes that produce the aurora borealis and aurora australis. It is a unique plasma physics experiment that will take fundamental measurements of the magnetic and electrical fields. This investigation will add significantly to our understanding of the near-earth space environments and its effect. The FAST has a 1 year requirement and 3-year goal for its mission life in low earth orbit. The FAST power power system topology is a Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system based on the SAMPEX design. The FAST flight battery supplies power to the satellite during pre-launch operations, the launch phase, the eclipse periods for all mission phases, and when the load is about 50 watts.

  12. Rapid comparison of properties on protein surface

    PubMed Central

    Sael, Lee; La, David; Li, Bin; Rustamov, Raif; Kihara, Daisuke

    2008-01-01

    The mapping of physicochemical characteristics onto the surface of a protein provides crucial insights into its function and evolution. This information can be further used in the characterization and identification of similarities within protein surface regions. We propose a novel method which quantitatively compares global and local properties on the protein surface. We have tested the method on comparison of electrostatic potentials and hydrophobicity. The method is based on 3D Zernike descriptors, which provides a compact representation of a given property defined on a protein surface. Compactness and rotational invariance of this descriptor enable fast comparison suitable for database searches. The usefulness of this method is exemplified by studying several protein families including globins, thermophilic and mesophilic proteins, and active sites of TIM β/α barrel proteins. In all the cases studied, the descriptor is able to cluster proteins into functionally relevant groups. The proposed approach can also be easily extended to other surface properties. This protein surface-based approach will add a new way of viewing and comparing proteins to conventional methods, which compare proteins in terms of their primary sequence or tertiary structure. PMID:18618695

  13. Rapid comparison of properties on protein surface.

    PubMed

    Sael, Lee; La, David; Li, Bin; Rustamov, Raif; Kihara, Daisuke

    2008-10-01

    The mapping of physicochemical characteristics onto the surface of a protein provides crucial insights into its function and evolution. This information can be further used in the characterization and identification of similarities within protein surface regions. We propose a novel method which quantitatively compares global and local properties on the protein surface. We have tested the method on comparison of electrostatic potentials and hydrophobicity. The method is based on 3D Zernike descriptors, which provides a compact representation of a given property defined on a protein surface. Compactness and rotational invariance of this descriptor enable fast comparison suitable for database searches. The usefulness of this method is exemplified by studying several protein families including globins, thermophilic and mesophilic proteins, and active sites of TIM beta/alpha barrel proteins. In all the cases studied, the descriptor is able to cluster proteins into functionally relevant groups. The proposed approach can also be easily extended to other surface properties. This protein surface-based approach will add a new way of viewing and comparing proteins to conventional methods, which compare proteins in terms of their primary sequence or tertiary structure.

  14. GPU-based ultra-fast dose calculation using a finite size pencil beam model.

    PubMed

    Gu, Xuejun; Choi, Dongju; Men, Chunhua; Pan, Hubert; Majumdar, Amitava; Jiang, Steve B

    2009-10-21

    Online adaptive radiation therapy (ART) is an attractive concept that promises the ability to deliver an optimal treatment in response to the inter-fraction variability in patient anatomy. However, it has yet to be realized due to technical limitations. Fast dose deposit coefficient calculation is a critical component of the online planning process that is required for plan optimization of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Computer graphics processing units (GPUs) are well suited to provide the requisite fast performance for the data-parallel nature of dose calculation. In this work, we develop a dose calculation engine based on a finite-size pencil beam (FSPB) algorithm and a GPU parallel computing framework. The developed framework can accommodate any FSPB model. We test our implementation in the case of a water phantom and the case of a prostate cancer patient with varying beamlet and voxel sizes. All testing scenarios achieved speedup ranging from 200 to 400 times when using a NVIDIA Tesla C1060 card in comparison with a 2.27 GHz Intel Xeon CPU. The computational time for calculating dose deposition coefficients for a nine-field prostate IMRT plan with this new framework is less than 1 s. This indicates that the GPU-based FSPB algorithm is well suited for online re-planning for adaptive radiotherapy.

  15. A water-based fast integrated mobility spectrometer (WFIMS) with enhanced dynamic size range

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pinterich, Tamara; Spielman, Steven R.; Hering, Susanne

    We developed a water-based fast integrated mobility spectrometer (WFIMS) with enhanced dynamic size range. The WFIMS builds on two established technologies: the fast integrated mobility spectrometer and laminar flow water-based condensation methodology. Inside WFIMS, particles of differing electrical mobility are separated in a drift tube and subsequently enlarged through water condensation. Particle size and concentration are measured via digital imaging at a frame rate of 10 Hz. When we measure particles of different mobilities simultaneously, the WFIMS resolves particle diameters ranging from 8 to 580 nm within 1 s or less. The performance of WFIMS was characterized with differential mobilitymore » analyzer (DMA) classified (NH 4) 2SO 2 particles with diameters ranging from 8 to 265 nm. The mean particle diameters measured by WFIMS were found to be in excellent agreement with DMA centroid diameters. Furthermore, detection efficiency of WFIMS was characterized using a condensation particle counter as a reference and is nearly 100% for particles with diameter greater than 8 nm. In general, measured and simulated WFIMS mobility resolutions are in good agreement. But, some deviations are observed at low particle mobilities, likely due to the non-idealities of the WFIMS electric field.« less

  16. A water-based fast integrated mobility spectrometer (WFIMS) with enhanced dynamic size range

    DOE PAGES

    Pinterich, Tamara; Spielman, Steven R.; Hering, Susanne; ...

    2017-06-08

    We developed a water-based fast integrated mobility spectrometer (WFIMS) with enhanced dynamic size range. The WFIMS builds on two established technologies: the fast integrated mobility spectrometer and laminar flow water-based condensation methodology. Inside WFIMS, particles of differing electrical mobility are separated in a drift tube and subsequently enlarged through water condensation. Particle size and concentration are measured via digital imaging at a frame rate of 10 Hz. When we measure particles of different mobilities simultaneously, the WFIMS resolves particle diameters ranging from 8 to 580 nm within 1 s or less. The performance of WFIMS was characterized with differential mobilitymore » analyzer (DMA) classified (NH 4) 2SO 2 particles with diameters ranging from 8 to 265 nm. The mean particle diameters measured by WFIMS were found to be in excellent agreement with DMA centroid diameters. Furthermore, detection efficiency of WFIMS was characterized using a condensation particle counter as a reference and is nearly 100% for particles with diameter greater than 8 nm. In general, measured and simulated WFIMS mobility resolutions are in good agreement. But, some deviations are observed at low particle mobilities, likely due to the non-idealities of the WFIMS electric field.« less

  17. Tile-based rigidization surface parametric design study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giner Munoz, Laura; Luntz, Jonathan; Brei, Diann; Kim, Wonhee

    2018-03-01

    Inflatable technologies have proven useful in consumer goods as well as in more recent applications including civil structures, aerospace, medical, and robotics. However, inflatable technologies are typically lacking in their ability to provide rigid structural support. Particle jamming improves upon this by providing structures which are normally flexible and moldable but become rigid when air is removed. Because these are based on an airtight bladder filled with loose particles, they always occupy the full volume of its rigid state, even when not rigidized. More recent developments in layer jamming have created thin, compact rigidizing surfaces replacing the loose volume of particles with thinly layered surface materials. Work in this area has been applied to several specific applications with positive results but have not generally provided the broader understanding of the rigidization performance as a function of design parameters required for directly adapting layer rigidization technology to other applications. This paper presents a parametric design study of a new layer jamming vacuum rigidization architecture: tile-based vacuum rigidization. This form of rigidization is based on layers of tiles contained within a thin vacuum bladder which can be bent, rolled, or otherwise compactly stowed, but when deployed flat, can be vacuumed and form a large, flat, rigid plate capable of supporting large forces both localized and distributed over the surface. The general architecture and operation detailing rigidization and compliance mechanisms is introduced. To quantitatively characterize the rigidization behavior, prototypes rigidization surfaces are fabricated and an experimental technique is developed based on a 3-point bending test. Performance evaluation metrics are developed to describe the stiffness, load-bearing capacity, and internal slippage of tested prototypes. A set of experimental parametric studies are performed to better understand the impact of

  18. The impact of the fast ion fluxes and thermal plasma loads on the design of the ITER fast ion loss detector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kocan, M.; Garcia-Munoz, M.; Ayllon-Guerola, J.; Bertalot, L.; Bonnet, Y.; Casal, N.; Galdon, J.; Garcia-Lopez, J.; Giacomin, T.; Gonzalez-Martin, J.; Gunn, J. P.; Rodriguez-Ramos, M.; Reichle, R.; Rivero-Rodriguez, J. F.; Sanchis-Sanchez, L.; Vayakis, G.; Veshchev, E.; Vorpahl, C.; Walsh, M.; Walton, R.

    2017-12-01

    Thermal plasma loads to the ITER Fast Ion Loss Detector are studied for QDT = 10 burning plasma equilibrium using the 3D field line tracing. The simulations are performed for a FILD insertion 9-13 cm past the port plasma facing surface, optimized for fast ion measurements, and include the worst-case perturbation of the plasma boundary and the error in the magnetic reconstruction. The FILD head is exposed to superimposed time-averaged ELM heat load, static inter-ELM heat flux and plasma radiation. The study includes the estimate of the instantaneous temperature rise due to individual 0.6 MJ controlled ELMs. The maximum time-averaged surface heat load is lesssim 12 MW/m2 and will lead to increase of the FILD surface temperature well below the melting temperature of the materials considered here, for the FILD insertion time of 0.2 s. The worst-case instantaneous temperature rise during controlled 0.6 MJ ELMs is also significantly smaller than the melting temperature of e.g. Tungsten or Molybdenum, foreseen for the FILD housing.

  19. Breast surface estimation for radar-based breast imaging systems.

    PubMed

    Williams, Trevor C; Sill, Jeff M; Fear, Elise C

    2008-06-01

    Radar-based microwave breast-imaging techniques typically require the antennas to be placed at a certain distance from or on the breast surface. This requires prior knowledge of the breast location, shape, and size. The method proposed in this paper for obtaining this information is based on a modified tissue sensing adaptive radar algorithm. First, a breast surface detection scan is performed. Data from this scan are used to localize the breast by creating an estimate of the breast surface. If required, the antennas may then be placed at specified distances from the breast surface for a second tumor-sensing scan. This paper introduces the breast surface estimation and antenna placement algorithms. Surface estimation and antenna placement results are demonstrated on three-dimensional breast models derived from magnetic resonance images.

  20. Ice nucleation on nanotextured surfaces: the influence of surface fraction, pillar height and wetting states.

    PubMed

    Metya, Atanu K; Singh, Jayant K; Müller-Plathe, Florian

    2016-09-29

    In this work, we address the nucleation behavior of a supercooled monatomic cylindrical water droplet on nanoscale textured surfaces using molecular dynamics simulations. The ice nucleation rate at 203 K on graphite based textured surfaces with nanoscale roughness is evaluated using the mean fast-passage time method. The simulation results show that the nucleation rate depends on the surface fraction as well as the wetting states. The nucleation rate enhances with increasing surface fraction for water in the Cassie-Baxter state, while contrary behavior is observed for the case of Wenzel state. Based on the spatial histogram distribution of ice formation, we observed two pathways for ice nucleation. Heterogeneous nucleation is observed at a high surface fraction. However, the probability of homogeneous ice nucleation events increases with decreasing surface fraction. We further investigate the role of the nanopillar height in ice nucleation. The nucleation rate is enhanced with increasing nanopillar height. This is attributed to the enhanced contact area with increasing nanopillar height and the shift in nucleation events towards the three-phase contact line associated with the nanotextured surface. The ice-surface work of adhesion for the Wenzel state is found to be 1-2 times higher than that in the Cassie-Baxter state. Furthermore, the work of adhesion of ice in the Wenzel state is found to be linearly dependent on the contour length of the droplet, which is in line with that reported for liquid droplets.

  1. Surface characterization based on optical phase shifting interferometry

    DOEpatents

    Mello, Michael , Rosakis; Ares, J [Altadena, CA

    2011-08-02

    Apparatus, techniques and systems for implementing an optical interferometer to measure surfaces, including mapping of instantaneous curvature or in-plane and out-of-plane displacement field gradients of a sample surface based on obtaining and processing four optical interferograms from a common optical reflected beam from the sample surface that are relatively separated in phase by .pi./2.

  2. An OSEE Based Portable Surface Contamination Monitor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Perey, Daniel F.

    1997-01-01

    Many industrial and aerospace processes involving the joining of materials, require sufficient surface cleanliness to insure proper bonding. Processes as diverse as painting, welding, or the soldering of electronic circuits will be compromised if prior inspection and removal of surface contaminants is inadequate. As process requirements become more stringent and the number of different materials and identified contaminants increases, various instruments and techniques have been developed for improved inspection. One such technique based on the principle of Optically Stimulated Electron Emission (OSEE) has been explored for a number of years as a tool for surface contamination monitoring. Some of the benefits of OSEE are: it's non-contacting; requires little operator training; and has very high contamination sensitivity. This paper describes the development of a portable OSEE based surface contamination monitor. The instrument is suitable for both hand-held and robotic inspections with either manual or automated control of instrument operation. In addition, instrument output data is visually displayed to the operator and may be output to an external computer for archiving or analysis.

  3. Modeling and Simulating Airport Surface Operations with Gate Conflicts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zelinski, Shannon; Windhorst, Robert

    2017-01-01

    The Surface Operations Simulator and Scheduler (SOSS) is a fast-time simulation platform used to develop and test future surface scheduling concepts such as NASA's Air Traffic Demonstration 2 of time-based surface metering at Charlotte Douglass International Airport (CLT). Challenges associated with CLT surface operations have driven much of SOSS development. Recently, SOSS functionality for modeling harsdstand operations was developed to address gate conflicts, which occur when an arrival and departure wish to occupy the same gate at the same time. Because surface metering concepts such as ATD2 have the potential to increase gates conflicts as departures are held at their gates, it is important to study the interaction between surface metering and gate conflict management. Several approaches to managing gate conflicts with and without the use of hardstands were simulated and their effects on surface operations and scheduler performance compared.

  4. Modeling and Simulating Airport Surface Operations with Gate Conflicts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zelinski, Shannon; Windhorst, Robert

    2017-01-01

    The Surface Operations Simulator and Scheduler (SOSS) is a fast-time simulation platform used to develop and test future surface scheduling concepts such as NASAs Air Traffic Demonstration 2 of time-based surface metering at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Challenges associated with CLT surface operations have driven much of SOSS development. Recently, SOSS functionality for modeling hardstand operations was developed to address gate conflicts, which occur when an arrival and departure wish to occupy the same gate at the same time. Because surface metering concepts such as ATD2 have the potential to increase gates conflicts as departure are held at their gates, it is important to study the interaction between surface metering and gate conflict management. Several approaches to managing gate conflicts with and without the use of hardstands were simulated and their effects on surface operations and scheduler performance compared.

  5. Fast, high temperature and thermolabile GC--MS in supersonic molecular beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dagan, Shai; Amirav, Aviv

    1994-05-01

    This work describes and evaluates the coupling of a fast gas chromatograph (GC) based on a short column and high carrier gas flow rate to a supersonic molecular beam mass spectrometer (MS). A 50 cm long megabore column serves for fast GC separation and connects the injector to the supersonic nozzle source. Sampling is achieved with a conventional syringe based splitless sample injection. The injector contains no septum and is open to the atmosphere. The linear velocity of the carrier gas is controlled by a by-pass (make-up) gas flow introduced after the column and prior to the supersonic nozzle. The supersonic expansion serves as a jet separator and the skimmed supersonic molecular beam (SMB) is highly enriched with the heavier organic molecules. The supersonic molecular beam constituents are ionized either by electron impact (EI) or hyperthermal surface ionization (HSI) and mass analyzed. A 1 s fast GC--MS of four aromatic molecules in methanol is demonstrated and some fundamental aspects of fast GC--MS with time limit constraints are outlined. The flow control (programming) of the speed of analysis is shown and the analysis of thermolabile and relatively non-volatile molecules is demonstrated and discussed. The tail-free, fast GC--MS of several mixtures is shown and peak tailing of caffeine is compared with that of conventional GC--MS. The improvement of the peak shapes with the SMB--MS is analyzed with the respect to the elimination of thermal vacuum chamber background. The extrapolated minimum detected amount was about 400 ag of anthracence-d10, with an elution time which was shorter than 2s. Repetitive injections could be performed within less than 10 s. The fast GC--MS in SMB seems to be ideal for fast target compound analysis even in real world, complex mixtures. The few seconds GC--MS separation and quantification of lead (as tetraethyllead) in gasoline, caffeine in coffee, and codeine in a drug is demonstrated. Controlled HSI selectivity is demonstrated in

  6. Miniaturized Temperature-Controlled Planar Chromatography (Micro-TLC) as a Versatile Technique for Fast Screening of Micropollutants and Biomarkers Derived from Surface Water Ecosystems and During Technological Processes of Wastewater Treatment.

    PubMed

    Ślączka-Wilk, Magdalena M; Włodarczyk, Elżbieta; Kaleniecka, Aleksandra; Zarzycki, Paweł K

    2017-07-01

    There is increasing interest in the development of simple analytical systems enabling the fast screening of target components in complex samples. A number of newly invented protocols are based on quasi separation techniques involving microfluidic paper-based analytical devices and/or micro total analysis systems. Under such conditions, the quantification of target components can be performed mainly due to selective detection. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate that miniaturized planar chromatography has the capability to work as an efficient separation and quantification tool for the analysis of multiple targets within complex environmental samples isolated and concentrated using an optimized SPE method. In particular, we analyzed various samples collected from surface water ecosystems (lakes, rivers, and the Baltic Sea of Middle Pomerania in the northern part of Poland) in different seasons, as well as samples collected during key wastewater technological processes (originating from the "Jamno" wastewater treatment plant in Koszalin, Poland). We documented that the multiple detection of chromatographic spots on RP-18W microplates-under visible light, fluorescence, and fluorescence quenching conditions, and using the visualization reagent phosphomolybdic acid-enables fast and robust sample classification. The presented data reveal that the proposed micro-TLC system is useful, inexpensive, and can be considered as a complementary method for the fast control of treated sewage water discharged by a municipal wastewater treatment plant, particularly for the detection of low-molecular mass micropollutants with polarity ranging from estetrol to progesterone, as well as chlorophyll-related dyes. Due to the low consumption of mobile phases composed of water-alcohol binary mixtures (less than 1 mL/run for the simultaneous separation of up to nine samples), this method can be considered an environmentally friendly and green chemistry analytical tool. The described

  7. Fast vaccine design and development based on correlates of protection (COPs)

    PubMed Central

    van Els, Cécile; Mjaaland, Siri; Næss, Lisbeth; Sarkadi, Julia; Gonczol, Eva; Smith Korsholm, Karen; Hansen, Jon; de Jonge, Jørgen; Kersten, Gideon; Warner, Jennifer; Semper, Amanda; Kruiswijk, Corine; Oftung, Fredrik

    2014-01-01

    New and reemerging infectious diseases call for innovative and efficient control strategies of which fast vaccine design and development represent an important element. In emergency situations, when time is limited, identification and use of correlates of protection (COPs) may play a key role as a strategic tool for accelerated vaccine design, testing, and licensure. We propose that general rules for COP-based vaccine design can be extracted from the existing knowledge of protective immune responses against a large spectrum of relevant viral and bacterial pathogens. Herein, we focus on the applicability of this approach by reviewing the established and up-coming COPs for influenza in the context of traditional and a wide array of new vaccine concepts. The lessons learnt from this field may be applied more generally to COP-based accelerated vaccine design for emerging infections. PMID:25424803

  8. A new license plate extraction framework based on fast mean shift

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pan, Luning; Li, Shuguang

    2010-08-01

    License plate extraction is considered to be the most crucial step of Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system. In this paper, a region-based license plate hybrid detection method is proposed to solve practical problems under complex background in which existing large quantity of disturbing information. In this method, coarse license plate location is carried out firstly to get the head part of a vehicle. Then a new Fast Mean Shift method based on random sampling of Kernel Density Estimate (KDE) is adopted to segment the color vehicle images, in order to get candidate license plate regions. The remarkable speed-up it brings makes Mean Shift segmentation more suitable for this application. Feature extraction and classification is used to accurately separate license plate from other candidate regions. At last, tilted license plate regulation is used for future recognition steps.

  9. Fast valve based on double-layer eddy-current repulsion for disruption mitigation in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak.

    PubMed

    Zhuang, H D; Zhang, X D

    2015-05-01

    A fast valve based on the double-layer eddy-current repulsion mechanism has been developed on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). In addition to a double-layer eddy-current coil, a preload system was added to improve the security of the valve, whereby the valve opens more quickly and the open-valve time becomes shorter, making it much safer than before. In this contribution, testing platforms, open-valve characteristics, and throughput of the fast valve are discussed. Tests revealed that by choosing appropriate parameters the valve opened within 0.15 ms, and open-valve times were no longer than 2 ms. By adjusting working parameter values, the maximum number of particles injected during this open-valve time was estimated at 7 × 10(22). The fast valve will become a useful tool to further explore disruption mitigation experiments on EAST in 2015.

  10. PCM-Based Durable Write Cache for Fast Disk I/O

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu, Zhuo; Wang, Bin; Carpenter, Patrick

    2012-01-01

    Flash based solid-state devices (FSSDs) have been adopted within the memory hierarchy to improve the performance of hard disk drive (HDD) based storage system. However, with the fast development of storage-class memories, new storage technologies with better performance and higher write endurance than FSSDs are emerging, e.g., phase-change memory (PCM). Understanding how to leverage these state-of-the-art storage technologies for modern computing systems is important to solve challenging data intensive computing problems. In this paper, we propose to leverage PCM for a hybrid PCM-HDD storage architecture. We identify the limitations of traditional LRU caching algorithms for PCM-based caches, and develop amore » novel hash-based write caching scheme called HALO to improve random write performance of hard disks. To address the limited durability of PCM devices and solve the degraded spatial locality in traditional wear-leveling techniques, we further propose novel PCM management algorithms that provide effective wear-leveling while maximizing access parallelism. We have evaluated this PCM-based hybrid storage architecture using applications with a diverse set of I/O access patterns. Our experimental results demonstrate that the HALO caching scheme leads to an average reduction of 36.8% in execution time compared to the LRU caching scheme, and that the SFC wear leveling extends the lifetime of PCM by a factor of 21.6.« less

  11. Local surface curvature analysis based on reflection estimation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Qinglin; Laligant, Olivier; Fauvet, Eric; Zakharova, Anastasia

    2015-07-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel reflection based method to estimate the local orientation of a specular surface. For a calibrated scene with a fixed light band, the band is reflected by the surface to the image plane of a camera. Then the local geometry between the surface and reflected band is estimated. Firstly, in order to find the relationship relying the object position, the object surface orientation and the band reflection, we study the fundamental theory of the geometry between a specular mirror surface and a band source. Then we extend our approach to the spherical surface with arbitrary curvature. Experiments are conducted with mirror surface and spherical surface. Results show that our method is able to obtain the local surface orientation merely by measuring the displacement and the form of the reflection.

  12. Fast-ion D(alpha) measurements and simulations in DIII-D

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Yadong

    The fast-ion Dalpha diagnostic measures the Doppler-shifted Dalpha light emitted by neutralized fast ions. For a favorable viewing geometry, the bright interferences from beam neutrals, halo neutrals, and edge neutrals span over a small wavelength range around the Dalpha rest wavelength and are blocked by a vertical bar at the exit focal plane of the spectrometer. Background subtraction and fitting techniques eliminate various contaminants in the spectrum. Fast-ion data are acquired with a time evolution of ˜1 ms, spatial resolution of ˜5 cm, and energy resolution of ˜10 keV. A weighted Monte Carlo simulation code models the fast-ion Dalpha spectra based on the fast-ion distribution function from other sources. In quiet plasmas, the spectral shape is in excellent agreement and absolute magnitude also has reasonable agreement. The fast-ion D alpha signal has the expected dependencies on plasma and neutral beam parameters. The neutral particle diagnostic and neutron diagnostic corroborate the fast-ion Dalpha measurements. The relative spatial profile is in agreement with the simulated profile based on the fast-ion distribution function from the TRANSP analysis code. During ion cyclotron heating, fast ions with high perpendicular energy are accelerated, while those with low perpendicular energy are barely affected. The spatial profile is compared with the simulated profiles based on the fast-ion distribution functions from the CQL Fokker-Planck code. In discharges with Alfven instabilities, both the spatial profile and spectral shape suggests that fast ions are redistributed. The flattened fast-ion Dalpha profile is in agreement with the fast-ion pressure profile.

  13. Surface acoustic wave actuated cell sorting (SAWACS).

    PubMed

    Franke, T; Braunmüller, S; Schmid, L; Wixforth, A; Weitz, D A

    2010-03-21

    We describe a novel microfluidic cell sorter which operates in continuous flow at high sorting rates. The device is based on a surface acoustic wave cell-sorting scheme and combines many advantages of fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence activated droplet sorting (FADS) in microfluidic channels. It is fully integrated on a PDMS device, and allows fast electronic control of cell diversion. We direct cells by acoustic streaming excited by a surface acoustic wave which deflects the fluid independently of the contrast in material properties of deflected objects and the continuous phase; thus the device underlying principle works without additional enhancement of the sorting by prior labelling of the cells with responsive markers such as magnetic or polarizable beads. Single cells are sorted directly from bulk media at rates as fast as several kHz without prior encapsulation into liquid droplet compartments as in traditional FACS. We have successfully directed HaCaT cells (human keratinocytes), fibroblasts from mice and MV3 melanoma cells. The low shear forces of this sorting method ensure that cells survive after sorting.

  14. The Fast-Casual Conundrum: Fast-Casual Restaurant Entrées Are Higher in Calories than Fast Food.

    PubMed

    Schoffman, Danielle E; Davidson, Charis R; Hales, Sarah B; Crimarco, Anthony E; Dahl, Alicia A; Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle M

    2016-10-01

    Frequently eating fast food has been associated with consuming a diet high in calories, and there is a public perception that fast-casual restaurants (eg, Chipotle) are healthier than traditional fast food (eg, McDonald's). However, research has not examined whether fast-food entrées and fast-casual entrées differ in calorie content. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the caloric content of entrées at fast-food restaurants differed from that found at fast-casual restaurants. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. Calorie information from 2014 for lunch and dinner entrées for fast-food and fast-casual restaurants was downloaded from the MenuStat database. Mean calories per entrée between fast-food restaurants and fast-casual restaurants and the proportion of restaurant entrées that fell into different calorie ranges were assessed. A t test was conducted to test the hypothesis that there was no difference between the average calories per entrée at fast-food and fast-casual restaurants. To examine the difference in distribution of entrées in different calorie ranges between fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, χ(2) tests were used. There were 34 fast-food and 28 fast-casual restaurants included in the analysis (n=3,193 entrées). Fast-casual entrées had significantly more calories per entrée (760±301 kcal) than fast-food entrées (561±268; P<0.0001). A greater proportion of fast-casual entrées compared with fast-food entrées exceeded the median of 640 kcal per entrée (P<0.0001). Although fast-casual entrées contained more calories than fast-food entrées in the study sample, future studies should compare actual purchasing patterns from these restaurants to determine whether the energy content or nutrient density of full meals (ie, entrées with sides and drinks) differs between fast-casual restaurants and fast-food restaurants. Calorie-conscious consumers should consider the calorie content of entrée items

  15. Fast rail corrugation detection based on texture filtering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xiao, Jie; Lu, Kaixia

    2018-02-01

    The condition detection of rails in high-speed railway is one of the important means to ensure the safety of railway transportation. In order to replace the traditional manual inspection, save manpower and material resources, and improve the detection speed and accuracy, it is of great significance to develop a machine vision system for locating and identifying defects on rails automatically. Rail defects exhibit different properties and are divided into various categories related to the type and position of flaws on the rail. Several kinds of interrelated factors cause rail defects such as type of rail, construction conditions, and speed and/or frequency of trains using the rail. Rail corrugation is a particular kind of defects that produce an undulatory deformation on the rail heads. In high speed train, the corrugation induces harmful vibrations on wheels and its components and reduces the lifetime of rails. This type of defects should be detected to avoid rail fractures. In this paper, a novel method for fast rail corrugation detection based on texture filtering was proposed.

  16. A fast key generation method based on dynamic biometrics to secure wireless body sensor networks for p-health.

    PubMed

    Zhang, G H; Poon, Carmen C Y; Zhang, Y T

    2010-01-01

    Body sensor networks (BSNs) have emerged as a new technology for healthcare applications, but the security of communication in BSNs remains a formidable challenge yet to be resolved. The paper discusses the typical attacks faced by BSNs and proposes a fast biometric based approach to generate keys for ensuing confidentiality and authentication in BSN communications. The approach was tested on 900 segments of electrocardiogram. Each segment was 4 seconds long and used to generate a 128-bit key. The results of the study found that entropy of 96% of the keys were above 0.95 and 99% of the hamming distances calculated from any two keys were above 50 bits. Based on the randomness and distinctiveness of these keys, it is concluded that the fast biometric based approach has great potential to be used to secure communication in BSNs for health applications.

  17. Left ventricle: fully automated segmentation based on spatiotemporal continuity and myocardium information in cine cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (LV-FAST).

