Towards large dynamic range and ultrahigh measurement resolution in distributed fiber sensing based on multicore fiber.

PubMed

Dang, Yunli; Zhao, Zhiyong; Tang, Ming; Zhao, Can; Gan, Lin; Fu, Songnian; Liu, Tongqing; Tong, Weijun; Shum, Perry Ping; Liu, Deming

2017-08-21

Featuring a dependence of Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) on temperature and strain changes over a wide range, Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensors are however essentially subjected to the relatively poor temperature/strain measurement resolution. On the other hand, phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) offers ultrahigh temperature/strain measurement resolution, but the available frequency scanning range is normally narrow thereby severely restricts its measurement dynamic range. In order to achieve large dynamic range and high measurement resolution simultaneously, we propose to employ both the Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) and Φ-OTDR through space-division multiplexed (SDM) configuration based on the multicore fiber (MCF), in which the two sensors are spatially separately implemented in the central core and a side core, respectively. As a proof of concept, the temperature sensing has been performed for validation with 2.5 m spatial resolution over 1.565 km MCF. Large temperature range (10 °C) has been measured by BOTDA and the 0.1 °C small temperature variation is successfully identified by Φ-OTDR with ~0.001 °C resolution. Moreover, the temperature changing process has been recorded by continuously performing the measurement of Φ-OTDR with 80 s frequency scanning period, showing about 0.02 °C temperature spacing at the monitored profile. The proposed system enables the capability to see finer and/or farther upon requirement in distributed optical fiber sensing.

Ultrabroadband infrared nanospectroscopic imaging

PubMed Central

Bechtel, Hans A.; Muller, Eric A.; Olmon, Robert L.; Martin, Michael C.; Raschke, Markus B.

2014-01-01

Characterizing and ultimately controlling the heterogeneity underlying biomolecular functions, quantum behavior of complex matter, photonic materials, or catalysis requires large-scale spectroscopic imaging with simultaneous specificity to structure, phase, and chemical composition at nanometer spatial resolution. However, as with any ultrahigh spatial resolution microscopy technique, the associated demand for an increase in both spatial and spectral bandwidth often leads to a decrease in desired sensitivity. We overcome this limitation in infrared vibrational scattering-scanning probe near-field optical microscopy using synchrotron midinfrared radiation. Tip-enhanced localized light–matter interaction is induced by low-noise, broadband, and spatially coherent synchrotron light of high spectral irradiance, and the near-field signal is sensitively detected using heterodyne interferometric amplification. We achieve sub-40-nm spatially resolved, molecular, and phonon vibrational spectroscopic imaging, with rapid spectral acquisition, spanning the full midinfrared (700–5,000 cm−1) with few cm−1 spectral resolution. We demonstrate the performance of synchrotron infrared nanospectroscopy on semiconductor, biomineral, and protein nanostructures, providing vibrational chemical imaging with subzeptomole sensitivity. PMID:24803431

Temporal reliability of ultra-high field resting-state MRI for single-subject sensorimotor and language mapping.

PubMed

Branco, Paulo; Seixas, Daniela; Castro, São Luís

2018-03-01

Resting-state fMRI is a well-suited technique to map functional networks in the brain because unlike task-based approaches it requires little collaboration from subjects. This is especially relevant in clinical settings where a number of subjects cannot comply with task demands. Previous studies using conventional scanner fields have shown that resting-state fMRI is able to map functional networks in single subjects, albeit with moderate temporal reliability. Ultra-high resolution (7T) imaging provides higher signal-to-noise ratio and better spatial resolution and is thus well suited to assess the temporal reliability of mapping results, and to determine if resting-state fMRI can be applied in clinical decision making including preoperative planning. We used resting-state fMRI at ultra-high resolution to examine whether the sensorimotor and language networks are reliable over time - same session and one week after. Resting-state networks were identified for all subjects and sessions with good accuracy. Both networks were well delimited within classical regions of interest. Mapping was temporally reliable at short and medium time-scales as demonstrated by high values of overlap in the same session and one week after for both networks. Results were stable independently of data quality metrics and physiological variables. Taken together, these findings provide strong support for the suitability of ultra-high field resting-state fMRI mapping at the single-subject level. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultra-high resolution coded wavefront sensor.

PubMed

Wang, Congli; Dun, Xiong; Fu, Qiang; Heidrich, Wolfgang

2017-06-12

Wavefront sensors and more general phase retrieval methods have recently attracted a lot of attention in a host of application domains, ranging from astronomy to scientific imaging and microscopy. In this paper, we introduce a new class of sensor, the Coded Wavefront Sensor, which provides high spatio-temporal resolution using a simple masked sensor under white light illumination. Specifically, we demonstrate megapixel spatial resolution and phase accuracy better than 0.1 wavelengths at reconstruction rates of 50 Hz or more, thus opening up many new applications from high-resolution adaptive optics to real-time phase retrieval in microscopy.

A cytoarchitecture-driven myelin model reveals area-specific signatures in human primary and secondary areas using ultra-high resolution in-vivo brain MRI.

PubMed

Dinse, J; Härtwich, N; Waehnert, M D; Tardif, C L; Schäfer, A; Geyer, S; Preim, B; Turner, R; Bazin, P-L

2015-07-01

This work presents a novel approach for modelling laminar myelin patterns in the human cortex in brain MR images on the basis of known cytoarchitecture. For the first time, it is possible to estimate intracortical contrast visible in quantitative ultra-high resolution MR images in specific primary and secondary cytoarchitectonic areas. The presented technique reveals different area-specific signatures which may help to study the spatial distribution of cortical T1 values and the distribution of cortical myelin in general. It may lead to a new discussion on the concordance of cyto- and myeloarchitectonic boundaries, given the absence of such concordance atlases. The modelled myelin patterns are quantitatively compared with data from human ultra-high resolution in-vivo 7T brain MR images (9 subjects). In the validation, the results are compared to one post-mortem brain sample and its ex-vivo MRI and histological data. Details of the analysis pipeline are provided. In the context of the increasing interest in advanced methods in brain segmentation and cortical architectural studies, the presented model helps to bridge the gap between the microanatomy revealed by classical histology and the macroanatomy visible in MRI. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optical coherence tomography for embryonic imaging: a review

PubMed Central

Raghunathan, Raksha; Singh, Manmohan; Dickinson, Mary E.; Larin, Kirill V.

2016-01-01

Abstract. Embryogenesis is a highly complex and dynamic process, and its visualization is crucial for understanding basic physiological processes during development and for identifying and assessing possible defects, malformations, and diseases. While traditional imaging modalities, such as ultrasound biomicroscopy, micro-magnetic resonance imaging, and micro-computed tomography, have long been adapted for embryonic imaging, these techniques generally have limitations in their speed, spatial resolution, and contrast to capture processes such as cardiodynamics during embryogenesis. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging modality with micrometer-scale spatial resolution and imaging depth up to a few millimeters in tissue. OCT has bridged the gap between ultrahigh resolution imaging techniques with limited imaging depth like confocal microscopy and modalities, such as ultrasound sonography, which have deeper penetration but poorer spatial resolution. Moreover, the noninvasive nature of OCT has enabled live imaging of embryos without any external contrast agents. We review how OCT has been utilized to study developing embryos and also discuss advances in techniques used in conjunction with OCT to understand embryonic development. PMID:27228503

Development of an ultrahigh-resolution Si-PM-based dual-head GAGG coincidence imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Seiichi; Watabe, Hiroshi; Kanai, Yasukazu; Kato, Katsuhiko; Hatazawa, Jun

2013-03-01

A silicon photomultiplier (Si-PM) is a promising photodetector for high resolution PET systems due to its small channel size and high gain. Using Si-PMs, it will be possible to develop a high resolution imaging systems. For this purpose, we developed a small field-of-view (FOV) ultrahigh-resolution Si-PM-based dual-head coincidence imaging system for small animals and plant research. A new scintillator, Ce doped Gd3Al12Ga3O12 (GAGG), was selected because of its high light output and its emission wavelength matched with the Si-PM arrays and contained no radioactivity. Each coincidence imaging block detector consists of 0.5×0.5×5 mm3 GAGG pixels combined with a 0.1-mm thick reflector to form a 20×17 matrix that was optically coupled to a Si-PM array (Hamamatsu MPPC S11064-050P) with a 1.5-mm thick light guide. The GAGG block size was 12.0×10.2 mm2. Two GAGG block detectors were positioned face to face and set on a flexible arm based detector stand. All 0.5 mm GAGG pixels in the block detectors were clearly resolved in the 2-dimensional position histogram. The energy resolution was 14.4% FWHM for the Cs-137 gamma ray. The spatial resolution was 0.7 mm FWHM measured using a 0.25 mm diameter Na-22 point source. Small animal and plant images were successfully obtained. We conclude that our developed ultrahigh-resolution Si-PM-based dual-head coincidence imaging system is promising for small animal and plant imaging research.

Simple fiber-optic confocal microscopy with nanoscale depth resolution beyond the diffraction barrier.

PubMed

Ilev, Ilko; Waynant, Ronald; Gannot, Israel; Gandjbakhche, Amir

2007-09-01

A novel fiber-optic confocal approach for ultrahigh depth-resolution (

Imaging of cartilage degeneration progression in vivo using ultrahigh-resolution OCT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herz, Paul R.; Bourquin, Stephane; Hsiung, Pei-lin; Ko, Tony H.; Schneider, Karl; Fujimoto, James G.; Adams, Samuel, Jr.; Roberts, Mark; Patel, Nirlep; Brezinski, Mark

2003-10-01

Ultrahigh resolution OCT is used to visualize experimentally induced osteoarthritis in a rat knee model. Using a Cr4+:Forsterite laser, ultrahigh image resolutions of 5um are achieved. Progression of osteoarthritic remodeling and cartilage degeneration are quantified. The utility of OCT for the assessment of cartilage integrity is demonstrated.

Ultra high spatial and temporal resolution breast imaging at 7T.

PubMed

van de Bank, B L; Voogt, I J; Italiaander, M; Stehouwer, B L; Boer, V O; Luijten, P R; Klomp, D W J

2013-04-01

There is a need to obtain higher specificity in the detection of breast lesions using MRI. To address this need, Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) MRI has been combined with other structural and functional MRI techniques. Unfortunately, owing to time constraints structural images at ultra-high spatial resolution can generally not be obtained during contrast uptake, whereas the relatively low spatial resolution of functional imaging (e.g. diffusion and perfusion) limits the detection of small lesions. To be able to increase spatial as well as temporal resolution simultaneously, the sensitivity of MR detection needs to increase as well as the ability to effectively accelerate the acquisition. The required gain in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be obtained at 7T, whereas acceleration can be obtained with high-density receiver coil arrays. In this case, morphological imaging can be merged with DCE-MRI, and other functional techniques can be obtained at higher spatial resolution, and with less distortion [e.g. Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI)]. To test the feasibility of this concept, we developed a unilateral breast coil for 7T. It comprises a volume optimized dual-channel transmit coil combined with a 30-channel receive array coil. The high density of small coil elements enabled efficient acceleration in any direction to acquire ultra high spatial resolution MRI of close to 0.6 mm isotropic detail within a temporal resolution of 69 s, high spatial resolution MRI of 1.5 mm isotropic within an ultra high temporal resolution of 6.7 s and low distortion DWI at 7T, all validated in phantoms, healthy volunteers and a patient with a lesion in the right breast classified as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) IV. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rapid brain MRI acquisition techniques at ultra-high fields

PubMed Central

Setsompop, Kawin; Feinberg, David A.; Polimeni, Jonathan R.

2017-01-01

Ultra-high-field MRI provides large increases in signal-to-noise ratio as well as enhancement of several contrast mechanisms in both structural and functional imaging. Combined, these gains result in a substantial boost in contrast-to-noise ratio that can be exploited for higher spatial resolution imaging to extract finer-scale information about the brain. With increased spatial resolution, however, is a concurrent increased image encoding burden that can cause unacceptably long scan times for structural imaging and slow temporal sampling of the hemodynamic response in functional MRI—particularly when whole-brain imaging is desired. To address this issue, new directions of imaging technology development—such as the move from conventional 2D slice-by-slice imaging to more efficient Simultaneous MultiSlice (SMS) or MultiBand imaging (which can be viewed as “pseudo-3D” encoding) as well as full 3D imaging—have provided dramatic improvements in acquisition speed. Such imaging paradigms provide higher SNR efficiency as well as improved encoding efficiency. Moreover, SMS and 3D imaging can make better use of coil sensitivity information in multi-channel receiver arrays used for parallel imaging acquisitions through controlled aliasing in multiple spatial directions. This has enabled unprecedented acceleration factors of an order of magnitude or higher in these imaging acquisition schemes, with low image artifact levels and high SNR. Here we review the latest developments of SMS and 3D imaging methods and related technologies at ultra-high field for rapid high-resolution functional and structural imaging of the brain. PMID:26835884

A 32 mm  ×  32 mm  ×  22 mm monolithic LYSO:Ce detector with dual-sided digital photon counter readout for ultrahigh-performance TOF-PET and TOF-PET/MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borghi, Giacomo; Peet, Bart Jan; Tabacchini, Valerio; Schaart, Dennis R.

2016-07-01

New applications for positron emission tomography (PET) and combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are currently emerging, for example in the fields of neurological, breast, and pediatric imaging. Such applications require improved image quality, reduced dose, shorter scanning times, and more precise quantification. This can be achieved by means of dedicated scanners based on ultrahigh-performance detectors, which should provide excellent spatial resolution, precise depth-of-interaction (DOI) estimation, outstanding time-of-flight (TOF) capability, and high detection efficiency. Here, we introduce such an ultrahigh-performance TOF/DOI PET detector, based on a 32 mm  ×  32 mm  ×  22 mm monolithic LYSO:Ce crystal. The 32 mm  ×  32 mm front and back faces of the crystal are coupled to a digital photon counter (DPC) array, in so-called dual-sided readout (DSR) configuration. The fully digital detector offers a spatial resolution of ~1.1 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM)/~1.2 mm mean absolute error, together with a DOI resolution of ~2.4 mm FWHM, an energy resolution of 10.2% FWHM, and a coincidence resolving time of 147 ps FWHM. The time resolution closely approaches the best results (135 ps FWHM) obtained to date with small crystals made from the same material coupled to the same DPC arrays, illustrating the excellent correction for optical and electronic transit time spreads that can be achieved in monolithic scintillators using maximum-likelihood techniques for estimating the time of interaction. The performance barely degrades for events with missing data (up to 6 out of 32 DPC dies missing), permitting the use of almost all events registered under realistic acquisition conditions. Moreover, the calibration procedures and computational methods used for position and time estimation follow recently made improvements that make them fast and practical, opening up realistic perspectives for using DSR monolithic scintillator detectors in TOF-PET and TOF-PET/MRI systems.

Fabrication of [001]-oriented tungsten tips for high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy

PubMed Central

Chaika, A. N.; Orlova, N. N.; Semenov, V. N.; Postnova, E. Yu.; Krasnikov, S. A.; Lazarev, M. G.; Chekmazov, S. V.; Aristov, V. Yu.; Glebovsky, V. G.; Bozhko, S. I.; Shvets, I. V.

2014-01-01

The structure of the [001]-oriented single crystalline tungsten probes sharpened in ultra-high vacuum using electron beam heating and ion sputtering has been studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The electron microscopy data prove reproducible fabrication of the single-apex tips with nanoscale pyramids grained by the {011} planes at the apexes. These sharp, [001]-oriented tungsten tips have been successfully utilized in high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of HOPG(0001), SiC(001) and graphene/SiC(001) surfaces. The electron microscopy characterization performed before and after the high resolution STM experiments provides direct correlation between the tip structure and picoscale spatial resolution achieved in the experiments. PMID:24434734

Apertureless near-field vibrational imaging of block-copolymer nanostructures with ultrahigh spatial resolution.

PubMed

Raschke, Markus B; Molina, Leopoldo; Elsaesser, Thomas; Kim, Dong Ha; Knoll, Wolfgang; Hinrichs, Karsten

2005-10-14

Nanodomains formed by microphase separation in thin films of the diblock copolymers poly(styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) and poly(styrene-b-ethyleneoxide) (PS-b-PEO) were imaged by means of infrared scattering-type near-field microscopy. When probing at 3.39 mum (2950 cm(-1)), contrast is obtained due to spectral differences between the C--H stretching vibrational resonances of the respective polymer constituents. An all-optical spatial resolution better than 10 nm was achieved, which corresponds to a sensitivity of just several thousand C--H groups facilitated by the local-field enhancement at the sharp metallic probe tips. The results demonstrate that infrared spectroscopy with access to intramolecular dimensions is within reach.

Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography in Glaucoma

PubMed Central

Wollstein, Gadi; Paunescu, Leila A.; Ko, Tony H.; Fujimoto, James G.; Kowalevicz, Andrew; Hartl, Ingmar; Beaton, Siobahn; Ishikawa, Hiroshi; Mattox, Cynthia; Singh, Omah; Duker, Jay; Drexler, Wolfgang; Schuman, Joel S.

2007-01-01

Objective Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been shown to be a valuable tool in glaucoma assessment. We investigated a new ultrahigh-resolution OCT (UHR-OCT) imaging system in glaucoma patients and compared the findings with those obtained by conventional-resolution OCT. Design Retrospective comparative case series. Participants A normal subject and 4 glaucoma patients representing various stages of glaucomatous damage. Testing All participants were scanned with StratusOCT (axial resolution of ~10 μm) and UHR-OCT (axial resolution of ~3 μm) at the same visit. Main Outcome Measure Comparison of OCT findings detected with StratusOCT and UHR-OCT. Results Ultrahigh-resolution OCT provides a detailed cross-sectional view of the scanned retinal area that allows differentiation between retinal layers. These UHR images were markedly better than those obtained by the conventional-resolution OCT. Conclusions Ultrahigh-resolution OCT provides high-resolution images of the ocular posterior segment, which improves the ability to detect retinal abnormalities due to glaucoma. PMID:15691556

Fabrication of bright and thin Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent film for electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscope.

PubMed

Furukawa, Taichi; Kanamori, Satoshi; Fukuta, Masahiro; Nawa, Yasunori; Kominami, Hiroko; Nakanishi, Yoichiro; Sugita, Atsushi; Inami, Wataru; Kawata, Yoshimasa

2015-07-13

We fabricated a bright and thin Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent film to serve as a nanometric light source for high-spatial-resolution optical microscopy based on electron beam excitation. The Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film was fabricated by annealing a ZnO film on a Si₃N₄ substrate at 1000 °C in N₂. The annealed film emitted bright cathodoluminescence compared with the as-deposited film. The film is promising for nano-imaging with electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy. We evaluated the spatial resolution of a microscope developed using this Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film. This is the first report of the investigation and application of ZnO/Si₃N₄ annealed at a high temperature (1000 °C). The fabricated Zn₂SiO₄ film is expected to enable high-frame-rate dynamic observation with ultra-high resolution using our electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy.

Shell-Isolated Tip-Enhanced Raman and Fluorescence Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Huang, Ya-Ping; Huang, Sheng-Chao; Wang, Xiang-Jie; Bodappa, Nataraju; Li, Chao-Yu; Yin, Hao; Su, Hai-Sheng; Meng, Meng; Zhang, Hua; Ren, Bin; Yang, Zhi-Lin; Zenobi, Renato; Tian, Zhong-Qun; Li, Jian-Feng

2018-06-18

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy can provide molecular fingerprint information with ultrahigh spatial resolution, but the tip will be easily contaminated, thus leading to artifacts. It also remains a great challenge to establish tip-enhanced fluorescence because of the quenching resulting from the proximity of the metal tip. Herein, we report shell-isolated tip-enhanced Raman and fluorescence spectroscopies by employing ultrathin shell-isolated tips fabricated by atomic layer deposition. Such shell-isolated tips not only show outstanding electromagnetic field enhancement in TERS but also exclude interference by contaminants, thus greatly promoting applications in solution. Tip-enhanced fluorescence has also been achieved using these shell-isolated tips, with enhancement factors of up to 1.7×10 3 , consistent with theoretical simulations. Furthermore, tip-enhanced Raman and fluorescence signals are acquired simultaneously, and their relative intensities can be manipulated by changing the shell thickness. This work opens a new avenue for ultrahigh resolution surface analysis using plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Towards Ultra-High Resolution Fibre Tract Mapping of the Human Brain – Registration of Polarised Light Images and Reorientation of Fibre Vectors

PubMed Central

Palm, Christoph; Axer, Markus; Gräßel, David; Dammers, Jürgen; Lindemeyer, Johannes; Zilles, Karl; Pietrzyk, Uwe; Amunts, Katrin

2009-01-01

Polarised light imaging (PLI) utilises the birefringence of the myelin sheaths in order to visualise the orientation of nerve fibres in microtome sections of adult human post-mortem brains at ultra-high spatial resolution. The preparation of post-mortem brains for PLI involves fixation, freezing and cutting into 100-μm-thick sections. Hence, geometrical distortions of histological sections are inevitable and have to be removed for 3D reconstruction and subsequent fibre tracking. We here present a processing pipeline for 3D reconstruction of these sections using PLI derived multimodal images of post-mortem brains. Blockface images of the brains were obtained during cutting; they serve as reference data for alignment and elimination of distortion artefacts. In addition to the spatial image transformation, fibre orientation vectors were reoriented using the transformation fields, which consider both affine and subsequent non-linear registration. The application of this registration and reorientation approach results in a smooth fibre vector field, which reflects brain morphology. PLI combined with 3D reconstruction and fibre tracking is a powerful tool for human brain mapping. It can also serve as an independent method for evaluating in vivo fibre tractography. PMID:20461231

Micromotor endoscope catheter for in vivo, ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herz, P. R.; Chen, Y.; Aguirre, A. D.; Schneider, K.; Hsiung, P.; Fujimoto, J. G.; Madden, K.; Schmitt, J.; Goodnow, J.; Petersen, C.