    PubMed

    Wang, Lijia; Pei, Mengchao; Codella, Noel C F; Kochar, Minisha; Weinsaft, Jonathan W; Li, Jianqi; Prince, Martin R; Wang, Yi

    2015-01-01

    CMR quantification of LV chamber volumes typically and manually defines the basal-most LV, which adds processing time and user-dependence. This study developed an LV segmentation method that is fully automated based on the spatiotemporal continuity of the LV (LV-FAST). An iteratively decreasing threshold region growing approach was used first from the midventricle to the apex, until the LV area and shape discontinued, and then from midventricle to the base, until less than 50% of the myocardium circumference was observable. Region growth was constrained by LV spatiotemporal continuity to improve robustness of apical and basal segmentations. The LV-FAST method was compared with manual tracing on cardiac cine MRI data of 45 consecutive patients. Of the 45 patients, LV-FAST and manual selection identified the same apical slices at both ED and ES and the same basal slices at both ED and ES in 38, 38, 38, and 41 cases, respectively, and their measurements agreed within -1.6 ± 8.7 mL, -1.4 ± 7.8 mL, and 1.0 ± 5.8% for EDV, ESV, and EF, respectively. LV-FAST allowed LV volume-time course quantitatively measured within 3 seconds on a standard desktop computer, which is fast and accurate for processing the cine volumetric cardiac MRI data, and enables LV filling course quantification over the cardiac cycle.

  18. Fast optimization of glide vehicle reentry trajectory based on genetic algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Jun; Dong, Ruixing; Yuan, Xuejun; Wang, Chuangwei

    2018-02-01

    An optimization method of reentry trajectory based on genetic algorithm is presented to meet the need of reentry trajectory optimization for glide vehicle. The dynamic model for the glide vehicle during reentry period is established. Considering the constraints of heat flux, dynamic pressure, overload etc., the optimization of reentry trajectory is investigated by utilizing genetic algorithm. The simulation shows that the method presented by this paper is effective for the optimization of reentry trajectory of glide vehicle. The efficiency and speed of this method is comparative with the references. Optimization results meet all constraints, and the on-line fast optimization is potential by pre-processing the offline samples.

  19. Homogenous Surface Nucleation of Solid Polar Stratospheric Cloud Particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tabazadeh, A.; Hamill, P.; Salcedo, D.; Gore, Warren J. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    A general surface nucleation rate theory is presented for the homogeneous freezing of crystalline germs on the surfaces of aqueous particles. While nucleation rates in a standard classical homogeneous freezing rate theory scale with volume, the rates in a surface-based theory scale with surface area. The theory is used to convert volume-based information on laboratory freezing rates (in units of cu cm, seconds) of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) and nitric acid dihydrate (NAD) aerosols into surface-based values (in units of sq cm, seconds). We show that a surface-based model is capable of reproducing measured nucleation rates of NAT and NAD aerosols from concentrated aqueous HNO3 solutions in the temperature range of 165 to 205 K. Laboratory measured nucleation rates are used to derive free energies for NAT and NAD germ formation in the stratosphere. NAD germ free energies range from about 23 to 26 kcal mole, allowing for fast and efficient homogeneous NAD particle production in the stratosphere. However, NAT germ formation energies are large (greater than 26 kcal mole) enough to prevent efficient NAT particle production in the stratosphere. We show that the atmospheric NAD particle production rates based on the surface rate theory are roughly 2 orders of magnitude larger than those obtained from a standard volume-based rate theory. Atmospheric volume and surface production of NAD particles will nearly cease in the stratosphere when denitrification in the air exceeds 40 and 78%, respectively. We show that a surface-based (volume-based) homogeneous freezing rate theory gives particle production rates, which are (not) consistent with both laboratory and atmospheric data on the nucleation of solid polar stratospheric cloud particles.

  20. Highly sensitive nano-porous lattice biosensor based on localized surface plasmon resonance and interference.

    PubMed

    Yeom, Se-Hyuk; Kim, Ok-Geun; Kang, Byoung-Ho; Kim, Kyu-Jin; Yuan, Heng; Kwon, Dae-Hyuk; Kim, Hak-Rin; Kang, Shin-Won

    2011-11-07

    We propose a design for a highly sensitive biosensor based on nanostructured anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) substrates. A gold-deposited AAO substrate exhibits both optical interference and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). In our sensor, application of these disparate optical properties overcomes problems of limited sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range seen in similar biosensors. We fabricated uniform periodic nanopore lattice AAO templates by two-step anodizing and assessed their suitability for application in biosensors by characterizing the change in optical response on addition of biomolecules to the AAO template. To determine the suitability of such structures for biosensing applications, we immobilized a layer of C-reactive protein (CRP) antibody on a gold coating atop an AAO template. We then applied a CRP antigen (Ag) atop the immobilized antibody (Ab) layer. The shift in reflectance is interpreted as being caused by the change in refractive index with membrane thickness. Our results confirm that our proposed AAO-based biosensor is highly selective toward detection of CRP antigen, and can measure a change in CRP antigen concentration of 1 fg/ml. This method can provide a simple, fast, and sensitive analysis for protein detection in real-time.

  1. The HIRLAM fast radiation scheme for mesoscale numerical weather prediction models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rontu, Laura; Gleeson, Emily; Räisänen, Petri; Pagh Nielsen, Kristian; Savijärvi, Hannu; Hansen Sass, Bent

    2017-07-01

    This paper provides an overview of the HLRADIA shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) broadband radiation schemes used in the HIRLAM numerical weather prediction (NWP) model and available in the HARMONIE-AROME mesoscale NWP model. The advantage of broadband, over spectral, schemes is that they can be called more frequently within the model, without compromising on computational efficiency. In mesoscale models fast interactions between clouds and radiation and the surface and radiation can be of greater importance than accounting for the spectral details of clear-sky radiation; thus calling the routines more frequently can be of greater benefit than the deterioration due to loss of spectral details. Fast but physically based radiation parametrizations are expected to be valuable for high-resolution ensemble forecasting, because as well as the speed of their execution, they may provide realistic physical perturbations. Results from single-column diagnostic experiments based on CIRC benchmark cases and an evaluation of 10 years of radiation output from the FMI operational archive of HIRLAM forecasts indicate that HLRADIA performs sufficiently well with respect to the clear-sky downwelling SW and longwave LW fluxes at the surface. In general, HLRADIA tends to overestimate surface fluxes, with the exception of LW fluxes under cold and dry conditions. The most obvious overestimation of the surface SW flux was seen in the cloudy cases in the 10-year comparison; this bias may be related to using a cloud inhomogeneity correction, which was too large. According to the CIRC comparisons, the outgoing LW and SW fluxes at the top of atmosphere are mostly overestimated by HLRADIA and the net LW flux is underestimated above clouds. The absorption of SW radiation by the atmosphere seems to be underestimated and LW absorption seems to be overestimated. Despite these issues, the overall results are satisfying and work on the improvement of HLRADIA for the use in HARMONIE-AROME NWP system

  2. A method of extracting impervious surface based on rule algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Shuangyun; Hong, Liang; Xu, Quanli

    2018-02-01

    The impervious surface has become an important index to evaluate the urban environmental quality and measure the development level of urbanization. At present, the use of remote sensing technology to extract impervious surface has become the main way. In this paper, a method to extract impervious surface based on rule algorithm is proposed. The main ideas of the method is to use the rule-based algorithm to extract impermeable surface based on the characteristics and the difference which is between the impervious surface and the other three types of objects (water, soil and vegetation) in the seven original bands, NDWI and NDVI. The steps can be divided into three steps: 1) Firstly, the vegetation is extracted according to the principle that the vegetation is higher in the near-infrared band than the other bands; 2) Then, the water is extracted according to the characteristic of the water with the highest NDWI and the lowest NDVI; 3) Finally, the impermeable surface is extracted based on the fact that the impervious surface has a higher NDWI value and the lowest NDVI value than the soil.In order to test the accuracy of the rule algorithm, this paper uses the linear spectral mixed decomposition algorithm, the CART algorithm, the NDII index algorithm for extracting the impervious surface based on six remote sensing image of the Dianchi Lake Basin from 1999 to 2014. Then, the accuracy of the above three methods is compared with the accuracy of the rule algorithm by using the overall classification accuracy method. It is found that the extraction method based on the rule algorithm is obviously higher than the above three methods.

  3. Fast and automated DNA assays on a compact disc (CD)-based microfluidic platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Guangyao

    Nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics offers enormous potential for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases. However, most of the existing commercial tests are time-consuming and technically complicated, and are thus incompatible with the need for rapid identification of infectious agents. We have successfully developed a CD-based microfluidic platform for fast and automated DNA array hybridization and a low cost, disposable plastic microfluidic platform for polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These platforms have proved to be a promising approach to meet the requirements in terms of detection speed and operational convenience in diagnosis of infectious diseases. In the CD-based microfluidic platform for DNA hybridization, convection is introduced to the system to enhance mass transport so as to accelerate the hybridization rate since DNA hybridization is a diffusion limited reaction. Centrifugal force is utilized for sample propulsion and surface force is used for liquid gating. Standard microscope glass slides are used as the substrates for capture probes owing to their compatibility with commercially available instrumentation (e.g. laser scanners) for detection. Microfabricated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structures are used to accomplish the fluidic functions required by the protocols for DNA hybridization. The assembly of the PDMS structure and the glass slide forms a flow-through hybridization unit that can be accommodated onto the CD platform for reagent manipulation. The above scheme has been validated with oligonucleotides as the targets using commercially available enzyme-labeled fluorescence (ELF 97) for detection of the hybridization events, and tested with amplicons of genomic staphylococcus DNA labeled with Cy dye. In both experiments, significantly higher fluorescence intensities were observed in the flow-through hybridization unit compared to the passive assays. The CD fluidic scheme was also adapted to the immobilization of

  4. Redistribution of fast ions during sawtooth reconnection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jaulmes, F.; Westerhof, E.; de Blank, H. J.

    2014-10-01

    In a tokamak-based fusion power plant, possible scenarios may include regulated sawtooth oscillations to remove thermalized helium from the core of the plasma. During a sawtooth crash, the helium ash and other impurities trapped in the core are driven by the instability to an outer region. However, in a fusion plasma, high energy ions will represent a significant population. We thus study the behaviour of these energetic particles during a sawtooth. This paper presents the modelling of the redistribution of fast ions during a sawtooth reconnection event in a tokamak plasma. Along the lines of the model for the evolution of the flux surfaces during a sawtooth collapse described in Ya.I. Kolesnichenko and Yu.V. Yakovenko 1996 Nucl. Fusion 36 159, we have built a time-dependent electromagnetic model of a sawtooth reconnection. The trajectories of the ions are described by a complete gyro-orbit integration. The fast particles were evolved from specific initial parameters (given energy and uniform spread in pitch) or distributed initially according to a slowing-down distribution created by fusion reactions. Our modelling is used to understand the main equilibrium parameters driving the motions during the collapse and to determine the evolution of the distribution function of energetic ions when different geometries of reconnection are considered.

  5. Fast enhancement on hydrophobicity of poplar wood surface using low-pressure dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) plasma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Weimin; Zhou, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Xiaotao; Bian, Jie; Shi, Shukai; Nguyen, Thiphuong; Chen, Minzhi; Wan, Jinglin

    2017-06-01

    The hydrophilicity of woody products leads to deformation and cracks, which greatly limits its applications. Low-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma using hexamethyldisiloxane was applied in poplar wood surface to enhance the hydrophobicity. The chemical properties, micro-morphology, and contact angles of poplar wood surface before and after plasma treatment were investigated by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (SEM-EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and optical contact angle measurement (OCA). Moreover, tinfoil film was used as the base to reveal the enhancement mechanism. The results showed that hexamethyldisiloxane monomer is first broken into several fragments with active sites and hydrophobic chemical groups. Meanwhile, plasma treatment results in the formation of free radicals and active sites in the poplar wood surface. Then, the fragments are reacted with free radicals and incorporated into the active sites to form a network structure based on the linkages of Si-O-Si and Sisbnd Osbnd C. Plasma treatment also leads to the formation of acicular nano-structure in poplar wood surface. These facts synergistically enhance the hydrophobicity of poplar wood surface, demonstrating the dramatically increase in the equilibrium contact angle by 330%.

  6. Pristine and Surface-Modified Polymers in LEO: MISSE Results versus Predictive Models and Ground-Based Testing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iskanderova, Zelina; Kleiman, Jacob I.; Tennyson, Rod C.

    2009-01-01

    Space flight data, collected and published by NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) team for a set of pristine polymeric materials selected, compiled, and tested in two LEO flight experiments at the International Space Station, as part of the "Materials International Space Station Experiment" (MISSE), has been used for comparison with previously developed atomic oxygen erosion predictive models. The same set of materials was used for a ground-based fast atomic beam (FAO) experimental erosion study at ITL/UTIAS, where the FAO exposure was performed mostly at a standard fluence of 2×1020 cm-2, with the results collected in a database for the development of a prototype of predictive software. A comparison of MISSE-1 flight data with two predictive correlations has shown good agreement, confirming the developed approach to polymers erosion resistance forecast that might be used also for newly developed or untested in space polymeric materials. A number of surface-modified thin film space polymers, treated by two ITL-developed and patented surface modification technologies, Implantox™ [5] and Photosil™ [6], have been also included in MISSE flight experiment. The results from those MISSE samples have shown full protection of AO-sensitive main space-related hydrocarbon polymers, such as Kapton HN, back-metalized Kapton H and Kapton E, and Mylar, when treated by Implantox™ surface modification technology and significant erosion resistance enhancement up to full protection by Photosil™ treatment.

  7. Portland cement based fast-setting concrete demonstration, district 07, Los Angeles County

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2001-09-01

    The California Department of Transportation currently uses fast-setting concrete to accommodate short working windows. The current special provision for fast-setting concrete requires that the concrete reach a flexural strength of 2.8 MPa (400 psi) b...

  8. An Effective Quality Control of Pharmacologically Active Volatiles of Houttuynia cordata Thunb by Fast Gas Chromatography-Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor.

    PubMed

    Oh, Se Yeon

    2015-06-03

    Fast gas chromatography-surface acoustic wave sensor (GC/SAW) has been applied for the detection of the pharmacological volatiles emanated from Houttuynia cordata Thunb which is from South Korea. H. cordata Thunb with unpleasant and fishy odors shows a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and insect repellent. The aim of this study is to show a novel quality control by GC/SAW methodology for the discrimination of the three different parts of the plant such as leaves, aerial stems, and underground stems for H. cordata Thunb. Sixteen compounds were identified. β-Myrcene, cis-ocimene and decanal are the dominant volatiles for leaves (71.0%) and aerial stems (50.1%). While, monoterpenes (74.6%) are the dominant volatiles for underground stems. 2-Undecanone (1.3%) and lauraldehyde (3.5%) were found to be the characteristic components for leaves. Each part of the plant has its own characteristic fragrance pattern owing to its individual chemical compositions. Moreover, its individual characteristic fragrance patterns are conducive to discrimination of the three different parts of the plant. Consequently, fast GC/SAW can be a useful analytical method for quality control of the different parts of the plant with pharmacological volatiles as it provides second unit analysis, a simple and fragrant pattern recognition.

  9. Some effects on SPM based surface measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wenhao, Huang; Yuhang, Chen

    2005-01-01

    The scanning probe microscope (SPM) has been used as a powerful tool for nanotechnology, especially in surface nanometrology. However, there are a lot of false images and modifications during the SPM measurement on the surfaces. This is because of the complex interaction between the SPM tip and the surface. The origin is not only due to the tip material or shape, but also to the structure of the sample. So people are paying much attention to draw true information from the SPM images. In this paper, we present some simulation methods and reconstruction examples for the microstructures and surface roughness based on SPM measurement. For example, in AFM measurement, we consider the effects of tip shape and dimension, also the surface topography distribution in both height and space. Some simulation results are compared with other measurement methods to verify the reliability.

  10. Feature Article: Fast scanning tunnelling microscopy as a tool to understand changes on metal surfaces: from nanostructures to single atoms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morgenstern, Karina

    2005-03-01

    The Feature Article [1] describes how structural changes in metallic nanostructures can be followed with fast scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The title page shows the same spot of a Ag(111) surface at room temperature, imaged with STM approximately one hour apart. Intrinsic changes to prepared nano-structures are marked as Brownian motion of vacancy islands (rectangle), coalescence of two vacancy islands (hexagon), and decay of an adatom island (circle).Karina Morgenstern is now professor at the University of Hannover. Her research is placed within the field of nanoscience and is in particular devoted to thermally activated processes of metallic nanostructures, electronically activated reactions of molecules on metallic surfaces, and water-metal interactions.The present issue of physica status solidi (b) also contains the article Apperance of copper d9 defect centres in wide-gap CdSe nanoparticles: A high-fequency EPR study by N. R. J. Poolton et al. as Editor's Choice [2] as well as several papers on electrical and nonlinear optical properties from the European Conference on Organised Films (ECOF 2004) chaired by José Antonio de Saja, Valladolid.

  11. A Wavelet-based Fast Discrimination of Transformer Magnetizing Inrush Current

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kitayama, Masashi

    Recently customers who need electricity of higher quality have been installing co-generation facilities. They can avoid voltage sags and other distribution system related disturbances by supplying electricity to important load from their generators. For another example, FRIENDS, highly reliable distribution system using semiconductor switches or storage devices based on power electronics technology, is proposed. These examples illustrates that the request for high reliability in distribution system is increasing. In order to realize these systems, fast relaying algorithms are indispensable. The author proposes a new method of detecting magnetizing inrush current using discrete wavelet transform (DWT). DWT provides the function of detecting discontinuity of current waveform. Inrush current occurs when transformer core becomes saturated. The proposed method detects spikes of DWT components derived from the discontinuity of the current waveform at both the beginning and the end of inrush current. Wavelet thresholding, one of the wavelet-based statistical modeling, was applied to detect the DWT component spikes. The proposed method is verified using experimental data using single-phase transformer and the proposed method is proved to be effective.

  12. A fast and precise indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine.

    PubMed

    Zou, Han; Lu, Xiaoxuan; Jiang, Hao; Xie, Lihua

    2015-01-15

    Nowadays, developing indoor positioning systems (IPSs) has become an attractive research topic due to the increasing demands on location-based service (LBS) in indoor environments. WiFi technology has been studied and explored to provide indoor positioning service for years in view of the wide deployment and availability of existing WiFi infrastructures in indoor environments. A large body of WiFi-based IPSs adopt fingerprinting approaches for localization. However, these IPSs suffer from two major problems: the intensive costs of manpower and time for offline site survey and the inflexibility to environmental dynamics. In this paper, we propose an indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine (OS-ELM) to address the above problems accordingly. The fast learning speed of OS-ELM can reduce the time and manpower costs for the offline site survey. Meanwhile, its online sequential learning ability enables the proposed localization algorithm to adapt in a timely manner to environmental dynamics. Experiments under specific environmental changes, such as variations of occupancy distribution and events of opening or closing of doors, are conducted to evaluate the performance of OS-ELM. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed localization algorithm can provide higher localization accuracy than traditional approaches, due to its fast adaptation to various environmental dynamics.

  13. Fast and accurate computation of system matrix for area integral model-based algebraic reconstruction technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Shunli; Zhang, Dinghua; Gong, Hao; Ghasemalizadeh, Omid; Wang, Ge; Cao, Guohua

    2014-11-01

    Iterative algorithms, such as the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART), are popular for image reconstruction. For iterative reconstruction, the area integral model (AIM) is more accurate for better reconstruction quality than the line integral model (LIM). However, the computation of the system matrix for AIM is more complex and time-consuming than that for LIM. Here, we propose a fast and accurate method to compute the system matrix for AIM. First, we calculate the intersection of each boundary line of a narrow fan-beam with pixels in a recursive and efficient manner. Then, by grouping the beam-pixel intersection area into six types according to the slopes of the two boundary lines, we analytically compute the intersection area of the narrow fan-beam with the pixels in a simple algebraic fashion. Overall, experimental results show that our method is about three times faster than the Siddon algorithm and about two times faster than the distance-driven model (DDM) in computation of the system matrix. The reconstruction speed of our AIM-based ART is also faster than the LIM-based ART that uses the Siddon algorithm and DDM-based ART, for one iteration. The fast reconstruction speed of our method was accomplished without compromising the image quality.

  14. Real-time quantitative Schlieren imaging by fast Fourier demodulation of a checkered backdrop

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wildeman, Sander

    2018-06-01

    A quantitative synthetic Schlieren imaging (SSI) method based on fast Fourier demodulation is presented. Instead of a random dot pattern (as usually employed in SSI), a 2D periodic pattern (such as a checkerboard) is used as a backdrop to the refractive object of interest. The range of validity and accuracy of this "Fast Checkerboard Demodulation" (FCD) method are assessed using both synthetic data and experimental recordings of patterns optically distorted by small waves on a water surface. It is found that the FCD method is at least as accurate as sophisticated, multi-stage, digital image correlation (DIC) or optical flow (OF) techniques used with random dot patterns, and it is significantly faster. Efficient, fully vectorized, implementations of both the FCD and DIC/OF schemes developed for this study are made available as open source Matlab scripts.

  15. Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy.

    PubMed

    Stender, S; Dyerberg, J; Astrup, A

    2007-06-01

    Although nutrition experts might be able to navigate the menus of fast-food restaurant chains, and based on the nutritional information, compose apparently 'healthy' meals, there are still many reasons why frequent fast-food consumption at most chains is unhealthy and contributes to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Fast food generally has a high-energy density, which, together with large portion sizes, induces over consumption of calories. In addition, we have found it to be a myth that the typical fast-food meal is the same worldwide. Chemical analyses of 74 samples of fast-food menus consisting of French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries in 2005-2006 showed that the total fat content of the same menu varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC. In addition, fast food from major chains in most countries still contains unacceptably high levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (IP-TFA). IP-TFA have powerful biological effects and may contribute to increased weight gain, abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The food quality and portion size need to be improved before it is safe to eat frequently at most fast-food chains.

  16. Recent developments in multi-wire fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST). [for low cost silicon wafer production from ingots

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schmid, F.; Khattak, C. P.; Smith, M. B.; Lynch, L. D.

    1982-01-01

    Slicing is an important processing step for all technologies based on the use of ingots. A comparison of the economics of three slicing techniques shows that the fixed abrasive slicing technique (FAST) is superior to the internal diameter (ID) and the multiblade slurry (MBS) techniques. Factors affecting contact length are discussed, taking into account kerf width, rocking angle, ingot size, and surface speed. Aspects of blade development are also considered. A high concentration of diamonds on wire has been obtained in wire packs usd for FAST slicing. The material removal rate was found to be directly proportional to the pressure at the diamond tips.

  17. High-speed 3D surface measurement with a fringe projection based optical sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bräuer-Burchardt, Christian; Heist, Stefan; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

    2014-05-01

    A new optical sensor based on fringe projection technique for the accurate and fast measurement of the surface of objects mainly for industrial inspection tasks is introduced. High-speed fringe projection and image recording with 180 Hz allows 3D rates up to 60 Hz. The high measurement velocity was achieved by consequent fringe code reduction and parallel data processing. Reduction of the image sequence length was obtained by omission of the Gray-code sequence by using the geometric restrictions of the measurement objects. The sensor realizes three different measurement fields between 20 x 20 mm2 and 40 x 40 mm2 with lateral spatial solutions between 10 μm and 20 μm with the same working distance. Measurement object height extension is between +/- 0.5 mm and +/- 2 mm. Height resolution between 1 μm and 5 μm can be achieved depending on the properties of the measurement objects. The sensor may be used e.g. for quality inspection of conductor boards or plugs in real-time industrial applications.

  18. Fast, Statistical Model of Surface Roughness for Ion-Solid Interaction Simulations and Efficient Code Coupling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Drobny, Jon; Curreli, Davide; Ruzic, David; Lasa, Ane; Green, David; Canik, John; Younkin, Tim; Blondel, Sophie; Wirth, Brian

    2017-10-01

    Surface roughness greatly impacts material erosion, and thus plays an important role in Plasma-Surface Interactions. Developing strategies for efficiently introducing rough surfaces into ion-solid interaction codes will be an important step towards whole-device modeling of plasma devices and future fusion reactors such as ITER. Fractal TRIDYN (F-TRIDYN) is an upgraded version of the Monte Carlo, BCA program TRIDYN developed for this purpose that includes an explicit fractal model of surface roughness and extended input and output options for file-based code coupling. Code coupling with both plasma and material codes has been achieved and allows for multi-scale, whole-device modeling of plasma experiments. These code coupling results will be presented. F-TRIDYN has been further upgraded with an alternative, statistical model of surface roughness. The statistical model is significantly faster than and compares favorably to the fractal model. Additionally, the statistical model compares well to alternative computational surface roughness models and experiments. Theoretical links between the fractal and statistical models are made, and further connections to experimental measurements of surface roughness are explored. This work was supported by the PSI-SciDAC Project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through contract DOE-DE-SC0008658.

  19. Response mechanism for surface acoustic wave gas sensors based on surface-adsorption.

    PubMed

    Liu, Jiansheng; Lu, Yanyan

    2014-04-16

    A theoretical model is established to describe the response mechanism of surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas sensors based on physical adsorption on the detector surface. Wohljent's method is utilized to describe the relationship of sensor output (frequency shift of SAW oscillator) and the mass loaded on the detector surface. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) formula and its improved form are introduced to depict the adsorption behavior of gas on the detector surface. By combining the two methods, we obtain a theoretical model for the response mechanism of SAW gas sensors. By using a commercial SAW gas chromatography (GC) analyzer, an experiment is performed to measure the frequency shifts caused by different concentration of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP). The parameters in the model are given by fitting the experimental results and the theoretical curve agrees well with the experimental data.

  20. Response Mechanism for Surface Acoustic Wave Gas Sensors Based on Surface-Adsorption

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Jiansheng; Lu, Yanyan

    2014-01-01

    A theoretical model is established to describe the response mechanism of surface acoustic wave (SAW) gas sensors based on physical adsorption on the detector surface. Wohljent's method is utilized to describe the relationship of sensor output (frequency shift of SAW oscillator) and the mass loaded on the detector surface. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) formula and its improved form are introduced to depict the adsorption behavior of gas on the detector surface. By combining the two methods, we obtain a theoretical model for the response mechanism of SAW gas sensors. By using a commercial SAW gas chromatography (GC) analyzer, an experiment is performed to measure the frequency shifts caused by different concentration of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP). The parameters in the model are given by fitting the experimental results and the theoretical curve agrees well with the experimental data. PMID:24743157

  1. Textual blocks rectification method based on fast Hough transform analysis in identity documents recognition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bezmaternykh, P. V.; Nikolaev, D. P.; Arlazarov, V. L.

    2018-04-01

    Textual blocks rectification or slant correction is an important stage of document image processing in OCR systems. This paper considers existing methods and introduces an approach for the construction of such algorithms based on Fast Hough Transform analysis. A quality measurement technique is proposed and obtained results are shown for both printed and handwritten textual blocks processing as a part of an industrial system of identity documents recognition on mobile devices.

  2. Computer Generated Diffraction Patterns Of Rough Surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rakels, Jan H.

    1989-03-01

    It is generally accepted, that optical methods are the most promising for the in-process measurement of surface finish. These methods have the advantages of being non-contacting and fast data acquisition. In the Micro-Engineering Centre at the University of Warwick, an optical sensor has been devised which can measure the rms roughness, slope and wavelength of turned and precision ground surfaces. The operation of this device is based upon the Kirchhoff-Fresnel diffraction integral. Application of this theory to ideal turned surfaces is straightforward, and indeed the theoretically calculated diffraction patterns are in close agreement with patterns produced by an actual optical instrument. Since it is mathematically difficult to introduce real surface profiles into the diffraction integral, a computer program has been devised, which simulates the operation of the optical sensor. The program produces a diffraction pattern as a graphical output. Comparison between computer generated and actual diffraction patterns of the same surfaces show a high correlation.

  3. An Integrated Software Suite for Surface-based Analyses of Cerebral Cortex

    PubMed Central

    Van Essen, David C.; Drury, Heather A.; Dickson, James; Harwell, John; Hanlon, Donna; Anderson, Charles H.

    2001-01-01

    The authors describe and illustrate an integrated trio of software programs for carrying out surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex. The first component of this trio, SureFit (Surface Reconstruction by Filtering and Intensity Transformations), is used primarily for cortical segmentation, volume visualization, surface generation, and the mapping of functional neuroimaging data onto surfaces. The second component, Caret (Computerized Anatomical Reconstruction and Editing Tool Kit), provides a wide range of surface visualization and analysis options as well as capabilities for surface flattening, surface-based deformation, and other surface manipulations. The third component, SuMS (Surface Management System), is a database and associated user interface for surface-related data. It provides for efficient insertion, searching, and extraction of surface and volume data from the database. PMID:11522765

  4. An integrated software suite for surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex.

    PubMed

    Van Essen, D C; Drury, H A; Dickson, J; Harwell, J; Hanlon, D; Anderson, C H

    2001-01-01

    The authors describe and illustrate an integrated trio of software programs for carrying out surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex. The first component of this trio, SureFit (Surface Reconstruction by Filtering and Intensity Transformations), is used primarily for cortical segmentation, volume visualization, surface generation, and the mapping of functional neuroimaging data onto surfaces. The second component, Caret (Computerized Anatomical Reconstruction and Editing Tool Kit), provides a wide range of surface visualization and analysis options as well as capabilities for surface flattening, surface-based deformation, and other surface manipulations. The third component, SuMS (Surface Management System), is a database and associated user interface for surface-related data. It provides for efficient insertion, searching, and extraction of surface and volume data from the database.

  5. An integrated software suite for surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Essen, D. C.; Drury, H. A.; Dickson, J.; Harwell, J.; Hanlon, D.; Anderson, C. H.

    2001-01-01

    The authors describe and illustrate an integrated trio of software programs for carrying out surface-based analyses of cerebral cortex. The first component of this trio, SureFit (Surface Reconstruction by Filtering and Intensity Transformations), is used primarily for cortical segmentation, volume visualization, surface generation, and the mapping of functional neuroimaging data onto surfaces. The second component, Caret (Computerized Anatomical Reconstruction and Editing Tool Kit), provides a wide range of surface visualization and analysis options as well as capabilities for surface flattening, surface-based deformation, and other surface manipulations. The third component, SuMS (Surface Management System), is a database and associated user interface for surface-related data. It provides for efficient insertion, searching, and extraction of surface and volume data from the database.

  6. Supramolecular polymers as surface coatings: rapid fabrication of healable superhydrophobic and slippery surfaces.

    PubMed

    Wei, Qiang; Schlaich, Christoph; Prévost, Sylvain; Schulz, Andrea; Böttcher, Christoph; Gradzielski, Michael; Qi, Zhenhui; Haag, Rainer; Schalley, Christoph A

    2014-11-19

    Supramolecular polymerization for non-wetting surface coatings is described. The self-assembly of low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) with perfluorinated side chains can be utilized to rapidly construct superhydrophobic, as well as liquid-infused slippery surfaces within minutes. The lubricated slippery surface exhibits impressive repellency to biological li-quids, such as human serum and blood, and very fast self-healing. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Overview on the Surface Functionalization Mechanism and Determination of Surface Functional Groups of Plasma Treated Carbon Nanotubes.

    PubMed

    Saka, Cafer

    2018-01-02

    The use of carbon materials for many applications is due to the unique diversity of structures and properties ranging from chemical bonds between the carbon atoms of the materials to nanostructures, crystallite alignment, and microstructures. Carbon nanotubes and other nanoscale carbonaceous materials draw much attention due to their physical and chemical properties, such as high strength, high resistance to corrosion, electrical and thermal conductivity, stability and a qualified adsorbent. Carbon-based nanomaterials, which have a relatively large specific area and layered structure, can be used as an adsorbent for efficient removal of organic and inorganic contaminants. However, one of the biggest obstacles to the development of carbon-based nanomaterials adsorbents is insolubility and the lack of functional groups on the surface. There are several approaches to introduce functional groups on carbon nanotubes. One of these approaches, plasma applications, now has an important place in the creation of surface functional groups as a flexible, fast, and environmentally friendly method. This review focuses on recent information concerning the surface functionalization and modification of plasma treated carbon nanotube. This review considers the surface properties, advantages, and disadvantages of plasma-applied carbon nanotubes. It also examines the reaction mechanisms involved in the functional groups on the surface.

  8. XCO2 Retrieval Errors from a PCA-based Approach to Fast Radiative Transfer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Somkuti, Peter; Boesch, Hartmut; Natraj, Vijay; Kopparla, Pushkar

    2017-04-01

    Multiple-scattering radiative transfer (RT) calculations are an integral part of forward models used to infer greenhouse gas concentrations in the shortwave-infrared spectral range from satellite missions such as GOSAT or OCO-2. Such calculations are, however, computationally expensive and, combined with the recent growth in data volume, necessitate the use of acceleration methods in order to make retrievals feasible on an operational level. The principle component analysis (PCA)-based approach to fast radiative transfer introduced by Natraj et al. 2005 is a spectral binning method, in which the many line-by-line monochromatic calculations are replaced by a small set of representative ones. From the PCA performed on the optical layer properties for a scene-dependent atmosphere, the results of the representative calculations are mapped onto all spectral points in the given band. Since this RT scheme is an approximation, the computed top-of-atmosphere radiances exhibit errors compared to the "full" line-by-line calculation. These errors ultimately propagate into the final retrieved greenhouse gas concentrations, and their magnitude depends on scene-dependent parameters such as aerosol loadings or viewing geometry. An advantage of this method is the ability to choose the degree of accuracy by increasing or decreasing the number of empirical orthogonal functions used for the reconstruction of the radiances. We have performed a large set of global simulations based on real GOSAT scenes and assess the retrieval errors induced by the fast RT approximation through linear error analysis. We find that across a wide range of geophysical parameters, the errors are for the most part smaller than ± 0.2 ppm and ± 0.06 ppm (out of roughly 400 ppm) for ocean and land scenes respectively. A fast RT scheme that produces low errors is important, since regional biases in XCO2 even in the low sub-ppm range can cause significant changes in carbon fluxes obtained from inversions

  9. Fast wavelength calibration method for spectrometers based on waveguide comb optical filter

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yu, Zhengang; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240; Huang, Meizhen, E-mail: mzhuang@sjtu.edu.cn

    2015-04-15

    A novel fast wavelength calibration method for spectrometers based on a standard spectrometer and a double metal-cladding waveguide comb optical filter (WCOF) is proposed and demonstrated. By using the WCOF device, a wide-spectrum beam is comb-filtered, which is very suitable for spectrometer wavelength calibration. The influence of waveguide filter’s structural parameters and the beam incident angle on the comb absorption peaks’ wavelength and its bandwidth are also discussed. The verification experiments were carried out in the wavelength range of 200–1100 nm with satisfactory results. Comparing with the traditional wavelength calibration method based on discrete sparse atomic emission or absorption lines,more » the new method has some advantages: sufficient calibration data, high accuracy, short calibration time, fit for produce process, stability, etc.« less

  10. Wearable Resistive Pressure Sensor Based on Highly Flexible Carbon Composite Conductors with Irregular Surface Morphology.

    PubMed

    Kim, Kang-Hyun; Hong, Soon Kyu; Jang, Nam-Su; Ha, Sung-Hun; Lee, Hyung Woo; Kim, Jong-Man

    2017-05-24

    Wearable pressure sensors are crucial building blocks for potential applications in real-time health monitoring, artificial electronic skins, and human-to-machine interfaces. Here we present a highly sensitive, simple-architectured wearable resistive pressure sensor based on highly compliant yet robust carbon composite conductors made of a vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) forest embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix with irregular surface morphology. A roughened surface of the VACNT/PDMS composite conductor is simply formed using a sandblasted silicon master in a low-cost and potentially scalable manner and plays an important role in improving the sensitivity of resistive pressure sensor. After assembling two of the roughened composite conductors, our sensor shows considerable pressure sensitivity of ∼0.3 kPa -1 up to 0.7 kPa as well as stable steady-state responses under various pressures, a wide detectable range of up to 5 kPa before saturation, a relatively fast response time of ∼162 ms, and good reproducibility over 5000 cycles of pressure loading/unloading. The fabricated pressure sensor can be used to detect a wide range of human motions ranging from subtle blood pulses to dynamic joint movements, and it can also be used to map spatial pressure distribution in a multipixel platform (in a 4 × 4 pixel array).

  11. Smaller, Lower-Power Fast-Neutron Scintillation Detectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Patel, Jagdish; Blaes, Brent

    2008-01-01

    Scintillation-based fast-neutron detectors that are smaller and less power-hungry than mainstream scintillation-based fast-neutron detectors are undergoing development. There are numerous applications for such detectors in monitoring fast-neutron fluxes from nuclear reactors, nuclear materials, and natural sources, both on Earth and in outer space. A particularly important terrestrial application for small, low-power, portable fast-neutron detectors lies in the requirement to scan for nuclear materials in cargo and baggage arriving at international transportation facilities. The present development of miniature, low-power scintillation-based fast-neutron detectors exploits recent advances in the fabrication of avalanche photodiodes (APDs). Basically, such a detector includes a plastic scintillator, typically between 300 and 400 m thick with very thin silver mirror coating on all its faces except the one bonded to an APD. All photons generated from scintillation are thus internally reflected and eventually directed to the APD. This design affords not only compactness but also tight optical coupling for utilization of a relatively large proportion of the scintillation light. The combination of this tight coupling and the avalanche-multiplication gain (typically between 750 and 1,000) of the APD is expected to have enough sensitivity to enable monitoring of a fast-neutron flux as small as 1,000 cm(exp -2)s(exp -1). Moreover, pulse-height analysis can be expected to provide information on the kinetic energies of incident neutrons. It has been estimated that a complete, fully developed fast-neutron detector of this type, would be characterized by linear dimensions of the order of 10 cm or less, a mass of no more than about 0.5 kg, and a power demand of no more than a few watts.

  12. Cryo-EM image alignment based on nonuniform fast Fourier transform.

    PubMed

    Yang, Zhengfan; Penczek, Pawel A

    2008-08-01

    In single particle analysis, two-dimensional (2-D) alignment is a fundamental step intended to put into register various particle projections of biological macromolecules collected at the electron microscope. The efficiency and quality of three-dimensional (3-D) structure reconstruction largely depends on the computational speed and alignment accuracy of this crucial step. In order to improve the performance of alignment, we introduce a new method that takes advantage of the highly accurate interpolation scheme based on the gridding method, a version of the nonuniform fast Fourier transform, and utilizes a multi-dimensional optimization algorithm for the refinement of the orientation parameters. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that by using less than half of the sample points and taking twice the runtime, our new 2-D alignment method achieves dramatically better alignment accuracy than that based on quadratic interpolation. We also apply our method to image to volume registration, the key step in the single particle EM structure refinement protocol. We find that in this case the accuracy of the method not only surpasses the accuracy of the commonly used real-space implementation, but results are achieved in much shorter time, making gridding-based alignment a perfect candidate for efficient structure determination in single particle analysis.

  13. Cryo-EM Image Alignment Based on Nonuniform Fast Fourier Transform

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Zhengfan; Penczek, Pawel A.

    2008-01-01

    In single particle analysis, two-dimensional (2-D) alignment is a fundamental step intended to put into register various particle projections of biological macromolecules collected at the electron microscope. The efficiency and quality of three-dimensional (3-D) structure reconstruction largely depends on the computational speed and alignment accuracy of this crucial step. In order to improve the performance of alignment, we introduce a new method that takes advantage of the highly accurate interpolation scheme based on the gridding method, a version of the nonuniform Fast Fourier Transform, and utilizes a multi-dimensional optimization algorithm for the refinement of the orientation parameters. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that by using less than half of the sample points and taking twice the runtime, our new 2-D alignment method achieves dramatically better alignment accuracy than that based on quadratic interpolation. We also apply our method to image to volume registration, the key step in the single particle EM structure refinement protocol. We find that in this case the accuracy of the method not only surpasses the accuracy of the commonly used real-space implementation, but results are achieved in much shorter time, making gridding-based alignment a perfect candidate for efficient structure determination in single particle analysis. PMID:18499351

  14. Computer-Based Video Instruction to Teach Students with Intellectual Disabilities to Verbally Respond to Questions and Make Purchases in Fast Food Restaurants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mechling, Linda C.; Pridgen, Leslie S.; Cronin, Beth A.

    2005-01-01

    Computer-based video instruction (CBVI) was used to teach verbal responses to questions presented by cashiers and purchasing skills in fast food restaurants. A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of CBVI. Instruction occurred through simulations of three fast food restaurants on the computer using video…

  15. A fast density-based clustering algorithm for real-time Internet of Things stream.

    PubMed

    Amini, Amineh; Saboohi, Hadi; Wah, Teh Ying; Herawan, Tutut

    2014-01-01

    Data streams are continuously generated over time from Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The faster all of this data is analyzed, its hidden trends and patterns discovered, and new strategies created, the faster action can be taken, creating greater value for organizations. Density-based method is a prominent class in clustering data streams. It has the ability to detect arbitrary shape clusters, to handle outlier, and it does not need the number of clusters in advance. Therefore, density-based clustering algorithm is a proper choice for clustering IoT streams. Recently, several density-based algorithms have been proposed for clustering data streams. However, density-based clustering in limited time is still a challenging issue. In this paper, we propose a density-based clustering algorithm for IoT streams. The method has fast processing time to be applicable in real-time application of IoT devices. Experimental results show that the proposed approach obtains high quality results with low computation time on real and synthetic datasets.

  16. Superhydrophobic surfaces by electrochemical processes.

    PubMed

    Darmanin, Thierry; Taffin de Givenchy, Elisabeth; Amigoni, Sonia; Guittard, Frederic

    2013-03-13

    This review is an exhaustive representation of the electrochemical processes reported in the literature to produce superhydrophobic surfaces. Due to the intensive demand in the elaboration of superhydrophobic materials using low-cost, reproducible and fast methods, the use of strategies based on electrochemical processes have exponentially grown these last five years. These strategies are separated in two parts: the oxidation processes, such as oxidation of metals in solution, the anodization of metals or the electrodeposition of conducting polymers, and the reduction processed such as the electrodeposition of metals or the galvanic deposition. One of the main advantages of the electrochemical processes is the relative easiness to produce various surface morphologies and a precise control of the structures at a micro- or a nanoscale. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Action-angle formulation of generalized, orbit-based, fast-ion diagnostic weight functions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stagner, L.; Heidbrink, W. W.

    2017-09-01

    Due to the usually complicated and anisotropic nature of the fast-ion distribution function, diagnostic velocity-space weight functions, which indicate the sensitivity of a diagnostic to different fast-ion velocities, are used to facilitate the analysis of experimental data. Additionally, when velocity-space weight functions are discretized, a linear equation relating the fast-ion density and the expected diagnostic signal is formed. In a technique known as velocity-space tomography, many measurements can be combined to create an ill-conditioned system of linear equations that can be solved using various computational methods. However, when velocity-space weight functions (which by definition ignore spatial dependencies) are used, velocity-space tomography is restricted, both by the accuracy of its forward model and also by the availability of spatially overlapping diagnostic measurements. In this work, we extend velocity-space weight functions to a full 6D generalized coordinate system and then show how to reduce them to a 3D orbit-space without loss of generality using an action-angle formulation. Furthermore, we show how diagnostic orbit-weight functions can be used to infer the full fast-ion distribution function, i.e., orbit tomography. In depth derivations of orbit weight functions for the neutron, neutral particle analyzer, and fast-ion D-α diagnostics are also shown.

  18. Feasibility and repeatability of localized (31) P-MRS four-angle saturation transfer (FAST) of the human gastrocnemius muscle using a surface coil at 7 T.

    PubMed

    Tušek Jelenc, Marjeta; Chmelík, Marek; Bogner, Wolfgang; Krššák, Martin; Trattnig, Siegfried; Valkovič, Ladislav

    2016-01-01

    Phosphorus ((31) P) MRS, combined with saturation transfer (ST), provides non-invasive insight into muscle energy metabolism. However, even at 7 T, the standard ST method with T1 (app) measured by inversion recovery takes about 10 min, making it impractical for dynamic examinations. An alternative method, i.e. four-angle saturation transfer (FAST), can shorten the examination time. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility, repeatability, and possible time resolution of the localized FAST technique measurement on an ultra-high-field MR system, to accelerate the measurement of both Pi -to-ATP and PCr-to-ATP reaction rates in the human gastrocnemius muscle and to test the feasibility of using the FAST method for dynamic measurements. We measured the exchange rates and metabolic fluxes in the gastrocnemius muscle of eight healthy subjects at 7 T with the depth-resolved surface coil MRS (DRESS)-localized FAST method. For comparison, a standard ST localized method was also used. The measurement time for the localized FAST experiment was 3.5 min compared with the 10 min for the standard localized ST experiment. In addition, in five healthy volunteers, Pi -to-ATP and PCr-to-ATP metabolic fluxes were measured in the gastrocnemius muscle at rest and during plantar flexion by the DRESS-localized FAST method. The repeatability of PCr-to-ATP and Pi -to-ATP exchange rate constants, determined by the slab-selective localized FAST method at 7 T, is high, as the coefficients of variation remained below 20%, and the results of the exchange rates measured with the FAST method are comparable to those measured with standard ST. During physical activity, the PCr-to-ATP metabolic flux decreased (from FCK  = 8.21 ± 1.15 mM s(-1) to FCK  = 3.86 ± 1.38 mM s(-1) ) and the Pi -to-ATP flux increased (from FATP  = 0.43 ± 0.14 mM s(-1) to FATP  = 0.74 ± 0.13 mM s(-1) ). In conclusion, we could demonstrate that measurements

  19. Spectroscopic Measurements of the Ion Velocity Distribution at the Base of the Fast Solar Wind

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeffrey, Natasha L. S.; Hahn, Michael; Savin, Daniel W.; Fletcher, Lyndsay

    2018-03-01

    In situ measurements of the fast solar wind reveal non-thermal distributions of electrons, protons, and minor ions extending from 0.3 au to the heliopause. The physical mechanisms responsible for these non-thermal properties and the location where these properties originate remain open questions. Here, we present spectroscopic evidence, from extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy, that the velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of minor ions are already non-Gaussian at the base of the fast solar wind in a coronal hole, at altitudes of <1.1 R ⊙. Analysis of Fe, Si, and Mg spectral lines reveals a peaked line-shape core and broad wings that can be characterized by a kappa VDF. A kappa distribution fit gives very small kappa indices off-limb of κ ≈ 1.9–2.5, indicating either (a) ion populations far from thermal equilibrium, (b) fluid motions such as non-Gaussian turbulent fluctuations or non-uniform wave motions, or (c) some combination of both. These observations provide important empirical constraints for the source region of the fast solar wind and for the theoretical models of the different acceleration, heating, and energy deposition processes therein. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the ion VDF in the fast solar wind has been probed so close to its source region. The findings are also a timely precursor to the upcoming 2018 launch of the Parker Solar Probe, which will provide the closest in situ measurements of the solar wind at approximately 0.04 au (8.5 solar radii).

  20. Autonomous celestial navigation based on Earth ultraviolet radiance and fast gradient statistic feature extraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, Shan; Zhang, Hanmo

    2016-01-01

    To meet the requirement of autonomous orbit determination, this paper proposes a fast curve fitting method based on earth ultraviolet features to obtain accurate earth vector direction, in order to achieve the high precision autonomous navigation. Firstly, combining the stable characters of earth ultraviolet radiance and the use of transmission model software of atmospheric radiation, the paper simulates earth ultraviolet radiation model on different time and chooses the proper observation band. Then the fast improved edge extracting method combined Sobel operator and local binary pattern (LBP) is utilized, which can both eliminate noises efficiently and extract earth ultraviolet limb features accurately. And earth's centroid locations on simulated images are estimated via the least square fitting method using part of the limb edges. Taken advantage of the estimated earth vector direction and earth distance, Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to realize the autonomous navigation finally. Experiment results indicate the proposed method can achieve a sub-pixel earth centroid location estimation and extremely enhance autonomous celestial navigation precision.

  1. Fast intersection detection algorithm for PC-based robot off-line programming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fedrowitz, Christian H.

    1994-11-01

    This paper presents a method for fast and reliable collision detection in complex production cells. The algorithm is part of the PC-based robot off-line programming system of the University of Siegen (Ropsus). The method is based on a solid model which is managed by a simplified constructive solid geometry model (CSG-model). The collision detection problem is divided in two steps. In the first step the complexity of the problem is reduced in linear time. In the second step the remaining solids are tested for intersection. For this the Simplex algorithm, which is known from linear optimization, is used. It computes a point which is common to two convex polyhedra. The polyhedra intersect, if such a point exists. Regarding the simplified geometrical model of Ropsus the algorithm runs also in linear time. In conjunction with the first step a resultant collision detection algorithm is found which requires linear time in all. Moreover it computes the resultant intersection polyhedron using the dual transformation.

  2. Redox-induced surface stress of polypyrrole-based actuators.

    PubMed

    Tabard-Cossa, Vincent; Godin, Michel; Grütter, Peter; Burgess, Ian; Lennox, R B

    2005-09-22

    We measure the surface stress induced by electrochemical transformations of a thin conducting polymer film. One side of a micromechanical cantilever-based sensor is covered with an electropolymerized dodecyl benzenesulfonate-doped polypyrrole (PPyDBS) film. The microcantilever serves as both the working electrode (in a conventional three-electrode cell configuration) and as the mechanical transducer for simultaneous, in situ, and real-time measurements of the current and interfacial stress changes. A compressive change in surface stress of about -2 N/m is observed when the conducting polymer is electrochemically switched between its oxidized (PPy+) and neutral (PPy0) state by cyclic voltammetry. The surface stress sensor's response during the anomalous first reductive scan is examined. The effect of long-term cycling on the mechanical transformation ability of PPy(DBS) films in both surfactant and halide-based electrolytes is also discussed. We have identified two main competing origins of surface stress acting on the PPy(DBS)/ gold-coated microcantilever: one purely mechanical due to the volume change of the conducting polymer, and a second charge-induced, owing to the interaction of anions of the supporting electrolyte with the gold surface.

  3. Body surface assessment with 3D laser-based anthropometry: reliability, validation, and improvement of empirical surface formulae.

    PubMed

    Kuehnapfel, Andreas; Ahnert, Peter; Loeffler, Markus; Scholz, Markus

    2017-02-01

    Body surface area is a physiological quantity relevant for many medical applications. In clinical practice, it is determined by empirical formulae. 3D laser-based anthropometry provides an easy and effective way to measure body surface area but is not ubiquitously available. We used data from laser-based anthropometry from a population-based study to assess validity of published and commonly used empirical formulae. We performed a large population-based study on adults collecting classical anthropometric measurements and 3D body surface assessments (N = 1435). We determined reliability of the 3D body surface assessment and validity of 18 different empirical formulae proposed in the literature. The performance of these formulae is studied in subsets of sex and BMI. Finally, improvements of parameter settings of formulae and adjustments for sex and BMI were considered. 3D body surface measurements show excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability of 0.998 (overall concordance correlation coefficient, OCCC was used as measure of agreement). Empirical formulae of Fujimoto and Watanabe, Shuter and Aslani and Sendroy and Cecchini performed best with excellent concordance with OCCC > 0.949 even in subgroups of sex and BMI. Re-parametrization of formulae and adjustment for sex and BMI slightly improved results. In adults, 3D laser-based body surface assessment is a reliable alternative to estimation by empirical formulae. However, there are empirical formulae showing excellent results even in subgroups of sex and BMI with only little room for improvement.

  4. Surface flaw reliability analysis of ceramic components with the SCARE finite element postprocessor program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gyekenyesi, John P.; Nemeth, Noel N.

    1987-01-01

    The SCARE (Structural Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation) computer program on statistical fast fracture reliability analysis with quadratic elements for volume distributed imperfections is enhanced to include the use of linear finite elements and the capability of designing against concurrent surface flaw induced ceramic component failure. The SCARE code is presently coupled as a postprocessor to the MSC/NASTRAN general purpose, finite element analysis program. The improved version now includes the Weibull and Batdorf statistical failure theories for both surface and volume flaw based reliability analysis. The program uses the two-parameter Weibull fracture strength cumulative failure probability distribution model with the principle of independent action for poly-axial stress states, and Batdorf's shear-sensitive as well as shear-insensitive statistical theories. The shear-sensitive surface crack configurations include the Griffith crack and Griffith notch geometries, using the total critical coplanar strain energy release rate criterion to predict mixed-mode fracture. Weibull material parameters based on both surface and volume flaw induced fracture can also be calculated from modulus of rupture bar tests, using the least squares method with known specimen geometry and grouped fracture data. The statistical fast fracture theories for surface flaw induced failure, along with selected input and output formats and options, are summarized. An example problem to demonstrate various features of the program is included.

  5. A Local Fast Marching-Based Diffusion Tensor Image Registration Algorithm by Simultaneously Considering Spatial Deformation and Tensor Orientation

    PubMed Central

    Xue, Zhong; Li, Hai; Guo, Lei; Wong, Stephen T.C.

    2010-01-01

    It is a key step to spatially align diffusion tensor images (DTI) to quantitatively compare neural images obtained from different subjects or the same subject at different timepoints. Different from traditional scalar or multi-channel image registration methods, tensor orientation should be considered in DTI registration. Recently, several DTI registration methods have been proposed in the literature, but deformation fields are purely dependent on the tensor features not the whole tensor information. Other methods, such as the piece-wise affine transformation and the diffeomorphic non-linear registration algorithms, use analytical gradients of the registration objective functions by simultaneously considering the reorientation and deformation of tensors during the registration. However, only relatively local tensor information such as voxel-wise tensor-similarity, is utilized. This paper proposes a new DTI image registration algorithm, called local fast marching (FM)-based simultaneous registration. The algorithm not only considers the orientation of tensors during registration but also utilizes the neighborhood tensor information of each voxel to drive the deformation, and such neighborhood tensor information is extracted from a local fast marching algorithm around the voxels of interest. These local fast marching-based tensor features efficiently reflect the diffusion patterns around each voxel within a spherical neighborhood and can capture relatively distinctive features of the anatomical structures. Using simulated and real DTI human brain data the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is more accurate compared with the FA-based registration and is more efficient than its counterpart, the neighborhood tensor similarity-based registration. PMID:20382233

  6. Laser-Based Surface Modification of Microstructure for Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Wenfeng; Sun, Ting; Cao, Yu; Li, Shaolong; Liu, Chang; Tang, Qingru

    2018-05-01

    Bonding repair is a powerful feature of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). Based on the theory of interface bonding, the interface adhesion strength and reliability of the CFRP structure will be directly affected by the microscopic features of the CFRP surface, including the microstructure, physical, and chemical characteristics. In this paper, laser-based surface modification was compared to Peel-ply, grinding, and polishing to comparatively evaluate the surface microstructure of CFRP. The surface microstructure, morphology, fiber damage, height and space parameters were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser confocal microscopy (LCM). Relative to the conventional grinding process, laser modification of the CFRP surface can result in more uniform resin removal and better processing control and repeatability. This decreases the adverse impact of surface fiber fractures and secondary damage. The surface properties were significantly optimized, which has been reflected such things as the obvious improvement of surface roughness, microstructure uniformity, and actual area. The improved surface microstructure based on laser modification is more conducive to interface bonding of CFRP structure repair. This can enhance the interfacial adhesion strength and reliability of repair.

  7. Taxi Time Prediction at Charlotte Airport Using Fast-Time Simulation and Machine Learning Techniques

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, Hanbong

    2016-01-01

    Accurate taxi time prediction is required for enabling efficient runway scheduling that can increase runway throughput and reduce taxi times and fuel consumptions on the airport surface. Currently NASA and American Airlines are jointly developing a decision-support tool called Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) that assists airport ramp controllers to make gate pushback decisions and improve the overall efficiency of airport surface traffic. In this presentation, we propose to use Linear Optimized Sequencing (LINOS), a discrete-event fast-time simulation tool, to predict taxi times and provide the estimates to the runway scheduler in real-time airport operations. To assess its prediction accuracy, we also introduce a data-driven analytical method using machine learning techniques. These two taxi time prediction methods are evaluated with actual taxi time data obtained from the SARDA human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation for Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) using various performance measurement metrics. Based on the taxi time prediction results, we also discuss how the prediction accuracy can be affected by the operational complexity at this airport and how we can improve the fast time simulation model before implementing it with an airport scheduling algorithm in a real-time environment.

  8. Novel Fast Adapting Interneurons Mediate Cholinergic-Induced Fast GABAA IPSCs In Striatal Spiny Neurons

    PubMed Central

    Faust, Thomas W.; Assous, Maxime; Shah, Fulva; Tepper, James M.; Koós, Tibor

    2015-01-01

    Previous work suggests that neostriatal cholinergic interneurons control the activity of several classes of GABAergic interneurons through fast nicotinic receptor mediated synaptic inputs. Although indirect evidence has suggested the existence of several classes of interneurons controlled by this mechanism only one such cell type, the neuropeptide-Y expressing neurogliaform neuron, has been identified to date. Here we tested the hypothesis that in addition to the neurogliaform neurons that elicit slow GABAergic inhibitory responses, another interneuron type exists in the striatum that receives strong nicotinic cholinergic input and elicits conventional fast GABAergic synaptic responses in projection neurons. We obtained in vitro slice recordings from double transgenic mice in which Channelrhodopsin-2 was natively expressed in cholinergic neurons and a population of serotonin receptor-3a-Cre expressing GABAergic interneurons were visualized with tdTomato. We show that among the targeted GABAergic interneurons a novel type of interneuron, termed the fast-adapting interneuron, can be identified that is distinct from previously known interneurons based on immunocytochemical and electrophysiological criteria. We show using optogenetic activation of cholinergic inputs that fast-adapting interneurons receive a powerful supra-threshold nicotinic cholinergic input in vitro. Moreover, fast adapting neurons are densely connected to projection neurons and elicit fast, GABAA receptor mediated inhibitory postsynaptic responses. The nicotinic receptor mediated activation of fast-adapting interneurons may constitute an important mechanism through which cholinergic interneurons control the activity of projection neurons and perhaps the plasticity of their synaptic inputs when animals encounter reinforcing or otherwise salient stimuli. PMID:25865337

  9. Simulations of Coulomb systems confined by polarizable surfaces using periodic Green functions.

    PubMed

    Dos Santos, Alexandre P; Girotto, Matheus; Levin, Yan

    2017-11-14

    We present an efficient approach for simulating Coulomb systems confined by planar polarizable surfaces. The method is based on the solution of the Poisson equation using periodic Green functions. It is shown that the electrostatic energy arising from the surface polarization can be decoupled from the energy due to the direct Coulomb interaction between the ions. This allows us to combine an efficient Ewald summation method, or any other fast method for summing over the replicas, with the polarization contribution calculated using Green function techniques. We apply the method to calculate density profiles of ions confined between the charged dielectric and metal surfaces.

  10. Version 2 Goddard Satellite-Based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF2)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chou, Shu-Hsien; Nelkin, Eric; Ardizzone, Joe; Atlas, Robert M.; Shie, Chung-Lin; Starr, David O'C. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Information on the turbulent fluxes of momentum, moisture, and heat at the air-sea interface is essential in improving model simulations of climate variations and in climate studies. We have derived a 13.5-year (July 1987-December 2000) dataset of daily surface turbulent fluxes over global oceans from the Special Sensor Mcrowave/Imager (SSM/I) radiance measurements. This dataset, version 2 Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF2), has a spatial resolution of 1 degree x 1 degree latitude-longitude and a temporal resolution of 1 day. Turbulent fluxes are derived from the SSM/I surface winds and surface air humidity, as well as the 2-m air and sea surface temperatures (SST) of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, using a bulk aerodynamic algorithm based on the surface layer similarity theory.