2004-10-01

A distally actuated, rotational-scanning micromotor endoscope catheter probe is demonstrated for ultrahigh-resolution in vivo endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. The probe permits focus adjustment for visualization of tissue morphology at varying depths with improved transverse resolution compared with standard OCT imaging probes. The distal actuation avoids nonuniform scanning motion artifacts that are present with other probe designs and can permit a wider range of imaging speeds. Ultrahigh-resolution endoscopic imaging is demonstrated in a rabbit with <4-µm axial resolution by use of a femtosecond Crforsterite laser light source. The micromotor endoscope catheter probe promises to improve OCT imaging performance in future endoscopic imaging applications.

Super-achromatic microprobe for ultrahigh-resolution endoscopic OCT imaging at 800 nm (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Wu; Alemohammad, Milad; Yu, Xiaoyun; Yu, Shaoyong; Li, Xingde

2016-03-01

In this paper, we report a super-achromatic microprobe made with fiber-optic ball lens to enable ultrahigh-resolution endoscopic OCT imaging. An axial resolution of ~2.4 µm (in air) can be achieved with a 7-fs Ti:Sapphire laser. The microprobe has minimal astigmatism which affords a high transverse resolution of ~5.6 µm. The miniaturized microprobe has an outer diameter of ~520 µm including the encasing metal guard and can be used to image small luminal organs. The performance of the ultrahigh-resolution OCT microprobe was demonstrated by imaging rat esophagus, guinea pig esophagus, and mouse rectum in vivo.

Continuous Beam Steering From a Segmented Liquid Crystal Optical Phased Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Titus, Charles M.; Pouch, John; Nguyen, Hung; Miranda, Felix; Bos, Philip J.

2002-01-01

Optical communications to and from deep space probes will require beams possessing divergence on the order of a microradian, and must be steered with sub-microradian precision. Segmented liquid crystal spatial phase modulators, a type of optical phased array, are considered for this ultra-high resolution beam steering. It is shown here that in an ideal device of this type, there are ultimately no restrictions on the angular resolution. Computer simulations are used to obtain that result, and to analyze the influence of beam truncation and substrate flatness on the performance of this type of device.

Continuous Beam Steering From A Segmented Liquid Crystal Optical Phased Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pouch, John; Nguyen, Hung; Miranda, Felix; Titus, Charles M.; Bos, Philip J.

2002-01-01

Optical communications to and from deep space probes will require beams possessing divergence on the order of a microradian, and must be steered with sub-microradian precision. Segmented liquid crystal spatial phase modulators, a type of optical phased array, are considered for this ultra-high resolution beam steering. It is shown here that in an ideal device of this type, there are ultimately no restrictions on the angular resolution. Computer simulations are used to obtain that result, and to analyze the influence of beam truncation and substrate flatness on the performance of this type of device.

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography with a fiber laser source at 1 microm.

PubMed

Lim, Hyungsik; Jiang, Yi; Wang, Yimin; Huang, Yu-Chih; Chen, Zhongping; Wise, Frank W

2005-05-15

We report a compact, high-power, fiber-based source for ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) near 1 microm. The practical source is based on a short-pulse, ytterbium-doped fiber laser and on generation of a continuum spectrum in a photonic crystal fiber. The broadband emission has an average power of 140 mW and offers an axial resolution of 2.1 microm in air (<1.6 microm in biological tissue). The generation of a broad bandwidth is robust and efficient. We demonstrate ultrahigh-resolution, time-domain OCT imaging of in vitro and in vivo biological tissues.

Low-Cost Ultra-High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Mapping of Intertidal Rock Platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryson, M.; Johnson-Roberson, M.; Murphy, R.

2012-07-01

Intertidal ecosystems have primarily been studied using field-based sampling; remote sensing offers the ability to collect data over large areas in a snapshot of time which could compliment field-based sampling methods by extrapolating them into the wider spatial and temporal context. Conventional remote sensing tools (such as satellite and aircraft imaging) provide data at relatively course, sub-meter resolutions or with limited temporal resolutions and relatively high costs for small-scale environmental science and ecology studies. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, kite-based imaging system and photogrammetric pipeline that was developed for constructing highresolution, 3D, photo-realistic terrain models of intertidal rocky shores. The processing pipeline uses automatic image feature detection and matching, structure-from-motion and photo-textured terrain surface reconstruction algorithms that require minimal human input and only a small number of ground control points and allow the use of cheap, consumer-grade digital cameras. The resulting maps combine colour and topographic information at sub-centimeter resolutions over an area of approximately 100m, thus enabling spatial properties of the intertidal environment to be determined across a hierarchy of spatial scales. Results of the system are presented for an intertidal rock platform at Cape Banks, Sydney, Australia. Potential uses of this technique include mapping of plant (micro- and macro-algae) and animal (e.g. gastropods) assemblages at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Micromotor endoscope catheter for in vivo, ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Herz, P R; Chen, Y; Aguirre, A D; Schneider, K; Hsiung, P; Fujimoto, J G; Madden, K; Schmitt, J; Goodnow, J; Petersen, C

2004-10-01

A distally actuated, rotational-scanning micromotor endoscope catheter probe is demonstrated for ultrahigh-resolution in vivo endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. The probe permits focus adjustment for visualization of tissue morphology at varying depths with improved transverse resolution compared with standard OCT imaging probes. The distal actuation avoids nonuniform scanning motion artifacts that are present with other probe designs and can permit a wider range of imaging speeds. Ultrahigh-resolution endoscopic imaging is demonstrated in a rabbit with <4-microm axial resolution by use of a femtosecond Cr:forsterite laser light source. The micromotor endoscope catheter probe promises to improve OCT imaging performance in future endoscopic imaging applications.

Double-tilt in situ TEM holder with ultra-high stability.

PubMed

Xu, Mingjie; Dai, Sheng; Blum, Thomas; Li, Linze; Pan, Xiaoqing

2018-05-06

A double tilting holder with high stability is essential for acquiring atomic-scale information by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), but the availability of such holders for in situ TEM studies under various external stimuli is limited. Here, we report a unique design of seal-bearing components that provides ultra-high stability and multifunctionality (including double tilting) in an in situ TEM holder. The seal-bearing subsystem provides superior vibration damping and electrical insulation while maintaining excellent vacuum sealing and small form factor. A wide variety of in situ TEM applications including electrical measurement, STM mapping, photovoltaic studies, and CL spectroscopy can be performed on this platform with high spatial resolution imaging and electrical sensitivity at the pA scale. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modal analysis of the ultrahigh finesse Haroche QED cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marsic, Nicolas; De Gersem, Herbert; Demésy, Guillaume; Nicolet, André; Geuzaine, Christophe

2018-04-01

In this paper, we study a high-order finite element approach to simulate an ultrahigh finesse Fabry–Pérot superconducting open resonator for cavity quantum electrodynamics. Because of its high quality factor, finding a numerically converged value of the damping time requires an extremely high spatial resolution. Therefore, the use of high-order simulation techniques appears appropriate. This paper considers idealized mirrors (no surface roughness and perfect geometry, just to cite a few hypotheses), and shows that under these assumptions, a damping time much higher than what is available in experimental measurements could be achieved. In addition, this work shows that both high-order discretizations of the governing equations and high-order representations of the curved geometry are mandatory for the computation of the damping time of such cavities.

Kite aerial photography for low-cost, ultra-high spatial resolution multi-spectral mapping of intertidal landscapes.

PubMed

Bryson, Mitch; Johnson-Roberson, Matthew; Murphy, Richard J; Bongiorno, Daniel

2013-01-01

Intertidal ecosystems have primarily been studied using field-based sampling; remote sensing offers the ability to collect data over large areas in a snapshot of time that could complement field-based sampling methods by extrapolating them into the wider spatial and temporal context. Conventional remote sensing tools (such as satellite and aircraft imaging) provide data at limited spatial and temporal resolutions and relatively high costs for small-scale environmental science and ecologically-focussed studies. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, kite-based imaging system and photogrammetric/mapping procedure that was developed for constructing high-resolution, three-dimensional, multi-spectral terrain models of intertidal rocky shores. The processing procedure uses automatic image feature detection and matching, structure-from-motion and photo-textured terrain surface reconstruction algorithms that require minimal human input and only a small number of ground control points and allow the use of cheap, consumer-grade digital cameras. The resulting maps combine imagery at visible and near-infrared wavelengths and topographic information at sub-centimeter resolutions over an intertidal shoreline 200 m long, thus enabling spatial properties of the intertidal environment to be determined across a hierarchy of spatial scales. Results of the system are presented for an intertidal rocky shore at Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Potential uses of this technique include mapping of plant (micro- and macro-algae) and animal (e.g. gastropods) assemblages at multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Kite Aerial Photography for Low-Cost, Ultra-high Spatial Resolution Multi-Spectral Mapping of Intertidal Landscapes

PubMed Central

Bryson, Mitch; Johnson-Roberson, Matthew; Murphy, Richard J.; Bongiorno, Daniel

2013-01-01

Intertidal ecosystems have primarily been studied using field-based sampling; remote sensing offers the ability to collect data over large areas in a snapshot of time that could complement field-based sampling methods by extrapolating them into the wider spatial and temporal context. Conventional remote sensing tools (such as satellite and aircraft imaging) provide data at limited spatial and temporal resolutions and relatively high costs for small-scale environmental science and ecologically-focussed studies. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, kite-based imaging system and photogrammetric/mapping procedure that was developed for constructing high-resolution, three-dimensional, multi-spectral terrain models of intertidal rocky shores. The processing procedure uses automatic image feature detection and matching, structure-from-motion and photo-textured terrain surface reconstruction algorithms that require minimal human input and only a small number of ground control points and allow the use of cheap, consumer-grade digital cameras. The resulting maps combine imagery at visible and near-infrared wavelengths and topographic information at sub-centimeter resolutions over an intertidal shoreline 200 m long, thus enabling spatial properties of the intertidal environment to be determined across a hierarchy of spatial scales. Results of the system are presented for an intertidal rocky shore at Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Potential uses of this technique include mapping of plant (micro- and macro-algae) and animal (e.g. gastropods) assemblages at multiple spatial and temporal scales. PMID:24069206

Development of ultrahigh resolution alpha particle imaging detector using 1 mm channel size Si-PM array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Seiichi; Kawaguchi, Wataru

2018-06-01

For precise distribution measurements of alpha particles, a high-resolution alpha particle imaging detector is required. Although combining a thin scintillator with a silicon photomultiplier (Si-PM) array is a promising method for achieving high resolution, the spatial resolution is limited. Reducing the size of the Si-PM array is a possible approach to improving the spatial resolution of the alpha particle imaging detector. Consequently, we employed a 1 mm channel size Si-PM array combined with a thin ZnS(Ag) sheet to form an alpha particle imaging detector and evaluated the performance. For the developed alpha particle imaging detector, an Si-PM array with 1 mm x 1 mm channel size arranged 8 x 8 was optically coupled to a ZnS(Ag) sheet with a 1-mm-thick light guide between them. The size of the alpha particle imaging detector was 9.5 mm x 9.5 mm. The spatial resolution of the developed alpha particle imaging detector was 0.14 mm FWHM, and the energy resolution was 74% FWHM for 5.5 MeV alpha particles. The uniformity of the imaging detector at the central part of the field of view (FOV) was ±4.7%. The background count rate was 0.06 counts/min. We obtained various high-resolution phantom images for alpha particles with the developed system. We conclude that the developed imaging detector is promising for high-resolution distribution measurements of alpha particles.

Combining pixel and object based image analysis of ultra-high resolution multibeam bathymetry and backscatter for habitat mapping in shallow marine waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ierodiaconou, Daniel; Schimel, Alexandre C. G.; Kennedy, David; Monk, Jacquomo; Gaylard, Grace; Young, Mary; Diesing, Markus; Rattray, Alex

2018-06-01

Habitat mapping data are increasingly being recognised for their importance in underpinning marine spatial planning. The ability to collect ultra-high resolution (cm) multibeam echosounder (MBES) data in shallow waters has facilitated understanding of the fine-scale distribution of benthic habitats in these areas that are often prone to human disturbance. Developing quantitative and objective approaches to integrate MBES data with ground observations for predictive modelling is essential for ensuring repeatability and providing confidence measures for habitat mapping products. Whilst supervised classification approaches are becoming more common, users are often faced with a decision whether to implement a pixel based (PB) or an object based (OB) image analysis approach, with often limited understanding of the potential influence of that decision on final map products and relative importance of data inputs to patterns observed. In this study, we apply an ensemble learning approach capable of integrating PB and OB Image Analysis from ultra-high resolution MBES bathymetry and backscatter data for mapping benthic habitats in Refuge Cove, a temperate coastal embayment in south-east Australia. We demonstrate the relative importance of PB and OB seafloor derivatives for the five broad benthic habitats that dominate the site. We found that OB and PB approaches performed well with differences in classification accuracy but not discernible statistically. However, a model incorporating elements of both approaches proved to be significantly more accurate than OB or PB methods alone and demonstrate the benefits of using MBES bathymetry and backscatter combined for class discrimination.

SU-G-BRB-10: New Generation of High Frame-Rate and High Spatial-Resolution EPID QA System for Full-Body MLC-Based Robotic Radiosurgery

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

Han, B; Xing, L; Wang, L

Purpose: To systematically investigate an ultra-high spatial-resolution amorphous silicon flat-panel electronic portal imaging device (EPID) for MLC-based full-body robotic radiosurgery geometric and dosimetric quality assurance (QA). Methods: The high frame-rate and ultra-high spatial resolution EPID is an outstanding detector for measuring profiles, MLC-shaped radiosurgery field aperture verification, and small field dosimetry. A Monte Carlo based technique with a robotic linac specific response and calibration is developed to convert a raw EPID-measured image of a radiosurgery field into water-based dose distribution. The technique is applied to measure output factors and profiles for 6MV MLC-defined radiosurgery fields with various sizes ranging frommore » 7.6mm×7.7mm to 100mm×100.1mm and the results are compared with the radiosurgery diode scan measurements in water tank. The EPID measured field sizes and the penumbra regions are analyzed to evaluate the MLC positioning accuracy. Results: For all MLC fields, the EPID measured output factors of MLC-shaped fields are in good agreement with the diode measurements. The mean output difference between the EPID and diode measurement is 0.05±0.87%. The max difference is −1.33% for 7.6mm×7.7mm field. The MLC field size derived from the EPID measurements are in good agreement comparing to the diode scan result. For crossline field sizes, the mean difference is −0.17mm±0.14mm with a maximum of −0.35mm for the 30.8mm×30.8mm field. For inline field sizes, the mean difference is +0.08mm±0.18mm with a maximum of +0.45mm for the 100mm×100.1mm field. The high resolution EPID is able to measure the whole radiation field, without the need to align the detector center perfectly at field center as diode or ion chamber measurement. The setup time is greatly reduced so that the whole process is possible for machine and patient-specific QA. Conclusion: The high spatial-resolution EPID is proved to be an accurate and efficient tool for QA of MLC-equipped robotic radiosurgery system.« less

A Closed-Cycle Optical Cryostat and Improved Optical Elements for Studies of Dissipation at the Molecular Scale

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-05

diode laser, Raman spectroscopy REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) ARO 8...this project supported the acquisition of a closed-cycle optical cryostat from Montana Instruments, as well as a new 785 nm diode laser and ultrahigh...planned experiments on inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy that require TɝK for optimal resolution. Additionally, the spatial position of

Ultrahigh-speed ultrahigh-resolution adaptive optics: optical coherence tomography system for in-vivo small animal retinal imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Yifan; Xu, Jing; Zawadzki, Robert J.; Sarunic, Marinko V.

2013-03-01

Small animal models of human retinal diseases are a critical component of vision research. In this report, we present an ultrahigh-resolution ultrahigh-speed adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) system for small animal retinal imaging (mouse, fish, etc.). We adapted our imaging system to different types of small animals in accordance with the optical properties of their eyes. Results of AO-OCT images of small animal retinas acquired with AO correction are presented. Cellular structures including nerve fiber bundles, capillary networks and detailed double-cone photoreceptors are visualized.

Brain–heart interactions: challenges and opportunities with functional magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high field

PubMed Central

Raven, Erika P.; Duyn, Jeff H.

2016-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high field (UHF) strengths (7 T and above) offers unique opportunities for studying the human brain with increased spatial resolution, contrast and sensitivity. However, its reliability can be compromised by factors such as head motion, image distortion and non-neural fluctuations of the functional MRI signal. The objective of this review is to provide a critical discussion of the advantages and trade-offs associated with UHF imaging, focusing on the application to studying brain–heart interactions. We describe how UHF MRI may provide contrast and resolution benefits for measuring neural activity of regions involved in the control and mediation of autonomic processes, and in delineating such regions based on anatomical MRI contrast. Limitations arising from confounding signals are discussed, including challenges with distinguishing non-neural physiological effects from the neural signals of interest that reflect cardiorespiratory function. We also consider how recently developed data analysis techniques may be applied to high-field imaging data to uncover novel information about brain–heart interactions. PMID:27044994

Brain-heart interactions: challenges and opportunities with functional magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high field.

PubMed

Chang, Catie; Raven, Erika P; Duyn, Jeff H

2016-05-13

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high field (UHF) strengths (7 T and above) offers unique opportunities for studying the human brain with increased spatial resolution, contrast and sensitivity. However, its reliability can be compromised by factors such as head motion, image distortion and non-neural fluctuations of the functional MRI signal. The objective of this review is to provide a critical discussion of the advantages and trade-offs associated with UHF imaging, focusing on the application to studying brain-heart interactions. We describe how UHF MRI may provide contrast and resolution benefits for measuring neural activity of regions involved in the control and mediation of autonomic processes, and in delineating such regions based on anatomical MRI contrast. Limitations arising from confounding signals are discussed, including challenges with distinguishing non-neural physiological effects from the neural signals of interest that reflect cardiorespiratory function. We also consider how recently developed data analysis techniques may be applied to high-field imaging data to uncover novel information about brain-heart interactions. © 2016 The Author(s).

Cluster secondary ion mass spectrometry microscope mode mass spectrometry imaging.