  11. Fast multiview three-dimensional reconstruction method using cost volume filtering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Seung Joo; Park, Min Ki; Jang, In Yeop; Lee, Kwan H.

    2014-03-01

    As the number of customers who want to record three-dimensional (3-D) information using a mobile electronic device increases, it becomes more and more important to develop a method which quickly reconstructs a 3-D model from multiview images. A fast multiview-based 3-D reconstruction method is presented, which is suitable for the mobile environment by constructing a cost volume of the 3-D height field. This method consists of two steps: the construction of a reliable base surface and the recovery of shape details. In each step, the cost volume is constructed using photoconsistency and then it is filtered according to the multiscale. The multiscale-based cost volume filtering allows the 3-D reconstruction to maintain the overall shape and to preserve the shape details. We demonstrate the strength of the proposed method in terms of computation time, accuracy, and unconstrained acquisition environment.

  12. Spatio-temporal image-based parametric water surface reconstruction: a novel methodology based on refraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Engelen, L.; Creëlle, S.; Schindfessel, L.; De Mulder, T.

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents a low-cost and easy-to-implement image-based reconstruction technique for laboratory experiments, which results in a temporal description of the water surface topography. The distortion due to refraction of a known pattern, located below the water surface, is used to fit a low parameter surface model that describes the time-dependent and three-dimensional surface variation. Instead of finding the optimal water depth for characteristic points on the surface, the deformation of the entire pattern is compared to its original shape. This avoids the need for feature tracking adopted in similar techniques, which improves the robustness to suboptimal optical conditions and small-scale, high-frequency surface perturbations. Experimental validation, by comparison with water depth measurements using a level gauge and pressure sensor, proves sub-millimetre accuracy for smooth and steady surface shapes. Although such accuracy cannot be achieved in case of highly dynamic surface phenomena, the low-frequency and large-scale free surface oscillations can still be measured with a temporal and spatial resolution mostly limited by the available optical set-up. The technique is initially intended for periodic surface phenomena, but the results presented in this paper indicate that also irregular surface shapes can robustly be reconstructed. Therefore, the presented technique is a promising tool for other research applications that require non-intrusive, low-cost surface measurements while maintaining visual access to the water below the surface. The latter ensures that the suggested surface reconstruction is compatible with simultaneous image-based velocity measurements, enabling a detailed study of the flow.

  13. A pipette-based calibration system for fast-scan cyclic voltammetry with fast response times.

    PubMed

    Ramsson, Eric S

    2016-01-01

    Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is an electrochemical technique that utilizes the oxidation and/or reduction of an analyte of interest to infer rapid changes in concentrations. In order to calibrate the resulting oxidative or reductive current, known concentrations of an analyte must be introduced under controlled settings. Here, I describe a simple and cost-effective method, using a Petri dish and pipettes, for the calibration of carbon fiber microelectrodes (CFMs) using FSCV.

  14. Nanoscale plasma chemistry enables fast, size-selective nanotube nucleation.

    PubMed

    Ostrikov, Kostya Ken; Mehdipour, Hamid

    2012-03-07

    The possibility of fast, narrow-size/chirality nucleation of thin single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at low, device-tolerant process temperatures in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is demonstrated using multiphase, multiscale numerical experiments. These effects are due to the unique nanoscale reactive plasma chemistry (NRPC) on the surfaces and within Au catalyst nanoparticles. The computed three-dimensional process parameter maps link the nanotube incubation times and the relative differences between the incubation times of SWCNTs of different sizes/chiralities to the main plasma- and precursor gas-specific parameters and explain recent experimental observations. It is shown that the unique NRPC leads not only to much faster nucleation of thin nanotubes at much lower process temperatures, but also to better selectivity between the incubation times of SWCNTs with different sizes and chiralities, compared to thermal CVD. These results are used to propose a time-programmed kinetic approach based on fast-responding plasmas which control the size-selective, narrow-chirality nucleation and growth of thin SWCNTs. This approach is generic and can be used for other nanostructure and materials systems. © 2012 American Chemical Society

  15. Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazanek, Daniel D.; Abell, Paul; Reeves, David M.; NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST)

    2016-10-01

    The Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) was a two-month effort, chartered by NASA, to provide timely inputs for mission requirement formulation in support of the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) Requirements Closure Technical Interchange Meeting held December 15-16, 2015. Additionally, the FAST was tasked with developing an initial list of potential mission investigations and providing input on potential hosted payloads and partnerships. The FAST explored several aspects of potential science benefits and knowledge gain from the ARM. Expertise from the science, engineering, and technology communities was represented in exploring lines of inquiry related to key characteristics of the ARRM reference target asteroid (2008 EV5) for engineering design purposes. Specific areas of interest included target origin, spatial distribution and size of boulders, surface geotechnical properties, boulder physical properties, and considerations for boulder handling, crew safety, and containment. In order to increase knowledge gain potential from the mission, opportunities for partnerships and accompanying payloads that could be provided by domestic and international partners were also investigated. The ARM FAST final report was publicly released on February 18, 2016 and represents the FAST's final product. The report and associated public comments are being used to support mission requirements formulation and serve as an initial inquiry to the science and engineering communities relating to the characteristics of the ARRM reference target asteroid. This report also provides a suggested list of potential investigations sorted and grouped based on their likely benefit to ARM and potential relevance to NASA science and exploration goals. These potential investigations could be conducted to reduce mission risks and increase knowledge return in the areas of science, planetary defense, asteroid resources and in-situ resource

  16. SurfaceSlide: a multitouch digital pathology platform.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yinhai; Williamson, Kate E; Kelly, Paul J; James, Jacqueline A; Hamilton, Peter W

    2012-01-01

    Digital pathology provides a digital environment for the management and interpretation of pathological images and associated data. It is becoming increasing popular to use modern computer based tools and applications in pathological education, tissue based research and clinical diagnosis. Uptake of this new technology is stymied by its single user orientation and its prerequisite and cumbersome combination of mouse and keyboard for navigation and annotation. In this study we developed SurfaceSlide, a dedicated viewing platform which enables the navigation and annotation of gigapixel digitised pathological images using fingertip touch. SurfaceSlide was developed using the Microsoft Surface, a 30 inch multitouch tabletop computing platform. SurfaceSlide users can perform direct panning and zooming operations on digitised slide images. These images are downloaded onto the Microsoft Surface platform from a remote server on-demand. Users can also draw annotations and key in texts using an on-screen virtual keyboard. We also developed a smart caching protocol which caches the surrounding regions of a field of view in multi-resolutions thus providing a smooth and vivid user experience and reducing the delay for image downloading from the internet. We compared the usability of SurfaceSlide against Aperio ImageScope and PathXL online viewer. SurfaceSlide is intuitive, fast and easy to use. SurfaceSlide represents the most direct, effective and intimate human-digital slide interaction experience. It is expected that SurfaceSlide will significantly enhance digital pathology tools and applications in education and clinical practice.

  17. A fast identification algorithm for Box-Cox transformation based radial basis function neural network.

    PubMed

    Hong, Xia

    2006-07-01

    In this letter, a Box-Cox transformation-based radial basis function (RBF) neural network is introduced using the RBF neural network to represent the transformed system output. Initially a fixed and moderate sized RBF model base is derived based on a rank revealing orthogonal matrix triangularization (QR decomposition). Then a new fast identification algorithm is introduced using Gauss-Newton algorithm to derive the required Box-Cox transformation, based on a maximum likelihood estimator. The main contribution of this letter is to explore the special structure of the proposed RBF neural network for computational efficiency by utilizing the inverse of matrix block decomposition lemma. Finally, the Box-Cox transformation-based RBF neural network, with good generalization and sparsity, is identified based on the derived optimal Box-Cox transformation and a D-optimality-based orthogonal forward regression algorithm. The proposed algorithm and its efficacy are demonstrated with an illustrative example in comparison with support vector machine regression.

  18. An all-water-based system for robust superhydrophobic surfaces.

    PubMed

    Liu, Mingming; Hou, Yuanyuan; Li, Jing; Tie, Lu; Guo, Zhiguang

    2018-06-01

    Superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-/nanohierarchical structures are mechanically weak. Generally, organic solvents are used to dissolve or disperse organic adhesives and modifiers to enhance the mechanical strength of superhydrophobic surfaces. In this work, an all-water-based spraying solution is developed for the preparation of robust superhydrophobic surfaces, which contains ZnO nanoparticles, aluminum phosphate as an inorganic adhesive, and polytetrafluoroethylene with low surface energy. The all-water-based system is appreciated for low price and less pollution. Importantly, the prepared superhydrophobic surfaces are durable enough against various harsh conditions (such as UV irradiation for 12 h, pH values from 1 to 13, and temperatures from -10 to 300 °C for 12 h) and physical damages (including sandpaper abrasion and sand impact tests for 50 cycles). In addition, the obtained interfacial materials show promise for practical applications such as anti-icing and oil-water separation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Ultra-fast dynamics in the nonlinear optical response of silver nanoprism ordered arrays.

    PubMed

    Sánchez-Esquivel, Héctor; Raygoza-Sanchez, Karen Y; Rangel-Rojo, Raúl; Kalinic, Boris; Michieli, Niccolò; Cesca, Tiziana; Mattei, Giovanni

    2018-03-15

    In this work we present the study of the ultra-fast dynamics of the nonlinear optical response of a honeycomb array of silver triangular nanoprisms, performed using a femtosecond pulsed laser tuned with the dipolar surface plasmon resonance of the nanoarray. Nonlinear absorption and refraction, and their time-dependence, were explored using the z-scan and time-resolved excite-probe techniques. Nonlinear absorption is shown to change sign with the input irradiance and the behavior was explained on the basis of a three-level model. The response time was determined to be in the picosecond regime. A technique based on a variable frequency chopper was also used in order to discriminate the thermal and electronic contributions to the nonlinearity, which were found to have opposite signs. All these findings propel the investigated nanoprism arrays as good candidates for applications in advanced ultra-fast nonlinear nanophotonic devices.

  20. Fast in-situ tool inspection based on inverse fringe projection and compact sensor heads

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matthias, Steffen; Kästner, Markus; Reithmeier, Eduard

    2016-11-01

    Inspection of machine elements is an important task in production processes in order to ensure the quality of produced parts and to gather feedback for the continuous improvement process. A new measuring system is presented, which is capable of performing the inspection of critical tool geometries, such as gearing elements, inside the forming machine. To meet the constraints on sensor head size and inspection time imposed by the limited space inside the machine and the cycle time of the process, the measuring device employs a combination of endoscopy techniques with the fringe projection principle. Compact gradient index lenses enable a compact design of the sensor head, which is connected to a CMOS camera and a flexible micro-mirror based projector via flexible fiber bundles. Using common fringe projection patterns, the system achieves measuring times of less than five seconds. To further reduce the time required for inspection, the generation of inverse fringe projection patterns has been implemented for the system. Inverse fringe projection speeds up the inspection process by employing object-adapted patterns, which enable the detection of geometry deviations in a single image. Two different approaches to generate object adapted patterns are presented. The first approach uses a reference measurement of a manufactured tool master to generate the inverse pattern. The second approach is based on a virtual master geometry in the form of a CAD file and a ray-tracing model of the measuring system. Virtual modeling of the measuring device and inspection setup allows for geometric tolerancing for free-form surfaces by the tool designer in the CAD-file. A new approach is presented, which uses virtual tolerance specifications and additional simulation steps to enable fast checking of metric tolerances. Following the description of the pattern generation process, the image processing steps required for inspection are demonstrated on captures of gearing geometries.

  1. Excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in a graphene-based Bragg grating

    PubMed Central

    Sreekanth, Kandammathe Valiyaveedu; Zeng, Shuwen; Shang, Jingzhi; Yong, Ken-Tye; Yu, Ting

    2012-01-01

    Here, we report the fabrication of a graphene-based Bragg grating (one-dimensional photonic crystal) and experimentally demonstrate the excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in the periodic structure using prism coupling technique. Surface electromagnetic waves are non-radiative electromagnetic modes that appear on the surface of semi-infinite 1D photonic crystal. In order to fabricate the graphene-based Bragg grating, alternating layers of high (graphene) and low (PMMA) refractive index materials have been used. The reflectivity plot shows a deepest, narrow dip after total internal reflection angle corresponds to the surface electromagnetic mode propagating at the Bragg grating/air boundary. The proposed graphene based Bragg grating can find a variety of potential surface electromagnetic wave applications such as sensors, fluorescence emission enhancement, modulators, etc. PMID:23071901

  2. Excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in a graphene-based Bragg grating.

    PubMed

    Sreekanth, Kandammathe Valiyaveedu; Zeng, Shuwen; Shang, Jingzhi; Yong, Ken-Tye; Yu, Ting

    2012-01-01

    Here, we report the fabrication of a graphene-based Bragg grating (one-dimensional photonic crystal) and experimentally demonstrate the excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in the periodic structure using prism coupling technique. Surface electromagnetic waves are non-radiative electromagnetic modes that appear on the surface of semi-infinite 1D photonic crystal. In order to fabricate the graphene-based Bragg grating, alternating layers of high (graphene) and low (PMMA) refractive index materials have been used. The reflectivity plot shows a deepest, narrow dip after total internal reflection angle corresponds to the surface electromagnetic mode propagating at the Bragg grating/air boundary. The proposed graphene based Bragg grating can find a variety of potential surface electromagnetic wave applications such as sensors, fluorescence emission enhancement, modulators, etc.

  3. Conceptual design of laser fusion reactor KOYO-fast Concepts of reactor system and laser driver

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kozaki, Y.; Miyanaga, N.; Norimatsu, T.; Soman, Y.; Hayashi, T.; Furukawa, H.; Nakatsuka, M.; Yoshida, K.; Nakano, H.; Kubomura, H.; Kawashima, T.; Nishimae, J.; Suzuki, Y.; Tsuchiya, N.; Kanabe, T.; Jitsuno, T.; Fujita, H.; Kawanaka, J.; Tsubakimoto, K.; Fujimoto, Y.; Lu, J.; Matsuoka, S.; Ikegawa, T.; Owadano, Y.; Ueda, K.; Tomabechi, K.; Reactor Design Committee in Ife Forum, Members Of

    2006-06-01

    We have carried out the design studies of KOYO-Fast laser fusion power plant, using fast ignition cone targets, DPSSL lasers, and LiPb liquid wall chambers. Using fast ignition targets, we could design a middle sized 300 MWe reactor module, with 200 MJ fusion pulse energy and 4 Hz rep-rates, and 1200MWe modular power plants with 4 reactor modules and a 16 Hz laser driver. The liquid wall chambers with free surface cascade flows are proposed for cooling surface quickly enough to a 4 Hz pulse operation. We examined the potential of Yb-YAG ceramic lasers operated at 150˜ 225 K for both implosion and heating laser systems required for a 16-Hz repetition and 8 % total efficiency.

  4. Surface oscillation and jetting from surface attached acoustic driven bubbles.

    PubMed

    Prabowo, Firdaus; Ohl, Claus-Dieter

    2011-01-01

    We report on an experimental study of the onset of surface oscillation and jetting of bubbles attached to a rigid surface. The driving frequency is 16.27 kHz and the radius of the spherical capped bubble is 160 ± 5 μm. The acoustic amplitude is increased from 0 to 0.085 bar while the oscillation is recorded with a high-speed camera at 180,000 frames/s over 8100 periods of oscillations. The radial and surface modes are analyzed from a Fourier decomposition. With increasing pressure amplitude we find three regimes: pure radial oscillation, development of surface oscillations, and a chaotic surface oscillation regime. These regimes appear abrupt and are repeatable. In the chaotic regime, fast liquid jetting towards the rigid surface is observed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. BFL: a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm for large scale networks

    PubMed Central

    Hashimoto, Tatsunori B; Nagasaki, Masao; Kojima, Kaname; Miyano, Satoru

    2009-01-01

    Background Network visualization would serve as a useful first step for analysis. However, current graph layout algorithms for biological pathways are insensitive to biologically important information, e.g. subcellular localization, biological node and graph attributes, or/and not available for large scale networks, e.g. more than 10000 elements. Results To overcome these problems, we propose the use of a biologically important graph metric, betweenness, a measure of network flow. This metric is highly correlated with many biological phenomena such as lethality and clusters. We devise a new fast parallel algorithm calculating betweenness to minimize the preprocessing cost. Using this metric, we also invent a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm (BFL). BFL places the high-betweenness nodes to optimal positions and allows the low-betweenness nodes to reach suboptimal positions. Furthermore, BFL reduces the runtime by combining a sequential insertion algorim with betweenness. For a graph with n nodes, this approach reduces the expected runtime of the algorithm to O(n2) when considering edge crossings, and to O(n log n) when considering only density and edge lengths. Conclusion Our BFL algorithm is compared against fast graph layout algorithms and approaches requiring intensive optimizations. For gene networks, we show that our algorithm is faster than all layout algorithms tested while providing readability on par with intensive optimization algorithms. We achieve a 1.4 second runtime for a graph with 4000 nodes and 12000 edges on a standard desktop computer. PMID:19146673

  6. Lactose-installed poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) block copolymer micelles exhibit fast-rate binding and high affinity toward a protein bed simulating a cell surface. A surface plasmon resonance study.

    PubMed

    Jule, Eduardo; Nagasaki, Yukio; Kataoka, Kazunori

    2003-01-01

    Lactose molecules were installed on the surface of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) (PEG-PLA) block copolymer micelles in the scope of seeking specific recognition by cell surface receptors at hepatic sites. This, in turn, is expected to result in the formation of a complex displaying prolonged retention times and thus enhanced cellular internalization by receptor-mediated endocytosis. The so-obtained particles based on a block copolymer of molecular weight 9400 g/mol (4900/4500 g/mol for the PEG and PLA blocks, respectively) were found to have an average hydrodynamic diameter of 31.8 nm, as measured by dynamic light scattering. Further, the particle size distribution (micro(2)/Gamma(2)) was found to be lower than 0.08. Lactose-PEG-PLA micelles (Lac-micelles) were then injected over a gold surface containing Ricinus communis agglutinin lectins simulating the aforementioned glycoreceptors, and their interaction was studied by surface plasmon resonance. Then, a kinetic evaluation was carried out, by fitting the observed data mathematically. It appears that Lac-micelles bind in a multivalent manner to the lectin protein bed, which logically results in low dissociation constants. Micelles bearing a ligand density of 80% (Lac-micelles 80%: 80 lactose molecules per 100 copolymer chains) exhibit fast association phases (k(a1) = 3.2 x 10(4) M(-)(1) s(-)(1)), but also extremely slow dissociation phases (k(d1) = 1.3 x 10(-)(4) s(-)(1)). Recorded sensorgrams were fitted with a trivalent model, conveying a calculated equilibrium dissociation constant (K(D1) = k(d1)/k(a1)) of about 4 nM. The importance of cooperative binding was also assessed, by preparing Lac-micelles bearing different ligand densities, and by discussing the influence of the latter on kinetic constants. Interestingly enough, whereas Lac-micelles 80% bind in a trivalent manner to the protein bed, Lac-micelles 20% are still capable of forming bivalent complexes with the same protein bed (K(D1) = 1360 n

  7. Automated search of control points in surface-based morphometry.

    PubMed

    Canna, Antonietta; Russo, Andrea G; Ponticorvo, Sara; Manara, Renzo; Pepino, Alessandro; Sansone, Mario; Di Salle, Francesco; Esposito, Fabrizio

    2018-04-16

    Cortical surface-based morphometry is based on a semi-automated analysis of structural MRI images. In FreeSurfer, a widespread tool for surface-based analyses, a visual check of gray-white matter borders is followed by the manual placement of control points to drive the topological correction (editing) of segmented data. A novel algorithm combining radial sampling and machine learning is presented for the automated control point search (ACPS). Four data sets with 3 T MRI structural images were used for ACPS validation, including raw data acquired twice in 36 healthy subjects and both raw and FreeSurfer preprocessed data of 125 healthy subjects from public databases. The unedited data from a subgroup of subjects were submitted to manual control point search and editing. The ACPS algorithm was trained on manual control points and tested on new (unseen) unedited data. Cortical thickness (CT) and fractal dimensionality (FD) were estimated in three data sets by reconstructing surfaces from both unedited and edited data, and the effects of editing were compared between manual and automated editing and versus no editing. The ACPS-based editing improved the surface reconstructions similarly to manual editing. Compared to no editing, ACPS-based and manual editing significantly reduced CT and FD in consistent regions across different data sets. Despite the extra processing of control point driven reconstructions, CT and FD estimates were highly reproducible in almost all cortical regions, albeit some problematic regions (e.g. entorhinal cortex) may benefit from different editing. The use of control points improves the surface reconstruction and the ACPS algorithm can automate their search reducing the burden of manual editing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. New approaches to observation and modeling of fast-moving glaciers and ice streams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Herzfeld, U. C.; Trantow, T.; Markle, M. J.; Medley, G.; Markus, T.; Neumann, T.

    2016-12-01

    In this paper, we will give an overview of several new approaches to remote-sensing observations and analysis and to modeling of fast glacier flow. The approaches will be applied in case studies of different types of fast-moving glaciers: (1) The Bering-Bagley Glacier System, Alaska (a surge-type glacier system), (2) Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland (a tide-water terminating fjord glacier and outlet of the Greenland Inland Ice), and (3) Icelandic Ice Caps (manifestations of the interaction of volcanic and glaciologic processes). On the observational side, we will compare the capabilities of lidar and radar altimeters, including ICESat's Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), CryoSat-2's Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) and the future ICESat-2 Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), especially regarding retrieval of surface heights over crevassed regions as typical of spatial and temporal acceleration. Properties that can be expected from ICESat-2 ATLAS data will be illustrated based on analyses of data from ICESat-2 simulator instruments: the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photon-counting Lidar (SIMPL) and the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL). Information from altimeter data will be augmented by an automated surface classification based on image data, which includes satellite imagery such as LANDSAT and WorldView as well as airborne video imagery of ice surfaces. Numerical experiments using Elmer/Ice will be employed to link parameters derived in observations to physical processes during the surge of the Bering Bagley Glacier System. This allows identification of processes that can be explained in an existing framework and processes that may require new concepts for glacier evolution. Topics include zonation of surge progression in a complex glacier system and crevassing as an indication, storage of glacial water, influence of basal topography and the role of friction laws.

  9. Focused beams of fast neutral atoms in glow discharge plasma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grigoriev, S. N.; Melnik, Yu. A.; Metel, A. S.; Volosova, M. A.

    2017-06-01

    Glow discharge with electrostatic confinement of electrons in a vacuum chamber allows plasma processing of conductive products in a wide pressure range of p = 0.01 - 5 Pa. To assist processing of a small dielectric product with a concentrated on its surface beam of fast neutral atoms, which do not cause charge effects, ions from the discharge plasma are accelerated towards the product and transformed into fast atoms. The beam is produced using a negatively biased cylindrical or a spherical grid immersed in the plasma. Ions accelerated by the grid turn into fast neutral atoms at p > 0.1 Pa due to charge exchange collisions with gas atoms in the space charge sheaths adjoining the grid. The atoms form a diverging neutral beam and a converging beam propagating from the grid in opposite directions. The beam propagating from the concave surface of a 0.24-m-wide cylindrical grid is focused on a target within a 10-mm-wide stripe, and the beam from the 0.24-m-diameter spherical grid is focused within a 10-mm-diameter circle. At the bias voltage U = 5 kV and p ˜ 0.1 Pa, the energy of fast argon atoms is distributed continuously from zero to eU ˜ 5 keV. The pressure increase to 1 Pa results in the tenfold growth of their equivalent current and a decrease in the mean energy by an order of magnitude, which substantially raises the efficiency of material etching. Sharpening by the beam of ceramic knife-blades proved that the new method for the generation of concentrated fast atom beams can be effectively used for the processing of dielectric materials in vacuum.

  10. Multi-phase-field method for surface tension induced elasticity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schiedung, Raphael; Steinbach, Ingo; Varnik, Fathollah

    2018-01-01

    A method, based on the multi-phase-field framework, is proposed that adequately accounts for the effects of a coupling between surface free energy and elastic deformation in solids. The method is validated via a number of analytically solvable problems. In addition to stress states at mechanical equilibrium in complex geometries, the underlying multi-phase-field framework naturally allows us to account for the influence of surface energy induced stresses on phase transformation kinetics. This issue, which is of fundamental importance on the nanoscale, is demonstrated in the limit of fast diffusion for a solid sphere, which melts due to the well-known Gibbs-Thompson effect. This melting process is slowed down when coupled to surface energy induced elastic deformation.

  11. Fast and precise technique for magnet lattice correction via sine-wave excitation of fast correctors

    DOE PAGES

    Yang, X.; Smaluk, V.; Yu, L. H.; ...

    2017-05-02

    A novel technique has been developed to improve the precision and shorten the measurement time of the LOCO (linear optics from closed orbits) method. This technique, named AC LOCO, is based on sine-wave (ac) beam excitation via fast correctors. Such fast correctors are typically installed at synchrotron light sources for the fast orbit feedback. The beam oscillations are measured by beam position monitors. The narrow band used for the beam excitation and measurement not only allows us to suppress effectively the beam position noise but also opens the opportunity for simultaneously exciting multiple correctors at different frequencies (multifrequency mode). Wemore » demonstrated at NSLS-II that AC LOCO provides better lattice corrections and works much faster than the traditional LOCO method.« less

  12. A large area high resolution imaging detector for fast atom diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lupone, Sylvain; Soulisse, Pierre; Roncin, Philippe

    2018-07-01

    We describe a high resolution imaging detector based on a single 80 mm micro-channel-plate (MCP) and a phosphor screen mounted on a UHV flange of only 100 mm inner diameter. It relies on standard components and we describe its performance with one or two MCPs. A resolution of 80 μm rms is observed on the beam profile. At low count rate, individual impact can be pinpointed with few μm accuracy but the resolution is probably limited by the MCP channel diameter. The detector has been used to record the diffraction of fast atoms at grazing incidence on crystal surfaces (GIFAD), a technique probing the electronic density of the topmost layer only. The detector was also used to record the scattering profile during azimuthal scan of the crystal to produce triangulation curves revealing the surface crystallographic directions of molecular layers. It should also be compatible with reflection high energy electron (RHEED) experiment when fragile surfaces require a low exposure to the electron beam. The discussions on the mode of operation specific to diffraction experiments apply also to commercial detectors.

  13. Fast Coherent Differential Imaging for Exoplanet Imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerard, Benjamin; Marois, Christian; Galicher, Raphael; Veran, Jean-Pierre; Macintosh, B.; Guyon, O.; Lozi, J.; Pathak, P.; Sahoo, A.

    2018-06-01

    Direct detection and detailed characterization of exoplanets using extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) is a key science goal of future extremely large telescopes and space observatories. However, quasi-static wavefront errors will limit the sensitivity of this endeavor. Additional limitations for ground-based telescopes arise from residual AO-corrected atmospheric wavefront errors, generating short-lived aberrations that will average into a halo over a long exposure, also limiting the sensitivity of exoplanet detection. We develop the framework for a solution to both of these problems using the self-coherent camera (SCC), to be applied to ground-based telescopes, called Fast Atmospheric SCC Technique (FAST). Simulations show that for typical ExAO targets the FAST approach can reach ~100 times better in raw contrast than what is currently achieved with ExAO instruments if we extrapolate for an hour of observing time, illustrating that the sensitivity improvement from this method could play an essential role in the future ground-based detection and characterization of lower mass/colder exoplanets.

  14. Synthesis of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals in a Droplet-Based Microfluidic Platform: Fast Parametric Space Mapping.

    PubMed

    Lignos, Ioannis; Stavrakis, Stavros; Nedelcu, Georgian; Protesescu, Loredana; deMello, Andrew J; Kovalenko, Maksym V

    2016-03-09

    Prior to this work, fully inorganic nanocrystals of cesium lead halide perovskite (CsPbX3, X = Br, I, Cl and Cl/Br and Br/I mixed halide systems), exhibiting bright and tunable photoluminescence, have been synthesized using conventional batch (flask-based) reactions. Unfortunately, our understanding of the parameters governing the formation of these nanocrystals is still very limited due to extremely fast reaction kinetics and multiple variables involved in ion-metathesis-based synthesis of such multinary halide systems. Herein, we report the use of a droplet-based microfluidic platform for the synthesis of CsPbX3 nanocrystals. The combination of online photoluminescence and absorption measurements and the fast mixing of reagents within such a platform allows the rigorous and rapid mapping of the reaction parameters, including molar ratios of Cs, Pb, and halide precursors, reaction temperatures, and reaction times. This translates into enormous savings in reagent usage and screening times when compared to analogous batch synthetic approaches. The early-stage insight into the mechanism of nucleation of metal halide nanocrystals suggests similarities with multinary metal chalcogenide systems, albeit with much faster reaction kinetics in the case of halides. Furthermore, we show that microfluidics-optimized synthesis parameters are also directly transferrable to the conventional flask-based reaction.

  15. A Fast Density-Based Clustering Algorithm for Real-Time Internet of Things Stream

    PubMed Central

    Ying Wah, Teh

    2014-01-01

    Data streams are continuously generated over time from Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The faster all of this data is analyzed, its hidden trends and patterns discovered, and new strategies created, the faster action can be taken, creating greater value for organizations. Density-based method is a prominent class in clustering data streams. It has the ability to detect arbitrary shape clusters, to handle outlier, and it does not need the number of clusters in advance. Therefore, density-based clustering algorithm is a proper choice for clustering IoT streams. Recently, several density-based algorithms have been proposed for clustering data streams. However, density-based clustering in limited time is still a challenging issue. In this paper, we propose a density-based clustering algorithm for IoT streams. The method has fast processing time to be applicable in real-time application of IoT devices. Experimental results show that the proposed approach obtains high quality results with low computation time on real and synthetic datasets. PMID:25110753

  16. Fast discharge in a plasma gun with hemispherical insulator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antsiferov, P. S.; Dorokhin, L. A.; Sidelnikov, Yu. V.; Koshelev, K. N.

    2009-05-01

    A method of creation of hot dense plasma is proposed. It is based on cumulation of a shockwave, which originates on a hemispherical surface of insulator of plasma gun. The results of first experiments are presented. The shock wave is driven by fast electrical discharge (dI /dt>1012 A/s). The inductive storage with semiconductor opening switch is used as a current driver. Time resolved pin-hole images and vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) spectra are studied. Shockwaves from hemispherical insulator with 4 mm radius create plasma with a form of column about 1 mm diameter and 3-4 mm length. vuv spectra contain the lines of Ar ions that corresponds to the electron temperature about 20 eV. Possible practical application is discussed.

  17. Electrogastrograms during motion sickness in fasted and fed subjects

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stewart, John J.; Wood, Mary J.; Wood, Charles D.

    1989-01-01

    Seven human volunteers were subjected to stressful Coriolis stimulation (rotating chair) either during the fasted state or following the ingestion of yogurt (6 oz). Subjects tested after yogurt reached a malaise-III (M-III) endpoint of motion sickness after significantly (p smaller than 0.01) fewer head movements than subjects tested in the fasted state. Surface electrogastrogram (EGG) recordings at M-III were similar for both dietary stats and consisted of a brief period of tachygastria, followed by a period of low-amplitude EGG waves. Ingestion of yogurt enhanced susceptibility to motion sickness but did not affect the associated pattern of EGG.

  18. Extraction and Analysis of Mega Cities’ Impervious Surface on Pixel-based and Object-oriented Support Vector Machine Classification Technology: A case of Bombay

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, S. S.; Sun, Z. C.; Sun, L.; Wu, M. F.

    2017-02-01

    The object of this paper is to study the impervious surface extraction method using remote sensing imagery and monitor the spatiotemporal changing patterns of mega cities. Megacity Bombay was selected as the interesting area. Firstly, the pixel-based and object-oriented support vector machine (SVM) classification methods were used to acquire the land use/land cover (LULC) products of Bombay in 2010. Consequently, the overall accuracy (OA) and overall Kappa (OK) of the pixel-based method were 94.97% and 0.96 with a running time of 78 minutes, the OA and OK of the object-oriented method were 93.72% and 0.94 with a running time of only 17s. Additionally, OA and OK of the object-oriented method after a post-classification were improved up to 95.8% and 0.94. Then, the dynamic impervious surfaces of Bombay in the period 1973-2015 were extracted and the urbanization pattern of Bombay was analysed. Results told that both the two SVM classification methods could accomplish the impervious surface extraction, but the object-oriented method should be a better choice. Urbanization of Bombay experienced a fast extending during the past 42 years, implying a dramatically urban sprawl of mega cities in the developing countries along the One Belt and One Road (OBOR).

  19. A fast and low-power microelectromechanical system-based non-volatile memory device

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Sang Wook; Park, Seung Joo; Campbell, Eleanor E. B.; Park, Yung Woo

    2011-01-01

    Several new generation memory devices have been developed to overcome the low performance of conventional silicon-based flash memory. In this study, we demonstrate a novel non-volatile memory design based on the electromechanical motion of a cantilever to provide fast charging and discharging of a floating-gate electrode. The operation is demonstrated by using an electromechanical metal cantilever to charge a floating gate that controls the charge transport through a carbon nanotube field-effect transistor. The set and reset currents are unchanged after more than 11 h constant operation. Over 500 repeated programming and erasing cycles were demonstrated under atmospheric conditions at room temperature without degradation. Multinary bit programming can be achieved by varying the voltage on the cantilever. The operation speed of the device is faster than a conventional flash memory and the power consumption is lower than other memory devices. PMID:21364559

  20. Theory of ion transport with fast acid-base equilibrations in bioelectrochemical systems.

    PubMed

    Dykstra, J E; Biesheuvel, P M; Bruning, H; Ter Heijne, A

    2014-07-01

    Bioelectrochemical systems recover valuable components and energy in the form of hydrogen or electricity from aqueous organic streams. We derive a one-dimensional steady-state model for ion transport in a bioelectrochemical system, with the ions subject to diffusional and electrical forces. Since most of the ionic species can undergo acid-base reactions, ion transport is combined in our model with infinitely fast ion acid-base equilibrations. The model describes the current-induced ammonia evaporation and recovery at the cathode side of a bioelectrochemical system that runs on an organic stream containing ammonium ions. We identify that the rate of ammonia evaporation depends not only on the current but also on the flow rate of gas in the cathode chamber, the diffusion of ammonia from the cathode back into the anode chamber, through the ion exchange membrane placed in between, and the membrane charge density.

  1. Fast 3D NIR systems for facial measurement and lip-reading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brahm, Anika; Ramm, Roland; Heist, Stefan; Rulff, Christian; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

    2017-05-01

    Structured-light projection is a well-established optical method for the non-destructive contactless three-dimensional (3D) measurement of object surfaces. In particular, there is a great demand for accurate and fast 3D scans of human faces or facial regions of interest in medicine, safety, face modeling, games, virtual life, or entertainment. New developments of facial expression detection and machine lip-reading can be used for communication tasks, future machine control, or human-machine interactions. In such cases, 3D information may offer more detailed information than 2D images which can help to increase the power of current facial analysis algorithms. In this contribution, we present new 3D sensor technologies based on three different methods of near-infrared projection technologies in combination with a stereo vision setup of two cameras. We explain the optical principles of an NIR GOBO projector, an array projector and a modified multi-aperture projection method and compare their performance parameters to each other. Further, we show some experimental measurement results of applications where we realized fast, accurate, and irritation-free measurements of human faces.

  2. Fast-ion stabilization of tokamak plasma turbulence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Di Siena, A.; Görler, T.; Doerk, H.; Poli, E.; Bilato, R.

    2018-05-01

    A significant reduction of the turbulence-induced anomalous heat transport has been observed in recent studies of magnetically confined plasmas in the presence of a significant fast-ion fractions. Therefore, the control of fast-ion populations with external heating might open the way to more optimistic scenarios for future fusion devices. However, little is known about the parameter range of relevance of these fast-ion effects which are often only highlighted in correlation with substantial electromagnetic fluctuations. Here, a significant fast ion induced stabilization is also found in both linear and nonlinear electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations which cannot be explained with the conventional assumptions based on pressure profile and dilution effects. Strong wave-fast particle resonant interactions are observed for realistic parameters where the fast particle trace approximation clearly failed and explained with the help of a reduced Vlasov model. In contrast to previous interpretations, fast particles can actively modify the Poisson field equation—even at low fast particle densities where dilution tends to be negligible and at relatively high temperatures, i.e. T  <  30T e . Further key parameters controlling the role of the fast ions are identified in the following and various ways of further optimizing their beneficial impact are explored. Finally, possible extensions into the electromagnetic regime are briefly discussed and the relevance of these findings for ITER standard scenarios is highlighted.

  3. Geochemistry at 4 Vesta: Observations Using Fast Neutrons

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lawrence, David J.; Prettyman, Thomas H.; Feldman, William C.; Bazell, David; Mittlefehldt, David W.; Peplowski, Patrick N.; Reedy, Robert C.

    2012-01-01

    Dawn is currently in orbit around the asteroid 4 Vesta, and one of the major objectives of the mission is to probe the relationship of Vesta to the Howardite, Eucrite, and Diogenite (HED) meteorites. As Vesta is an example of a differentiated planetary embryo, Dawn will also provide fundamental information about planetary evolution in the early solar system [1]. To help accomplish this overall goal, the Dawn spacecraft carries the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND). GRaND uses planetary gamma-ray and neutron spectroscopy to measure the surface elemental composition of Vesta and will provide information that is unique and complementary to that provided by the other Dawn instruments and investigations. Gamma-ray and neutron spectroscopy is a standard technique for measuring planetary compositions [2], having successfully made measurements at near-Earth asteroids, the Moon, Mars, Mercury and now Vesta. GRaND has made the first measurements of the neutron spectrum from any asteroid (previous asteroid measurements were only made with gamma-rays). Dawn has been collecting data at Vesta since July 2011. The prime data collection period for GRaND is the Low-Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO), which started on 12 December 2011 and will last through spring 2012. During LAMO, the Dawn spacecraft orbits at an average altitude of 210 km above the surface of Vesta, which allows good neutron and gamma-ray signals to be detected from Vesta. A description of the overall goals of GRaND and a summary of the initial findings are given elsewhere [3,4]. The subject of this study is to present the information that will be returned from GRaND using fast neutron measurements. Here, we discuss what fast neutrons can reveal about Vesta s surface composition, how such data can address Dawn science goals, and describe fast neutron measurements made in the early portion of the Vesta LAMO phase.

  4. Surface modification of polypropylene based particle foams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schreier, P.; Trassl, C.; Altstädt, V.

    2014-05-01

    This paper deals with the modification of the surface properties of expanded polypropylene (EPP). EPP is a semi-hard to soft elastic thermoplastic foam. The characteristic surface of EPP shows process-related steam nozzle imprints and gussets. Therefore EPP does not satisfy the quality requirements for visible automotive applications. In order to meet these demands, plastic surfaces are usually enhanced with functional or decorative coatings, e.g. textiles, plastic films or paint. The coating of plastics with low surface energies such as PP often leads to adhesion problems by reason of the missing polar and functional groups. This paper gives an evaluation of activation and pre-treatment methods of EPP, with the aim to identify the most suitable pre-treatment method. For this purpose five typical surface treatment methods - flame treatment, corona, fluorination, atmospheric and low-pressure plasma - were performed on EPP samples. As a comparison criterion the maximum increase in the adhesion force between a polyurethane-based coating and the modified EPP substrate was selected. Moreover the influence of the selected pre-treatment method on the increase in the total surface energy and its polar component was investigated by the drop shape analysis method. The results showed that the contact angle measurement is a suitable method to determine the polar and disperse fractions of the surface tension of EPP. Furthermore, all performed methods increased the adhesion of EPP.

  5. Fast progressive lower motor neuron disease is an ALS variant: A two-centre tract of interest-based MRI data analysis.

    PubMed

    Müller, Hans-Peter; Agosta, Federica; Riva, Nilo; Spinelli, Edoardo G; Comi, Giancarlo; Ludolph, Albert C; Filippi, Massimo; Kassubek, Jan

    2018-01-01

    The criteria for assessing upper motor neuron pathology in pure lower motor neuron disease (LMND) still remain a major issue of debate with respect to the clinical classification as an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) variant. The study was designed to investigate white matter damage by a hypothesis-guided tract-of-interest-based approach in patients with LMND compared with healthy controls and ´classical´ ALS patients in order to identify in vivo brain structural changes according to the neuropathologically defined ALS affectation pattern. Data were pooled from two previous studies at two different study sites (Ulm, Germany and Milano, Italy). DTI-based white matter integrity mapping was performed by voxelwise statistical comparison and by a tractwise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps according to the ALS-staging pattern for 65 LMND patients (clinically differentiated in fast and slow progressors) vs. 92 matched controls and 101 ALS patients with a 'classical' phenotype to identify white matter structural alterations. The analysis of white matter structural connectivity by regional FA reductions demonstrated the characteristic alteration patterns along the CST and also in frontal and prefrontal brain areas in LMND patients compared to controls and ALS. Fast progressing LMND showed substantial involvement, like in ALS, while slow progressors showed less severe alterations. In the tract-specific analysis according to the ALS-staging pattern, fast progressing LMND showed significant alterations of ALS-related tract systems as compared to slow progressors and controls. This study showed an affectation pattern for corticoefferent fibers in LMND with fast disease progression as defined for ALS, that way confirming the hypothesis that fast progressing LMND is a phenotypical variant of ALS.

  6. Preoperative fasting among burns patients in an acute care setting: a best practice implementation project.

    PubMed

    Giuliani, Sara; McArthur, Alexa; Greenwood, John

    2015-11-01

    Major burn injury patients commonly fast preoperatively before multiple surgical procedures. The Societies of Anesthesiology in Europe and the United States recommend fasting from clear fluids for two hours and solids for six to eight hours preoperatively. However, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, patients often fast from midnight proceeding the day of surgery. This project aims to promote evidence-based practice to minimize extended preoperative fasting in major burn patients. A baseline audit was conducted measuring the percentage compliance with audit criteria, specifically on preoperative fasting documentation and appropriate instructions in line with evidence-based guidelines. Strategies were then implemented to address areas of non-compliance, which included staff education, development of documentation tools and completion of a perioperative feeding protocol for major burn patients. Following this, a post implementation audit assessed the extent of change compared with the baseline audit results. Education on evidence-based fasting guidelines was delivered to 54% of staff. This resulted in a 19% improvement in compliance with fasting documentation and a 52% increase in adherence to appropriate evidence-based instructions. There was a notable shift from the most common fasting instruction being "fast from midnight" to "fast from 03:00 hours", with an overall four-hour reduction in fasting per theater admission. These results demonstrate that education improves compliance with documentation and preoperative fasting that is more reflective of evidence-based practice. Collaboration with key stakeholders and a hospital wide fasting protocol is warranted to sustain change and further advance compliance with evidence-based practice at an organizational level.

  7. 3D palmprint data fast acquisition and recognition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Xiaoxu; Huang, Shujun; Gao, Nan; Zhang, Zonghua

    2014-11-01

    This paper presents a fast 3D (Three-Dimension) palmprint capturing system and develops an efficient 3D palmprint feature extraction and recognition method. In order to fast acquire accurate 3D shape and texture of palmprint, a DLP projector triggers a CCD camera to realize synchronization. By generating and projecting green fringe pattern images onto the measured palm surface, 3D palmprint data are calculated from the fringe pattern images. The periodic feature vector can be derived from the calculated 3D palmprint data, so undistorted 3D biometrics is obtained. Using the obtained 3D palmprint data, feature matching test have been carried out by Gabor filter, competition rules and the mean curvature. Experimental results on capturing 3D palmprint show that the proposed acquisition method can fast get 3D shape information of palmprint. Some initial experiments on recognition show the proposed method is efficient by using 3D palmprint data.

  8. Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on mindful eating, sweets consumption, and fasting glucose levels in obese adults: data from the SHINE randomized controlled trial

    PubMed Central

    Epel, Elissa S.; Kristeller, Jean; Moran, Patricia J.; Dallman, Mary; Lustig, Robert H.; Acree, Michael; Bacchetti, Peter; Laraia, Barbara A.; Hecht, Frederick M.; Daubenmier, Jennifer

    2016-01-01

    We evaluated changes in mindful eating as a potential mechanism underlying the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention for weight loss on eating of sweet foods and fasting glucose levels. We randomized 194 obese individuals (M age = 47.0 ± 12.7 years; BMI = 35.5 ± 3.6; 78 % women) to a 5.5-month diet-exercise program with or without mindfulness training. The mindfulness group, relative to the active control group, evidenced increases in mindful eating and maintenance of fasting glucose from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating were associated with decreased eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels among mindfulness group participants, but this association was not statistically significant among active control group participants. Twelve-month increases in mindful eating partially mediated the effect of intervention arm on changes in fasting glucose levels from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating may contribute to the effects of mindfulness-based weight loss interventions on eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels. PMID:26563148

  9. Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on mindful eating, sweets consumption, and fasting glucose levels in obese adults: data from the SHINE randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Mason, Ashley E; Epel, Elissa S; Kristeller, Jean; Moran, Patricia J; Dallman, Mary; Lustig, Robert H; Acree, Michael; Bacchetti, Peter; Laraia, Barbara A; Hecht, Frederick M; Daubenmier, Jennifer

    2016-04-01

    We evaluated changes in mindful eating as a potential mechanism underlying the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention for weight loss on eating of sweet foods and fasting glucose levels. We randomized 194 obese individuals (M age = 47.0 ± 12.7 years; BMI = 35.5 ± 3.6; 78% women) to a 5.5-month diet-exercise program with or without mindfulness training. The mindfulness group, relative to the active control group, evidenced increases in mindful eating and maintenance of fasting glucose from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating were associated with decreased eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels among mindfulness group participants, but this association was not statistically significant among active control group participants. Twelve-month increases in mindful eating partially mediated the effect of intervention arm on changes in fasting glucose levels from baseline to 12-month assessment. Increases in mindful eating may contribute to the effects of mindfulness-based weight loss interventions on eating of sweets and fasting glucose levels.

  10. Interactive Display of Surfaces Using Subdivision Surfaces and Wavelets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Duchaineau, M A; Bertram, M; Porumbescu, S

    2001-10-03

    Complex surfaces and solids are produced by large-scale modeling and simulation activities in a variety of disciplines. Productive interaction with these simulations requires that these surfaces or solids be viewable at interactive rates--yet many of these surfaced solids can contain hundreds of millions of polygondpolyhedra. Interactive display of these objects requires compression techniques to minimize storage, and fast view-dependent triangulation techniques to drive the graphics hardware. In this paper, we review recent advances in subdivision-surface wavelet compression and optimization that can be used to provide a framework for both compression and triangulation. These techniques can be used to produce suitablemore » approximations of complex surfaces of arbitrary topology, and can be used to determine suitable triangulations for display. The techniques can be used in a variety of applications in computer graphics, computer animation and visualization.« less

  11. Fast Food and Neighborhood Stroke Risk

    PubMed Central

    Morgenstern, Lewis B.; Escobar, James D.; Sánchez, Brisa N.; Hughes, Rebecca; Zuniga, Belinda G.; Garcia, Nelda; Lisabeth, Lynda D.

    2009-01-01

    Objective To investigate the association between the number of fast food restaurants and ischemic stroke in neighborhoods. Methods This work was a pre-specified part of the Brain Attack in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project. Ischemic stroke cases were prospectively ascertained in Nueces County, Texas. Home addresses were geocoded and used to establish the census tract for each stroke case. Census tracts were used as proxies for neighborhoods (n=64). Using a standard definition, fast food restaurants were identified from a commercial list. Poisson regression was used to study the association between the number of fast food restaurants in the neighborhood, using a 1-mile buffer around each census tract, and the risk of stroke in the neighborhood. Models were adjusted for demographics and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). Results There were 1,247 completed ischemic strokes from January 2000 through June 2003 and 262 fast food restaurants. The median number of fast food restaurants per census tract including buffer was 22 (IQR 12–33). Adjusting for neighborhood demographics and SES, the association of fast food restaurants with stroke was significant (p=0.02). The association suggested that the risk of stroke in a neighborhood increased by 1% for every fast food restaurant (RR 1.01 95% CI: 1.00–1.01). The relative risk of stroke comparing neighborhoods in the 75th to the 25th percentile of the distribution of fast food restaurants was 1.13 (95% CI: 1.02–1.25). Interpretation Controlling for demographic and SES factors, there was a significant association between fast food restaurants and stroke risk in neighborhoods in this community-based study. PMID:19743456

  12. PyFly: A fast, portable aerodynamics simulator

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Garcia, Daniel; Ghommem, M.; Collier, Nathaniel O.

    Here, we present a fast, user-friendly implementation of a potential flow solver based on the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM), namely PyFly. UVLM computes the aerodynamic loads applied on lifting surfaces while capturing the unsteady effects such as the added mass forces, the growth of bound circulation, and the wake while assuming that the flow separation location is known a priori. This method is based on discretizing the body surface into a lattice of vortex rings and relies on the Biot–Savart law to construct the velocity field at every point in the simulated domain. We introduce the pointwise approximation approachmore » to simulate the interactions of the far-field vortices to overcome the computational burden associated with the classical implementation of UVLM. The computational framework uses the Python programming language to provide an easy to handle user interface while the computational kernels are written in Fortran. The mixed language approach enables high performance regarding solution time and great flexibility concerning easiness of code adaptation to different system configurations and applications. The computational tool predicts the unsteady aerodynamic behavior of multiple moving bodies (e.g., flapping wings, rotating blades, suspension bridges) subject to incoming air. The aerodynamic simulator can also deal with enclosure effects, multi-body interactions, and B-spline representation of body shapes. Finally, we simulate different aerodynamic problems to illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of PyFly.« less

  13. PyFly: A fast, portable aerodynamics simulator

    DOE PAGES

    Garcia, Daniel; Ghommem, M.; Collier, Nathaniel O.; ...

    2018-03-14

    Here, we present a fast, user-friendly implementation of a potential flow solver based on the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM), namely PyFly. UVLM computes the aerodynamic loads applied on lifting surfaces while capturing the unsteady effects such as the added mass forces, the growth of bound circulation, and the wake while assuming that the flow separation location is known a priori. This method is based on discretizing the body surface into a lattice of vortex rings and relies on the Biot–Savart law to construct the velocity field at every point in the simulated domain. We introduce the pointwise approximation approachmore » to simulate the interactions of the far-field vortices to overcome the computational burden associated with the classical implementation of UVLM. The computational framework uses the Python programming language to provide an easy to handle user interface while the computational kernels are written in Fortran. The mixed language approach enables high performance regarding solution time and great flexibility concerning easiness of code adaptation to different system configurations and applications. The computational tool predicts the unsteady aerodynamic behavior of multiple moving bodies (e.g., flapping wings, rotating blades, suspension bridges) subject to incoming air. The aerodynamic simulator can also deal with enclosure effects, multi-body interactions, and B-spline representation of body shapes. Finally, we simulate different aerodynamic problems to illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of PyFly.« less

  14. [Research on fast classification based on LIBS technology and principle component analyses].

    PubMed

    Yu, Qi; Ma, Xiao-Hong; Wang, Rui; Zhao, Hua-Feng

    2014-11-01

    Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and the principle component analysis (PCA) were combined to study aluminum alloy classification in the present article. Classification experiments were done on thirteen different kinds of standard samples of aluminum alloy which belong to 4 different types, and the results suggested that the LIBS-PCA method can be used to aluminum alloy fast classification. PCA was used to analyze the spectrum data from LIBS experiments, three principle components were figured out that contribute the most, the principle component scores of the spectrums were calculated, and the scores of the spectrums data in three-dimensional coordinates were plotted. It was found that the spectrum sample points show clear convergence phenomenon according to the type of aluminum alloy they belong to. This result ensured the three principle components and the preliminary aluminum alloy type zoning. In order to verify its accuracy, 20 different aluminum alloy samples were used to do the same experiments to verify the aluminum alloy type zoning. The experimental result showed that the spectrum sample points all located in their corresponding area of the aluminum alloy type, and this proved the correctness of the earlier aluminum alloy standard sample type zoning method. Based on this, the identification of unknown type of aluminum alloy can be done. All the experimental results showed that the accuracy of principle component analyses method based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is more than 97.14%, and it can classify the different type effectively. Compared to commonly used chemical methods, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can do the detection of the sample in situ and fast with little sample preparation, therefore, using the method of the combination of LIBS and PCA in the areas such as quality testing and on-line industrial controlling can save a lot of time and cost, and improve the efficiency of detection greatly.

  15. Nanowire humidity optical sensor system based on fast Fourier transform technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rota-Rodrigo, S.; Pérez-Herrera, R.; Lopez-Aldaba, A.; López Bautista, M. C.; Esteban, O.; López-Amo, M.

    2015-09-01

    In this paper, a new sensor system for relative humidity measurements based on its interaction with the evanescent field of a nanowire is presented. The interrogation of the sensing head is carried out by monitoring the fast Fourier transform phase variations of one of the nanowire interference frequencies. This method is independent of the signal amplitude and also avoids the necessity of tracking the wavelength evolution in the spectrum, which can be a handicap when there are multiple interference frequency components with different sensitivities. The sensor is operated within a wide humidity range (20%-70% relative humidity) with a maximum sensitivity achieved of 0.14rad/% relative humidity. Finally, due to the system uses an optical interrogator as unique active element, the system presents a cost-effective feature.

  16. Fast Shepard interpolation on graphics processing units: potential energy surfaces and dynamics for H + CH4 → H2 + CH3.

    PubMed

    Welsch, Ralph; Manthe, Uwe

    2013-04-28

    A strategy for the fast evaluation of Shepard interpolated potential energy surfaces (PESs) utilizing graphics processing units (GPUs) is presented. Speed ups of several orders of magnitude are gained for the title reaction on the ZFWCZ PES [Y. Zhou, B. Fu, C. Wang, M. A. Collins, and D. H. Zhang, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 064323 (2011)]. Thermal rate constants are calculated employing the quantum transition state concept and the multi-layer multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree approach. Results for the ZFWCZ PES are compared to rate constants obtained for other ab initio PESs and problems are discussed. A revised PES is presented. Thermal rate constants obtained for the revised PES indicate that an accurate description of the anharmonicity around the transition state is crucial.

  17. Surface acid-base behaviors of Chinese loess.

    PubMed

    Chu, Zhaosheng; Liu, Wenxin; Tang, Hongxiao; Qian, Tianwei; Li, Shushen; Li, Zhentang; Wu, Guibin

    2002-08-15

    Acid-base titration was applied to investigate the surface acid-base properties of a Chinese loess sample at different ionic strengths. The acidimetric supernatant was regarded as the system blank of titration to correct the influence of particle dissolution on the estimation of proton consumption. The titration behavior of the system blank could be described by the hydrolysis of Al3+ and Si(OH)4 in aqueous solution as well as the production of hydroxyaluminosilicates. The formation of Al-Si species on homogeneous surface sites by hydrous aluminum and silicic acid, released from solid substrate during the acidic titration, was considered in the model description of the back-titration procedure. A surface reaction model was suggested as follows: >SOH<-->SO(-)+H+, pK(a)(int)=3.48-3.98;>SOH+Al(3+)+H4SiO4<-->SOAl(OSi(OH)3(+)+2H+, pK(SC)=3.48-4.04. Two simple surface complexation models accounted for the interfacial structure, i.e., the constant capacitance model (CCM) and the diffuse layer model (DLM), and gave a satisfactory description of the experimental data. Considering the effect of ionic strength on the electrostatic profile at the solid-aqueous interface, the DLM was appropriate at the low concentrations (0.01 and 0.005 mol/L) of background electrolyte (NaNO3 in this study), while the CCM was preferable in the case of high ionic strength (0.1 mol/L).

  18. Recent developments in fast kurtosis imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hansen, Brian; Jespersen, Sune N.

    2017-09-01

    Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) is an extension of the popular diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique. DKI takes into account leading deviations from Gaussian diffusion stemming from a number of effects related to the microarchitecture and compartmentalization in biological tissues. DKI therefore offers increased sensitivity to subtle microstructural alterations over conventional diffusion imaging such as DTI, as has been demonstrated in numerous reports. For this reason, interest in routine clinical application of DKI is growing rapidly. In an effort to facilitate more widespread use of DKI, recent work by our group has focused on developing experimentally fast and robust estimates of DKI metrics. A significant increase in speed is made possible by a reduction in data demand achieved through rigorous analysis of the relation between the DKI signal and the kurtosis tensor based metrics. The fast DKI methods therefore need only 13 or 19 images for DKI parameter estimation compared to more than 60 for the most modest DKI protocols applied today. Closed form solutions also ensure rapid calculation of most DKI metrics. Some parameters can even be reconstructed in real time, which may be valuable in the clinic. The fast techniques are based on conventional diffusion sequences and are therefore easily implemented on almost any clinical system, in contrast to a range of other recently proposed advanced diffusion techniques. In addition to its general applicability, this also ensures that any acceleration achieved in conventional DKI through sequence or hardware optimization will also translate directly to fast DKI acquisitions. In this review, we recapitulate the theoretical basis for the fast kurtosis techniques and their relation to conventional DKI. We then discuss the currently available variants of the fast DKI methods, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their respective realms of application. These range from whole body applications to methods mostly

  19. Scatter metrology of photovoltaic textured surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stover, John C.; Hegstrom, Eric L.

    2010-09-01

    In recent years it has become common practice to texture many of the layered surfaces making up photovoltaic cells in order to increase light absorption and efficiency. Profilometry has been used to characterize the texture, but this is not satisfactory for in-line production systems which move surfaces too fast for that measurement. Scatterometry has been used successfully to measure roughness for many years. Its advantages include low cost, non-contact measurement and insensitivity to vibration; however, it also has some limitations. This paper presents scatter measurements made on a number of photovoltaic samples using two different scatterometers. It becomes clear that in many cases the surface roughness exceeds the optical smoothness limit (required to calculate surface statistics from scatter), but it is also clear that scatter measurement is a fast, sensitive indicator of texture and can be used to monitor whether design specifications are being met. A third key point is that there is a lot of surface dependent information available in the angular variations of the measured scatter. When the surface is inspected by integrating the scatter signal (often called a "Haze" measurement) this information is lost.

  20. Possible Ceres bow shock surfaces based on fluid models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Y.-D.; Villarreal, M. N.; Russell, C. T.

    2017-05-01

    The hot electron beams that Dawn detected at Ceres can be explained by fast-Fermi acceleration at a temporary bow shock. A shock forms when the solar wind encounters a temporary atmosphere, similar to a cometary coma. We use a magnetohydrodynamic model to quantitatively reproduce the 3-D shock surface at Ceres and deduce the atmosphere characteristics that are required to create such a shock. Our most simple model requires about 1.8 kg/s, or 6 × 1025/s water vapor production rate to form such a shock. Such an estimate relies on characteristics of the solar wind-Ceres interaction. We present several case studies to show how these conditions affect our estimate. In addition, we contrast these cases with the smaller and narrower shock caused by a subsurface induction. Our multifluid model reveals the asymmetry introduced by the large gyroradius of the heavy pickup ions and further constrains the IMF direction during the events.