PubMed

Kiss, András; Smith, Donald F; Jungmann, Julia H; Heeren, Ron M A

2013-12-30

Microscope mode imaging for secondary ion mass spectrometry is a technique with the promise of simultaneous high spatial resolution and high-speed imaging of biomolecules from complex surfaces. Technological developments such as new position-sensitive detectors, in combination with polyatomic primary ion sources, are required to exploit the full potential of microscope mode mass spectrometry imaging, i.e. to efficiently push the limits of ultra-high spatial resolution, sample throughput and sensitivity. In this work, a C60 primary source was combined with a commercial mass microscope for microscope mode secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. The detector setup is a pixelated detector from the Medipix/Timepix family with high-voltage post-acceleration capabilities. The system's mass spectral and imaging performance is tested with various benchmark samples and thin tissue sections. The high secondary ion yield (with respect to 'traditional' monatomic primary ion sources) of the C60 primary ion source and the increased sensitivity of the high voltage detector setup improve microscope mode secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. The analysis time and the signal-to-noise ratio are improved compared with other microscope mode imaging systems, all at high spatial resolution. We have demonstrated the unique capabilities of a C60 ion microscope with a Timepix detector for high spatial resolution microscope mode secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Myocardial T2* Mapping at Ultrahigh Field: Physics and Frontier Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huelnhagen, Till; Paul, Katharina; Ku, Min-Chi; Serradas Duarte, Teresa; Niendorf, Thoralf

2017-06-01

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has become an indispensable clinical tool for the assessment of morphology, function and structure of the heart muscle. By exploiting quantification of the effective transverse relaxation time (T2*) CMR also affords myocardial tissue characterization and probing of cardiac physiology, both being in the focus of ongoing research. These developments are fueled by the move to ultrahigh magnetic field strengths, which permits enhanced sensitivity and spatial resolution that help to overcome limitations of current clinical MR systems with the goal to contribute to a better understanding of myocardial (patho)physiology in vivo. In this context, the aim of this report is to introduce myocardial T2* mapping at ultrahigh magnetic fields as a promising technique to non-invasively assess myocardial (patho)physiology. For this purpose the basic principles of T2* assessment, the biophysical mechanisms determining T2* and (pre)clinical applications of myocardial T2* mapping are presented. Technological challenges and solutions for T2* sensitized CMR at ultrahigh magnetic field strengths are discussed followed by a review of acquisition techniques and post processing approaches. Preliminary results derived from myocardial T2* mapping in healthy subjects and cardiac patients at 7.0 Tesla are presented. A concluding section discusses remaining questions and challenges and provides an outlook on future developments and potential clinical applications.

Towards simultaneous single emission microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Liang

In recent years, the combined nuclear imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has drawn extensive research effort. They can provide simultaneously acquired anatomical and functional information inside the human/small animal body in vivo. In this dissertation, the development of an ultrahigh resolution MR-compatible SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) system that can be operated inside a pre-existing clinical MR scanner for simultaneous dual-modality imaging of small animals will be discussed. This system is constructed with 40 small pixel CdTe detector modules assembled in a fully stationary ring SPECT geometry. Series of experiments have demonstrated that this system is capable of providing an imaging resolution of <500?m, when operated inside MR scanners. The ultrahigh resolution MR-compatible SPECT system is built around a small pixel CdTe detector module that we recently developed. Each module consists of CdTe detectors having an overall size of 2.2 cm x 1.1 cm, divided into 64 x 32 pixels of 350 mum in size. A novel hybrid pixel-waveform (HPWF) readout system is also designed to alleviate several challenges for using small-pixel CdTe detectors in ultrahigh-resolution SPECT imaging applications. The HPWF system utilizes a modified version of a 2048-channel 2-D CMOS ASIC to readout the anode pixel, and a digitizing circuitry to sample the signal waveform induced on the cathode. The cathode waveform acquired with the HPWF circuitry offers excellent spatial resolution, energy resolution and depth of interaction (DOI) information, even with the presence of excessive charge-sharing/charge-loss between the small anode pixels. The HPWF CdTe detector is designed and constructed with a minimum amount of ferromagnetic materials, to ensure the MR-compatibility. To achieve sub-500?m imaging resolution, two special designed SPECT apertures have been constructed with different pinhole sizes of 300?m and 500?m respectively. It has 40 pinhole inserts that are made of cast platinum (90%)-iridium (10%) alloy, which provides the maximum stopping power and are compatible with MR scanners. The SPECT system is installed on a non-metal gantry constructed with 3-D printing using nylon powder material. This compact system can work as a "low-cost" desktop ultrahigh resolution SPECT system. It can also be directly operated inside an MR scanner. Accurate system geometrical calibration and corresponding image reconstruction methods for the MRC-SPECT system is developed. In order to account for the magnetic field induced distortion in the SPECT image, a comprehensive charge collection model inside strong magnetic field is adopted to produce high resolution SPECT image inside MR scanner.

Structural Analysis of Titan's Tholins by Ultra-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vuitton, V.; Frisari, M.; Thissen, R.; Dutuit, O.; Bonnet, J.-Y.; Quirico, E.; Sciamma O'Brien, E.; Szopa, C.; Carrasco, N.; Somogyi, A.; Smith, M.; Hörst, S. M.; Yelle, R.

2010-04-01

We propose here a systematic ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry and MS/MS study in order to provide a more coherent and complete characterization of the structure of the molecules making up the soluble fraction of the Titan tholins.

Harmful algal bloom characterization at ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution using small unmanned aircraft systems.

PubMed

Van der Merwe, Deon; Price, Kevin P

2015-03-27

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) degrade water quality and produce toxins. The spatial distribution of HAbs may change rapidly due to variations wind, water currents, and population dynamics. Risk assessments, based on traditional sampling methods, are hampered by the sparseness of water sample data points, and delays between sampling and the availability of results. There is a need for local risk assessment and risk management at the spatial and temporal resolution relevant to local human and animal interactions at specific sites and times. Small, unmanned aircraft systems can gather color-infrared reflectance data at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions, with full control over data collection timing, and short intervals between data gathering and result availability. Data can be interpreted qualitatively, or by generating a blue normalized difference vegetation index (BNDVI) that is correlated with cyanobacterial biomass densities at the water surface, as estimated using a buoyant packed cell volume (BPCV). Correlations between BNDVI and BPCV follow a logarithmic model, with r(2)-values under field conditions from 0.77 to 0.87. These methods provide valuable information that is complimentary to risk assessment data derived from traditional risk assessment methods, and could help to improve risk management at the local level.

Spatiotemporal evolution of premonitory fault slip prior to stick-slip instability: New insight into the earthquake preparation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuo, Y. Q.; Liu, P.; Guo, Y.; Ji, Y.; Ma, J.

2017-12-01

Premonitory fault slip, which begins with quasistatic propagation followed by quasidynamic propagation, may be a key clue bridging the "stick" state and "slip" state of a fault. More attentions have been paid for a long time to the temporal resolution of measurement than the spatial resolution, leading to the incomplete interpretation for the spatial evolution of premonitory slip, particularly during the quasistatic phase. In the present study, measurement of the quasistatic propagation of premonitory slip is achieved at an ultrahigh spatial resolution via a digital image correlation method. Multiple premonitory slip zones are observed and found to be controlled spatially by the fault contact heterogeneity, particularly the strong contact patches that prevent the propagation of premonitory slip and accumulate strain. As a result, premonitory slip is accelerated within constrained week contact spaces and consequently triggers the breakout of quasidynamic propagation. The results provide new insights into the quasistatic propagation of premonitory slip and may offer new interpretations for the earthquake nucleation process. This work is fund by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41572181), the Basic Scientific Funding of Chinese National Nonprofit Institutes (Grant No. IGCEA1415, IGCEA1525), and the Early-Stage Work of Key Breakthrough Plan in Seismology from China Earthquake Administration.

Harmful Algal Bloom Characterization at Ultra-High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

PubMed Central

Van der Merwe, Deon; Price, Kevin P.

2015-01-01

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) degrade water quality and produce toxins. The spatial distribution of HAbs may change rapidly due to variations wind, water currents, and population dynamics. Risk assessments, based on traditional sampling methods, are hampered by the sparseness of water sample data points, and delays between sampling and the availability of results. There is a need for local risk assessment and risk management at the spatial and temporal resolution relevant to local human and animal interactions at specific sites and times. Small, unmanned aircraft systems can gather color-infrared reflectance data at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions, with full control over data collection timing, and short intervals between data gathering and result availability. Data can be interpreted qualitatively, or by generating a blue normalized difference vegetation index (BNDVI) that is correlated with cyanobacterial biomass densities at the water surface, as estimated using a buoyant packed cell volume (BPCV). Correlations between BNDVI and BPCV follow a logarithmic model, with r2-values under field conditions from 0.77 to 0.87. These methods provide valuable information that is complimentary to risk assessment data derived from traditional risk assessment methods, and could help to improve risk management at the local level. PMID:25826055

Ultrahigh-resolution FT-ICR mass spectrometry characterization of a-pinene ozonolysis SOA

EPA Science Inventory

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) of α-pinene ozonolysis with and without hydroxyl radical scavenging hexane was characterized by ultrahigh-resolution. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Molecular formulas for more than 900 negative ions were i...

Ultra-high spatial resolution multi-energy CT using photon counting detector technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leng, S.; Gutjahr, R.; Ferrero, A.; Kappler, S.; Henning, A.; Halaweish, A.; Zhou, W.; Montoya, J.; McCollough, C.

2017-03-01

Two ultra-high-resolution (UHR) imaging modes, each with two energy thresholds, were implemented on a research, whole-body photon-counting-detector (PCD) CT scanner, referred to as sharp and UHR, respectively. The UHR mode has a pixel size of 0.25 mm at iso-center for both energy thresholds, with a collimation of 32 × 0.25 mm. The sharp mode has a 0.25 mm pixel for the low-energy threshold and 0.5 mm for the high-energy threshold, with a collimation of 48 × 0.25 mm. Kidney stones with mixed mineral composition and lung nodules with different shapes were scanned using both modes, and with the standard imaging mode, referred to as macro mode (0.5 mm pixel and 32 × 0.5 mm collimation). Evaluation and comparison of the three modes focused on the ability to accurately delineate anatomic structures using the high-spatial resolution capability and the ability to quantify stone composition using the multi-energy capability. The low-energy threshold images of the sharp and UHR modes showed better shape and texture information due to the achieved higher spatial resolution, although noise was also higher. No noticeable benefit was shown in multi-energy analysis using UHR compared to standard resolution (macro mode) when standard doses were used. This was due to excessive noise in the higher resolution images. However, UHR scans at higher dose showed improvement in multi-energy analysis over macro mode with regular dose. To fully take advantage of the higher spatial resolution in multi-energy analysis, either increased radiation dose, or application of noise reduction techniques, is needed.

Design Method For Ultra-High Resolution Linear CCD Imagers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheu, Larry S.; Truong, Thanh; Yuzuki, Larry; Elhatem, Abdul; Kadekodi, Narayan

1984-11-01

This paper presents the design method to achieve ultra-high resolution linear imagers. This method utilizes advanced design rules and novel staggered bilinear photo sensor arrays with quadrilinear shift registers. Design constraint in the detector arrays and shift registers are analyzed. Imager architecture to achieve ultra-high resolution is presented. The characteristics of MTF, aliasing, speed, transfer efficiency and fine photolithography requirements associated with this architecture are also discussed. A CCD imager with advanced 1.5 um minimum feature size was fabricated. It is intended as a test vehicle for the next generation small sampling pitch ultra-high resolution CCD imager. Standard double-poly, two-phase shift registers were fabricated at an 8 um pitch using the advanced design rules. A special process step that blocked the source-drain implant from the shift register area was invented. This guaranteed excellent performance of the shift registers regardless of the small poly overlaps. A charge transfer efficiency of better than 0.99995 and maximum transfer speed of 8 MHz were achieved. The imager showed excellent performance. The dark current was less than 0.2 mV/ms, saturation 250 mV, adjacent photoresponse non-uniformity ± 4% and responsivity 0.7 V/ μJ/cm2 for the 8 μm x 6 μm photosensor size. The MTF was 0.6 at 62.5 cycles/mm. These results confirm the feasibility of the next generation ultra-high resolution CCD imagers.

Ultrahigh-Resolution Magnetic Resonance in Inhomogeneous Magnetic Fields: Two-Dimensional Long-Lived-Coherence Correlation Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chinthalapalli, Srinivas; Bornet, Aurélien; Segawa, Takuya F.; Sarkar, Riddhiman; Jannin, Sami; Bodenhausen, Geoffrey

2012-07-01

A half-century quest for improving resolution in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has enabled the study of molecular structures, biological interactions, and fine details of anatomy. This progress largely relied on the advent of sophisticated superconducting magnets that can provide stable and homogeneous fields with temporal and spatial variations below ΔB0/B0<0.01ppm. In many cases however, inherent properties of the objects under investigation, pulsating arteries, breathing lungs, tissue-air interfaces, surgical implants, etc., lead to fluctuations and losses of local homogeneity. A new method dubbed “long-lived-coherence correlation spectroscopy” (LLC-COSY) opens the way to overcome both inhomogeneous and homogeneous broadening, which arise from local variations in static fields and fluctuating dipole-dipole interactions, respectively. LLC-COSY makes it possible to obtain ultrahigh resolution two-dimensional spectra, with linewidths on the order of Δν=0.1 to 1 Hz, even in very inhomogeneous fields (ΔB0/B0>10ppm or 5000 Hz at 9.7 T), and can improve resolution by a factor up to 9 when the homogeneous linewidths are determined by dipole-dipole interactions. The resulting LLC-COSY spectra display chemical shift differences and scalar couplings in two orthogonal dimensions, like in “J spectroscopy.” LLC-COSY does not require any sophisticated gradient switching or frequency-modulated pulses. Applications to in-cell NMR and to magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of selected volume elements in MRI appear promising, particularly when susceptibility variations tend to preclude high resolution.

Ultra-high aggregate bandwidth two-dimensional multiple-wavelength diode laser arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang-Hasnain, Connie

1993-12-01

Two-dimensional (2D) multi-wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays is promising for ultrahigh aggregate capacity optical networks. A 2D VCSEL array emitting 140 distinct wavelengths was reported by implementing a spatially graded layer in the VCSEL structure, which in turn creates a wavelength spread. Concentrtion was on epitaxial growth techniques to make reproducible and repeatable multi-wavelength VCSEL arrays. Our approach to fabricate the spatially graded layer involves creating a nonuniform substrate surface temperature across the wafer during the growth of the cavity spacer region using the fact that the molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaAs is highly sensitive to the substrate temperature. Growth is investigated with the use of a patterned spacer (either a Ga or Si substrate) placed in-between the substrate and its heater. The temperature distribution on such wafers is used to guide our experiments. A reflectivity measurement apparatus that is capable of mapping a 2 in. wafer with a 100 microns diameter resolution was built for diagnosing our wafers. In this first six-month report, our calculations, the various experimental results, and a discussion on future directions are presented.

Phased Array 3D MR Spectroscopic Imaging of the Brain at 7 Tesla

PubMed Central

Xu, Duan; Cunningham, Charles H; Chen, Albert P.; Li, Yan; Kelley, Douglas AC; Mukherjee, Pratik; Pauly, John M.; Nelson, Sarah J.; Vigneron, Daniel B.

2008-01-01

Ultrahigh field 7T MR scanners offer the potential for greatly improved MR spectroscopic imaging due to increased sensitivity and spectral resolution. Prior 7T human single-voxel MRS studies have shown significant increases in SNR and spectral resolution as compared to lower magnetic fields, but have not demonstrated the increase in spatial resolution and multivoxel coverage possible with 7T MR spectroscopic imaging. The goal of this study was to develop specialized rf pulses and sequences for 3D MRSI at 7T to address the challenges of increased chemical shift misregistration, B1 power limitations, and increased spectral bandwidth. The new 7T MRSI sequence was tested in volunteer studies and demonstrated the feasibility of obtaining high SNR phased-array 3D MRSI from the human brain. PMID:18486386

Ultra-wideband sensors for improved magnetic resonance imaging, cardiovascular monitoring and tumour diagnostics.

PubMed

Thiel, Florian; Kosch, Olaf; Seifert, Frank

2010-01-01

The specific advantages of ultra-wideband electromagnetic remote sensing (UWB radar) make it a particularly attractive technique for biomedical applications. We partially review our activities in utilizing this novel approach for the benefit of high and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other applications, e.g., for intensive care medicine and biomedical research. We could show that our approach is beneficial for applications like motion tracking for high resolution brain imaging due to the non-contact acquisition of involuntary head motions with high spatial resolution, navigation for cardiac MRI due to our interpretation of the detected physiological mechanical contraction of the heart muscle and for MR safety, since we have investigated the influence of high static magnetic fields on myocardial mechanics. From our findings we could conclude, that UWB radar can serve as a navigator technique for high and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging and can be beneficial preserving the high resolution capability of this imaging modality. Furthermore it can potentially be used to support standard ECG analysis by complementary information where sole ECG analysis fails. Further analytical investigations have proven the feasibility of this method for intracranial displacements detection and the rendition of a tumour's contrast agent based perfusion dynamic. Beside these analytical approaches we have carried out FDTD simulations of a complex arrangement mimicking the illumination of a human torso model incorporating the geometry of the antennas applied.

T1-weighted in vivo human whole brain MRI dataset with an ultrahigh isotropic resolution of 250 μm.

PubMed

Lüsebrink, Falk; Sciarra, Alessandro; Mattern, Hendrik; Yakupov, Renat; Speck, Oliver

2017-03-14

We present an ultrahigh resolution in vivo human brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset. It consists of T 1 -weighted whole brain anatomical data acquired at 7 Tesla with a nominal isotropic resolution of 250 μm of a single young healthy Caucasian subject and was recorded using prospective motion correction. The raw data amounts to approximately 1.2 TB and was acquired in eight hours total scan time. The resolution of this dataset is far beyond any previously published in vivo structural whole brain dataset. Its potential use is to build an in vivo MR brain atlas. Methods for image reconstruction and image restoration can be improved as the raw data is made available. Pre-processing and segmentation procedures can possibly be enhanced for high magnetic field strength and ultrahigh resolution data. Furthermore, potential resolution induced changes in quantitative data analysis can be assessed, e.g., cortical thickness or volumetric measures, as high quality images with an isotropic resolution of 1 and 0.5 mm of the same subject are included in the repository as well.

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence elastography using a Bessel beam for extended depth of field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curatolo, Andrea; Villiger, Martin; Lorenser, Dirk; Wijesinghe, Philip; Fritz, Alexander; Kennedy, Brendan F.; Sampson, David D.

2016-03-01

Visualizing stiffness within the local tissue environment at the cellular and sub-cellular level promises to provide insight into the genesis and progression of disease. In this paper, we propose ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography, and demonstrate three-dimensional imaging of local axial strain of tissues undergoing compressive loading. The technique employs a dual-arm extended focus optical coherence microscope to measure tissue displacement under compression. The system uses a broad bandwidth supercontinuum source for ultrahigh axial resolution, Bessel beam illumination and Gaussian beam detection, maintaining sub-2 μm transverse resolution over nearly 100 μm depth of field, and spectral-domain detection allowing high displacement sensitivity. The system produces strain elastograms with a record resolution (x,y,z) of 2×2×15 μm. We benchmark the advances in terms of resolution and strain sensitivity by imaging a suitable inclusion phantom. We also demonstrate this performance on freshly excised mouse aorta and reveal the mechanical heterogeneity of vascular smooth muscle cells and elastin sheets, otherwise unresolved in a typical, lower resolution optical coherence elastography system.

T1-weighted in vivo human whole brain MRI dataset with an ultrahigh isotropic resolution of 250 μm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lüsebrink, Falk; Sciarra, Alessandro; Mattern, Hendrik; Yakupov, Renat; Speck, Oliver

2017-03-01

We present an ultrahigh resolution in vivo human brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset. It consists of T1-weighted whole brain anatomical data acquired at 7 Tesla with a nominal isotropic resolution of 250 μm of a single young healthy Caucasian subject and was recorded using prospective motion correction. The raw data amounts to approximately 1.2 TB and was acquired in eight hours total scan time. The resolution of this dataset is far beyond any previously published in vivo structural whole brain dataset. Its potential use is to build an in vivo MR brain atlas. Methods for image reconstruction and image restoration can be improved as the raw data is made available. Pre-processing and segmentation procedures can possibly be enhanced for high magnetic field strength and ultrahigh resolution data. Furthermore, potential resolution induced changes in quantitative data analysis can be assessed, e.g., cortical thickness or volumetric measures, as high quality images with an isotropic resolution of 1 and 0.5 mm of the same subject are included in the repository as well.

Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography of Surgically Closed Macular Holes

PubMed Central

Ko, Tony H.; Witkin, Andre J.; Fujimoto, James G.; Chan, Annie; Rogers, Adam H.; Baumal, Caroline R.; Schuman, Joel S.; Drexler, Wolfgang; Reichel, Elias; Duker, Jay S.