  1. Determining surface areas of marine alga cells by acid-base titration method.

    PubMed

    Wang, X; Ma, Y; Su, Y

    1997-09-01

    A new method for determining the surface area of living marine alga cells was described. The method uses acid-base titration to measure the surface acid/base amount on the surface of alga cells and uses the BET (Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller) equation to estimate the maximum surface acid/base amount, assuming that hydrous cell walls have carbohydrates or other structural compounds which can behave like surface Brönsted acid-base sites due to coordination of environmental H2O molecules. The method was applied to 18 diverse alga species (including 7 diatoms, 2 flagellates, 8 green algae and 1 red alga) maintained in seawater cultures. For the species examined, the surface areas of individual cells ranged from 2.8 x 10(-8) m2 for Nannochloropsis oculata to 690 x 10(-8) m2 for Dunaliella viridis, specific surface areas from 1,030 m2.g-1 for Dunaliella salina to 28,900 m2.g-1 for Pyramidomonas sp. Measurement accuracy was 15.2%. Preliminary studies show that the method may be more promising and accurate than light/electron microscopic measurements for coarse estimation of the surface area of living algae.

  2. Fast mass spectrometry-based enantiomeric excess determination of proteinogenic amino acids.

    PubMed

    Fleischer, Heidi; Thurow, Kerstin

    2013-03-01

    A rapid determination of the enantiomeric excess of proteinogenic amino acids is of great importance in various fields of chemical and biologic research and industries. Owing to their different biologic effects, enantiomers are interesting research subjects in drug development for the design of new and more efficient pharmaceuticals. Usually, the enantiomeric composition of amino acids is determined by conventional analytical methods such as liquid or gas chromatography or capillary electrophoresis. These analytical techniques do not fulfill the requirements of high-throughput screening due to their relative long analysis times. The method presented allows a fast analysis of chiral amino acids without previous time consuming chromatographic separation. The analytical measurements base on parallel kinetic resolution with pseudoenantiomeric mass tagged auxiliaries and were carried out by mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. All 19 chiral proteinogenic amino acids were tested and Pro, Ser, Trp, His, and Glu were selected as model substrates for verification measurements. The enantiomeric excesses of amino acids with non-polar and aliphatic side chains as well as Trp and Phe (aromatic side chains) were determined with maximum deviations of the expected value less than or equal to 10ee%. Ser, Cys, His, Glu, and Asp were determined with deviations lower or equal to 14ee% and the enantiomeric excess of Tyr were calculated with 17ee% deviation. The total screening process is fully automated from the sample pretreatment to the data processing. The method presented enables fast measurement times about 1.38 min per sample and is applicable in the scope of high-throughput screenings.

  3. Assessing Tactical Scheduler Options for Time-Based Surface Metering

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zelinski, Shannon; Windhorst, Robert

    2017-01-01

    NASA is committed to demonstrating a concept of integrated arrival, departure, and surface operations by 2020 under the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD2) sub-project. This will be accomplished starting with a demonstration of flight specific time-based departure metering at Charlotte Douglass International Airport (CLT). ATD2 tactical metering capability is based on NASAs Spot And Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) which has been tested successfully in human-in-the-loop simulations of CLT. SARDA makes use of surface surveillance data and surface modeling to estimate the earliest takeoff time for each flight active on the airport surface or ready for pushback from the gate. The system then schedules each flight to its assigned runway in order of earliest takeoff time and assigns a target pushback time, displayed to ramp controllers as an advisory gate hold time. The objective of this method of departure metering is to move as much delay as possible to the gate to minimize surface congestion and engine on-time, while keeping sufficient pressure on the runway to maintain throughput. This flight specific approached enables greater flight efficiency and predictability, facilitating trajectory-based operations and surface-airspace integration, which ATD2 aims to achieve.Throughout ATD2 project formulation and system development, researchers have continuously engaged with stakeholders and future users, uncovering key system requirements for tactical metering that SARDA did not address. The SARDA scheduler is updated every 10 seconds using real-time surface surveillance data to ensure the most up-to-date information is used to predict runway usage. However, rapid updates also open the potential for fluctuating advisories, which Ramp controllers at a busy airport like CLT find unacceptable. Therefore, ATD2 tactical metering requires that all advisories freeze once flights are ready so that Ramp controllers may communicate a single hold time when responding to pilot

  4. FAST - FREEDOM ASSEMBLY SEQUENCING TOOL PROTOTYPE

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borden, C. S.

    1994-01-01

    -Language and has been implemented on DEC VAX series computers running VMS. The program is distributed in executable form. The source code is also provided, but it cannot be compiled without the Tree Manipulation Based Routines (TMBR) package from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is not currently available from COSMIC. The main memory requirement is based on the data used to drive the FAST program. All applications should easily run on an installation with 10Mb of main memory. FAST was developed in 1990 and is a copyrighted work with all copyright vested in NASA. DEC, VAX and VMS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

  5. G-Hash: Towards Fast Kernel-based Similarity Search in Large Graph Databases.

    PubMed

    Wang, Xiaohong; Smalter, Aaron; Huan, Jun; Lushington, Gerald H

    2009-01-01

    Structured data including sets, sequences, trees and graphs, pose significant challenges to fundamental aspects of data management such as efficient storage, indexing, and similarity search. With the fast accumulation of graph databases, similarity search in graph databases has emerged as an important research topic. Graph similarity search has applications in a wide range of domains including cheminformatics, bioinformatics, sensor network management, social network management, and XML documents, among others.Most of the current graph indexing methods focus on subgraph query processing, i.e. determining the set of database graphs that contains the query graph and hence do not directly support similarity search. In data mining and machine learning, various graph kernel functions have been designed to capture the intrinsic similarity of graphs. Though successful in constructing accurate predictive and classification models for supervised learning, graph kernel functions have (i) high computational complexity and (ii) non-trivial difficulty to be indexed in a graph database.Our objective is to bridge graph kernel function and similarity search in graph databases by proposing (i) a novel kernel-based similarity measurement and (ii) an efficient indexing structure for graph data management. Our method of similarity measurement builds upon local features extracted from each node and their neighboring nodes in graphs. A hash table is utilized to support efficient storage and fast search of the extracted local features. Using the hash table, a graph kernel function is defined to capture the intrinsic similarity of graphs and for fast similarity query processing. We have implemented our method, which we have named G-hash, and have demonstrated its utility on large chemical graph databases. Our results show that the G-hash method achieves state-of-the-art performance for k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classification. Most importantly, the new similarity measurement and the index

  6. The phase-space dependence of fast-ion interaction with tearing modes

    DOE PAGES

    Heidbrink, William W.; Bardoczi, Laszlo; Collins, Cami S.; ...

    2018-03-19

    Modulation of various neutral beam sources probes the interaction of fast ions with tearing modes (TM) in the DIII-D tokamak. As measured by electron cyclotron emission, the (m,n) = (2,1) tearing modes have an island width of ~8 cm and change phase 180 at the q = 2 surface. (Here, m is the poloidal mode number and n is the toroidal mode number.) Deuterium neutral beam injection by six sources with differing injection geometries produces the fast ions. To study the interaction in different parts of phase space, on successive discharges, one of the six sources is modulated at 20more » Hz to populate different fast-ion orbits. The modulation only changes the island width by a few millimeters, implying that any fast-ion effect on mode stability is below detection limits. When compared to the expected signals in the absence of TM-induced transport, both the average and modulated neutron signals deviate, implying that fast-ion transport occurs in much of phase space. Fast-ion D-α (FIDA) measurements detect reductions in signal at wavelengths that are sensitive to counter-passing ions. Neutral particle analyzer data imply poor confinement of trapped fast ions. Lastly, calculations of the expected fast-ion transport that use measured TM properties successfully reproduce the data.« less

  7. The phase-space dependence of fast-ion interaction with tearing modes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Heidbrink, William W.; Bardoczi, Laszlo; Collins, Cami S.

    Modulation of various neutral beam sources probes the interaction of fast ions with tearing modes (TM) in the DIII-D tokamak. As measured by electron cyclotron emission, the (m,n) = (2,1) tearing modes have an island width of ~8 cm and change phase 180 at the q = 2 surface. (Here, m is the poloidal mode number and n is the toroidal mode number.) Deuterium neutral beam injection by six sources with differing injection geometries produces the fast ions. To study the interaction in different parts of phase space, on successive discharges, one of the six sources is modulated at 20more » Hz to populate different fast-ion orbits. The modulation only changes the island width by a few millimeters, implying that any fast-ion effect on mode stability is below detection limits. When compared to the expected signals in the absence of TM-induced transport, both the average and modulated neutron signals deviate, implying that fast-ion transport occurs in much of phase space. Fast-ion D-α (FIDA) measurements detect reductions in signal at wavelengths that are sensitive to counter-passing ions. Neutral particle analyzer data imply poor confinement of trapped fast ions. Lastly, calculations of the expected fast-ion transport that use measured TM properties successfully reproduce the data.« less

  8. FAST User Guide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Walatka, Pamela P.; Clucas, Jean; McCabe, R. Kevin; Plessel, Todd; Potter, R.; Cooper, D. M. (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    The Flow Analysis Software Toolkit, FAST, is a software environment for visualizing data. FAST is a collection of separate programs (modules) that run simultaneously and allow the user to examine the results of numerical and experimental simulations. The user can load data files, perform calculations on the data, visualize the results of these calculations, construct scenes of 3D graphical objects, and plot, animate and record the scenes. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) visualization is the primary intended use of FAST, but FAST can also assist in the analysis of other types of data. FAST combines the capabilities of such programs as PLOT3D, RIP, SURF, and GAS into one environment with modules that share data. Sharing data between modules eliminates the drudgery of transferring data between programs. All the modules in the FAST environment have a consistent, highly interactive graphical user interface. Most commands are entered by pointing and'clicking. The modular construction of FAST makes it flexible and extensible. The environment can be custom configured and new modules can be developed and added as needed. The following modules have been developed for FAST: VIEWER, FILE IO, CALCULATOR, SURFER, TOPOLOGY, PLOTTER, TITLER, TRACER, ARCGRAPH, GQ, SURFERU, SHOTET, and ISOLEVU. A utility is also included to make the inclusion of user defined modules in the FAST environment easy. The VIEWER module is the central control for the FAST environment. From VIEWER, the user can-change object attributes, interactively position objects in three-dimensional space, define and save scenes, create animations, spawn new FAST modules, add additional view windows, and save and execute command scripts. The FAST User Guide uses text and FAST MAPS (graphical representations of the entire user interface) to guide the user through the use of FAST. Chapters include: Maps, Overview, Tips, Getting Started Tutorial, a separate chapter for each module, file formats, and system

  9. SurfaceSlide: A Multitouch Digital Pathology Platform

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yinhai; Williamson, Kate E.; Kelly, Paul J.; James, Jacqueline A.; Hamilton, Peter W.

    2012-01-01

    Background Digital pathology provides a digital environment for the management and interpretation of pathological images and associated data. It is becoming increasing popular to use modern computer based tools and applications in pathological education, tissue based research and clinical diagnosis. Uptake of this new technology is stymied by its single user orientation and its prerequisite and cumbersome combination of mouse and keyboard for navigation and annotation. Methodology In this study we developed SurfaceSlide, a dedicated viewing platform which enables the navigation and annotation of gigapixel digitised pathological images using fingertip touch. SurfaceSlide was developed using the Microsoft Surface, a 30 inch multitouch tabletop computing platform. SurfaceSlide users can perform direct panning and zooming operations on digitised slide images. These images are downloaded onto the Microsoft Surface platform from a remote server on-demand. Users can also draw annotations and key in texts using an on-screen virtual keyboard. We also developed a smart caching protocol which caches the surrounding regions of a field of view in multi-resolutions thus providing a smooth and vivid user experience and reducing the delay for image downloading from the internet. We compared the usability of SurfaceSlide against Aperio ImageScope and PathXL online viewer. Conclusion SurfaceSlide is intuitive, fast and easy to use. SurfaceSlide represents the most direct, effective and intimate human–digital slide interaction experience. It is expected that SurfaceSlide will significantly enhance digital pathology tools and applications in education and clinical practice. PMID:22292040

  10. Spatiotemporal focusing-based widefield multiphoton microscopy for fast optical sectioning.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Li-Chung; Chang, Chia-Yuan; Lin, Chun-Yu; Cho, Keng-Chi; Yen, Wei-Chung; Chang, Nan-Shan; Xu, Chris; Dong, Chen Yuan; Chen, Shean-Jen

    2012-04-09

    In this study, a microscope based on spatiotemporal focusing offering widefield multiphoton excitation has been developed to provide fast optical sectioning images. Key features of this microscope are the integrations of a 10 kHz repetition rate ultrafast amplifier featuring high instantaneous peak power (maximum 400 μJ/pulse at a 90 fs pulse width) and a TE-cooled, ultra-sensitive photon detecting, electron multiplying charge-coupled camera into a spatiotemporal focusing microscope. This configuration can produce multiphoton images with an excitation area larger than 200 × 100 μm² at a frame rate greater than 100 Hz (current maximum of 200 Hz). Brownian motions of fluorescent microbeads as small as 0.5 μm were observed in real-time with a lateral spatial resolution of less than 0.5 μm and an axial resolution of approximately 3.5 μm. Furthermore, second harmonic images of chicken tendons demonstrate that the developed widefield multiphoton microscope can provide high resolution z-sectioning for bioimaging.

  11. Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: A national study

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Recent studies suggest that neighborhood fast food restaurant availability is related to greater obesity, yet few studies have investigated whether neighborhood fast food restaurant availability promotes fast food consumption. Our aim was to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults, a population at high risk for obesity. Methods We used national data from U.S. young adults enrolled in wave III (2001-02; ages 18-28) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,150). Urbanicity-stratified multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to examine cross-sectional associations between neighborhood fast food availability and individual-level self-reported fast food consumption frequency, controlling for individual and neighborhood characteristics. Results In adjusted analysis, fast food availability was not associated with weekly frequency of fast food consumption in non-urban or low- or high-density urban areas. Conclusions Policies aiming to reduce neighborhood availability as a means to reduce fast food consumption among young adults may be unsuccessful. Consideration of fast food outlets near school or workplace locations, factors specific to more or less urban settings, and the role of individual lifestyle attitudes and preferences are needed in future research. PMID:21740571

  12. High-Rate Assembly of Nanomaterials on Insulating Surfaces Using Electro-Fluidic Directed Assembly.

    PubMed

    Yilmaz, Cihan; Sirman, Asli; Halder, Aditi; Busnaina, Ahmed

    2017-08-22

    Conductive or semiconducting nanomaterials-based applications such as electronics and sensors often require direct placement of such nanomaterials on insulating surfaces. Most fluidic-based directed assembly techniques on insulating surfaces utilize capillary force and evaporation but are diffusion limited and slow. Electrophoretic-based assembly, on the other hand, is fast but can only be utilized for assembly on a conductive surface. Here, we present a directed assembly technique that enables rapid assembly of nanomaterials on insulating surfaces. The approach leverages and combines fluidic and electrophoretic assembly by applying the electric field through an insulating surface via a conductive film underneath. The approach (called electro-fluidic) yields an assembly process that is 2 orders of magnitude faster compared to fluidic assembly. By understanding the forces on the assembly process, we have demonstrated the controlled assembly of various types of nanomaterials that are conducting, semiconducting, and insulating including nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes on insulating rigid and flexible substrates. The presented approach shows great promise for making practical devices in miniaturized sensors and flexible electronics.

  13. Fast-Response Single-Nanowire Photodetector Based on ZnO/WS2 Core/Shell Heterostructures.

    PubMed

    Butanovs, Edgars; Vlassov, Sergei; Kuzmin, Alexei; Piskunov, Sergei; Butikova, Jelena; Polyakov, Boris

    2018-04-25

    The surface plays an exceptionally important role in nanoscale materials, exerting a strong influence on their properties. Consequently, even a very thin coating can greatly improve the optoelectronic properties of nanostructures by modifying the light absorption and spatial distribution of charge carriers. To use these advantages, 1D/1D heterostructures of ZnO/WS 2 core/shell nanowires with a-few-layers-thick WS 2 shell were fabricated. These heterostructures were thoroughly characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Then, a single-nanowire photoresistive device was assembled by mechanically positioning ZnO/WS 2 core/shell nanowires onto gold electrodes inside a scanning electron microscope. The results show that a few layers of WS 2 significantly enhance the photosensitivity in the short wavelength range and drastically (almost 2 orders of magnitude) improve the photoresponse time of pure ZnO nanowires. The fast response time of ZnO/WS 2 core/shell nanowire was explained by electrons and holes sinking from ZnO nanowire into WS 2 shell, which serves as a charge carrier channel in the ZnO/WS 2 heterostructure. First-principles calculations suggest that the interface layer i-WS 2 , bridging ZnO nanowire surface and WS 2 shell, might play a role of energy barrier, preventing the backward diffusion of charge carriers into ZnO nanowire.

  14. The Theatre of Fast Knowledge: Performative Epistemologies in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Besley, Tina; Peters, Michael A.

    2005-01-01

    Fast knowledge can be considered part of fast capitalism, especially an emergent new generic form of capitalism based increasingly on forms of symbolic capital associated with the rise of global finance and associated with new information and communication technologies. In this essay, the authors first theorise fast knowledge in relation to fast…

  15. Development and Characterization of a High Sensitivity Segmented Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FaNS-2)

    PubMed Central

    Langford, T.J.; Beise, E.J.; Breuer, H.; Heimbach, C.R.; Ji, G.; Nico, J.S.

    2016-01-01

    We present the development of a segmented fast neutron spectrometer (FaNS-2) based upon plastic scintillator and 3He proportional counters. It was designed to measure both the flux and spectrum of fast neutrons in the energy range of few MeV to 1 GeV. FaNS-2 utilizes capture-gated spectroscopy to identify neutron events and reject backgrounds. Neutrons deposit energy in the plastic scintillator before capturing on a 3He nucleus in the proportional counters. Segmentation improves neutron energy reconstruction while the large volume of scintillator increases sensitivity to low neutron fluxes. A main goal of its design is to study comparatively low neutron fluxes, such as cosmogenic neutrons at the Earth's surface, in an underground environment, or from low-activity neutron sources. In this paper, we present details of its design and construction as well as its characterization with a calibrated 252Cf source and monoenergetic neutron fields of 2.5 MeV and 14 MeV. Detected monoenergetic neutron spectra are unfolded using a Singular Value Decomposition method, demonstrating a 5% energy resolution at 14 MeV. Finally, we discuss plans for measuring the surface and underground cosmogenic neutron spectra with FaNS-2. PMID:27226807

  16. MOCC: A Fast and Robust Correlation-Based Method for Interest Point Matching under Large Scale Changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Feng; Huang, Qingming; Wang, Hao; Gao, Wen

    2010-12-01

    Similarity measures based on correlation have been used extensively for matching tasks. However, traditional correlation-based image matching methods are sensitive to rotation and scale changes. This paper presents a fast correlation-based method for matching two images with large rotation and significant scale changes. Multiscale oriented corner correlation (MOCC) is used to evaluate the degree of similarity between the feature points. The method is rotation invariant and capable of matching image pairs with scale changes up to a factor of 7. Moreover, MOCC is much faster in comparison with the state-of-the-art matching methods. Experimental results on real images show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  17. Texture- and deformability-based surface recognition by tactile image analysis.

    PubMed

    Khasnobish, Anwesha; Pal, Monalisa; Tibarewala, D N; Konar, Amit; Pal, Kunal

    2016-08-01

    Deformability and texture are two unique object characteristics which are essential for appropriate surface recognition by tactile exploration. Tactile sensation is required to be incorporated in artificial arms for rehabilitative and other human-computer interface applications to achieve efficient and human-like manoeuvring. To accomplish the same, surface recognition by tactile data analysis is one of the prerequisites. The aim of this work is to develop effective technique for identification of various surfaces based on deformability and texture by analysing tactile images which are obtained during dynamic exploration of the item by artificial arms whose gripper is fitted with tactile sensors. Tactile data have been acquired, while human beings as well as a robot hand fitted with tactile sensors explored the objects. The tactile images are pre-processed, and relevant features are extracted from the tactile images. These features are provided as input to the variants of support vector machine (SVM), linear discriminant analysis and k-nearest neighbour (kNN) for classification. Based on deformability, six household surfaces are recognized from their corresponding tactile images. Moreover, based on texture five surfaces of daily use are classified. The method adopted in the former two cases has also been applied for deformability- and texture-based recognition of four biomembranes, i.e. membranes prepared from biomaterials which can be used for various applications such as drug delivery and implants. Linear SVM performed best for recognizing surface deformability with an accuracy of 83 % in 82.60 ms, whereas kNN classifier recognizes surfaces of daily use having different textures with an accuracy of 89 % in 54.25 ms and SVM with radial basis function kernel recognizes biomembranes with an accuracy of 78 % in 53.35 ms. The classifiers are observed to generalize well on the unseen test datasets with very high performance to achieve efficient material

  18. A Fast and Precise Indoor Localization Algorithm Based on an Online Sequential Extreme Learning Machine †

    PubMed Central

    Zou, Han; Lu, Xiaoxuan; Jiang, Hao; Xie, Lihua

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays, developing indoor positioning systems (IPSs) has become an attractive research topic due to the increasing demands on location-based service (LBS) in indoor environments. WiFi technology has been studied and explored to provide indoor positioning service for years in view of the wide deployment and availability of existing WiFi infrastructures in indoor environments. A large body of WiFi-based IPSs adopt fingerprinting approaches for localization. However, these IPSs suffer from two major problems: the intensive costs of manpower and time for offline site survey and the inflexibility to environmental dynamics. In this paper, we propose an indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine (OS-ELM) to address the above problems accordingly. The fast learning speed of OS-ELM can reduce the time and manpower costs for the offline site survey. Meanwhile, its online sequential learning ability enables the proposed localization algorithm to adapt in a timely manner to environmental dynamics. Experiments under specific environmental changes, such as variations of occupancy distribution and events of opening or closing of doors, are conducted to evaluate the performance of OS-ELM. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed localization algorithm can provide higher localization accuracy than traditional approaches, due to its fast adaptation to various environmental dynamics. PMID:25599427

  19. Advances in the Surface Renewal Flux Measurement Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shapland, T. M.; McElrone, A.; Paw U, K. T.; Snyder, R. L.

    2011-12-01

    The measurement of ecosystem-scale energy and mass fluxes between the planetary surface and the atmosphere is crucial for understanding geophysical processes. Surface renewal is a flux measurement technique based on analyzing the turbulent coherent structures that interact with the surface. It is a less expensive technique because it does not require fast-response velocity measurements, but only a fast-response scalar measurement. It is therefore also a useful tool for the study of the global cycling of trace gases. Currently, surface renewal requires calibration against another flux measurement technique, such as eddy covariance, to account for the linear bias of its measurements. We present two advances in the surface renewal theory and methodology that bring the technique closer to becoming a fully independent flux measurement method. The first advance develops the theory of turbulent coherent structure transport associated with the different scales of coherent structures. A novel method was developed for identifying the scalar change rate within structures at different scales. Our results suggest that for canopies less than one meter in height, the second smallest coherent structure scale dominates the energy and mass flux process. Using the method for resolving the scalar exchange rate of the second smallest coherent structure scale, calibration is unnecessary for surface renewal measurements over short canopies. This study forms the foundation for analysis over more complex surfaces. The second advance is a sensor frequency response correction for measuring the sensible heat flux via surface renewal. Inexpensive fine-wire thermocouples are frequently used to record high frequency temperature data in the surface renewal technique. The sensible heat flux is used in conjunction with net radiation and ground heat flux measurements to determine the latent heat flux as the energy balance residual. The robust thermocouples commonly used in field experiments

  20. Efficient Kriging via Fast Matrix-Vector Products

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Memarsadeghi, Nargess; Raykar, Vikas C.; Duraiswami, Ramani; Mount, David M.

    2008-01-01

    Interpolating scattered data points is a problem of wide ranging interest. Ordinary kriging is an optimal scattered data estimator, widely used in geosciences and remote sensing. A generalized version of this technique, called cokriging, can be used for image fusion of remotely sensed data. However, it is computationally very expensive for large data sets. We demonstrate the time efficiency and accuracy of approximating ordinary kriging through the use of fast matrixvector products combined with iterative methods. We used methods based on the fast Multipole methods and nearest neighbor searching techniques for implementations of the fast matrix-vector products.

  1. Sheet-like chiro-optical material designs based C(Y) surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saba, M.; Robisch, A.-L.; Thiel, M.; Hess, O.; Schroeder-Turk, Gerd E.

    2017-04-01

    A spatial structure for which mirror reflection cannot be represented by rotations and translations is chiral. For photonic crystals and metamaterials, chirality implies the possibility of circular dichroism, that is, that the propagation of left-circularly polarized light may differ from that of right-circularly polarized light. Here we draw attention to chiral sheet- or surface-like geometries based on chiral triply-periodic minimal surfaces. Specifically we analyse two photonic crystal designs based on the C(Y) minimal surface, by band structure analysis and by scattering matrix calculations of the reflection coefficient, for high-dielectric contrasts.

  2. Piercing mandrel strengthening by surfacing with nickel aluminide-based alloy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zorin, I. V.; Dubtsov, Yu N.; Sokolov, G. N.; Artem'ev, A. A.; Lysak, V. I.; Elsukov, S. N.

    2017-02-01

    Electrode composite wire (CW) was used for argon-arc surfacing of a thermal-resisting nickel aluminide-based alloy (Ni-Al-Cr-W-Mo-Ta system) on the butt-end surface of the non-water-cooled piercing mandrel. It was shown that multipassing surfacing forms a defect-free deposited metal based on the γ’-Ni3Al phase of various structural origins. Using high-temperature sclerometry and thermal fatigue testing methods, the metal deposited with CW containing ultrafine particle of 0.3-0.4 % wt. WC carbide features increased resistance to thermal and force effects at temperatures up to 1200 °C.

  3. Modeling the Acid-Base Properties of Montmorillonite Edge Surfaces.

    PubMed

    Tournassat, Christophe; Davis, James A; Chiaberge, Christophe; Grangeon, Sylvain; Bourg, Ian C

    2016-12-20

    The surface reactivity of clay minerals remains challenging to characterize because of a duality of adsorption surfaces and mechanisms that does not exist in the case of simple oxide surfaces: edge surfaces of clay minerals have a variable proton surface charge arising from hydroxyl functional groups, whereas basal surfaces have a permanent negative charge arising from isomorphic substitutions. Hence, the relationship between surface charge and surface potential on edge surfaces cannot be described using the Gouy-Chapman relation, because of a spillover of negative electrostatic potential from the basal surface onto the edge surface. While surface complexation models can be modified to account for these features, a predictive fit of experimental data was not possible until recently, because of uncertainty regarding the densities and intrinsic pK a values of edge functional groups. Here, we reexamine this problem in light of new knowledge on intrinsic pK a values obtained over the past decade using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, and we propose a new formalism to describe edge functional groups. Our simulation results yield reasonable predictions of the best available experimental acid-base titration data.

  4. Fast-Track Teacher Recruitment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grant, Franklin Dean

    2001-01-01

    Schools need a Renaissance human-resources director to implement strategic staffing and fast-track teacher-recruitment plans. The HR director must attend to customer satisfaction, candidate supply, web-based recruitment possibilities, stabilization of newly hired staff, retention of veteran staff, utilization of retired employees, and latest…

  5. Silica encapsulated lipid-based drug delivery systems for reducing the fed/fasted variations of ziprasidone in vitro.

    PubMed

    Dening, Tahnee J; Rao, Shasha; Thomas, Nicky; Prestidge, Clive A

    2016-04-01

    Ziprasidone is a poorly water-soluble antipsychotic drug that demonstrates low fasted state oral bioavailability and a clinically significant two-fold increase in absorption when dosed postprandially. Owing to significant compliance challenges faced by schizophrenic patients, a novel oral formulation of ziprasidone that demonstrates improved fasted state absorption and a reduced food effect is of major interest, and is therefore the aim of this research. Three lipid-based drug delivery systems (LBDDS) were developed and investigated: (a) a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS), (b) a solid SNEDDS formulation, and (c) silica-lipid hybrid (SLH) microparticles. SNEDDS was developed using Capmul MCM® and Tween 80®, and solid SNEDDS was fabricated by spray-drying SNEDDS with Aerosil 380® silica nanoparticles as the solid carrier. SLH microparticles were prepared in a similar manner to solid SNEDDS using a precursor lipid emulsion composed of Capmul MCM® and soybean lecithin. The performance of the developed formulations was evaluated under simulated digesting conditions using an in vitro lipolysis model, and pure (unformulated) ziprasidone was used as a control. While pure ziprasidone exhibited the lowest rate and extent of drug solubilization under fasting conditions and a significant 2.4-fold increase in drug solubilization under fed conditions, all three LBDDS significantly enhanced the extent of drug solubilization under fasting conditions between 18- and 43-folds in comparison to pure drug. No significant difference in drug solubilization for the fed and fasted states was observed for the three LBDDS systems. To highlight the potential of LBDDS, mechanism(s) of action and various performance characteristics are discussed. Importantly, LBDDS are identified as an appropriate formulation strategy to explore further for the improved oral delivery of ziprasidone. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Scanning lidar fluorosensor for remote diagnostic of surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caneve, Luisa; Colao, Francesco; Fantoni, Roberta; Fiorani, Luca

    2013-08-01

    Scanning hyperspectral systems based on laser induced fluorescence (LIF) have been developed and realized at the ENEA allowing to obtain information of analytical and qualitative interest on different materials by the study of the emission of fluorescence. This technique, for a surface analysis, is fast, remote, not invasive and specific. A new compact setup capable of fast 2D monochromatic images acquisition on up to 90 different spectral channels in the visible/UV range will be presented. It has been recently built with the aim to increase the performances in terms of space resolution, time resolved capabilities and data acquisition speed. Major achievements have been reached by a critical review of the optical design. The results recently obtained with in-situ measurements of interest for applications in the field of cultural heritage will be shown. 2001 Elsevier Science. All rights reserved

  7. A fast GPU-based Monte Carlo simulation of proton transport with detailed modeling of nonelastic interactions.

    PubMed

    Wan Chan Tseung, H; Ma, J; Beltran, C

    2015-06-01

    Very fast Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of proton transport have been implemented recently on graphics processing units (GPUs). However, these MCs usually use simplified models for nonelastic proton-nucleus interactions. Our primary goal is to build a GPU-based proton transport MC with detailed modeling of elastic and nonelastic proton-nucleus collisions. Using the cuda framework, the authors implemented GPU kernels for the following tasks: (1) simulation of beam spots from our possible scanning nozzle configurations, (2) proton propagation through CT geometry, taking into account nuclear elastic scattering, multiple scattering, and energy loss straggling, (3) modeling of the intranuclear cascade stage of nonelastic interactions when they occur, (4) simulation of nuclear evaporation, and (5) statistical error estimates on the dose. To validate our MC, the authors performed (1) secondary particle yield calculations in proton collisions with therapeutically relevant nuclei, (2) dose calculations in homogeneous phantoms, (3) recalculations of complex head and neck treatment plans from a commercially available treatment planning system, and compared with (GEANT)4.9.6p2/TOPAS. Yields, energy, and angular distributions of secondaries from nonelastic collisions on various nuclei are in good agreement with the (GEANT)4.9.6p2 Bertini and Binary cascade models. The 3D-gamma pass rate at 2%-2 mm for treatment plan simulations is typically 98%. The net computational time on a NVIDIA GTX680 card, including all CPU-GPU data transfers, is ∼ 20 s for 1 × 10(7) proton histories. Our GPU-based MC is the first of its kind to include a detailed nuclear model to handle nonelastic interactions of protons with any nucleus. Dosimetric calculations are in very good agreement with (GEANT)4.9.6p2/TOPAS. Our MC is being integrated into a framework to perform fast routine clinical QA of pencil-beam based treatment plans, and is being used as the dose calculation engine in a clinically

  8. Autotransporter-based cell surface display in Gram-negative bacteria.

    PubMed

    Nicolay, Toon; Vanderleyden, Jos; Spaepen, Stijn

    2015-02-01

    Cell surface display of proteins can be used for several biotechnological applications such as the screening of protein libraries, whole cell biocatalysis and live vaccine development. Amongst all secretion systems and surface appendages of Gram-negative bacteria, the autotransporter secretion pathway holds great potential for surface display because of its modular structure and apparent simplicity. Autotransporters are polypeptides made up of an N-terminal signal peptide, a secreted or surface-displayed passenger domain and a membrane-anchored C-terminal translocation unit. Genetic replacement of the passenger domain allows for the surface display of heterologous passengers. An autotransporter-based surface expression module essentially consists of an application-dependent promoter system, a signal peptide, a passenger domain of interest and the autotransporter translocation unit. The passenger domain needs to be compatible with surface translocation although till now no general rules have been determined to test this compatibility. The autotransporter technology for surface display of heterologous passenger domains is critically discussed for various applications.