2007-01-01

Objective To evaluate retinal anatomy using ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) in eyes after successful surgical repair of full-thickness macular hole. Methods Twenty-two eyes of 22 patients were diagnosed as having macular hole, underwent pars plana vitrectomy, and had flat/closed macular anatomy after surgery, as confirmed with biomicroscopic and OCT examination findings. An ultrahigh-resolution–OCT system developed for retinal imaging, with the capability to achieve approximately 3-μm axial resolution, was used to evaluate retinal anatomy after hole repair. Results Despite successful closure of the macular hole, all 22 eyes had macular abnormalities on ultrahigh-resolution–OCT images after surgery. These abnormalities were separated into the following 5 categories: (1) outer foveal defects in 14 eyes (64%), (2) persistent foveal detachment in 4 (18%), (3) moderately reflective foveal lesions in 12 (55%), (4) epiretinal membranes in 14 (64%), and (5) nerve fiber layer defects in 3 (14%). Conclusions With improved visualization of fine retinal architectural features, ultrahigh-resolution OCT can visualize persistent retinal abnormalities despite anatomically successful macular hole surgery. Outer foveal hyporeflective disruptions of the junction between the inner and outer segments of the photoreceptors likely represent areas of foveal photoreceptor degeneration. Moderately reflective lesions likely represent glial cell proliferation at the site of hole reapproximation. Thin epiretinal membranes do not seem to decrease visual acuity and may play a role in reestablishing foveal anatomy after surgery. PMID:16769836

Quantitative x-ray phase imaging at the nanoscale by multilayer Laue lenses

PubMed Central

Yan, Hanfei; Chu, Yong S.; Maser, Jörg; Nazaretski, Evgeny; Kim, Jungdae; Kang, Hyon Chol; Lombardo, Jeffrey J.; Chiu, Wilson K. S.

2013-01-01

For scanning x-ray microscopy, many attempts have been made to image the phase contrast based on a concept of the beam being deflected by a specimen, the so-called differential phase contrast imaging (DPC). Despite the successful demonstration in a number of representative cases at moderate spatial resolutions, these methods suffer from various limitations that preclude applications of DPC for ultra-high spatial resolution imaging, where the emerging wave field from the focusing optic tends to be significantly more complicated. In this work, we propose a highly robust and generic approach based on a Fourier-shift fitting process and demonstrate quantitative phase imaging of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anode by multilayer Laue lenses (MLLs). The high sensitivity of the phase to structural and compositional variations makes our technique extremely powerful in correlating the electrode performance with its buried nanoscale interfacial structures that may be invisible to the absorption and fluorescence contrasts. PMID:23419650

Developmental and morphological studies in Japanese medaka with ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Gladys, Fanny Moses; Matsuda, Masaru; Lim, Yiheng; Jackin, Boaz Jessie; Imai, Takuto; Otani, Yukitoshi; Yatagai, Toyohiko; Cense, Barry

2015-02-01

We propose ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography to study the morphological development of internal organs in medaka fish in the post-embryonic stages at micrometer resolution. Different stages of Japanese medaka were imaged after hatching in vivo with an axial resolution of 2.8 µm in tissue. Various morphological structures and organs identified in the OCT images were then compared with the histology. Due to the medaka's close resemblance to vertebrates, including humans, these morphological features play an important role in morphogenesis and can be used to study diseases that also occur in humans.

Nanoscale deformation analysis with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and digital image correlation

DOE PAGES

Wang, Xueju; Pan, Zhipeng; Fan, Feifei; ...

2015-09-10

We present an application of the digital image correlation (DIC) method to high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images for nanoscale deformation analysis. The combination of DIC and HRTEM offers both the ultrahigh spatial resolution and high displacement detection sensitivity that are not possible with other microscope-based DIC techniques. We demonstrate the accuracy and utility of the HRTEM-DIC technique through displacement and strain analysis on amorphous silicon. Two types of error sources resulting from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image noise and electromagnetic-lens distortions are quantitatively investigated via rigid-body translation experiments. The local and global DIC approaches are applied for themore » analysis of diffusion- and reaction-induced deformation fields in electrochemically lithiated amorphous silicon. As a result, the DIC technique coupled with HRTEM provides a new avenue for the deformation analysis of materials at the nanometer length scales.« less

Quantifying the ultrastructure of carotid arteries using high-resolution micro-diffusion tensor imaging—comparison of intact versus open cut tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salman Shahid, Syed; Gaul, Robert T.; Kerskens, Christian; Flamini, Vittoria; Lally, Caitríona

2017-12-01

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) can provide insights into the microstructure of intact arterial tissue. The current study employed high magnetic field MRI to obtain ultra-high resolution dMRI at an isotropic voxel resolution of 117 µm3 in less than 2 h of scan time. A parameter selective single shell (128 directions) diffusion-encoding scheme based on Stejskel-Tanner sequence with echo-planar imaging (EPI) readout was used. EPI segmentation was used to reduce the echo time (TE) and to minimise the susceptibility-induced artefacts. The study utilised the dMRI analysis with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) framework to investigate structural heterogeneity in intact arterial tissue and to quantify variations in tissue composition when the tissue is cut open and flattened. For intact arterial samples, the region of interest base comparison showed significant differences in fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity across the media layer (p  <  0.05). For open cut flat samples, DTI based directionally invariant indices did not show significant differences across the media layer. For intact samples, fibre tractography based indices such as calculated helical angle and fibre dispersion showed near circumferential alignment and a high degree of fibre dispersion, respectively. This study demonstrates the feasibility of fast dMRI acquisition with ultra-high spatial and angular resolution at 7 T. Using the optimised sequence parameters, this study shows that DTI based markers are sensitive to local structural changes in intact arterial tissue samples and these markers may have clinical relevance in the diagnosis of atherosclerosis and aneurysm.

The Temporal Resolution of Laser Induced Fluorescence Photobleaching Anemometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Wei; Yang, Fang; Wang, Guiren

2014-11-01

Recently, in microfluidics, electrokinetic flows are widely used on micromixer designing. However, there is unfortunately no valid velocimeter today that can measure the random velocity fluctuation at high temporal and spatial resolution simultaneously in the complicated flow circumstance. We recently introduced laser induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometer (LIFPA), which has been successfully used in the measurement of velocity field in AC electrically driven microflow. Here, we theoretically study the temporal resolution (TR) of and experimentally verify, LIFPA can have simultaneously ultrahigh temporal (~4 μs) and spatial (~203 nm) resolution and can measure velocity fluctuation up to at least 2 kHz, whose corresponding wave number is about 6 × 106 1/m in an electrokinetically forced unsteady flow in microfluidics. The measurement of LIFPA is also compared with the widely used micro Particle Imaging Velocimetry (μPIV). We found, at the inlet, due to multiple uncertainties, the velocity fluctuations by μPIV exhibits apparently smaller values than that by LIFPA. But at downstreams, where velocity fluctuation is much lower than at the inlet and the uncertainties of complicated electric field on particles becomes smaller, LIFPA and μPIV indicate similar measurement. The work was supported by NSF under grant no. CAREER CBET-0954977 and MRI CBET-1040227, respectively.

Geochemistry of Dissolved Organic Matter in a Spatially Highly Resolved Groundwater Petroleum Hydrocarbon Plume Cross-Section.

PubMed

Dvorski, Sabine E-M; Gonsior, Michael; Hertkorn, Norbert; Uhl, Jenny; Müller, Hubert; Griebler, Christian; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe

2016-06-07

At numerous groundwater sites worldwide, natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) is quantitatively complemented with petroleum hydrocarbons. To date, research has been focused almost exclusively on the contaminants, but detailed insights of the interaction of contaminant biodegradation, dominant redox processes, and interactions with natural DOM are missing. This study linked on-site high resolution spatial sampling of groundwater with high resolution molecular characterization of DOM and its relation to groundwater geochemistry across a petroleum hydrocarbon plume cross-section. Electrospray- and atmospheric pressure photoionization (ESI, APPI) ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) revealed a strong interaction between DOM and reactive sulfur species linked to microbial sulfate reduction, i.e., the key redox process involved in contaminant biodegradation. Excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) modeling attributed DOM samples to specific contamination traits. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy evaluated the aromatic compounds and their degradation products in samples influenced by the petroleum contamination and its biodegradation. Our orthogonal high resolution analytical approach enabled a comprehensive molecular level understanding of the DOM with respect to in situ petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation and microbial sulfate reduction. The role of natural DOM as potential cosubstrate and detoxification reactant may improve future bioremediation strategies.

Low-temperature, ultrahigh-vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy combined with molecular beam epitaxy for in situ two-dimensional materials' studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Shaoxiang; Li, Wenbin; Gou, Jian; Cheng, Peng; Chen, Lan; Wu, Kehui

2018-05-01

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), which combines scanning probe microscopy with the Raman spectroscopy, is capable to access the local structure and chemical information simultaneously. However, the application of ambient TERS is limited by the unstable and poorly controllable experimental conditions. Here, we designed a high performance TERS system based on a low-temperature ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope (LT-UHV-STM) and combined with a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. It can be used for growing two-dimensional (2D) materials and for in situ STM and TERS characterization. Using a 2D silicene sheet on the Ag(111) surface as a model system, we achieved an unprecedented 109 Raman single enhancement factor in combination with a TERS spatial resolution down to 0.5 nm. The results show that TERS combined with a MBE system can be a powerful tool to study low dimensional materials and surface science.

Development of first ever scanning probe microscopy capabilities for plutonium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beaux, Miles F.; Cordoba, Miguel Santiago; Zocco, Adam T.; Vodnik, Douglas R.; Ramos, Michael; Richmond, Scott; Moore, David P.; Venhaus, Thomas J.; Joyce, Stephen A.; Usov, Igor O.

2017-04-01

Scanning probe microscopy capabilities have been developed for plutonium and its derivative compounds. Specifically, a scanning tunneling microscope and an atomic force microscope housed in an ultra-high vacuum system and an inert atmosphere glove box, respectively, were prepared for the introduction of small non-dispersible δ-Pu coupons. Experimental details, procedures, and preliminary imaging of δ-Pu coupons are presented to demonstrate the functionality of these new capabilities. These first of a kind capabilities for plutonium represent a significant step forward in the ability to characterize and understand plutonium surfaces with high spatial resolution.

Development of first ever scanning probe microscopy capabilities for plutonium

DOE PAGES

Beaux, Miles F.; Cordoba, Miguel Santiago; Zocco, Adam T.; ...

2017-04-01

Scanning probe microscopy capabilities have been developed for plutonium and its derivative compounds. Specifically, a scanning tunneling microscope and an atomic force microscope housed in an ultra-high vacuum system and an inert atmosphere glove box, respectively, were prepared for the introduction of small non-dispersible δ-Pu coupons. Experimental details, procedures, and preliminary imaging of δ-Pu coupons are presented to demonstrate the functionality of these new capabilities. In conclusion, these first of a kind capabilities for plutonium represent a significant step forward in the ability to characterize and understand plutonium surfaces with high spatial resolution.

X-ray Echo Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shvyd'ko, Yuri

2016-02-01

X-ray echo spectroscopy, a counterpart of neutron spin echo, is being introduced here to overcome limitations in spectral resolution and weak signals of the traditional inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) probes. An image of a pointlike x-ray source is defocused by a dispersing system comprised of asymmetrically cut specially arranged Bragg diffracting crystals. The defocused image is refocused into a point (echo) in a time-reversal dispersing system. If the defocused beam is inelastically scattered from a sample, the echo signal acquires a spatial distribution, which is a map of the inelastic scattering spectrum. The spectral resolution of the echo spectroscopy does not rely on the monochromaticity of the x rays, ensuring strong signals along with a very high spectral resolution. Particular schemes of x-ray echo spectrometers for 0.1-0.02 meV ultrahigh-resolution IXS applications (resolving power >108 ) with broadband ≃5 - 13 meV dispersing systems are introduced featuring more than 103 signal enhancement. The technique is general, applicable in different photon frequency domains.

Imaging cells and sub-cellular structures with ultrahigh resolution full-field X-ray microscopy.

PubMed

Chien, C C; Tseng, P Y; Chen, H H; Hua, T E; Chen, S T; Chen, Y Y; Leng, W H; Wang, C H; Hwu, Y; Yin, G C; Liang, K S; Chen, F R; Chu, Y S; Yeh, H I; Yang, Y C; Yang, C S; Zhang, G L; Je, J H; Margaritondo, G

2013-01-01

Our experimental results demonstrate that full-field hard-X-ray microscopy is finally able to investigate the internal structure of cells in tissues. This result was made possible by three main factors: the use of a coherent (synchrotron) source of X-rays, the exploitation of contrast mechanisms based on the real part of the refractive index and the magnification provided by high-resolution Fresnel zone-plate objectives. We specifically obtained high-quality microradiographs of human and mouse cells with 29 nm Rayleigh spatial resolution and verified that tomographic reconstruction could be implemented with a final resolution level suitable for subcellular features. We also demonstrated that a phase retrieval method based on a wave propagation algorithm could yield good subcellular images starting from a series of defocused microradiographs. The concluding discussion compares cellular and subcellular hard-X-ray microradiology with other techniques and evaluates its potential impact on biomedical research. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of heteroatom pre-selection on the molecular formula assignment of soil organic matter components determined by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Ohno, Tsutomu; Ohno, Paul E

2013-04-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is involved in many important ecosystem processes. Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry has become a powerful technique in the chemical characterization of SOM, allowing assignment of elemental formulae for thousands of peaks resolved in a typical mass spectrum. We investigated how the addition of N, S, and P heteroatoms in the formula calculation stage of the mass spectra processing workflow affected the formula assignments of mass spectra peaks. Dissolved organic matter extracted from plant biomass and soil as well as the soil humic acid fraction was studied. We show that the addition of S and P into the molecular formula calculation increased peak assignments on average by 17.3 % and 10.7 %, respectively, over the assignments based on the CHON elements frequently reported by SOM researchers using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. The organic matter chemical characteristics as represented by van Krevelen diagrams were appreciably affected by differences in the heteroatom pre-selection for the three organic matter samples investigated, especially so for the wheat-derived dissolved organic matter. These results show that inclusion of both S and P heteroatoms into the formula calculation step, which is not routinely done, is important to obtain a more chemically complete interpretation of the ultrahigh resolution mass spectra of SOM.

Ultra-high resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography using supercontinuum light source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Yiheng; Yatagai, Toyohiko; Otani, Yukitoshi

2016-04-01

An ultra-high resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was developed using a cost-effective supercontinuum laser. A spectral filter consists of a dispersive prism, a cylindrical lens and a right-angle prism was built to transmit the wavelengths in range 680-940 nm to the OCT system. The SD-OCT has achieved 1.9 μm axial resolution and the sensitivity was estimated to be 91.5 dB. A zero-crossing fringes matching method which maps the wavelengths to the pixel indices of the spectrometer was proposed for the OCT spectral calibration. A double sided foam tape as a static sample and the tip of a middle finger as a biological sample were measured by the OCT. The adhesive and the internal structure of the foam of the tape were successfully visualized in three dimensions. Sweat ducts was clearly observed in the OCT images at very high resolution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of ultra-high resolution visualization of sweat duct by OCT.

Lipid and glycolipid isomer analyses using ultra-high resolution ion mobility spectrometry separations

DOE PAGES

Wojcik, Roza; Webb, Ian K.; Deng, Liulin; ...

2017-01-18

Understanding the biological mechanisms related to lipids and glycolipids is challenging due to the vast number of possible isomers. Mass spectrometry (MS) measurements are currently the dominant approach for studying and providing detailed information on lipid and glycolipid structures. However, difficulties in distinguishing many structural isomers (e.g. distinct acyl chain positions, double bond locations, as well as glycan isomers) inhibit the understanding of their biological roles. Here we utilized ultra-high resolution ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) separations based upon the use of traveling waves in a serpentine long path length multi-pass Structures for Lossless Manipulations (SLIM) to enhance isomer resolution. Themore » multi-pass arrangement allowed separations ranging from ~16 m (1 pass) to ~470 m (32 passes) to be investigated for the distinction of lipids and glycolipids with extremely small structural differences. Lastly, these ultra-high resolution SLIM IMS-MS analyses provide a foundation for exploring and better understanding isomer specific biological and disease processes.« less

Ultra-Wideband Sensors for Improved Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cardiovascular Monitoring and Tumour Diagnostics

PubMed Central

Thiel, Florian; Kosch, Olaf; Seifert, Frank

2010-01-01

The specific advantages of ultra-wideband electromagnetic remote sensing (UWB radar) make it a particularly attractive technique for biomedical applications. We partially review our activities in utilizing this novel approach for the benefit of high and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other applications, e.g., for intensive care medicine and biomedical research. We could show that our approach is beneficial for applications like motion tracking for high resolution brain imaging due to the non-contact acquisition of involuntary head motions with high spatial resolution, navigation for cardiac MRI due to our interpretation of the detected physiological mechanical contraction of the heart muscle and for MR safety, since we have investigated the influence of high static magnetic fields on myocardial mechanics. From our findings we could conclude, that UWB radar can serve as a navigator technique for high and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging and can be beneficial preserving the high resolution capability of this imaging modality. Furthermore it can potentially be used to support standard ECG analysis by complementary information where sole ECG analysis fails. Further analytical investigations have proven the feasibility of this method for intracranial displacements detection and the rendition of a tumour’s contrast agent based perfusion dynamic. Beside these analytical approaches we have carried out FDTD simulations of a complex arrangement mimicking the illumination of a human torso model incorporating the geometry of the antennas applied. PMID:22163498

Developmental and morphological studies in Japanese medaka with ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Gladys, Fanny Moses; Matsuda, Masaru; Lim, Yiheng; Jackin, Boaz Jessie; Imai, Takuto; Otani, Yukitoshi; Yatagai, Toyohiko; Cense, Barry

2015-01-01

We propose ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography to study the morphological development of internal organs in medaka fish in the post-embryonic stages at micrometer resolution. Different stages of Japanese medaka were imaged after hatching in vivo with an axial resolution of 2.8 µm in tissue. Various morphological structures and organs identified in the OCT images were then compared with the histology. Due to the medaka’s close resemblance to vertebrates, including humans, these morphological features play an important role in morphogenesis and can be used to study diseases that also occur in humans. PMID:25780725

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

Huang X. R.; Siddons D.; Macrander, A.T.

Realization of x-ray Fabry-Perot (FP) resonance in back-Bragg-reflection crystal cavities has been proposed and explored for many years, but to date no satisfactory performance has been achieved. Here we show that single-cavity crystal resonators intrinsically have limited finesse and efficiency. To break this limit, we demonstrate that monolithic multicavity resonators with equal-width cavities and specific plate thickness ratios can generate ultrahigh-resolution FP resonance with high efficiency, steep peak tails, and ultrahigh contrast simultaneously. The resonance mechanism is similar to that of sequentially cascaded single-cavity resonators. The ultranarrow-bandwidth FP resonance is anticipated to have various applications, including modern ultrahigh-resolution or precisionmore » x-ray monochromatization, spectroscopy, coherence purification, coherent diffraction, phase contrast imaging, etc.« less

Analysis of Biophysical Mechanisms of Gilgai Microrelief Formation in Dryland Swelling Soils Using Ultra-High Resolution Aerial Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krell, N.; DeCarlo, K. F.; Caylor, K. K.

2015-12-01

Microrelief formations ("gilgai"), which form due to successive wetting-drying cycles typical of swelling soils, provide ecological hotspots for local fauna and flora, including higher and more robust vegetative growth. The distribution of these gilgai suggests a remarkable degree of regularity. However, it is unclear to what extent the mechanisms that drive gilgai formation are physical, such as desiccation-induced fracturing, or biological in nature, namely antecedent vegetative clustering. We investigated gilgai genesis and pattern formation in a 100 x 100 meter study area with swelling soils in a semiarid grassland at the Mpala Research Center in central Kenya. Our ongoing experiment is composed of three 9m2 treatments: we removed gilgai and limited vegetative growth by herbicide application in one plot, allowed for unrestricted seed dispersal in another, and left gilgai unobstructed in a control plot. To estimate the spatial frequencies of the repeating patterns of gilgai, we obtained ultra-high resolution (0.01-0.03m/pixel) images with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from which digital elevation models were also generated. Geostatistical analyses using wavelet and fourier methods in 1- and 2-dimensions were employed to characterize gilgai size and distribution. Preliminary results support regular spatial patterning across the gilgaied landscape and heterogeneities may be related to local soil properties and biophysical influences. Local data on gilgai and fracture characteristics suggest that gilgai form at characteristic heights and spacing based on fracture morphology: deep, wide cracks result in large, highly vegetated mounds whereas shallow cracks, induced by animal trails, are less correlated with gilgai size and shape. Our experiments will help elucidate the links between shrink-swell processes and gilgai-vegetation patterning in high activity clay soils and advance our understanding of the mechanisms of gilgai formation in drylands.

Ultrahigh-resolution CT and DR scanner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiBianca, Frank A.; Gupta, Vivek; Zou, Ping; Jordan, Lawrence M.; Laughter, Joseph S.; Zeman, Herbert D.; Sebes, Jeno I.

1999-05-01

A new technique called Variable-Resolution X-ray (VRX) detection that dramatically increases the spatial resolution in computed tomography (CT) and digital radiography (DR) is presented. The technique is based on a principle called 'projective compression' that allows the resolution element of a CT detector to scale with the subject or field size. For very large (40 - 50 cm) field sizes, resolution exceeding 2 cy/mm is possible and for very small fields, microscopy is attainable with resolution exceeding 100 cy/mm. Several effects that could limit the performance of VRX detectors are considered. Experimental measurements on a 16-channel, CdWO4 scintillator + photodiode test array yield a limiting MTF of 64 cy/mm (8(mu) ) in the highest-resolution configuration reported. Preliminary CT images have been made of small anatomical specimens and small animals using a storage phosphor screen in the VRX mode. Measured detector resolution of the CT projection data exceeds 20 cy/mm (less than 25 (mu) ); however, the final, reconstructed CT images produced thus far exhibit 10 cy/mm (50 (mu) ) resolution because of non-flatness of the storage phosphor plates, focal spot effects and the use of a rudimentary CT reconstruction algorithm. A 576-channel solid-state detector is being fabricated that is expected to achieve CT image resolution in excess of that of the 26-channel test array.

Retinal Structure of Birds of Prey Revealed by Ultra-High Resolution Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

PubMed Central

Ruggeri, Marco; Major, James C.; McKeown, Craig; Knighton, Robert W.; Puliafito, Carmen A.

2010-01-01

Purpose. To reveal three-dimensional (3-D) information about the retinal structures of birds of prey in vivo. Methods. An ultra-high resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system was built for in vivo imaging of retinas of birds of prey. The calibrated imaging depth and axial resolution of the system were 3.1 mm and 2.8 μm (in tissue), respectively. 3-D segmentation was performed for calculation of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) map. Results. High-resolution OCT images were obtained of the retinas of four species of birds of prey: two diurnal hawks (Buteo platypterus and Buteo brachyurus) and two nocturnal owls (Bubo virginianus and Strix varia). These images showed the detailed retinal anatomy, including the retinal layers and the structure of the deep and shallow foveae. The calculated thickness map showed the RNFL distribution. Traumatic injury to one bird's retina was also successfully imaged. Conclusions. Ultra-high resolution SD-OCT provides unprecedented high-quality 2-D and 3-D in vivo visualization of the retinal structures of birds of prey. SD-OCT is a powerful imaging tool for vision research in birds of prey. PMID:20554605

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

Zhu, Fan, E-mail: zf5016@126.com; Center of Ultra-precision Optoelectronic Instrument Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080; Tan, Xinran

An autocollimation (AC) setup with ultra-high resolution and stability for micro-angle measurement is presented. The telephoto objective, which is characterized in long focal length at a compact structure size, and the optical enlargement unit, which can magnify the image displacement to improve its measurement resolution and accuracy, are used to obtain an ultra-high measurement resolution of the AC. The common-path beam drift compensation is used to suppress the drift of measurement results, which is evident in the high-resolution AC, thus to obtain a high measurement stability. Experimental results indicate that an effective resolution of better than 0.0005 arc sec (2.42more » nrad) over a measurement range of ±30 arc sec and a 2-h stability of 0.0061 arc sec (29.57 nrad) can be achieved.« less

Clinical applications at ultrahigh field (7  T). Where does it make the difference?

PubMed

Trattnig, Siegfried; Bogner, Wolfgang; Gruber, Stephan; Szomolanyi, Pavol; Juras, Vladimir; Robinson, Simon; Zbýň, Štefan; Haneder, Stefan

2016-09-01

Presently, three major MR vendors provide commercial 7-T units for clinical research under ethical permission, with the number of operating 7-T systems having increased to over 50. This rapid increase indicates the growing interest in ultrahigh-field MRI because of improved clinical results with regard to morphological as well as functional and metabolic capabilities. As the signal-to-noise ratio scales linearly with the field strength (B0 ) of the scanner, the most obvious application at 7 T is to obtain higher spatial resolution in the brain, musculoskeletal system and breast. Of specific clinical interest for neuro-applications is the cerebral cortex at 7 T, for the detection of changes in cortical structure as a sign of early dementia, as well as for the visualization of cortical microinfarcts and cortical plaques in multiple sclerosis. In the imaging of the hippocampus, even subfields of the internal hippocampal anatomy and pathology can be visualized with excellent resolution. The dynamic and static blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast increases linearly with the field strength, which significantly improves the pre-surgical evaluation of eloquent areas before tumor removal. Using susceptibility-weighted imaging, the plaque-vessel relationship and iron accumulation in multiple sclerosis can be visualized for the first time. Multi-nuclear clinical applications, such as sodium imaging for the evaluation of repair tissue quality after cartilage transplantation and (31) P spectroscopy for the differentiation between non-alcoholic benign liver disease and potentially progressive steatohepatitis, are only possible at ultrahigh fields. Although neuro- and musculoskeletal imaging have already demonstrated the clinical superiority of ultrahigh fields, whole-body clinical applications at 7 T are still limited, mainly because of the lack of suitable coils. The purpose of this article was therefore to review the clinical studies that have been performed thus far at 7 T, compared with 3 T, as well as those studies performed at 7 T that cannot be routinely performed at 3 T. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dynamic x-ray imaging of laser-driven nanoplasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fennel, Thomas

2016-05-01

A major promise of current x-ray science at free electron lasers is the realization of unprecedented imaging capabilities for resolving the structure and ultrafast dynamics of matter with nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal resolution or even below via single-shot x-ray diffraction. Laser-driven atomic clusters and nanoparticles provide an ideal platform for developing and demonstrating the required technology to extract the ultrafast transient spatiotemporal dynamics from the diffraction images. In this talk, the perspectives and challenges of dynamic x-ray imaging will be discussed using complete self-consistent microscopic electromagnetic simulations of IR pump x-ray probe imaging for the example of clusters. The results of the microscopic particle-in-cell simulations (MicPIC) enable the simulation-assisted reconstruction of corresponding experimental data. This capability is demonstrated by converting recently measured LCLS data into a ultrahigh resolution movie of laser-induced plasma expansion. Finally, routes towards reaching attosecond time resolution in the visualization of complex dynamical processes in matter by x-ray diffraction will be discussed.

Progress on PEEM3 -- An Aberration Corrected X-Ray Photoemission Electron Microscope at the ALS

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

MacDowell, A. A.; Feng, J.; DeMello, A.

2007-01-19

A new ultrahigh-resolution photoemission electron microscope called PEEM3 is being developed and built at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). An electron mirror combined with a much-simplified magnetic dipole separator is to be used to provide simultaneous correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations. It is installed on an elliptically polarized undulator (EPU) beamline, and will be operated with very high spatial resolution and high flux to study the composition, structure, electric and magnetic properties of complex materials. The instrument has been designed and is described. The instrumental hardware is being deployed in 2 phases. The first phase is the deployment ofmore » a standard PEEM type microscope consisting of the standard linear array of electrostatic electron lenses. The second phase will be the installation of the aberration corrected upgrade to improve resolution and throughput. This paper describes progress as the instrument enters the commissioning part of the first phase.« less

Progress on PEEM3 - An Aberration Corrected X-Ray PhotoemissionElectron Microscope at the ALS

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

MacDowell, Alastair A.; Feng, J.; DeMello, A.

2006-05-20

A new ultrahigh-resolution photoemission electron microscope called PEEM3 is being developed and built at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). An electron mirror combined with a much-simplified magnetic dipole separator is to be used to provide simultaneous correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations. It is installed on an elliptically polarized undulator (EPU) beamline, and will be operated with very high spatial resolution and high flux to study the composition, structure, electric and magnetic properties of complex materials. The instrument has been designed and is described. The instrumental hardware is being deployed in 2 phases. The first phase is the deployment ofmore » a standard PEEM type microscope consisting of the standard linear array of electrostatic electron lenses. The second phase will be the installation of the aberration corrected upgrade to improve resolution and throughput. This paper describes progress as the instrument enters the commissioning part of the first phase.« less

Ultrahigh speed Spectral / Fourier domain OCT ophthalmic imaging at 70,000 to 312,500 axial scans per second

PubMed Central

Potsaid, Benjamin; Gorczynska, Iwona; Srinivasan, Vivek J.; Chen, Yueli; Jiang, James; Cable, Alex; Fujimoto, James G.

2009-01-01

We demonstrate ultrahigh speed spectral / Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using an ultrahigh speed CMOS line scan camera at rates of 70,000 - 312,500 axial scans per second. Several design configurations are characterized to illustrate trade-offs between acquisition speed, resolution, imaging range, sensitivity and sensitivity roll-off performance. Ultrahigh resolution OCT with 2.5 - 3.0 micron axial image resolution is demonstrated at ∼ 100,000 axial scans per second. A high resolution spectrometer design improves sensitivity roll-off and imaging range performance, trading off imaging speed to 70,000 axial scans per second. Ultrahigh speed imaging at >300,000 axial scans per second with standard image resolution is also demonstrated. Ophthalmic OCT imaging of the normal human retina is investigated. The high acquisition speeds enable dense raster scanning to acquire densely sampled volumetric three dimensional OCT (3D-OCT) data sets of the macula and optic disc with minimal motion artifacts. Imaging with ∼ 8 - 9 micron axial resolution at 250,000 axial scans per second, a 512 × 512 × 400 voxel volumetric 3D-OCT data set can be acquired in only ∼ 1.3 seconds. Orthogonal registration scans are used to register OCT raster scans and remove residual axial eye motion, resulting in 3D-OCT data sets which preserve retinal topography. Rapid repetitive imaging over small volumes can visualize small retinal features without motion induced distortions and enables volume registration to remove eye motion. Cone photoreceptors in some regions of the retina can be visualized without adaptive optics or active eye tracking. Rapid repetitive imaging of 3D volumes also provides dynamic volumetric information (4D-OCT) which is shown to enhance visualization of retinal capillaries and should enable functional imaging. Improvements in the speed and performance of 3D-OCT volumetric imaging promise to enable earlier diagnosis and improved monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy in ophthalmology, as well as have a wide range of research and clinical applications in other areas. PMID:18795054

Development of a 300,000-pixel ultrahigh-speed high-sensitivity CCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohtake, H.; Hayashida, T.; Kitamura, K.; Arai, T.; Yonai, J.; Tanioka, K.; Maruyama, H.; Etoh, T. Goji; Poggemann, D.; Ruckelshausen, A.; van Kuijk, H.; Bosiers, Jan T.

2006-02-01

We are developing an ultrahigh-speed, high-sensitivity broadcast camera that is capable of capturing clear, smooth slow-motion videos even where lighting is limited, such as at professional baseball games played at night. In earlier work, we developed an ultrahigh-speed broadcast color camera1) using three 80,000-pixel ultrahigh-speed, highsensitivity CCDs2). This camera had about ten times the sensitivity of standard high-speed cameras, and enabled an entirely new style of presentation for sports broadcasts and science programs. Most notably, increasing the pixel count is crucially important for applying ultrahigh-speed, high-sensitivity CCDs to HDTV broadcasting. This paper provides a summary of our experimental development aimed at improving the resolution of CCD even further: a new ultrahigh-speed high-sensitivity CCD that increases the pixel count four-fold to 300,000 pixels.

In vivo functional connectome of human brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, autonomic, and motor systems by high spatial resolution 7-Tesla fMRI.

PubMed

Bianciardi, Marta; Toschi, Nicola; Eichner, Cornelius; Polimeni, Jonathan R; Setsompop, Kawin; Brown, Emery N; Hämäläinen, Matti S; Rosen, Bruce R; Wald, Lawrence L

2016-06-01

Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1.1-mm isotropic nominal resolution) while maintaining a short repetition time (2.5 s). The delineated Pearson's correlation-based functional connectivity diagrams (connectomes) of 11 brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, motor, and autonomic systems from 12 controls are presented and discussed in the context of existing histology and animal work. Considering that the investigated brainstem nuclei play a crucial role in several vital functions, the delineated preliminary connectomes might prove useful for future in vivo research and clinical studies of human brainstem function and pathology, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, Parkinson's disease, and other motor disorders.

Three-dimensional retinal imaging with high-speed ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Wojtkowski, Maciej; Srinivasan, Vivek; Fujimoto, James G; Ko, Tony; Schuman, Joel S; Kowalczyk, Andrzej; Duker, Jay S

2005-10-01

To demonstrate high-speed, ultrahigh-resolution, 3-dimensional optical coherence tomography (3D OCT) and new protocols for retinal imaging. Ultrahigh-resolution OCT using broadband light sources achieves axial image resolutions of approximately 2 microm compared with standard 10-microm-resolution OCT current commercial instruments. High-speed OCT using spectral/Fourier domain detection enables dramatic increases in imaging speeds. Three-dimensional OCT retinal imaging is performed in normal human subjects using high-speed ultrahigh-resolution OCT. Three-dimensional OCT data of the macula and optic disc are acquired using a dense raster scan pattern. New processing and display methods for generating virtual OCT fundus images; cross-sectional OCT images with arbitrary orientations; quantitative maps of retinal, nerve fiber layer, and other intraretinal layer thicknesses; and optic nerve head topographic parameters are demonstrated. Three-dimensional OCT imaging enables new imaging protocols that improve visualization and mapping of retinal microstructure. An OCT fundus image can be generated directly from the 3D OCT data, which enables precise and repeatable registration of cross-sectional OCT images and thickness maps with fundus features. Optical coherence tomography images with arbitrary orientations, such as circumpapillary scans, can be generated from 3D OCT data. Mapping of total retinal thickness and thicknesses of the nerve fiber layer, photoreceptor layer, and other intraretinal layers is demonstrated. Measurement of optic nerve head topography and disc parameters is also possible. Three-dimensional OCT enables measurements that are similar to those of standard instruments, including the StratusOCT, GDx, HRT, and RTA. Three-dimensional OCT imaging can be performed using high-speed ultrahigh-resolution OCT. Three-dimensional OCT provides comprehensive visualization and mapping of retinal microstructures. The high data acquisition speeds enable high-density data sets with large numbers of transverse positions on the retina, which reduces the possibility of missing focal pathologies. In addition to providing image information such as OCT cross-sectional images, OCT fundus images, and 3D rendering, quantitative measurement and mapping of intraretinal layer thickness and topographic features of the optic disc are possible. We hope that 3D OCT imaging may help to elucidate the structural changes associated with retinal disease as well as improve early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression and response to treatment.

Advances in HgCdTe APDs and LADAR Receivers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Steven; McKeag, William; Wang, Jinxue; Jack, Michael; Amzajerdian, Farzin

2010-01-01

Raytheon is developing NIR sensor chip assemblies (SCAs) for scanning and staring 3D LADAR systems. High sensitivity is obtained by integrating high performance detectors with gain i.e. APDs with very low noise Readout Integrated Circuits. Unique aspects of these designs include: independent acquisition (non-gated) of pulse returns, multiple pulse returns with both time and intensity reported to enable full 3D reconstruction of the image. Recent breakthrough in device design has resulted in HgCdTe APDs operating at 300K with essentially no excess noise to gains in excess of 100, low NEP <1nW and GHz bandwidths and have demonstrated linear mode photon counting. SCAs utilizing these high performance APDs have been integrated and demonstrated excellent spatial and range resolution enabling detailed 3D imagery both at short range and long ranges. In this presentation we will review progress in high resolution scanning, staring and ultra-high sensitivity photon counting LADAR sensors.

Biochemical and physiological MR imaging of skeletal muscle at 7 tesla and above.

PubMed

Chang, Gregory; Wang, Ligong; Cárdenas-Blanco, Arturo; Schweitzer, Mark E; Recht, Michael P; Regatte, Ravinder R

2010-06-01

Ultra-high field (UHF; >or=7 T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with its greater signal-to-noise ratio, offers the potential for increased spatial resolution, faster scanning, and, above all, improved biochemical and physiological imaging of skeletal muscle. The increased spectral resolution and greater sensitivity to low-gamma nuclei available at UHF should allow techniques such as (1)H MR spectroscopy (MRS), (31)P MRS, and (23)Na MRI to be more easily implemented. Numerous technical challenges exist in the performance of UHF MRI, including changes in relaxation values, increased chemical shift and susceptibility artifact, radiofrequency (RF) coil design/B (1)(+) field inhomogeneity, and greater RF energy deposition. Nevertheless, the possibility of improved functional and metabolic imaging at UHF will likely drive research efforts in the near future to overcome these challenges and allow studies of human skeletal muscle physiology and pathophysiology to be possible at >or=7 T.

Spectrally Resolved Intensities of Ultra-Dense Hot Aluminum Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, J. M.; Rodríguez, R.; Florido, R.; Rubiano, J. G.; Martel, P.; Mínguez, E.; Sauvan, P.; Angelo, P.; Schott, R.; Dalimier, E.; Mancini, R.

2008-10-01

We present a first study of spectroscopic determination of electron temperature and density spatial profiles of aluminum K-shell line emission spectra from laser-shocked aluminum experiments performed at LULI. The radiation emitted by the aluminum plasma was dispersed with an ultra-high resolution spectrograph (λ/Δλ≈6000). From the recorded films one can extract a set of time-integrated emission lineouts associated with the corresponding spatial region of the plasma. The observed spectra include the Lyα, Heβ, Heγ, Lyβ and Lyγ line emissions and their associated He- and Li-like satellites thus covering a photon energy range from 1700 eV to 2400 eV approximately. The data analysis rely on the ABAKO/RAPCAL computational package, which has been recently developed at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and takes into account non-equilibrium collisional-radiative atomic kinetics, Stark broadened line shapes and radiation transport calculations.

Adaptive optics and the eye (super resolution OCT).

PubMed

Miller, D T; Kocaoglu, O P; Wang, Q; Lee, S

2011-03-01

The combination of adaptive optics (AO) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) was first reported 8 years ago and has undergone tremendous technological advances since then. The technical benefits of adding AO to OCT (increased lateral resolution, smaller speckle, and enhanced sensitivity) increase the imaging capability of OCT in ways that make it well suited for three-dimensional (3D) cellular imaging in the retina. Today, AO-OCT systems provide ultrahigh 3D resolution (3 × 3 × 3 μm³) and ultrahigh speed (up to an order of magnitude faster than commercial OCT). AO-OCT systems have been used to capture volume images of retinal structures, previously only visible with histology, and are being used for studying clinical conditions. Here, we present representative examples of cellular structures that can be visualized with AO-OCT. We overview three studies from our laboratory that used ultrahigh-resolution AO-OCT to measure the cross-sectional profiles of individual bundles in the retinal nerve fiber layer; the diameters of foveal capillaries that define the terminal rim of the foveal avascular zone; and the spacing and length of individual cone photoreceptor outer segments as close as 0.5° from the fovea center.

A High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Clinical PET Detection System Using a Gapless PMT-Quadrant-Sharing Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Wai-Hoi; Li, Hongdi; Zhang, Yuxuan; Ramirez, Rocio; An, Shaohui; Wang, Chao; Liu, Shitao; Dong, Yun; Baghaei, Hossain

2015-10-01

We developed a high-resolution Photomultiplier-Quadrant-Sharing (PQS) PET system for human imaging. This system is made up of 24 detector panels. Each panel (bank) consists of 3 ×7 detector blocks, and each block has 16 ×16 LYSO crystals of 2.35 ×2.35 ×15.2 mm3. We used a novel detector-grinding scheme that is compatible with the PQS detector-pixel-decoding requirements to make a gapless cylindrical detector ring for maximizing detection efficiency while delivering an ultrahigh spatial-resolution for a whole-body PET camera with a ring diameter of 87 cm and axial field of view of 27.6 cm. This grinding scheme enables two adjacent gapless panels to share one row of the PMTs to extend the PQS configuration beyond one panel and thus maximize the economic benefit (in PMT usage) of the PQS design. The entire detector ring has 129,024 crystals, all of which are clearly decoded using only 576 PMTs (38-mm diameter). Thus, each PMT on average decodes 224 crystals to achieve a high crystal-pitch resolution of 2.44 mm ×2.44 mm. The detector blocks were mass-produced with our slab-sandwich-slice technique using a set of optimized mirror-film patterns (between crystals) to maximize light output and achieve high spatial and timing resolution. This detection system with time-of-flight capability was placed in a human PET/CT gantry. The reconstructed image resolution of the system was about 2.87 mm using 2D-filtered back-projection. The time-of-flight resolution was 473 ps. The preliminary images of phantoms and clinical studies presented in this work demonstrate the capability of this new PET/CT system to produce high-quality images.