  9. Evaluation of Surface Fatigue Strength Based on Surface Temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deng, Gang; Nakanishi, Tsutomu

    Surface temperature is considered to be an integrated index that is dependent on not only the load and the dimensions at the contact point but also the sliding velocity, rolling velocity, surface roughness, and lubrication conditions. Therefore, the surface durability of rollers and gears can be evaluated more exactly and simply by the use of surface temperature rather than Hertzian stress. In this research, surface temperatures of rollers under different rolling and sliding conditions are measured using a thermocouple. The effects of load P, mean velocity Vm and sliding velocity Vs on surface temperature are clarified. An experimental formula, which expresses the linear relationship between surface temperature and the P0.86Vs1.31Vm-0.83 value, is used to determine surface temperature. By comparing calculated and measured temperature on the tooth surface of a gear, this formula is confirmed to be applicable for gear tooth surface temperature calculation.

  10. Fast software-based volume rendering using multimedia instructions on PC platforms and its application to virtual endoscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mori, Kensaku; Suenaga, Yasuhito; Toriwaki, Jun-ichiro

    2003-05-01

    This paper describes a software-based fast volume rendering (VolR) method on a PC platform by using multimedia instructions, such as SIMD instructions, which are currently available in PCs' CPUs. This method achieves fast rendering speed through highly optimizing software rather than an improved rendering algorithm. In volume rendering using a ray casting method, the system requires fast execution of the following processes: (a) interpolation of voxel or color values at sample points, (b) computation of normal vectors (gray-level gradient vectors), (c) calculation of shaded values obtained by dot-products of normal vectors and light source direction vectors, (d) memory access to a huge area, and (e) efficient ray skipping at translucent regions. The proposed software implements these fundamental processes in volume rending by using special instruction sets for multimedia processing. The proposed software can generate virtual endoscopic images of a 3-D volume of 512x512x489 voxel size by volume rendering with perspective projection, specular reflection, and on-the-fly normal vector computation on a conventional PC without any special hardware at thirteen frames per second. Semi-translucent display is also possible.

  11. Hyperuricemia Is a Risk Factor for the Onset of Impaired Fasting Glucose in Men with a High Plasma Glucose Level: A Community-Based Study

    PubMed Central

    Miyake, Teruki; Kumagi, Teru; Furukawa, Shinya; Hirooka, Masashi; Kawasaki, Keitarou; Koizumi, Mitsuhito; Todo, Yasuhiko; Yamamoto, Shin; Abe, Masanori; Kitai, Kohichiro; Matsuura, Bunzo; Hiasa, Yoichi

    2014-01-01

    Background It is not clear whether elevated uric acid is a risk factor for the onset of impaired fasting glucose after stratifying by baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. We conducted a community-based retrospective longitudinal cohort study to clarify the relationship between uric acid levels and the onset of impaired fasting glucose, according to baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. Methods We enrolled 6,403 persons (3,194 men and 3,209 women), each of whom was 18–80 years old and had >2 annual check-ups during 2003–2010. After excluding persons who had fasting plasma glucose levels ≥6.11 mM and/or were currently taking anti-diabetic agents, the remaining 5,924 subjects were classified into quartiles according to baseline fasting plasma glucose levels. The onset of impaired fasting glucose was defined as fasting plasma glucose ≥6.11 mM during the observation period. Results In the quartile groups, 0.9%, 2.1%, 3.4%, and 20.2% of the men developed impaired fasting glucose, respectively, and 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 5.6% of the women developed impaired fasting glucose, respectively (P trend <0.001). After adjusting for age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, triacylglycerols, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, creatinine, fatty liver, family history of diabetes, alcohol consumption, and current smoking, uric acid levels were positively associated with onset of impaired fasting glucose in men with highest-quartile fasting plasma glucose levels (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.003; 95% confidence interval, 1.0001–1.005, P = 0.041). Conclusions Among men with high fasting plasma glucose, hyperuricemia may be independently associated with an elevated risk of developing impaired fasting glucose. PMID:25237894

  12. Fast and accurate image recognition algorithms for fresh produce food safety sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Chun-Chieh; Kim, Moon S.; Chao, Kuanglin; Kang, Sukwon; Lefcourt, Alan M.

    2011-06-01

    This research developed and evaluated the multispectral algorithms derived from hyperspectral line-scan fluorescence imaging under violet LED excitation for detection of fecal contamination on Golden Delicious apples. The algorithms utilized the fluorescence intensities at four wavebands, 680 nm, 684 nm, 720 nm, and 780 nm, for computation of simple functions for effective detection of contamination spots created on the apple surfaces using four concentrations of aqueous fecal dilutions. The algorithms detected more than 99% of the fecal spots. The effective detection of feces showed that a simple multispectral fluorescence imaging algorithm based on violet LED excitation may be appropriate to detect fecal contamination on fast-speed apple processing lines.

  13. Open Probe fast GC-MS - combining ambient sampling ultra-fast separation and in-vacuum ionization for real-time analysis.

    PubMed

    Keshet, U; Alon, T; Fialkov, A B; Amirav, A

    2017-07-01

    An Open Probe inlet was combined with a low thermal mass ultra-fast gas chromatograph (GC), in-vacuum electron ionization ion source and a mass spectrometer (MS) of GC-MS for obtaining real-time analysis with separation. The Open Probe enables ambient sampling via sample vaporization in an oven that is open to room air, and the ultra-fast GC provides ~30-s separation, while if no separation is required, it can act as a transfer line with 2 to 3-s sample transfer time. Sample analysis is as simple as touching the sample, pushing the sample holder into the Open Probe oven and obtaining the results in 30 s. The Open Probe fast GC was mounted on a standard Agilent 7890 GC that was coupled with an Agilent 5977A MS. Open Probe fast GC-MS provides real-time analysis combined with GC separation and library identification, and it uses the low-cost MS of GC-MS. The operation of Open Probe fast GC-MS is demonstrated in the 30-s separation and 50-s full analysis cycle time of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinol in Cannabis flower, sub 1-min analysis of trace trinitrotoluene transferred from a finger onto a glass surface, vitamin E in canola oil, sterols in olive oil, polybrominated flame retardants in plastics, alprazolam in Xanax drug pill and free fatty acids and cholesterol in human blood. The extrapolated limit of detection for pyrene is <1 fg, but the concentration is too high and the software noise calculation is untrustworthy. The broad range of compounds amenable for analysis is demonstrated in the analysis of reserpine. The possible use with alternate standard GC-MS and Open Probe fast GC-MS is demonstrated in the analysis of heroin in its street drug powder. The use of Open Probe with the fast GC acting as a transfer line is demonstrated in <10-s analysis without separation of ibuprofen and estradiol. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. A fast chaos-based image encryption scheme with a dynamic state variables selection mechanism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Jun-xin; Zhu, Zhi-liang; Fu, Chong; Yu, Hai; Zhang, Li-bo

    2015-03-01

    In recent years, a variety of chaos-based image cryptosystems have been investigated to meet the increasing demand for real-time secure image transmission. Most of them are based on permutation-diffusion architecture, in which permutation and diffusion are two independent procedures with fixed control parameters. This property results in two flaws. (1) At least two chaotic state variables are required for encrypting one plain pixel, in permutation and diffusion stages respectively. Chaotic state variables produced with high computation complexity are not sufficiently used. (2) The key stream solely depends on the secret key, and hence the cryptosystem is vulnerable against known/chosen-plaintext attacks. In this paper, a fast chaos-based image encryption scheme with a dynamic state variables selection mechanism is proposed to enhance the security and promote the efficiency of chaos-based image cryptosystems. Experimental simulations and extensive cryptanalysis have been carried out and the results prove the superior security and high efficiency of the scheme.

  15. [Continuum based fast Fourier transform processing of infrared spectrum].

    PubMed

    Liu, Qing-Jie; Lin, Qi-Zhong; Wang, Qin-Jun; Li, Hui; Li, Shuai

    2009-12-01

    To recognize ground objects with infrared spectrum, high frequency noise removing is one of the most important phases in spectrum feature analysis and extraction. A new method for infrared spectrum preprocessing was given combining spectrum continuum processing and Fast Fourier Transform (CFFT). Continuum was firstly removed from the noise polluted infrared spectrum to standardize hyper-spectra. Then the spectrum was transformed into frequency domain (FD) with fast Fourier transform (FFT), separating noise information from target information After noise eliminating from useful information with a low-pass filter, the filtered FD spectrum was transformed into time domain (TD) with fast Fourier inverse transform. Finally the continuum was recovered to the spectrum, and the filtered infrared spectrum was achieved. Experiment was performed for chlorite spectrum in USGS polluted with two kinds of simulated white noise to validate the filtering ability of CFFT by contrast with cubic function of five point (CFFP) in time domain and traditional FFT in frequency domain. A circle of CFFP has limited filtering effect, so it should work much with more circles and consume more time to achieve better filtering result. As for conventional FFT, Gibbs phenomenon has great effect on preprocessing result at edge bands because of special character of rock or mineral spectra, while works well at middle bands. Mean squared error of CFFT is 0. 000 012 336 with cut-off frequency of 150, while that of FFT and CFFP is 0. 000 061 074 with cut-off frequency of 150 and 0.000 022 963 with 150 working circles respectively. Besides the filtering result of CFFT can be improved by adjusting the filter cut-off frequency, and has little effect on working time. The CFFT method overcomes the Gibbs problem of FFT in spectrum filtering, and can be more convenient, dependable, and effective than traditional TD filter methods.

  16. Space-Based Diagnosis of Surface Ozone Sensitivity to Anthropogenic Emissions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Martin, Randall V.; Fiore, Arlene M.; VanDonkelaar, Aaron

    2004-01-01

    We present a novel capability in satellite remote sensing with implications for air pollution control strategy. We show that the ratio of formaldehyde columns to tropospheric nitrogen dioxide columns is an indicator of the relative sensitivity of surface ozone to emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO(x) = NO + NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The diagnosis from these space-based observations is highly consistent with current understanding of surface ozone chemistry based on in situ observations. The satellite-derived ratios indicate that surface ozone is more sensitive to emissions of NO(x) than of VOCs throughout most continental regions of the Northern Hemisphere during summer. Exceptions include Los Angeles and industrial areas of Germany. A seasonal transition occurs in the fall when surface ozone becomes less sensitive to NOx and more sensitive to VOCs.

  17. Fast photoacoustic imaging system based on 320-element linear transducer array.

    PubMed

    Yin, Bangzheng; Xing, Da; Wang, Yi; Zeng, Yaguang; Tan, Yi; Chen, Qun

    2004-04-07

    A fast photoacoustic (PA) imaging system, based on a 320-transducer linear array, was developed and tested on a tissue phantom. To reconstruct a test tomographic image, 64 time-domain PA signals were acquired from a tissue phantom with embedded light-absorption targets. A signal acquisition was accomplished by utilizing 11 phase-controlled sub-arrays, each consisting of four transducers. The results show that the system can rapidly map the optical absorption of a tissue phantom and effectively detect the embedded light-absorbing target. By utilizing the multi-element linear transducer array and phase-controlled imaging algorithm, we thus can acquire PA tomography more efficiently, compared to other existing technology and algorithms. The methodology and equipment thus provide a rapid and reliable approach to PA imaging that may have potential applications in noninvasive imaging and clinic diagnosis.

  18. Fast mode decision based on human noticeable luminance difference and rate distortion cost for H.264/AVC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Mian-Shiuan; Chen, Mei-Juan; Tai, Kuang-Han; Sue, Kuen-Liang

    2013-12-01

    This article proposes a fast mode decision algorithm based on the correlation of the just-noticeable-difference (JND) and the rate distortion cost (RD cost) to reduce the computational complexity of H.264/AVC. First, the relationship between the average RD cost and the number of JND pixels is established by Gaussian distributions. Thus, the RD cost of the Inter 16 × 16 mode is compared with the predicted thresholds from these models for fast mode selection. In addition, we use the image content, the residual data, and JND visual model for horizontal/vertical detection, and then utilize the result to predict the partition in a macroblock. From the experimental results, a greater time saving can be achieved while the proposed algorithm also maintains performance and quality effectively.

  19. EMC design for actuators in the FAST reflector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hai-Yan; Wu, Ming-Chang; Yue, You-Ling; Gan, Heng-Qian; Hu, Hao; Huang, Shi-Jie

    2018-04-01

    An active reflector is one of the three main innovations incorporated in the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The deformation of such a huge spherically shaped reflector into different transient parabolic shapes is achieved by using 2225 hydraulic actuators which change the position of the 2225 nodes through the connected down tied cables. For each different tracking process of the telescope, more than 1/3 of these 2225 actuators must be in operation to tune the parabolic aperture accurately and meet the surface error restriction. This means that some of these actuators are inevitably located within the main beam of the receiver, and Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) from the actuators must be mitigated to ensure the scientific output of the telescope. Based on the threshold level of interference detrimental to radio astronomy described in ITU-R Recommendation RA.769 and EMI measurements, the shielding efficiency (SE) requirement for each actuator is set to be 80 dB in the frequency range from 70 MHz to 3 GHz. Therefore, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) was taken into account in the actuator design by measures such as power line filters, optical fibers, shielding enclosures and other structural measures. In 2015, all the actuators had been installed at the FAST site. Till now, no apparent EMI from the actuators has been detected by the receiver, which demonstrates the effectiveness of these EMC measures.

  20. Surface versus Edge-Based Determinants of Visual Recognition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biederman, Irving; Ju, Ginny

    1988-01-01

    The latency at which objects could be identified by 126 subjects was compared through line drawings (edge-based) or color photography (surface depiction). The line drawing was identified about as quickly as the photograph; primal access to a mental representation of an object can be modeled from an edge-based description. (SLD)

  1. Determining Acceptable Limits of Fast-Electron Preheat in Polar-Drive-Ignition Designs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Delettrez, J. A.; Collins, T. J. B.; Ye, C.

    2014-10-01

    In direct-drive-ignition designs, preheat by fast electrons created by the two-plasmon-decay instability at the quarter-critical density surface can increase the adiabat in the fuel layer and prevent ignition. Since eliminating the preheat entirely is not possible, it is necessary to understand the levels of preheat our targets can withstand before ignition is precluded. The current polar-drive point design is used as the basis for examining the effects of increasing the levels of fast electrons using the one-dimensional, radiation-hydrodynamics code LILAC. Once ignition failure is obtained, the design is then reoptimized using Telios, a downhill simplex method program, to recover ignition. This cycle is repeated until the design can no longer be reoptimized to produce ignition. Mappings of these final results provide insight into ignition failure caused by preheat and what specific target parameters serve to best stave off the effects of the preheat. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

  2. Surface thermohardening by the fast-moving electric arch

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gabdrakhmanov, Az T.; Shafigullin, L. N.; Galimov, E. R.; Ibragimov, A. R.

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes the technology of modern engineering-plasma hardening steels and prospects of its application. It gives the opportunity to manage the process without using of cooling media, vacuum, special coatings to improve the absorptive capacity of hardened surfaces; the simplicity, the low cost, the maneuverability, a small size of the process equipment; a possibility of the automation and the robotization of technological process.

  3. Effect of Ramadan fasting on diabetes mellitus: a population-based study in Qatar.

    PubMed

    Bener, Abdulbari; Yousafzai, Mohammad T

    2014-08-01

    Over one billion Muslims fast worldwide during the month of Ramadan. Fasting during Ramadan is a radical change in lifestyle for the period of a lunar month, and it might affect the biochemical parameters among diabetic patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the blood levels of glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and lipid profile among diabetic patients observing fast during the Ramadan. An observational study recruiting 1301 Muslim diabetic patients above 18 years age was conducted in diabetic outpatient clinic of Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, and Primary Health Care Center, Qatar, from July 2012 to September 2013. Data on sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, nationality, marital status, education level, and occupation) and lifestyle habits (smoking and physical activity), blood pressures, and anthropometric measurements were obtained by a face-to-face interview and measurement using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected for testing glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), lipid profile, urea, and creatinine (by the licensed research assistants). Slightly less than half of the participants were overweight (BMI: 25-29.9). Significantly higher proportion of female participants were obese as compared with male participants (P<0.001). Among both male participants and female participants, the average level of blood glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin, bilirubin, uric acid, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lower during the Ramadan as compared with before Ramadan (P<0.001 each). Results revealed that fasting during Ramadan is significantly associated with decrease in blood lipid profile, blood pressures, glucose, and HbA1C level among diabetic patients. Muslim diabetic patients after the consultation of their primary physician can fast during the month of Ramadan and it might be

  4. The impact of religious fasting on human health.

    PubMed

    Trepanowski, John F; Bloomer, Richard J

    2010-11-22

    The past two decades have seen a rise in the number of investigations examining the health-related effects of religiously motivated fasts. Islamic Ramadan is a 28 - 30 day fast in which food and drink are prohibited during the daylight hours. The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings are the differences between studies in the following: 1) the amount of daily fasting time; 2) the percentage of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids; and 3) the subjects' typical food choices and eating habits. Greek Orthodox Christians fast for a total of 180 - 200 days each year, and their main fasting periods are the Nativity Fast (40 days prior to Christmas), Lent (48 days prior to Easter), and the Assumption (15 days in August). The fasting periods are more similar than dissimilar, and they can each be described as a variant of vegetarianism. Some of the more favorable effects of these fasts include the lowering of body mass, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. The Biblical-based Daniel Fast prohibits the consumption of animal products, refined carbohydrates, food additives, preservatives, sweeteners, flavorings, caffeine, and alcohol. It is most commonly partaken for 21 days, although fasts of 10 and 40 days have been observed. Our initial investigation of the Daniel Fast noted favorable effects on several health-related outcomes, including: blood pressure, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and biomarkers of oxidative stress. This review summarizes the health-specific effects of these fasts and provides suggestions for future research.

  5. The impact of religious fasting on human health

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    The past two decades have seen a rise in the number of investigations examining the health-related effects of religiously motivated fasts. Islamic Ramadan is a 28 - 30 day fast in which food and drink are prohibited during the daylight hours. The majority of health-specific findings related to Ramadan fasting are mixed. The likely causes for these heterogeneous findings are the differences between studies in the following: 1) the amount of daily fasting time; 2) the percentage of subjects who smoke, take oral medications, and/or receive intravenous fluids; and 3) the subjects' typical food choices and eating habits. Greek Orthodox Christians fast for a total of 180 - 200 days each year, and their main fasting periods are the Nativity Fast (40 days prior to Christmas), Lent (48 days prior to Easter), and the Assumption (15 days in August). The fasting periods are more similar than dissimilar, and they can each be described as a variant of vegetarianism. Some of the more favorable effects of these fasts include the lowering of body mass, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. The Biblical-based Daniel Fast prohibits the consumption of animal products, refined carbohydrates, food additives, preservatives, sweeteners, flavorings, caffeine, and alcohol. It is most commonly partaken for 21 days, although fasts of 10 and 40 days have been observed. Our initial investigation of the Daniel Fast noted favorable effects on several health-related outcomes, including: blood pressure, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and biomarkers of oxidative stress. This review summarizes the health-specific effects of these fasts and provides suggestions for future research. PMID:21092212

  6. Hyperspectral retrieval of surface reflectances: A new scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thelen, Jean-Claude; Havemann, Stephan

    2013-05-01

    Here, we present a new prototype algorithm for the simultaneous retrieval of the atmospheric profiles (temperature, humidity, ozone and aerosol) and the surface reflectance from hyperspectral radiance measurements obtained from air/space borne, hyperspectral imagers. The new scheme, proposed here, consists of a fast radiative transfer code, based on empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs), in conjunction with a 1D-Var retrieval scheme. The inclusion of an 'exact' scattering code based on spherical harmonics, allows for an accurate treatment of Rayleigh scattering and scattering by aerosols, water droplets and ice-crystals, thus making it possible to also retrieve cloud and aerosol optical properties, although here we will concentrate on non-cloudy scenes.

  7. SiGe Based Low Temperature Electronics for Lunar Surface Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mojarradi, Mohammad M.; Kolawa, Elizabeth; Blalock, Benjamin; Cressler, John

    2012-01-01

    The temperature at the permanently shadowed regions of the moon's surface is approximately -240 C. Other areas of the lunar surface experience temperatures that vary between 120 C and -180 C during the day and night respectively. To protect against the large temperature variations of the moon surface, traditional electronics used in lunar robotics systems are placed inside a thermally controlled housing which is bulky, consumes power and adds complexity to the integration and test. SiGe Based electronics have the capability to operate over wide temperature range like that of the lunar surface. Deploying low temperature SiGe electronics in a lander platform can minimize the need for the central thermal protection system and enable the development of a new generation of landers and mobility platforms with highly efficient distributed architecture. For the past five years a team consisting of NASA, university and industry researchers has been examining the low temperature and wide temperature characteristic of SiGe based transistors for developing electronics for wide temperature needs of NASA environments such as the Moon, Titan, Mars and Europa. This presentation reports on the status of the development of wide temperature SiGe based electronics for the landers and lunar surface mobility systems.

  8. Comparison of Fast-Food and Non-Fast-Food Children's Menu Items

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Serrano, Elena L.; Jedda, Virginia B.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: Compare the macronutrient content of children's meals sold by fast-food restaurants (FFR) and non-fast-food restaurants (NFF). Design: All restaurants within the designated city limits were surveyed. Non-fast-food children's meals were purchased, weighed, and analyzed using nutrition software. All fast-food children's meals were…

  9. Practice Guideline Recommendations on Perioperative Fasting: A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Lambert, Eva; Carey, Sharon

    2016-11-01

    Traditionally, perioperative fasting consisted of being nil by mouth (NBM) from midnight before surgery and fasting postoperatively until recovery of bowel function. These outdated practices persist despite emerging evidence revealing that excessive fasting results in negative outcomes and delayed recovery. Various evidence-based, multimodal, enhanced recovery protocols incorporating minimized perioperative fasting have arisen to improve patient outcomes and streamline recovery, but implementation remains limited. This article aims to review current fasting guidelines, assess their quality, summarize relevant recommendations, and identify gaps in evidence. A systematic literature search of Medline and CINAHL and a manual search of relevant websites identified guidelines containing suitable grading systems and fasting recommendations. Guideline quality was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE) tool. Grading systems were standardized to the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition format and recommendations summarized based on grading and guideline quality. Nineteen guidelines were included. Rigor of development scores ranged from 29%-95%, with only 8 guidelines explicitly declaring the use of systematic methodology. Applicability scores were lowest, averaging 32%. Ten recommendation types were extracted and summarized. Strong and consistent evidence exists for the minimization of perioperative fasting, for a 2-hour preoperative fast after clear fluids, and for early recommencement of oral food and fluid intake postoperatively. This article presents several high-level recommendations ready for immediate implementation, while poorly graded and inconsistent recommendations reveal key areas for future research. Meanwhile, guideline quality requires improvement, especially regarding rigor of development and applicability, through systematic methodology, reporting transparency, and implementation strategies. © 2015

  10. Rapid determination of floral aroma compounds of lilac blossom by fast gas chromatography combined with surface acoustic wave sensor.

    PubMed

    Oh, Se Yeon; Shin, Hyun Du; Kim, Sung Jean; Hong, Jongki

    2008-03-07

    A novel analytical method using fast gas chromatography combined with surface acoustic wave sensor (GC/SAW) has been developed for the detection of volatile aroma compounds emanated from lilac blossom (Syringa species: Syringa vulgaris variginata and Syringa dilatata). GC/SAW could detect and quantify various fragrance emitted from lilac blossom, enabling to provide fragrance pattern analysis results. The fragrance pattern analysis could easily characterize the delicate differences in aromas caused by the substantial difference of chemical composition according to different color and shape of petals. Moreover, the method validation of GC/SAW was performed for the purpose of volatile floral actual aroma analysis, achieving a high reproducibility and excellent sensitivity. From the validation results, GC/SAW could serve as an alternative analytical technique for the analysis of volatile floral actual aroma of lilac. In addition, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) GC-MS was employed to further confirm the identification of fragrances emitted from lilac blossom and compared to GC/SAW.

  11. High Quality 3D Photonics using Nano Imprint Lithography of Fast Sol-gel Materials.

    PubMed

    Bar-On, Ofer; Brenner, Philipp; Siegle, Tobias; Gvishi, Raz; Kalt, Heinz; Lemmer, Uli; Scheuer, Jacob

    2018-05-18

    A method for the realization of low-loss integrated optical components is proposed and demonstrated. This approach is simple, fast, inexpensive, scalable for mass production, and compatible with both 2D and 3D geometries. The process is based on a novel dual-step soft nano imprint lithography process for producing devices with smooth surfaces, combined with fast sol-gel technology providing highly transparent materials. As a concrete example, this approach is demonstrated on a micro ring resonator made by direct laser writing (DLW) to achieve a quality factor improvement from one hundred thousand to more than 3 million. To the best of our knowledge this also sets a Q-factor record for UV-curable integrated micro-ring resonators. The process supports the integration of many types of materials such as light-emitting, electro-optic, piezo-electric, and can be readily applied to a wide variety of devices such as waveguides, lenses, diffractive elements and more.

  12. Fiber-Optic Surface Temperature Sensor Based on Modal Interference.

    PubMed

    Musin, Frédéric; Mégret, Patrice; Wuilpart, Marc

    2016-07-28

    Spatially-integrated surface temperature sensing is highly useful when it comes to controlling processes, detecting hazardous conditions or monitoring the health and safety of equipment and people. Fiber-optic sensing based on modal interference has shown great sensitivity to temperature variation, by means of cost-effective image-processing of few-mode interference patterns. New developments in the field of sensor configuration, as described in this paper, include an innovative cooling and heating phase discrimination functionality and more precise measurements, based entirely on the image processing of interference patterns. The proposed technique was applied to the measurement of the integrated surface temperature of a hollow cylinder and compared with a conventional measurement system, consisting of an infrared camera and precision temperature probe. As a result, the optical technique is in line with the reference system. Compared with conventional surface temperature probes, the optical technique has the following advantages: low heat capacity temperature measurement errors, easier spatial deployment, and replacement of multiple angle infrared camera shooting and the continuous monitoring of surfaces that are not visually accessible.