Spatially-Resolved Characterization Techniques to Investigate Impact Damage in Ultra-High Performance Concretes

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

Concretes G eo te ch n ic al a n d S tr u ct u re s La b or at or y Robert D. Moser, Paul G. Allison, and Mei Q. Chandler April 2013 Approved...Impact Damage in Ultra-High Performance Concretes Robert D. Moser, Paul G. Allison, and Mei Q. Chandler Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory US...Portland Cement concrete (OPC) and Ultra-High Performance Concretes (UHPCs) under high-strain impact and penetration loads at lower length scales

Real-time, ultrahigh-resolution, optical coherence tomography with an all-fiber, femtosecond fiber laser continuum at 1.5 microm.

PubMed

Nishizawa, N; Chen, Y; Hsiung, P; Ippen, E P; Fujimoto, J G

2004-12-15

Real-time, ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) is demonstrated in the 1.4-1.7-microm wavelength region with a stretched-pulse, passively mode-locked, Er-doped fiber laser and highly nonlinear fiber. The fiber laser generates 100-mW, linearly chirped pulses at a 51-MHz repetition rate. The pulses are compressed and then coupled into a normally dispersive highly nonlinear fiber to generate a low-noise supercontinuum with a 180-nm FWHM bandwidth and 38 mW of output power. This light source is stable, compact, and broadband, permitting high-speed, real-time, high-resolution OCT imaging. In vivo high-speed OCT imaging of human skin with approximately 5.5-microm resolution and 99-dB sensitivity is demonstrated.

Recent advances in the development and application of nanoelectrodes.

PubMed

Fan, Yunshan; Han, Chu; Zhang, Bo

2016-10-07

Nanoelectrodes have key advantages compared to electrodes of conventional size and are the tool of choice for numerous applications in both fundamental electrochemistry research and bioelectrochemical analysis. This Minireview summarizes recent advances in the development, characterization, and use of nanoelectrodes in nanoscale electroanalytical chemistry. Methods of nanoelectrode preparation include laser-pulled glass-sealed metal nanoelectrodes, mass-produced nanoelectrodes, carbon nanotube based and carbon-filled nanopipettes, and tunneling nanoelectrodes. Several new topics of their recent application are covered, which include the use of nanoelectrodes for electrochemical imaging at ultrahigh spatial resolution, imaging with nanoelectrodes and nanopipettes, electrochemical analysis of single cells, single enzymes, and single nanoparticles, and the use of nanoelectrodes to understand single nanobubbles.

Photoreceptor Layer Thickness Changes During Dark Adaptation Observed With Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography.

PubMed

Lu, Chen D; Lee, ByungKun; Schottenhamml, Julia; Maier, Andreas; Pugh, Edward N; Fujimoto, James G

2017-09-01

To examine outer retinal band changes after flash stimulus and subsequent dark adaptation with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). Five dark-adapted left eyes of five normal subjects were imaged with 3-μm axial-resolution UHR-OCT during 30 minutes of dark adaptation following 96%, 54%, 23%, and 0% full-field and 54% half-field rhodopsin bleach. We identified the ellipsoid zone inner segment/outer segment (EZ[IS/OS]), cone interdigitation zone (CIZ), rod interdigitation zone (RIZ), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and Bruch's membrane (BM) axial positions and generated two-dimensional thickness maps of the EZ(IS/OS) to the four bands. The average thickness over an area of the thickness map was compared against that of the dark-adapted baselines. The time-dependent thickness changes (photoresponses) were statistically compared against 0% bleach. Dark adaptometry was performed with the same bleaching protocol. The EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ photoresponse was significantly different at 96% (P < 0.0001) and 54% (P = 0.006) bleach. At all three bleaching levels, the EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ, -RPE, and -BM responses were significantly different (P < 0.0001). The EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ and EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ time courses were similar to the recovery of rod- and cone-mediated sensitivity, respectively, measured with dark adaptometry. The maximal EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ and EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ response magnitudes doubled from 54% to 96% bleach. Both EZ(IS/OS)-RPE and EZ(IS/OS)-BM responses resembled dampened oscillations that were graded in amplitude and duration with bleaching intensity. Half-field photoresponses were localized to the stimulated retina. With noninvasive, near-infrared UHR-OCT, we characterized three distinct, spatially localized photoresponses in the outer retinal bands. These photoresponses have potential value as physical correlates of photoreceptor function.

Argentation chromatography coupled to ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry for the separation of a heavy crude oil.

PubMed

Molnárné Guricza, Lilla; Schrader, Wolfgang

2017-02-10

Simplification of highly complex mixtures such as crude oil by using chromatographic methods makes it possible to get more detailed information about the composition of the analyte. Separation by argentation chromatography can be achieved based on the interaction of different strength between the silver ions (Ag + ) immobilized through a spacer on the silica gel surface and the π-bonds of the analytes. Heavy crude oils contain compounds with a high number of heteroatoms (N, O, S) and a high degree of unsaturation thus making them the perfect analyte for argentation chromatography. The direct coupling of argentation chromatography and ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry allows to continuously tracking the separation of the many different compounds by retention time and allows sensitive detection on a molecular level. Direct injection of a heavy crude oil into a ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometer showed components with DBE of up to 25, whereas analytes with DBE of up to 35 could be detected only after separation with argentation chromatography. The reduced complexity achieved by the separation helps increasing the information depth. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Unlocking the spatial inversion of large scanning magnetic microscopy datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myre, J. M.; Lascu, I.; Andrade Lima, E.; Feinberg, J. M.; Saar, M. O.; Weiss, B. P.

2013-12-01

Modern scanning magnetic microscopy provides the ability to perform high-resolution, ultra-high sensitivity moment magnetometry, with spatial resolutions better than 10^-4 m and magnetic moments as weak as 10^-16 Am^2. These microscopy capabilities have enhanced numerous magnetic studies, including investigations of the paleointensity of the Earth's magnetic field, shock magnetization and demagnetization of impacts, magnetostratigraphy, the magnetic record in speleothems, and the records of ancient core dynamos of planetary bodies. A common component among many studies utilizing scanning magnetic microscopy is solving an inverse problem to determine the non-negative magnitude of the magnetic moments that produce the measured component of the magnetic field. The two most frequently used methods to solve this inverse problem are classic fast Fourier techniques in the frequency domain and non-negative least squares (NNLS) methods in the spatial domain. Although Fourier techniques are extremely fast, they typically violate non-negativity and it is difficult to implement constraints associated with the space domain. NNLS methods do not violate non-negativity, but have typically been computation time prohibitive for samples of practical size or resolution. Existing NNLS methods use multiple techniques to attain tractable computation. To reduce computation time in the past, typically sample size or scan resolution would have to be reduced. Similarly, multiple inversions of smaller sample subdivisions can be performed, although this frequently results in undesirable artifacts at subdivision boundaries. Dipole interactions can also be filtered to only compute interactions above a threshold which enables the use of sparse methods through artificial sparsity. To improve upon existing spatial domain techniques, we present the application of the TNT algorithm, named TNT as it is a "dynamite" non-negative least squares algorithm which enhances the performance and accuracy of spatial domain inversions. We show that the TNT algorithm reduces the execution time of spatial domain inversions from months to hours and that inverse solution accuracy is improved as the TNT algorithm naturally produces solutions with small norms. Using sIRM and NRM measures of multiple synthetic and natural samples we show that the capabilities of the TNT algorithm allow very large samples to be inverted without the need for alternative techniques to make the problems tractable. Ultimately, the TNT algorithm enables accurate spatial domain analysis of scanning magnetic microscopy data on an accelerated time scale that renders spatial domain analyses tractable for numerous studies, including searches for the best fit of unidirectional magnetization direction and high-resolution step-wise magnetization and demagnetization.

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

Lecomte, Roger; Arpin, Louis; Beaudoin, Jean-Franç

Purpose: LabPET II is a new generation APD-based PET scanner designed to achieve sub-mm spatial resolution using truly pixelated detectors and highly integrated parallel front-end processing electronics. Methods: The basic element uses a 4×8 array of 1.12×1.12 mm{sup 2} Lu{sub 1.9}Y{sub 0.1}SiO{sub 5}:Ce (LYSO) scintillator pixels with one-to-one coupling to a 4×8 pixelated monolithic APD array mounted on a ceramic carrier. Four detector arrays are mounted on a daughter board carrying two flip-chip, 64-channel, mixed-signal, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) on the backside interfacing to two detector arrays each. Fully parallel signal processing was implemented in silico by encoding time andmore » energy information using a dual-threshold Time-over-Threshold (ToT) scheme. The self-contained 128-channel detector module was designed as a generic component for ultra-high resolution PET imaging of small to medium-size animals. Results: Energy and timing performance were optimized by carefully setting ToT thresholds to minimize the noise/slope ratio. ToT spectra clearly show resolved 511 keV photopeak and Compton edge with ToT resolution well below 10%. After correction for nonlinear ToT response, energy resolution is typically 24±2% FWHM. Coincidence time resolution between opposing 128-channel modules is below 4 ns FWHM. Initial imaging results demonstrate that 0.8 mm hot spots of a Derenzo phantom can be resolved. Conclusion: A new generation PET scanner featuring truly pixelated detectors was developed and shown to achieve a spatial resolution approaching the physical limit of PET. Future plans are to integrate a small-bore dedicated mouse version of the scanner within a PET/CT platform.« less

Cerebral TOF Angiography at 7T: Impact of B1+ Shimming with a 16-Channel Transceiver Array

PubMed Central

Schmitter, Sebastian; Wu, Xiaoping; Adriany, Gregor; Auerbach, Edward J.; Uğurbil, Kâmil; Van de Moortele, Pierre-François

2014-01-01

Purpose Time-of-flight (TOF) MR imaging is clinically among the most common cerebral non-contrast enhanced MR angiography techniques allowing for high spatial resolution. As shown by several groups TOF contrast significantly improves at ultra-high field (UHF) of B0=7T, however, spatially varying transmit B1 (B1+) fields at 7T reduce TOF contrast uniformity, typically resulting in sub-optimal contrast and reduced vessel conspicuity in the brain periphery. Methods Using a 16-channel B1+ shimming system we compare different dynamically applied B1+ phase shimming approaches on the RF excitation to improve contrast homogeneity for a (0.5 mm)3 resolution multi-slab TOF acquisition. In addition, B1+ shimming applied on the venous saturation pulse was investigated to improve venous suppression, subcutaneous fat signal reduction and enhanced background suppression originating from MT effect. Results B1+ excitation homogeneity was improved by a factor 2.2 to 2.6 on average depending on the shimming approach, compared to a standard CP-like phase setting, leading to improved vessel conspicuity particularly in the periphery. Stronger saturation, higher fat suppression and improved background suppression were observed when dynamically applying B1+ shimming on the venous saturation pulse. Conclusion B1+ shimming can significantly improve high resolution TOF vascular investigations at UHF, holding strong promise for non contrast-enhanced clinical applications. PMID:23640915

Ultrahigh resolution multicolor colocalization of single fluorescent probes

DOEpatents

Weiss, Shimon; Michalet, Xavier; Lacoste, Thilo D.

2005-01-18

A novel optical ruler based on ultrahigh-resolution colocalization of single fluorescent probes is described. Two unique families of fluorophores are used, namely energy-transfer fluorescent beads and semiconductor nanocrystal (NC) quantum dots, that can be excited by a single laser wavelength but emit at different wavelengths. A novel multicolor sample-scanning confocal microscope was constructed which allows one to image each fluorescent light emitter, free of chromatic aberrations, by scanning the sample with nanometer scale steps using a piezo-scanner. The resulting spots are accurately localized by fitting them to the known shape of the excitation point-spread-function of the microscope.

High Spatial Resolution and Temporally Resolved T2 * Mapping of Normal Human Myocardium at 7.0 Tesla: An Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Hezel, Fabian; Thalhammer, Christof; Waiczies, Sonia; Schulz-Menger, Jeanette; Niendorf, Thoralf

2012-01-01

Myocardial tissue characterization using T2 * relaxation mapping techniques is an emerging application of (pre)clinical cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. The increase in microscopic susceptibility at higher magnetic field strengths renders myocardial T2 * mapping at ultrahigh magnetic fields conceptually appealing. This work demonstrates the feasibility of myocardial T2 * imaging at 7.0 T and examines the applicability of temporally-resolved and high spatial resolution myocardial T2 * mapping. In phantom experiments single cardiac phase and dynamic (CINE) gradient echo imaging techniques provided similar T2 * maps. In vivo studies showed that the peak-to-peak B0 difference following volume selective shimming was reduced to approximately 80 Hz for the four chamber view and mid-ventricular short axis view of the heart and to 65 Hz for the left ventricle. No severe susceptibility artifacts were detected in the septum and in the lateral wall for T2 * weighting ranging from TE = 2.04 ms to TE = 10.2 ms. For TE >7 ms, a susceptibility weighting induced signal void was observed within the anterior and inferior myocardial segments. The longest T2 * values were found for anterior (T2 * = 14.0 ms), anteroseptal (T2 * = 17.2 ms) and inferoseptal (T2 * = 16.5 ms) myocardial segments. Shorter T2 * values were observed for inferior (T2 * = 10.6 ms) and inferolateral (T2 * = 11.4 ms) segments. A significant difference (p = 0.002) in T2 * values was observed between end-diastole and end-systole with T2 * changes of up to approximately 27% over the cardiac cycle which were pronounced in the septum. To conclude, these results underscore the challenges of myocardial T2 * mapping at 7.0 T but demonstrate that these issues can be offset by using tailored shimming techniques and dedicated acquisition schemes. PMID:23251708

High-Resolution 7T MR Imaging of the Motor Cortex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

PubMed

Cosottini, M; Donatelli, G; Costagli, M; Caldarazzo Ienco, E; Frosini, D; Pesaresi, I; Biagi, L; Siciliano, G; Tosetti, M

2016-03-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive motor neuron disorder that involves degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons. In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, pathologic studies and ex vivo high-resolution MR imaging at ultra-high field strength revealed the co-localization of iron and activated microglia distributed in the deep layers of the primary motor cortex. The aims of the study were to measure the cortical thickness and evaluate the distribution of iron-related signal changes in the primary motor cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as possible in vivo biomarkers of upper motor neuron impairment. Twenty-two patients with definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 14 healthy subjects underwent a high-resolution 2D multiecho gradient-recalled sequence targeted on the primary motor cortex by using a 7T scanner. Image analysis consisted of the visual evaluation and quantitative measurement of signal intensity and cortical thickness of the primary motor cortex in patients and controls. Qualitative and quantitative MR imaging parameters were correlated with electrophysiologic and laboratory data and with clinical scores. Ultra-high field MR imaging revealed atrophy and signal hypointensity in the deep layers of the primary motor cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with a diagnostic accuracy of 71%. Signal hypointensity of the deep layers of the primary motor cortex correlated with upper motor neuron impairment (r = -0.47; P < .001) and with disease progression rate (r = -0.60; P = .009). The combined high spatial resolution and sensitivity to paramagnetic substances of 7T MR imaging demonstrate in vivo signal changes of the cerebral motor cortex that resemble the distribution of activated microglia within the cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Cortical thinning and signal hypointensity of the deep layers of the primary motor cortex could constitute a marker of upper motor neuron impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. © 2016 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

3D ToF-SIMS Analysis of Peptide Incorporation into MALDI Matrix Crystals with Sub-micrometer Resolution.

PubMed

Körsgen, Martin; Pelster, Andreas; Dreisewerd, Klaus; Arlinghaus, Heinrich F

2016-02-01

The analytical sensitivity in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is largely affected by the specific analyte-matrix interaction, in particular by the possible incorporation of the analytes into crystalline MALDI matrices. Here we used time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to visualize the incorporation of three peptides with different hydrophobicities, bradykinin, Substance P, and vasopressin, into two classic MALDI matrices, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) and α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA). For depth profiling, an Ar cluster ion beam was used to gradually sputter through the matrix crystals without causing significant degradation of matrix or biomolecules. A pulsed Bi3 ion cluster beam was used to image the lateral analyte distribution in the center of the sputter crater. Using this dual beam technique, the 3D distribution of the analytes and spatial segregation effects within the matrix crystals were imaged with sub-μm resolution. The technique could in the future enable matrix-enhanced (ME)-ToF-SIMS imaging of peptides in tissue slices at ultra-high resolution. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

3D ToF-SIMS Analysis of Peptide Incorporation into MALDI Matrix Crystals with Sub-micrometer Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Körsgen, Martin; Pelster, Andreas; Dreisewerd, Klaus; Arlinghaus, Heinrich F.

2016-02-01

The analytical sensitivity in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is largely affected by the specific analyte-matrix interaction, in particular by the possible incorporation of the analytes into crystalline MALDI matrices. Here we used time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to visualize the incorporation of three peptides with different hydrophobicities, bradykinin, Substance P, and vasopressin, into two classic MALDI matrices, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) and α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA). For depth profiling, an Ar cluster ion beam was used to gradually sputter through the matrix crystals without causing significant degradation of matrix or biomolecules. A pulsed Bi3 ion cluster beam was used to image the lateral analyte distribution in the center of the sputter crater. Using this dual beam technique, the 3D distribution of the analytes and spatial segregation effects within the matrix crystals were imaged with sub-μm resolution. The technique could in the future enable matrix-enhanced (ME)-ToF-SIMS imaging of peptides in tissue slices at ultra-high resolution.

An ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscope operating at sub-Kelvin temperatures and high magnetic fields for spin-resolved measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salazar, C.; Baumann, D.; Hänke, T.; Scheffler, M.; Kühne, T.; Kaiser, M.; Voigtländer, R.; Lindackers, D.; Büchner, B.; Hess, C.

2018-06-01

We present the construction and performance of an ultra-low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM), working in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions and in high magnetic fields up to 9 T. The cryogenic environment of the STM is generated by a single-shot 3He magnet cryostat in combination with a 4He dewar system. At a base temperature (300 mK), the cryostat has an operation time of approximately 80 h. The special design of the microscope allows the transfer of the STM head from the cryostat to a UHV chamber system, where samples and STM tips can be easily exchanged. The UHV chambers are equipped with specific surface science treatment tools for the functionalization of samples and tips, including high-temperature treatments and thin film deposition. This, in particular, enables spin-resolved tunneling measurements. We present test measurements using well-known samples and tips based on superconductors and metallic materials such as LiFeAs, Nb, Fe, and W. The measurements demonstrate the outstanding performance of the STM with high spatial and energy resolution as well as the spin-resolved capability.

Design and performance of an ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscope operating at dilution refrigerator temperatures and high magnetic fields.

PubMed

Misra, S; Zhou, B B; Drozdov, I K; Seo, J; Urban, L; Gyenis, A; Kingsley, S C J; Jones, H; Yazdani, A

2013-10-01

We describe the construction and performance of a scanning tunneling microscope capable of taking maps of the tunneling density of states with sub-atomic spatial resolution at dilution refrigerator temperatures and high (14 T) magnetic fields. The fully ultra-high vacuum system features visual access to a two-sample microscope stage at the end of a bottom-loading dilution refrigerator, which facilitates the transfer of in situ prepared tips and samples. The two-sample stage enables location of the best area of the sample under study and extends the experiment lifetime. The successful thermal anchoring of the microscope, described in detail, is confirmed through a base temperature reading of 20 mK, along with a measured electron temperature of 250 mK. Atomically resolved images, along with complementary vibration measurements, are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the vibration isolation scheme in this instrument. Finally, we demonstrate that the microscope is capable of the same level of performance as typical machines with more modest refrigeration by measuring spectroscopic maps at base temperature both at zero field and in an applied magnetic field.

Ultra-High Spectral Resolution Observations of Fragmentation in Dark Cloud Cores

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Velusamy, T.; Langer, W.; Kuiper, T; Levin, S.; Olsen, E.

1993-01-01

This paper presents new evidence of the fragmentary structure of dense cores in dark clouds using the high resolution spectra of the carbon chain molecule CCS transition (J subscript N = 2 subscript 1 - 1 subscript o) at 22.344033 GHz with 0.008 km s superscript -1 resolution.

Ultra-high resolution of radiocesium distribution detection based on Cherenkov light imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Seiichi; Ogata, Yoshimune; Kawachi, Naoki; Suzui, Nobuo; Yin, Yong-Gen; Fujimaki, Shu

2015-03-01

After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, radiocesium contamination became a serious scientific concern and research of its effects on plants increased. In such plant studies, high resolution images of radiocesium are required without contacting the subjects. Cherenkov light imaging of beta radionuclides has inherently high resolution and is promising for plant research. Since 137Cs and 134Cs emit beta particles, Cherenkov light imaging will be useful for the imaging of radiocesium distribution. Consequently, we developed and tested a Cherenkov light imaging system. We used a high sensitivity cooled charge coupled device (CCD) camera (Hamamatsu Photonics, ORCA2-ER) for imaging Cherenkov light from 137Cs. A bright lens (Xenon, F-number: 0.95, lens diameter: 25 mm) was mounted on the camera and placed in a black box. With a 100-μm 137Cs point source, we obtained 220-μm spatial resolution in the Cherenkov light image. With a 1-mm diameter, 320-kBq 137Cs point source, the source was distinguished within 2-s. We successfully obtained Cherenkov light images of a plant whose root was dipped in a 137Cs solution, radiocesium-containing samples as well as line and character phantom images with our imaging system. Cherenkov light imaging is promising for the high resolution imaging of radiocesium distribution without contacting the subject.

Analysis strategies for high-resolution UHF-fMRI data.

PubMed

Polimeni, Jonathan R; Renvall, Ville; Zaretskaya, Natalia; Fischl, Bruce

2018-03-01

Functional MRI (fMRI) benefits from both increased sensitivity and specificity with increasing magnetic field strength, making it a key application for Ultra-High Field (UHF) MRI scanners. Most UHF-fMRI studies utilize the dramatic increases in sensitivity and specificity to acquire high-resolution data reaching sub-millimeter scales, which enable new classes of experiments to probe the functional organization of the human brain. This review article surveys advanced data analysis strategies developed for high-resolution fMRI at UHF. These include strategies designed to mitigate distortion and artifacts associated with higher fields in ways that attempt to preserve spatial resolution of the fMRI data, as well as recently introduced analysis techniques that are enabled by these extremely high-resolution data. Particular focus is placed on anatomically-informed analyses, including cortical surface-based analysis, which are powerful techniques that can guide each step of the analysis from preprocessing to statistical analysis to interpretation and visualization. New intracortical analysis techniques for laminar and columnar fMRI are also reviewed and discussed. Prospects for single-subject individualized analyses are also presented and discussed. Altogether, there are both specific challenges and opportunities presented by UHF-fMRI, and the use of proper analysis strategies can help these valuable data reach their full potential. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultra-High Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of Unilateral Drusen in a 31 Year Old Woman.

PubMed

de Carlo, Talisa E; Adhi, Mehreen; Lu, Chen D; Duker, Jay S; Fujimoto, James G; Waheed, Nadia K

We report a case of widespread unilateral drusen in a healthy 31 year old Caucasian woman using multi-modal imaging including ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). Dilated fundus exam showed multiple drusen-like lesions in the posterior pole without heme or fluid. Fundus auto fluorescence demonstrated hyperautofluorescent at the deposits. Fluorescein angiography revealed mild hyperfluorescence and staining of the lesions. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) OS showed accumulations in the temporal macula at Bruch's membrane. UHR-OCT provided improved axial resolution compared to the standard 5 μm on the commercial SD-OCT and confirmed the presence of deposits in Bruch's membrane, consistent with drusen. The retinal layers were draped over the excrescences but did not show any disruption.

High-power supercontinuum generation using high-repetition-rate ultrashort-pulse fiber laser for ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography in 1600 nm spectral band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamanaka, Masahito; Kawagoe, Hiroyuki; Nishizawa, Norihiko

2016-02-01

We describe the generation of a high-power, spectrally smooth supercontinuum (SC) in the 1600 nm spectral band for ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). A clean SC was achieved by using a highly nonlinear fiber with normal dispersion properties and a high-quality pedestal-free pulse obtained from a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser operating at 182 MHz. The center wavelength and spectral width were 1578 and 172 nm, respectively. The output power of the SC was 51 mW. Using the developed SC source, we demonstrated UHR-OCT imaging of biological samples with a sensitivity of 109 dB and an axial resolution of 4.9 µm in tissue.

Myocardial imaging using ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Yao, Xinwen; Gan, Yu; Marboe, Charles C.; Hendon, Christine P.

2016-01-01

Abstract. We present an ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system in 800 nm with a low-noise supercontinuum source (SC) optimized for myocardial imaging. The system was demonstrated to have an axial resolution of 2.72  μm with a large imaging depth of 1.78 mm and a 6-dB falloff range of 0.89 mm. The lateral resolution (5.52  μm) was compromised to enhance the image penetration required for myocardial imaging. The noise of the SC source was analyzed extensively and an imaging protocol was proposed for SC-based OCT imaging with appreciable contrast. Three-dimensional datasets were acquired ex vivo on the endocardium side of tissue specimens from different chambers of fresh human and swine hearts. With the increased resolution and contrast, features such as elastic fibers, Purkinje fibers, and collagen fiber bundles were observed. The correlation between the structural information revealed in the OCT images and tissue pathology was discussed as well. PMID:27001162

Ultrahigh resolution retinal imaging by visible light OCT with longitudinal achromatization

PubMed Central

Chong, Shau Poh; Zhang, Tingwei; Kho, Aaron; Bernucci, Marcel T.; Dubra, Alfredo; Srinivasan, Vivek J.

2018-01-01

Chromatic aberrations are an important design consideration in high resolution, high bandwidth, refractive imaging systems that use visible light. Here, we present a fiber-based spectral/Fourier domain, visible light OCT ophthalmoscope corrected for the average longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA) of the human eye. Analysis of complex speckles from in vivo retinal images showed that achromatization resulted in a speckle autocorrelation function that was ~20% narrower in the axial direction, but unchanged in the transverse direction. In images from the improved, achromatized system, the separation between Bruch’s membrane (BM), the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and the outer segment tips clearly emerged across the entire 6.5 mm field-of-view, enabling segmentation and morphometry of BM and the RPE in a human subject. Finally, cross-sectional images depicted distinct inner retinal layers with high resolution. Thus, with chromatic aberration compensation, visible light OCT can achieve volume resolutions and retinal image quality that matches or exceeds ultrahigh resolution near-infrared OCT systems with no monochromatic aberration compensation. PMID:29675296

Myocardial imaging using ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Xinwen; Gan, Yu; Marboe, Charles C.; Hendon, Christine P.

2016-06-01

We present an ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system in 800 nm with a low-noise supercontinuum source (SC) optimized for myocardial imaging. The system was demonstrated to have an axial resolution of 2.72 μm with a large imaging depth of 1.78 mm and a 6-dB falloff range of 0.89 mm. The lateral resolution (5.52 μm) was compromised to enhance the image penetration required for myocardial imaging. The noise of the SC source was analyzed extensively and an imaging protocol was proposed for SC-based OCT imaging with appreciable contrast. Three-dimensional datasets were acquired ex vivo on the endocardium side of tissue specimens from different chambers of fresh human and swine hearts. With the increased resolution and contrast, features such as elastic fibers, Purkinje fibers, and collagen fiber bundles were observed. The correlation between the structural information revealed in the OCT images and tissue pathology was discussed as well.

The Role of Ultrahigh Resolution Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (FT-MS) in Astrobiology-Related Research: Analysis of Meteorites and Tholins.

PubMed

Somogyi, Árpád; Thissen, Roland; Orthous-Daunay, Francois-Régis; Vuitton, Véronique

2016-03-24

It is an important but also a challenging analytical problem to understand the chemical composition and structure of prebiotic organic matter that is present in extraterrestrial materials. Its formation, evolution and content in the building blocks ("seeds") for more complex molecules, such as proteins and DNA, are key questions in the field of exobiology. Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry is one of the best analytical techniques that can be applied because it provides reliable information on the chemical composition and structure of individual components of complex organic mixtures. Prebiotic organic material is delivered to Earth by meteorites or generated in laboratories in simulation (model) experiments that mimic space or atmospheric conditions. Recent representative examples for ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry studies using Fourier-transform (FT) mass spectrometers such as Orbitrap and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass spectrometers are shown and discussed in the present article, including: (i) the analysis of organic matter of meteorites; (ii) modeling atmospheric processes in ICR cells; and (iii) the structural analysis of laboratory made tholins that might be present in the atmosphere and surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

The Role of Ultrahigh Resolution Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (FT-MS) in Astrobiology-Related Research: Analysis of Meteorites and Tholins

PubMed Central

Somogyi, Árpád; Thissen, Roland; Orthous-Daunay, Francois-Régis; Vuitton, Véronique

2016-01-01

It is an important but also a challenging analytical problem to understand the chemical composition and structure of prebiotic organic matter that is present in extraterrestrial materials. Its formation, evolution and content in the building blocks (“seeds”) for more complex molecules, such as proteins and DNA, are key questions in the field of exobiology. Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry is one of the best analytical techniques that can be applied because it provides reliable information on the chemical composition and structure of individual components of complex organic mixtures. Prebiotic organic material is delivered to Earth by meteorites or generated in laboratories in simulation (model) experiments that mimic space or atmospheric conditions. Recent representative examples for ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry studies using Fourier-transform (FT) mass spectrometers such as Orbitrap and ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass spectrometers are shown and discussed in the present article, including: (i) the analysis of organic matter of meteorites; (ii) modeling atmospheric processes in ICR cells; and (iii) the structural analysis of laboratory made tholins that might be present in the atmosphere and surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. PMID:27023520

Anti-parallel EUV Flows Observed along Active Region Filament Threads with Hi-C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, Caroline E.; Walsh, Robert W.; Régnier, Stéphane; Cirtain, Jonathan; Winebarger, Amy R.; Golub, Leon; Kobayashi, Ken; Platt, Simon; Mitchell, Nick; Korreck, Kelly; DePontieu, Bart; DeForest, Craig; Weber, Mark; Title, Alan; Kuzin, Sergey

2013-09-01

Plasma flows within prominences/filaments have been observed for many years and hold valuable clues concerning the mass and energy balance within these structures. Previous observations of these flows primarily come from Hα and cool extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lines (e.g., 304 Å) where estimates of the size of the prominence threads has been limited by the resolution of the available instrumentation. Evidence of "counter-steaming" flows has previously been inferred from these cool plasma observations, but now, for the first time, these flows have been directly imaged along fundamental filament threads within the million degree corona (at 193 Å). In this work, we present observations of an AR filament observed with the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) that exhibits anti-parallel flows along adjacent filament threads. Complementary data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager are presented. The ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution of Hi-C allow the anti-parallel flow velocities to be measured (70-80 km s-1) and gives an indication of the resolvable thickness of the individual strands (0.''8 ± 0.''1). The temperature of the plasma flows was estimated to be log T (K) = 5.45 ± 0.10 using Emission Measure loci analysis. We find that SDO/AIA cannot clearly observe these anti-parallel flows or measure their velocity or thread width due to its larger pixel size. We suggest that anti-parallel/counter-streaming flows are likely commonplace within all filaments and are currently not observed in EUV due to current instrument spatial resolution.

CubeSats in Hydrology: Ultrahigh-Resolution Insights Into Vegetation Dynamics and Terrestrial Evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCabe, M. F.; Aragon, B.; Houborg, R.; Mascaro, J.

2017-12-01

Satellite-based remote sensing has generally necessitated a trade-off between spatial resolution and temporal frequency, affecting the capacity to observe fast hydrological processes and rapidly changing land surface conditions. An avenue for overcoming these spatiotemporal restrictions is the concept of using constellations of satellites, as opposed to the mission focus exemplified by the more conventional space-agency approach to earth observation. Referred to as CubeSats, these platforms offer the potential to provide new insights into a range of earth system variables and processes. Their emergence heralds a paradigm shift from single-sensor launches to an operational approach that envisions tens to hundreds of small, lightweight, and comparatively inexpensive satellites placed into a range of low earth orbits. Although current systems are largely limited to sensing in the optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, we demonstrate the opportunity and potential that CubeSats present the hydrological community via the retrieval of vegetation dynamics and terrestrial evaporation and foreshadow future sensing capabilities.

Groundwater–surface water mixing shifts ecological assembly processes and stimulates organic carbon turnover

DOE PAGES

Stegen, James C.; Fredrickson, James K.; Wilkins, Michael J.; ...

2016-04-07

Environmental transition zones are associated with geochemical gradients that overcome energy limitations to microbial metabolism, resulting in biogeochemical hot spots and moments. Riverine systems where groundwater mixes with surface water (the hyporheic zone) are spatially complex and temporally dynamic, making development of predictive models challenging. Spatial and temporal variations in hyporheic zone microbial communities are a key, but understudied, component of riverine biogeochemical function. To investigate the coupling among groundwater-surface water mixing, microbial communities, and biogeochemistry we applied ecological theory, aqueous biogeochemistry, DNA sequencing, and ultra-high resolution organic carbon profiling to field samples collected across times and locations representing amore » broad range of mixing conditions. Mixing of groundwater and surface water resulted in a shift from transport-driven stochastic dynamics to a deterministic microbial structure associated with elevated biogeochemical rates. While the dynamics of the hyporheic make predictive modeling a challenge, we provide new knowledge that can improve the tractability of such models.« less

Single-Molecule Interfacial Electron Transfer

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

Ho, Wilson

Interfacial electron transfer (ET) plays an important role in many chemical and biological processes. Specifically, interfacial ET in TiO 2-based systems is important to solar energy technology, catalysis, and environmental remediation technology. However, the microscopic mechanism of interfacial ET is not well understood with regard to atomic surface structure, molecular structure, bonding, orientation, and motion. In this project, we used two complementary methodologies; single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy, and scanning-tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS) to address this scientific need. The goal of this project was to integrate these techniques and measure the molecular dependence of ET between adsorbed molecules andmore » TiO 2 semiconductor surfaces and the ET induced reactions such as the splitting of water. The scanning probe techniques, STM and STS, are capable of providing the highest spatial resolution but not easily time-resolved data. Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy is capable of good time resolution but requires further development to match the spatial resolution of the STM. The integrated approach involving Peter Lu at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and Wilson Ho at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) produced methods for time and spatially resolved chemical imaging of interfacial electron transfer dynamics and photocatalytic reactions. An integral aspect of the joint research was a significant exchange of graduate students to work at the two institutions. This project bridged complementary approaches to investigate a set of common problems by working with the same molecules on a variety of solid surfaces, but using appropriate techniques to probe under ambient (BGSU) and ultrahigh vacuum (UCI) conditions. The molecular level understanding of the fundamental interfacial electron transfer processes obtained in this joint project will be important for developing efficient light harvesting, solar energy conversion, and broadly applicable to problems in interface chemistry and surface physics.« less

Ultra-high resolution and high-brightness AMOLED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wacyk, Ihor; Ghosh, Amal; Prache, Olivier; Draper, Russ; Fellowes, Dave

2012-06-01

As part of its continuing effort to improve both the resolution and optical performance of AMOLED microdisplays, eMagin has recently developed an SXGA (1280×3×1024) microdisplay under a US Army RDECOM CERDEC NVESD contract that combines the world's smallest OLED pixel pitch with an ultra-high brightness green OLED emitter. This development is aimed at next-generation HMD systems with "see-through" and daylight imaging requirements. The OLED pixel array is built on a 0.18-micron CMOS backplane and contains over 4 million individually addressable pixels with a pixel pitch of 2.7 × 8.1 microns, resulting in an active area of 0.52 inches diagonal. Using both spatial and temporal enhancement, the display can provide over 10-bits of gray-level control for high dynamic range applications. The new pixel design also enables the future implementation of a full-color QSXGA (2560 × RGB × 2048) microdisplay in an active area of only 1.05 inch diagonal. A low-power serialized low-voltage-differential-signaling (LVDS) interface is integrated into the display for use as a remote video link for tethered systems. The new SXGA backplane has been combined with the high-brightness green OLED device developed by eMagin under an NVESD contract. This OLED device has produced an output brightness of more than 8000fL with all pixels on; lifetime measurements are currently underway and will presented at the meeting. This paper will describe the operational features and first optical and electrical test results of the new SXGA demonstrator microdisplay.

MRI of the Musculoskeletal System: Advanced Applications using High and Ultrahigh Field MRI.

PubMed

Alizai, Hamza; Chang, Gregory; Regatte, Ravinder R

2015-09-01

In vivo MRI has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders over the past 3 decades. Traditionally performed at 1.5 T, MRI at higher field strengths offers several advantages over lower field strengths including increased signal-to-noise ratio, higher spatial resolution, improved spectral resolution for spectroscopy, improved sensitivity for X-nucleus imaging, and decreased image acquisition times. However, the physics of imaging at higher field strengths also presents technical challenges. These include B0 and B1+ field inhomogeneity, design and construction of dedicated radiofrequency (RF) coils for use at high field, increased chemical shift and susceptibility artifacts, increased RF energy deposition (specific absorption rate), increased metal artifacts, and changes in relaxation times compared with the lower field scanners. These challenges were overcome in optimizing high-field (HF) (3 T) MRI over a decade ago. HF MRI systems have since gained universal acceptance for clinical musculoskeletal imaging and have also been widely utilized for the study of musculoskeletal anatomy and physiology. Recently there has been an increasing interest in exploring musculoskeletal applications of ultrahigh field (UHF) (7 T) systems. However, technical challenges similar to those encountered when moving from 1.5 T to 3 T have to be overcome to optimize 7 T musculoskeletal imaging. In this narrative review, we discuss the many potential opportunities and technical challenges presented by the HF and UHF MRI systems. We highlight recent developments in in vivo imaging of musculoskeletal tissues that benefit most from HF imaging including cartilage, skeletal muscle, and bone. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Magnetic Microcalorimeter (MMC) Gamma Detectors with Ultra-High Energy Resolution

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

Friedrich, Stephen

The goal of this LCP is to develop ultra-high resolution gamma detectors based on magnetic microcalorimeters (MMCs) for accurate non-destructive analysis (NDA) of nuclear materials. For highest energy resolution, we will introduce erbium-doped silver (Ag:Er) as a novel sensor material, and implement several geometry and design changes to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. The detector sensitivity will be increased by developing arrays of 32 Ag:Er pixels read out by 16 SQUID preamplifiers, and by developing a cryogenic Compton veto to reduce the spectral background. Since best MMC performance requires detector operation at ~10 mK, we will purchase a dilution refrigerator withmore » a base temperature <10 mK and adapt it for MMC operation. The detector performance will be tested with radioactive sources of interest to the safeguards community.« less

A Novel Study Connecting Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays, Neutrinos, and Gamma-Rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coenders, Stefan; Resconi, Elisa; Padovani, Paolo; Giommi, Paolo; Caccianiga, Lorenzo

We present a novel study connecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gamma-rays with the objective to identify common counterparts of the three astrophysical messengers. In the test presented here, we first identify potential hadronic sources by filtering gamma-ray emitters that are in spatial coincidence with IceCube neutrinos. Subsequently, these objects are correlated against ultra-high energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array, scanning in gamma-ray flux and angular separation between sources and cosmic rays. A maximal excess of 80 cosmic rays (41.9 expected) is observed for the second catalog of hard Fermi-LAT objects of blazars of the high synchrotron peak type. This corresponds to a deviation from the null-hypothesis of 2.94σ . No excess is observed for objects not in spatial connection with neutrinos. The gamma-ray sources that make up the excess are blazars of the high synchrotron peak type.

Plasmonic metamaterial for electromagnetically induced transparency analogue and ultra-high figure of merit sensor

PubMed Central

Wu, Dong; Liu, Yumin; Yu, Li; Yu, Zhongyuan; Chen, Lei; Li, Ruifang; Ma, Rui; Liu, Chang; Zhang, Jinqiannan; Ye, Han

2017-01-01

In this work, using finite-difference time-domain method, we propose and numerically demonstrate a novel way to achieve electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) phenomenon in the reflection spectrum by stacking two different types of coupling effect among different elements of the designed metamaterial. Compared with the conventional EIT-like analogues coming from only one type of coupling effect between bright and dark meta-atoms on the same plane, to our knowledge the novel approach is the first to realize the optically active and precise control of the wavelength position of EIT-like phenomenon using optical metamaterials. An on-to-off dynamic control of the EIT-like phenomenon also can be achieved by changing the refractive index of the dielectric substrate via adjusting an optical pump pulse. Furthermore, in near infrared region, the metamaterial structure can be operated as an ultra-high resolution refractive index sensor with an ultra-high figure of merit (FOM) reaching 3200, which remarkably improve the FOM value of plasmonic refractive index sensors. The novel approach realizing EIT-like spectral shape with easy adjustment to the working wavelengths will open up new avenues for future research and practical application of active plasmonic switch, ultra-high resolution sensors and active slow-light devices. PMID:28332629

High-Resolution Urban Greenery Mapping for Micro-Climate Modelling Based on 3d City Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofierka, J.; Gallay, M.; Kaňuk, J.; Šupinský, J.; Šašak, J.