  13. Fully iterative scatter corrected digital breast tomosynthesis using GPU-based fast Monte Carlo simulation and composition ratio update

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kim, Kyungsang; Ye, Jong Chul, E-mail: jong.ye@kaist.ac.kr; Lee, Taewon

    2015-09-15

    Purpose: In digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), scatter correction is highly desirable, as it improves image quality at low doses. Because the DBT detector panel is typically stationary during the source rotation, antiscatter grids are not generally compatible with DBT; thus, a software-based scatter correction is required. This work proposes a fully iterative scatter correction method that uses a novel fast Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) with a tissue-composition ratio estimation technique for DBT imaging. Methods: To apply MCS to scatter estimation, the material composition in each voxel should be known. To overcome the lack of prior accurate knowledge of tissue compositionmore » for DBT, a tissue-composition ratio is estimated based on the observation that the breast tissues are principally composed of adipose and glandular tissues. Using this approximation, the composition ratio can be estimated from the reconstructed attenuation coefficients, and the scatter distribution can then be estimated by MCS using the composition ratio. The scatter estimation and image reconstruction procedures can be performed iteratively until an acceptable accuracy is achieved. For practical use, (i) the authors have implemented a fast MCS using a graphics processing unit (GPU), (ii) the MCS is simplified to transport only x-rays in the energy range of 10–50 keV, modeling Rayleigh and Compton scattering and the photoelectric effect using the tissue-composition ratio of adipose and glandular tissues, and (iii) downsampling is used because the scatter distribution varies rather smoothly. Results: The authors have demonstrated that the proposed method can accurately estimate the scatter distribution, and that the contrast-to-noise ratio of the final reconstructed image is significantly improved. The authors validated the performance of the MCS by changing the tissue thickness, composition ratio, and x-ray energy. The authors confirmed that the tissue-composition ratio estimation was

  14. Research Program of a Super Fast Reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Oka, Yoshiaki; Ishiwatari, Yuki; Liu, Jie

    2006-07-01

    Research program of a supercritical-pressure light water cooled fast reactor (Super Fast Reactor) is funded by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in December 2005 as one of the research programs of Japanese NERI (Nuclear Energy Research Initiative). It consists of three programs. (1) development of Super Fast Reactor concept; (2) thermal-hydraulic experiments; (3) material developments. The purpose of the concept development is to pursue the advantage of high power density of fast reactor over thermal reactors to achieve economic competitiveness of fast reactor for its deployment without waiting for exhausting uranium resources. Design goal is notmore » breeding, but maximizing reactor power by using plutonium from spent LWR fuel. MOX will be the fuel of the Super Fast Reactor. Thermal-hydraulic experiments will be conducted with HCFC22 (Hydro chlorofluorocarbons) heat transfer loop of Kyushu University and supercritical water loop at JAEA. Heat transfer data including effect of grid spacers will be taken. The critical flow and condensation of supercritical fluid will be studied. The materials research includes the development and testing of austenitic stainless steel cladding from the experience of PNC1520 for LMFBR. Material for thermal insulation will be tested. SCWR (Supercritical-Water Cooled Reactor) of GIF (Generation-4 International Forum) includes both thermal and fast reactors. The research of the Super Fast Reactor will enhance SCWR research and the data base. The research period will be until March 2010. (authors)« less

  15. Two classes of fast-declining Type Ia supernovae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dhawan, Suhail; Leibundgut, B.; Spyromilio, J.; Blondin, S.

    2017-06-01

    We aim to characterise a sample of fast-declining Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) using their bolometric and near-infrared (NIR) properties. Based on these properties, we find that fast-declining SN Ia separate into two categories based on their bolometric and NIR properties. The peak bolometric luminosity (Lmax), the phase of the first maximum relative to the optical, the NIR peak luminosity, and the occurrence of a second maximum in the NIR distinguish a group of very faint SN Ia. Fast-declining supernovae show a large range of peak bolometric luminosities (Lmax differing by up to a factor of 8). All fast-declining SN Ia with Lmax < 0.3× 1043 erg s-1 are spectroscopically classified as 91bg-like and show only a single NIR peak. SNe with Lmax > 0.5× 1043 erg s-1 appear to smoothly connect to normal SN Ia. The total ejecta mass (Mej) values for SNe with enough late time data are ≲1 M⊙, indicating a sub-Chandrasekhar mass progenitor for these SNe.

  16. Adaptive-gain fast super-twisting sliding mode fault tolerant control for a reusable launch vehicle in reentry phase.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yao; Tang, Shengjing; Guo, Jie

    2017-11-01

    In this paper, a novel adaptive-gain fast super-twisting (AGFST) sliding mode attitude control synthesis is carried out for a reusable launch vehicle subject to actuator faults and unknown disturbances. According to the fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode surface (FNTSMS) and adaptive-gain fast super-twisting algorithm, an adaptive fault tolerant control law for the attitude stabilization is derived to protect against the actuator faults and unknown uncertainties. Firstly, a second-order nonlinear control-oriented model for the RLV is established by feedback linearization method. And on the basis a fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode (FNTSM) manifold is designed, which provides fast finite-time global convergence and avoids singularity problem as well as chattering phenomenon. Based on the merits of the standard super-twisting (ST) algorithm and fast reaching law with adaption, a novel adaptive-gain fast super-twisting (AGFST) algorithm is proposed for the finite-time fault tolerant attitude control problem of the RLV without any knowledge of the bounds of uncertainties and actuator faults. The important feature of the AGFST algorithm includes non-overestimating the values of the control gains and faster convergence speed than the standard ST algorithm. A formal proof of the finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is derived using the Lyapunov function technique. An estimation of the convergence time and accurate expression of convergence region are also provided. Finally, simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Terahertz optoelectronics with surface plasmon polariton diode.

    PubMed

    Vinnakota, Raj K; Genov, Dentcho A

    2014-05-09

    The field of plasmonics has experience a renaissance in recent years by providing a large variety of new physical effects and applications. Surface plasmon polaritons, i.e. the collective electron oscillations at the interface of a metal/semiconductor and a dielectric, may bridge the gap between electronic and photonic devices, provided a fast switching mechanism is identified. Here, we demonstrate a surface plasmon-polariton diode (SPPD) an optoelectronic switch that can operate at exceedingly large signal modulation rates. The SPPD uses heavily doped p-n junction where surface plasmon polaritons propagate at the interface between n and p-type GaAs and can be switched by an external voltage. The devices can operate at transmission modulation higher than 98% and depending on the doping and applied voltage can achieve switching rates of up to 1 THz. The proposed switch is compatible with the current semiconductor fabrication techniques and could lead to nanoscale semiconductor-based optoelectronics.

  18. A novel surface registration algorithm with biomedical modeling applications.

    PubMed

    Huang, Heng; Shen, Li; Zhang, Rong; Makedon, Fillia; Saykin, Andrew; Pearlman, Justin

    2007-07-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel surface matching algorithm for arbitrarily shaped but simply connected 3-D objects. The spherical harmonic (SPHARM) method is used to describe these 3-D objects, and a novel surface registration approach is presented. The proposed technique is applied to various applications of medical image analysis. The results are compared with those using the traditional method, in which the first-order ellipsoid is used for establishing surface correspondence and aligning objects. In these applications, our surface alignment method is demonstrated to be more accurate and flexible than the traditional approach. This is due in large part to the fact that a new surface parameterization is generated by a shortcut that employs a useful rotational property of spherical harmonic basis functions for a fast implementation. In order to achieve a suitable computational speed for practical applications, we propose a fast alignment algorithm that improves computational complexity of the new surface registration method from O(n3) to O(n2).

  19. Reproducibility of UAV-based earth surface topography based on structure-from-motion algorithms.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clapuyt, François; Vanacker, Veerle; Van Oost, Kristof

    2014-05-01

    A representation of the earth surface at very high spatial resolution is crucial to accurately map small geomorphic landforms with high precision. Very high resolution digital surface models (DSM) can then be used to quantify changes in earth surface topography over time, based on differencing of DSMs taken at various moments in time. However, it is compulsory to have both high accuracy for each topographic representation and consistency between measurements over time, as DSM differencing automatically leads to error propagation. This study investigates the reproducibility of reconstructions of earth surface topography based on structure-from-motion (SFM) algorithms. To this end, we equipped an eight-propeller drone with a standard reflex camera. This equipment can easily be deployed in the field, as it is a lightweight, low-cost system in comparison with classic aerial photo surveys and terrestrial or airborne LiDAR scanning. Four sets of aerial photographs were created for one test field. The sets of airphotos differ in focal length, and viewing angles, i.e. nadir view and ground-level view. In addition, the importance of the accuracy of ground control points for the construction of a georeferenced point cloud was assessed using two different GPS devices with horizontal accuracy at resp. the sub-meter and sub-decimeter level. Airphoto datasets were processed with SFM algorithm and the resulting point clouds were georeferenced. Then, the surface representations were compared with each other to assess the reproducibility of the earth surface topography. Finally, consistency between independent datasets is discussed.

  20. Fast-food consumption and obesity among Michigan adults.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Beth; Rafferty, Ann P; Lyon-Callo, Sarah; Fussman, Christopher; Imes, Gwendoline

    2011-07-01

    Consumption of meals eaten away from home, especially from fast-food restaurants, has increased in the United States since the 1970s. The main objective of this study was to examine the frequency and characteristics of fast-food consumption among adults in Michigan and obesity prevalence. We analyzed data from 12 questions about fast-food consumption that were included on the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, a population-based telephone survey of Michigan adults, using univariate and bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression, and compared these data with data on Michigan obesity prevalence. Approximately 80% of Michigan adults went to fast-food restaurants at least once per month and 28% went regularly (≥2 times/wk). Regular fast-food consumption was higher among younger adults (mostly men) but was not significantly associated with household income, education, race, or urbanicity (in a multivariate framework). The prevalence of obesity increased consistently with frequenting fast-food restaurants, from 24% of those going less than once a week to 33% of those going 3 or more times per week. The predominant reason for choosing fast food was convenience. Although hypothetically 68% of adults who go to fast-food restaurants would choose healthier fast-food items when available, only 16% said they ever use nutritional information when ordering. The prevalence of fast-food consumption is high in Michigan across education, income, and racial groups and is strongly associated with obesity. Making nutritional information at fast-food restaurants more readily available and easier to use may help consumers to order more healthful or lower-calorie items.

  1. Fast Food Jobs. National Study of Fast Food Employment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Charner, Ivan; Fraser, Bryna Shore

    A study examined employment in the fast-food industry. The national survey collected data from employees at 279 fast-food restaurants from seven companies. Female employees outnumbered males by two to one. The ages of those fast-food employees in the survey sample ranged from 14 to 71, with fully 70 percent being in the 16- to 20-year-old age…

  2. Regolith on Super Fast Rotators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanchez Lana, Diego Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J.

    2017-10-01

    The current understanding of small asteroids in the Solar System is that they are gravitational aggregates held together by gravitational, cohesive and adhesive forces. Results from the Hayabusa mission to Itokawa along with in situ, thermal and radar observations of asteroids have shown that they can be covered in a size distribution of grains that spans from microns to tens of meters. Before the Hayabusa mission, it was generally thought that smaller asteroids would likely be “regolith-free,” due to impact seismic shaking removing the loose covering. Given the regolith-rich surface of that body, it is now an open question whether even smaller bodies, down to a few meters in size, could also retain regolith covering. The question is especially compelling for the small-fast rotators, whose surface centripetal accelerations exceed their gravitational attraction. When the physical theory of cohesion is considered, it becomes possible for small-fast rotators to retain regolith.We use a Soft-Sphere discrete element method (SSDEM) code to simulate a longitudinal slice of a spherical monolith covered by cohesive regolith. The simulations are carried out in the body frame. Tensile strength is varied to span the observed strength of asteroids and spin rate is elevated in small steps until the majority of regolith is removed from the surface. The simulations show that under an increasing spin rate (such as due to the YORP effect), the regolith covering on an otherwise monolithic asteroid is preferentially lost across certain regions of the body. In general, regolith from the mid latitudes is the first to fail at high spin rates. This failure happens either by regolith flowing towards the equator or by detachment of large coherent chunks of material depending on the tensile strength of the regolith. Regolith from the equator region fails next, usually by the detachment of large pieces. Regolith from the poles stays in place unless the spin rates are extremely high. With

  3. Evidence-based case report: acute diabetic complication risks of Ramadan fasting in type 2 diabetics.

    PubMed

    Iskandar, William J; Handjaja, C T; Salama, N; Anasy, N; Ardianto, M F; Kusumadewi, D

    2013-07-01

    to investigate causal relationship between Ramadan fasting and acute diabetic complications in adult controlled type 2 diabetics. a Pubmed's Clinical Queries and Embase search was conducted and resulted in 2 useful articles: 1 systematic review and 1 cohort study to be critically appraised. the incidence of acute diabetic complications is higher during Ramadan, with the relative risk for adult type 2 diabetics who fast during Ramadan is 1.36 and number needed to harm 50. Ramadan fasting was related with acute diabetic complications in adult controlled type 2 diabetics, but the risk was only slightly higher. It is acceptable for type 2 diabetics to fast during Ramadan.

  4. Fast food: friendly?

    PubMed

    Rice, S; McAllister, E J; Dhurandhar, N V

    2007-06-01

    Fast food is routinely blamed for the obesity epidemic and consequentially excluded from professional dietary recommendations. However, several sections of society including senior citizens, low-income adult and children, minority and homeless children, or those pressed for time appear to rely on fast food as an important source of meals. Considering the dependence of these nutritionally vulnerable population groups on fast food, we examined the possibility of imaginative selection of fast food, which would attenuate the potentially unfavorable nutrient composition. We present a sample menu to demonstrate that it is possible to design a fast food menu that provides reasonable level of essential nutrients without exceeding the caloric recommendations. We would like to alert health-care professionals that fast food need not be forbidden under all circumstances, and that a fresh look at the role of fast food may enable its inclusion in meal planning for those who depend on it out of necessity, while adding flexibility.

  5. Fast and Slow Responses of the South Asian Monsoon System to Anthropogenic Aerosols

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ganguly, Dilip; Rasch, Philip J.; Wang, Hailong

    2012-09-25

    Using a global climate model with fully predictive aerosol life cycle, we investigate the fast and slow responses of the South Asian monsoon system to anthropogenic aerosol forcing. Our results show that the feedbacks associated with sea surface temperature (SST) change caused by aerosols play a more important role than the aerosol's direct impact on radiation, clouds and land surface (rapid adjustments) in shaping the total equilibrium climate response of the monsoon system to aerosol forcing. Inhomogeneous SST cooling caused by anthropogenic aerosols eventually reduces the meridional tropospheric temperature gradient and the easterly shear of zonal winds over the region,more » slowing down the local Hadley cell circulation, decreasing the northward moisture transport, and causing a reduction in precipitation over South Asia. Although total responses in precipitation are closer to the slow responses in general, the fast component dominates over land areas north of 25°N. Our results also show an east-west asymmetry in the fast responses to anthropogenic aerosols causing increases in precipitation west of 80°E but decreases east of it.« less

  6. Peculiar surface behavior of some ionic liquids based on active pharmaceutical ingredients

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Restolho, José; Mata, José Luis; Saramago, Benilde

    2011-02-01

    The ionic liquids based on biologically active cations and anions, commonly designated by ionic liquids based on active pharmaceutical ingredients (ILs-APIs), are interesting compounds for use in pharmaceutical applications. Lidocaine docusate, ranitidine docusate, and didecyldimethylammonium ibuprofen are examples of promising ILs-APIs that were recently synthesized. They were submitted to biological testing and calorimetric measurements, but nothing is known about their surface properties. In this work, we measured the surface tension and the contact angles on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces in a temperature range as wide as possible. Based on the wettability data, the polarity fractions were estimated using the Fowkes theory. The peculiar surface behavior observed was tentatively attributed to the presence of mesophases.

  7. A direct determination of AFBs in vinegar by aptamer-based surface plasmon resonance biosensor.

    PubMed

    Wu, Wenbo; Zhu, Zhiling; Li, Bingjie; Liu, Zhuqing; Jia, Lili; Zuo, Limin; Chen, Long; Zhu, Zhentai; Shan, Guangzhi; Luo, Shi-Zhong

    2018-05-01

    Aflatoxin (AFB) is one of the most toxic fungal metabolites produced by Aspergillus flavus, which may contaminate food and agricultural products. Herein, an aptamer-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor was developed to detect AFBs. The chosen aptamer showed comparable interaction with the two AFBs, namely aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and aflatoxin B2 (AFB2). Such phenomenon was rarely reported, and might lead to a simultaneous detection of both AFBs. In this study, AFB1 was used to systematically establish the detection method. In the SPR system, streptavidin proteins were immobilized on the surface of a CM5 sensor chip as a cross-linker and biotin-aptamers were captured through streptavidin-biotin interaction. After optimization, the assay showed a dynamic range between 0.09 and 200 ng mL -1 (linear range from 1.5 to 50 ng mL -1 and a LOD of 0.19 ng mL -1 ) of AFB1 in buffer. As expected, the aptasensor showed high specificity towards AFB1 and AFB2, but hardly bound to other toxins with similar structures, including ochratoxin A (OTA), ochratoxin B (OTB), Zeralenone (ZEA) and T-2 toxin (T-2). Determination of AFB1 in vinegar was further performed using the SPR biosensor. Recoveries of AFB1 from spiked samples ranged from 96.3 to 117.8%. The developed SPR assay is a simple, fast and sensitive approach for the detection of residual AFBs in agricultural products and foodstuffs like vinegar. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. FPGA based charge fast histogramming for GEM detector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poźniak, Krzysztof T.; Byszuk, A.; Chernyshova, M.; Cieszewski, R.; Czarski, T.; Dominik, W.; Jakubowska, K.; Kasprowicz, G.; Rzadkiewicz, J.; Scholz, M.; Zabolotny, W.

    2013-10-01

    This article presents a fast charge histogramming method for the position sensitive X-ray GEM detector. The energy resolved measurements are carried out simultaneously for 256 channels of the GEM detector. The whole process of histogramming is performed in 21 FPGA chips (Spartan-6 series from Xilinx) . The results of the histogramming process are stored in an external DDR3 memory. The structure of an electronic measuring equipment and a firmware functionality implemented in the FPGAs is described. Examples of test measurements are presented.

  9. An in vitro methodology for forecasting luminal concentrations and precipitation of highly permeable lipophilic weak bases in the fasted upper small intestine.

    PubMed

    Psachoulias, Dimitrios; Vertzoni, Maria; Butler, James; Busby, David; Symillides, Moira; Dressman, Jennifer; Reppas, Christos

    2012-12-01

    To develop an in vitro methodology for prediction of concentrations and potential precipitation of highly permeable, lipophilic weak bases in fasted upper small intestine based on ketoconazole and dipyridamole luminal data. Evaluate usefulness of methodology in predicting luminal precipitation of AZD0865 and SB705498 based on plasma data. A three-compartment in vitro setup was used. Depending on the dosage form administered in in vivo studies, a solution or a suspension was placed in the gastric compartment. A medium simulating the luminal environment (FaSSIF-V2plus) was initially placed in the duodenal compartment. Concentrated FaSSIF-V2plus was placed in the reservoir compartment. In vitro ketoconazole and dipyridamole concentrations and precipitated fractions adequately reflected luminal data. Unlike luminal precipitates, in vitro ketoconazole precipitates were crystalline. In vitro AZD0865 data confirmed previously published human pharmacokinetic data suggesting that absorption rates are not affected by luminal precipitation. In vitro SB705498 data predicted that significant luminal precipitation occurs after a 100 mg or 400 mg but not after a 10 mg dose, consistent with human pharmacokinetic data. An in vitro methodology for predicting concentrations and potential precipitation in fasted upper small intestine, after administration of highly permeable, lipophilic weak bases in fasted upper small intestine was developed and evaluated for its predictability in regard to luminal precipitation.

  10. Surface acid-base properties and hydration/dehydration mechanisms of aluminum (hydr)oxides.

    PubMed

    Yang, Xiaofang; Sun, Zhongxi; Wang, Dongsheng; Forsling, Willis

    2007-04-15

    In this paper, surface physiochemical properties of three typical aluminas, gamma-Al(OH)3, gamma-Al2O3, and alpha-Al2O3, were investigated by means of XRD, SEM, TEM, BET surface area, TG/DTA, and potentiometric titration techniques. Based on the titration data, surface protonation and deprotonation constants were determined using the constant capacitance model (CCM). The emphasis of this research was laid on the comparison of the crystal structure, surface hydration/dehydration and acid-base properties of these three typical alumina minerals. The calculation results revealed that the surface acidity of the aluminas is in the order of alpha-Al2O3>gamma-Al(OH)3>gamma-Al2O3 after being hydrated for 1 h. The correlation between the hydration/dehydration mechanisms of alumina and its acid/base properties is discussed.

  11. Platinum recycling going green via induced surface potential alteration enabling fast and efficient dissolution

    PubMed Central

    Hodnik, Nejc; Baldizzone, Claudio; Polymeros, George; Geiger, Simon; Grote, Jan-Philipp; Cherevko, Serhiy; Mingers, Andrea; Zeradjanin, Aleksandar; Mayrhofer, Karl J. J.

    2016-01-01

    The recycling of precious metals, for example, platinum, is an essential aspect of sustainability for the modern industry and energy sectors. However, due to its resistance to corrosion, platinum-leaching techniques rely on high reagent consumption and hazardous processes, for example, boiling aqua regia; a mixture of concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acid. Here we demonstrate that complete dissolution of metallic platinum can be achieved by induced surface potential alteration, an ‘electrode-less' process utilizing alternatively oxidative and reductive gases. This concept for platinum recycling exploits the so-called transient dissolution mechanism, triggered by a repetitive change in platinum surface oxidation state, without using any external electric current or electrodes. The effective performance in non-toxic low-concentrated acid and at room temperature is a strong benefit of this approach, potentially rendering recycling of industrial catalysts, including but not limited to platinum-based systems, more sustainable. PMID:27767178

  12. Enhancement of surface durability of space materials and structures in LEO environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gudimenko, Y.; Ng, R.; Kleiman, J. I.; Iskanderova, Z. A.; Tennyson, R. C.; Hughes, P. C.; Milligan, D.; Grigorevski, A.; Shuiski, M.; Kiseleva, L.; Edwards, D.; Finckenor, M.

    2003-09-01

    Results of on-going program that involves surface modification treatments of thin polymer films and various organic-based thermal control coatings by an innovative Photosil surface modification technology for space durability improvement are presented, as well as results of ground-based testing in an oxygen plasma asher and in fast atomic oxygen (FAO) beam facility. In addition, independent ground-based FAO + VUV test results from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are also presented. Recent results are presented to further improve the AO durability of conductive thermal control paints, never previously treated by the Photosil process. The thermal control coatings evaluated in this program represent existing commercially available space-approved materials and experimental coatings, which are still under development. Functional properties and performance characteristics, such as AO stability, thermal optical properties, surface resistivity, and outgassing characteristics of pristine and treated materials were also verified. FAO+VUV exposure tests results revealed that some of the successfully treated materials did not show any mass loss or surface morphology change, thus indicating good protection from the severe oxidative environment. A few complementary surface analysis techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) have been used to examine the composition and structure of the protective surface-modified layer.

  13. Investigation of vertical cavity surface emitting laser dynamics for neuromorphic photonic systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hurtado, A.; Schires, K.; Henning, I. D.; Adams, M. J.

    2012-03-01

    We report an approach based upon vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to reproduce optically different behaviors exhibited by biological neurons but on a much faster timescale. The technique proposed is based on the polarization switching and nonlinear dynamics induced in a single VCSEL under polarized optical injection. The particular attributes of VCSELs and the simple experimental configuration used in this work offer prospects of fast, reconfigurable processing elements with excellent fan-out and scaling potentials for use in future computational paradigms and artificial neural networks.

  14. Surface Texture-Based Surface Treatments on Ti6Al4V Titanium Alloys for Tribological and Biological Applications: A Mini Review

    PubMed Central

    Li, Dali; Zou, Jiaojuan; Xie, Ruizhen; Wang, Zhihua; Tang, Bin

    2018-01-01

    Surface texture (ST) has been confirmed as an effective and economical surface treatment technique that can be applied to a great range of materials and presents growing interests in various engineering fields. Ti6Al4V which is the most frequently and successfully used titanium alloy has long been restricted in tribological-related operations due to the shortcomings of low surface hardness, high friction coefficient, and poor abrasive wear resistance. Ti6Al4V has benefited from surface texture-based surface treatments over the last decade. This review begins with a brief introduction, analysis approaches, and processing methods of surface texture. The specific applications of the surface texture-based surface treatments for improving surface performance of Ti6Al4V are thoroughly reviewed from the point of view of tribology and biology. PMID:29587358

  15. Enhanced Imaging of Specific Cell-Surface Glycosylation Based on Multi-FRET.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Baoyin; Chen, Yuanyuan; Sun, Yuqiong; Guo, Qiuping; Huang, Jin; Liu, Jianbo; Meng, Xiangxian; Yang, Xiaohai; Wen, Xiaohong; Li, Zenghui; Li, Lie; Wang, Kemin

    2018-05-15

    Cell-surface glycosylation contains abundant biological information that reflects cell physiological state, and it is of great value to image cell-surface glycosylation to elucidate its functions. Here we present a hybridization chain reaction (HCR)-based multifluorescence resonance energy transfer (multi-FRET) method for specific imaging of cell-surface glycosylation. By installing donors through metabolic glycan labeling and acceptors through aptamer-tethered nanoassemblies on the same glycoconjugate, intramolecular multi-FRET occurs due to near donor-acceptor distance. Benefiting from amplified effect and spatial flexibility of the HCR nanoassemblies, enhanced multi-FRET imaging of specific cell-surface glycosylation can be obtained. With this HCR-based multi-FRET method, we achieved obvious contrast in imaging of protein-specific GalNAcylation on 7211 cell surfaces. In addition, we demonstrated the general applicability of this method by visualizing the protein-specific sialylation on CEM cell surfaces. Furthermore, the expression changes of CEM cell-surface protein-specific sialylation under drug treatment was accurately monitored. This developed imaging method may provide a powerful tool in researching glycosylation functions, discovering biomarkers, and screening drugs.

  16. Molecule formation and infrared emission in fast interstellar shocks. I Physical processes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hollenbach, D.; Mckee, C. F.

    1979-01-01

    The paper analyzes the structure of fast shocks incident upon interstellar gas of ambient density from 10 to the 7th per cu cm, while focusing on the problems of formation and destruction of molecules and infrared emission in the cooling, neutral post shock gas. It is noted that such fast shocks initially dissociate almost all preexisting molecules. Discussion covers the physical processes which determine the post shock structure between 10 to the 4 and 10 to the 2 K. It is shown that the chemistry of important molecular coolants H2, CO, OH, and H2O, as well as HD and CH, is reduced to a relatively small set of gas phase and grain surface reactions. Also, the chemistry follows the slow conversion of atomic hydrogen into H2, which primarily occurs on grain surfaces. The dependence of this H2 formation rate on grain and gas temperatures is examined and the survival of grains behind fast shocks is discussed. Post shock heating and cooling rates are calculated and an appropriate, analytic, universal cooling function is developed for molecules other than hydrogen which includes opacities from both the dust and the lines.

  17. [Fast discrimination of edible vegetable oil based on Raman spectroscopy].

    PubMed

    Zhou, Xiu-Jun; Dai, Lian-Kui; Li, Sheng

    2012-07-01

    A novel method to fast discriminate edible vegetable oils by Raman spectroscopy is presented. The training set is composed of different edible vegetable oils with known classes. Based on their original Raman spectra, baseline correction and normalization were applied to obtain standard spectra. Two characteristic peaks describing the unsaturated degree of vegetable oil were selected as feature vectors; then the centers of all classes were calculated. For an edible vegetable oil with unknown class, the same pretreatment and feature extraction methods were used. The Euclidian distances between the feature vector of the unknown sample and the center of each class were calculated, and the class of the unknown sample was finally determined by the minimum distance. For 43 edible vegetable oil samples from seven different classes, experimental results show that the clustering effect of each class was more obvious and the class distance was much larger with the new feature extraction method compared with PCA. The above classification model can be applied to discriminate unknown edible vegetable oils rapidly and accurately.

  18. DUK - A Fast and Efficient Kmer Based Sequence Matching Tool

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Li, Mingkun; Copeland, Alex; Han, James

    2011-03-21

    A new tool, DUK, is developed to perform matching task. Matching is to find whether a query sequence partially or totally matches given reference sequences or not. Matching is similar to alignment. Indeed many traditional analysis tasks like contaminant removal use alignment tools. But for matching, there is no need to know which bases of a query sequence matches which position of a reference sequence, it only need know whether there exists a match or not. This subtle difference can make matching task much faster than alignment. DUK is accurate, versatile, fast, and has efficient memory usage. It uses Kmermore » hashing method to index reference sequences and Poisson model to calculate p-value. DUK is carefully implemented in C++ in object oriented design. The resulted classes can also be used to develop other tools quickly. DUK have been widely used in JGI for a wide range of applications such as contaminant removal, organelle genome separation, and assembly refinement. Many real applications and simulated dataset demonstrate its power.« less

  19. Fast resolution change in neutral helium atom microscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flatabø, R.; Eder, S. D.; Ravn, A. K.; Samelin, B.; Greve, M. M.; Reisinger, T.; Holst, B.

    2018-05-01

    In neutral helium atom microscopy, a beam of atoms is scanned across a surface. Though still in its infancy, neutral helium microscopy has seen a rapid development over the last few years. The inertness and low energy of the helium atoms (less than 0.1 eV) combined with a very large depth of field and the fact that the helium atoms do not penetrate any solid material at low energies open the possibility for a non-destructive instrument that can measure topology on the nanoscale even on fragile and insulating surfaces. The resolution is determined by the beam spot size on the sample. Fast resolution change is an attractive property of a microscope because it allows different aspects of a sample to be investigated and makes it easier to identify specific features. However up till now it has not been possible to change the resolution of a helium microscope without breaking the vacuum and changing parts of the atom source. Here we present a modified source design, which allows fast, step wise resolution change. The basic design idea is to insert a moveable holder with a series of collimating apertures in front of the source, thus changing the effective source size of the beam and thereby the spot size on the surface and thus the microscope resolution. We demonstrate a design with 3 resolution steps. The number of resolution steps can easily be extended.

  20. "Fast" Capitalism and "Fast" Schools: New Realities and New Truths.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robertson, Susan L.

    This paper locates the phenomenon of self-managing schools within the framework of "fast capitalism" and identifies themes of organization central to fast capitalism, which are argued to also underpin the self-managing schools. "Fast capitalism" refers to the rapidly intensified integration of regionalized productive activities into the global…