2017-10-01

Urban greenery has various positive micro-climate effects including mitigation of heat islands. The primary root of heat islands in cities is in absorption of solar radiation by the mass of building structures, roads and other solid materials. The absorbed heat is subsequently re-radiated into the surroundings and increases ambient temperatures. The vegetation can stop and absorb most of incoming solar radiation mostly via the photosynthesis and evapotranspiration process. However, vegetation in mild climate of Europe manifests considerable annual seasonality which can also contribute to the seasonal change in the cooling effect of the vegetation on the urban climate. Modern methods of high-resolution mapping and new generations of sensors have brought opportunity to record the dynamics of urban greenery in a high resolution in spatial, spectral, and temporal domains. In this paper, we use the case study of the city of Košice in Eastern Slovakia to demonstrate the methodology of 3D mapping and modelling the urban greenery during one vegetation season in 2016. The purpose of this monitoring is to capture 3D effects of urban greenery on spatial distribution of solar radiation in urban environment. Terrestrial laser scanning was conducted on four selected sites within Košice in ultra-high spatial resolution. The entire study area, which included these four smaller sites, comprised 4 km2 of the central part of the city was flown within a single airborne lidar and photogrammetric mission to capture the upper parts of buildings and vegetation. The acquired airborne data were used to generate a 3D city model and the time series of terrestrial lidar data were integrated with the 3D city model. The results show that the terrestrial and airborne laser scanning techniques can be effectively used to monitor seasonal changes in foliage of trees in order to assess the transmissivity of the canopy for microclimate modelling.

SU-F-I-55: Performance Evaluation of Digital PET/CT: Medical Physics Basis for the Clinical Applications

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

Zhang, J; Knopp, MV; Miller, M

2016-06-15

Purpose: Replacement of conventional PMT-based detector with next generation digital photon counting (DPC) detector is a technology leap for PET imaging. This study evaluated the performance and characteristics of the DPC system and its stability within a 1 year time window following its installation focusing on the medical physics basis for clinical applications. Methods: A digital PET/CT scanner using 1:1 coupling of 23,040 crystal: detector elements was introduced and became operational at OSU. We tested and evaluated system performance and characteristics using NEMA NU2-2012. System stabilities in timing resolution, energy resolution, detector temperature and humidity (T&H) were monitored over 1-yr.more » Timing, energy and spatial resolution were characterized across clinically relevant count rate range. CQIE uniformity PET and NEMA IEC-Body PET with hot spheres varying with sizes and contrasts were performed. PET reconstructed in standard(4mm), High(2mm) and Ultra-High(1mm) definitions were evaluated. Results: NEMA results showed PET spatial resolution (mm-FWHM) from 4.01&4.14 at 1cm to 5.82&6.17 at 20cm in transverse & axial. 322±3ps timing and 11.0% energy resolution were measured. 5.7kcps/MBq system sensitivity with 24kcps/MBq effective sensitivity was obtained. The peak-NECR was ∼171kcps with the effective peak-NECR >650kcps@50kBq/mL. Scatter fraction was ∼30%, and the maximum trues was >900kcps. NEMA IQ demonstrated hot sphere contrast ranging from ∼62%±2%(10mm) to ∼88%±2%(22mm), cold sphere contrast of ∼86%±2%(28mm) and ∼89%±3%(37mm) and excellent uniformity. Monitoring 1-yr stability, it revealed ∼1% change in timing, ±0.4% change in energy resolution, and <10% variations in T&H. CQIE PET gave <3% SUV variances in axial. 60%–100% recovery coefficients across sphere sizes and contrast levels were achieved. Conclusion: Characteristics and stability of the next generation DPC PET detector system over an 1-yr time window was excellent and better than prior experiences. It demonstrated improved and robust system characteristics and performance in spatial resolution, sensitivity, timing and energy resolution, count rate and image quality. Michael Miller is an employee of Philips Healthcare.« less

Ultra-high aggregate bandwidth two-dimensional multiple-wavelength diode laser arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang-Hasnain, Connie

1994-04-01

Two-dimensional (2D) multi-wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays is promising for ultrahigh aggregate capacity optical networks. A 2D VCSEL array emitting 140 distinct wavelengths was reported by implementing a spatially graded layer in the VCSEL structure, which in turn creates a wavelength spread. In this program, we concentrated on novel epitaxial growth techniques to make reproducible and repeatable multi-wavelength VCSEL arrays.

Full-field OCT: ex vivo and in vivo biological imaging applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grieve, Katharine; Dubois, Arnaud; Moneron, Gael; Guyot, Elvire; Boccara, Albert C.

2005-04-01

We present results of studies in embryology and ophthalmology performed using our ultrahigh-resolution full-field OCT system. We also discuss recent developments to our ultrashort acquisition time full-field optical coherence tomography system designed to allow in vivo biological imaging. Preliminary results of high-speed imaging in biological samples are presented. The core of the experimental setup is the Linnik interferometer, illuminated by a white light source. En face tomographic images are obtained in real-time without scanning by computing the difference of two phase-opposed interferometric images recorded by high-resolution CCD cameras. An isotropic spatial resolution of ~1 μm is achieved thanks to the short source coherence length and the use of high numerical aperture microscope objectives. A detection sensitivity of ~90 dB is obtained by means of image averaging and pixel binning. In ophthalmology, reconstructed xz images from rat ocular tissue are presented, where cellular-level structures in the retina are revealed, demonstrating the unprecedented resolution of our instrument. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the mouse embryo allowing the study of the establishment of the anterior-posterior axis are shown. Finally we present the first results of embryonic imaging using the new rapid acquisition full-field OCT system, which offers an acquisition time of 10 μs per frame.

High resolution separations of charge variants and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugates using ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength.

PubMed

Henley, W Hampton; He, Yan; Mellors, J Scott; Batz, Nicholas G; Ramsey, J Michael; Jorgenson, James W

2017-11-10

Ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength has been applied to the separation of the charge variants, drug conjugates, and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies. Samples composed of many closely related species are difficult to resolve and quantify using traditional analytical instrumentation. High performance instrumentation can often save considerable time and effort otherwise spent on extensive method development. Ideally, the resolution obtained for a given CE buffer system scales with the square root of the applied voltage. Currently available commercial CE instrumentation is limited to an applied voltage of approximately 30kV and a maximum electric field strength of 1kV/cm due to design limitations. The instrumentation described here is capable of safely applying potentials of at least 120kV with electric field strengths over 2000V/cm, potentially doubling the resolution of the best conventional CE buffer/capillary systems while decreasing analysis time in some applications. Separations of these complex mixtures using this new instrumentation demonstrate the potential of ultra-high voltage CE to identify the presence of previously unresolved components and to reduce analysis time for complex mixtures of antibody variants and drug conjugates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface-Induced Dissociation of Protein Complexes in a Hybrid Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer.

PubMed

Yan, Jing; Zhou, Mowei; Gilbert, Joshua D; Wolff, Jeremy J; Somogyi, Árpád; Pedder, Randall E; Quintyn, Royston S; Morrison, Lindsay J; Easterling, Michael L; Paša-Tolić, Ljiljana; Wysocki, Vicki H

2017-01-03

Mass spectrometry continues to develop as a valuable tool in the analysis of proteins and protein complexes. In protein complex mass spectrometry studies, surface-induced dissociation (SID) has been successfully applied in quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instruments. SID provides structural information on noncovalent protein complexes that is complementary to other techniques. However, the mass resolution of Q-TOF instruments can limit the information that can be obtained for protein complexes by SID. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) provides ultrahigh resolution and ultrahigh mass accuracy measurements. In this study, an SID device was designed and successfully installed in a hybrid FT-ICR instrument in place of the standard gas collision cell. The SID-FT-ICR platform has been tested with several protein complex systems (homooligomers, a heterooligomer, and a protein-ligand complex, ranging from 53 to 85 kDa), and the results are consistent with data previously acquired on Q-TOF platforms, matching predictions from known protein interface information. SID fragments with the same m/z but different charge states are well-resolved based on distinct spacing between adjacent isotope peaks, and the addition of metal cations and ligands can also be isotopically resolved with the ultrahigh mass resolution available in FT-ICR.

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography through a micro-endoscope: towards in vivo imaging of cellular-scale mechanics

PubMed Central

Fang, Qi; Curatolo, Andrea; Wijesinghe, Philip; Yeow, Yen Ling; Hamzah, Juliana; Noble, Peter B.; Karnowski, Karol; Sampson, David D.; Ganss, Ruth; Kim, Jun Ki; Lee, Woei M.; Kennedy, Brendan F.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we describe a technique capable of visualizing mechanical properties at the cellular scale deep in living tissue, by incorporating a gradient-index (GRIN)-lens micro-endoscope into an ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography system. The optical system, after the endoscope, has a lateral resolution of 1.6 µm and an axial resolution of 2.2 µm. Bessel beam illumination and Gaussian mode detection are used to provide an extended depth-of-field of 80 µm, which is a 4-fold improvement over a fully Gaussian beam case with the same lateral resolution. Using this system, we demonstrate quantitative elasticity imaging of a soft silicone phantom containing a stiff inclusion and a freshly excised malignant murine pancreatic tumor. We also demonstrate qualitative strain imaging below the tissue surface on in situ murine muscle. The approach we introduce here can provide high-quality extended-focus images through a micro-endoscope with potential to measure cellular-scale mechanics deep in tissue. We believe this tool is promising for studying biological processes and disease progression in vivo. PMID:29188108

Observation of shadowing of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays by the Moon and the Sun

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

Alexandreas, D.E.; Allen, R.C.; Berley, D.

1991-03-01

Data from an extensive air shower detector of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays shows shadowing of the cosmic-ray flux by the Moon and the Sun with significance of 4.9 standard deviations. This is the first observation of such shadowing. The effect has been used to determine that the angular resolution of the detector is 0.75{degree} {sub {minus}0.90{degree}}{sup +0.13{degree}}.

Development of two-framing camera with large format and ultrahigh speed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Xiaoguo; Wang, Yuan; Wang, Yi

2012-10-01

High-speed imaging facility is important and necessary for the formation of time-resolved measurement system with multi-framing capability. The framing camera which satisfies the demands of both high speed and large format needs to be specially developed in the ultrahigh speed research field. A two-framing camera system with high sensitivity and time-resolution has been developed and used for the diagnosis of electron beam parameters of Dragon-I linear induction accelerator (LIA). The camera system, which adopts the principle of light beam splitting in the image space behind the lens with long focus length, mainly consists of lens-coupled gated image intensifier, CCD camera and high-speed shutter trigger device based on the programmable integrated circuit. The fastest gating time is about 3 ns, and the interval time between the two frames can be adjusted discretely at the step of 0.5 ns. Both the gating time and the interval time can be tuned to the maximum value of about 1 s independently. Two images with the size of 1024×1024 for each can be captured simultaneously in our developed camera. Besides, this camera system possesses a good linearity, uniform spatial response and an equivalent background illumination as low as 5 electrons/pix/sec, which fully meets the measurement requirements of Dragon-I LIA.

Compact ultrahigh vacuum sample environments for x-ray nanobeam diffraction and imaging.

PubMed

Evans, P G; Chahine, G; Grifone, R; Jacques, V L R; Spalenka, J W; Schülli, T U

2013-11-01

X-ray nanobeams present the opportunity to obtain structural insight in materials with small volumes or nanoscale heterogeneity. The effective spatial resolution of the information derived from nanobeam techniques depends on the stability and precision with which the relative position of the x-ray optics and sample can be controlled. Nanobeam techniques include diffraction, imaging, and coherent scattering, with applications throughout materials science and condensed matter physics. Sample positioning is a significant mechanical challenge for x-ray instrumentation providing vacuum or controlled gas environments at elevated temperatures. Such environments often have masses that are too large for nanopositioners capable of the required positional accuracy of the order of a small fraction of the x-ray spot size. Similarly, the need to place x-ray optics as close as 1 cm to the sample places a constraint on the overall size of the sample environment. We illustrate a solution to the mechanical challenge in which compact ion-pumped ultrahigh vacuum chambers with masses of 1-2 kg are integrated with nanopositioners. The overall size of the environment is sufficiently small to allow their use with zone-plate focusing optics. We describe the design of sample environments for elevated-temperature nanobeam diffraction experiments demonstrate in situ diffraction, reflectivity, and scanning nanobeam imaging of the ripening of Au crystallites on Si substrates.

Compact ultrahigh vacuum sample environments for x-ray nanobeam diffraction and imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, P. G.; Chahine, G.; Grifone, R.; Jacques, V. L. R.; Spalenka, J. W.; Schülli, T. U.

2013-11-01

X-ray nanobeams present the opportunity to obtain structural insight in materials with small volumes or nanoscale heterogeneity. The effective spatial resolution of the information derived from nanobeam techniques depends on the stability and precision with which the relative position of the x-ray optics and sample can be controlled. Nanobeam techniques include diffraction, imaging, and coherent scattering, with applications throughout materials science and condensed matter physics. Sample positioning is a significant mechanical challenge for x-ray instrumentation providing vacuum or controlled gas environments at elevated temperatures. Such environments often have masses that are too large for nanopositioners capable of the required positional accuracy of the order of a small fraction of the x-ray spot size. Similarly, the need to place x-ray optics as close as 1 cm to the sample places a constraint on the overall size of the sample environment. We illustrate a solution to the mechanical challenge in which compact ion-pumped ultrahigh vacuum chambers with masses of 1-2 kg are integrated with nanopositioners. The overall size of the environment is sufficiently small to allow their use with zone-plate focusing optics. We describe the design of sample environments for elevated-temperature nanobeam diffraction experiments demonstrate in situ diffraction, reflectivity, and scanning nanobeam imaging of the ripening of Au crystallites on Si substrates.

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

Wojcik, Roza; Webb, Ian K.; Deng, Liulin

Understanding the biological mechanisms related to lipids and glycolipids is challenging due to the vast number of possible isomers. Mass spectrometry (MS) measurements are currently the dominant approach for studying and providing detailed information on lipid and glycolipid structures. However, difficulties in distinguishing many structural isomers (e.g. distinct acyl chain positions, double bond locations, as well as glycan isomers) inhibit the understanding of their biological roles. Here we utilized ultra-high resolution ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) separations based upon the use of traveling waves in a serpentine long path length multi-pass Structures for Lossless Manipulations (SLIM) to enhance isomer resolution. Themore » multi-pass arrangement allowed separations ranging from ~16 m (1 pass) to ~470 m (32 passes) to be investigated for the distinction of lipids and glycolipids with extremely small structural differences. Lastly, these ultra-high resolution SLIM IMS-MS analyses provide a foundation for exploring and better understanding isomer specific biological and disease processes.« less

Microstructural abnormalities in MEWDS demonstrated by ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Nguyen, My Hanh T; Witkin, Andre J; Reichel, Elias; Ko, Tony H; Fujimoto, James G; Schuman, Joel S; Duker, Jay S

2007-01-01

Histopathological studies of acute multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS) have not been reported because of the transient and benign nature of the disease. Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT), capable of high resolution in vivo imaging, offers a unique opportunity to visualize retinal microstructure in the disease. UHR-OCT images of the maculae of five patients with MEWDS were obtained and analyzed. Diagnosis was based on clinical presentation, examination, visual field testing, and angiography. UHR-OCT revealed disturbances in the photoreceptor inner/outer segment junction (IS/OS) in each of the five patients (six eyes) with MEWDS. In addition, thinning of the outer nuclear layer was seen in the case of recurrent MEWDS, suggesting that repeated episodes of MEWDS may result in photoreceptor atrophy. Subtle disruptions of the photoreceptor IS/OS are demonstrated in all eyes affected by MEWDS. UHR-OCT may be a useful adjunct to diagnosis and monitoring of MEWDS.

Set-up of a high-resolution 300 mK atomic force microscope in an ultra-high vacuum compatible (3)He/10 T cryostat.

PubMed

von Allwörden, H; Ruschmeier, K; Köhler, A; Eelbo, T; Schwarz, A; Wiesendanger, R

2016-07-01

The design of an atomic force microscope with an all-fiber interferometric detection scheme capable of atomic resolution at about 500 mK is presented. The microscope body is connected to a small pumped (3)He reservoir with a base temperature of about 300 mK. The bakeable insert with the cooling stage can be moved from its measurement position inside the bore of a superconducting 10 T magnet into an ultra-high vacuum chamber, where the tip and sample can be exchanged in situ. Moreover, single atoms or molecules can be evaporated onto a cold substrate located inside the microscope. Two side chambers are equipped with standard surface preparation and surface analysis tools. The performance of the microscope at low temperatures is demonstrated by resolving single Co atoms on Mn/W(110) and by showing atomic resolution on NaCl(001).

Spatial dependence of reduced sulfur in Everglades dissolved organic matter controlled by sulfate enrichment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poulin, Brett A.; Ryan, Joseph N.; Nagy, Kathryn L.; Stubbins, Aron; Dittmar, Thorsten; Orem, William H.; Krabbenhoft, David P.; Aiken, George R.

2017-01-01

Sulfate inputs to the Florida Everglades stimulate sulfidic conditions in freshwater wetland sediments that affect ecological and biogeochemical processes. An unexplored implication of sulfate enrichment is alteration of the content and speciation of sulfur in dissolved organic matter (DOM), which influences the reactivity of DOM with trace metals. Here, we describe the vertical and lateral spatial dependence of sulfur chemistry in the hydrophobic organic acid fraction of DOM from unimpacted and sulfate-impacted Everglades wetlands using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Spatial variation in DOM sulfur content and speciation reflects the degree of sulfate enrichment and resulting sulfide concentrations in sediment pore waters. Sulfur is incorporated into DOM predominantly as highly reduced species in sulfidic pore waters. Sulfur-enriched DOM in sediment pore waters exchanges with overlying surface waters and the sulfur likely undergoes oxidative transformations in the water column. Across all wetland sites and depths, the total sulfur content of DOM correlated with the relative abundance of highly reduced sulfur functionality. The results identify sulfate input as a primary determinant on DOM sulfur chemistry to be considered in the context of wetland restoration and sulfur and trace metal cycling.

Full-field OCT: applications in ophthalmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grieve, Kate; Dubois, Arnaud; Paques, Michel; Le Gargasson, Jean-Francois; Boccara, Albert C.

2005-04-01

We present images of ocular tissues obtained using ultrahigh resolution full-field OCT. The experimental setup is based on the Linnik interferometer, illuminated by a tungsten halogen lamp. En face tomographic images are obtained in real-time without scanning by computing the difference of two phase-opposed interferometric images recorded by a high-resolution CCD camera. A spatial resolution of 0.7 μm × 0.9 μm (axial × transverse) is achieved thanks to the short source coherence length and the use of high numerical aperture microscope objectives. A detection sensitivity of 90 dB is obtained by means of image averaging and pixel binning. Whole unfixed eyes and unstained tissue samples (cornea, lens, retina, choroid and sclera) of ex vivo rat, mouse, rabbit and porcine ocular tissues were examined. The unprecedented resolution of our instrument allows cellular-level resolution in the cornea and retina, and visualization of individual fibers in the lens. Transcorneal lens imaging was possible in all animals, and in albino animals, transscleral retinal imaging was achieved. We also introduce our rapid acquisition full-field optical coherence tomography system designed to accommodate in vivo ophthalmologic imaging. The variations on the original system technology include the introduction of a xenon arc lamp as source, and rapid image acquisition performed by a high-speed CMOS camera, reducing acquisition time to 5 ms per frame.

Geo-PET: A novel generic organ-pet for small animal organs and tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sensoy, Levent

Reconstructed tomographic image resolution of small animal PET imaging systems is improving with advances in radiation detector development. However the trend towards higher resolution systems has come with an increase in price and system complexity. Recent developments in the area of solid-state photomultiplication devices like silicon photomultiplier arrays (SPMA) are creating opportunities for new high performance tools for PET scanner design. Imaging of excised small animal organs and tissues has been used as part of post-mortem studies in order to gain detailed, high-resolution anatomical information on sacrificed animals. However, this kind of ex-vivo specimen imaging has largely been limited to ultra-high resolution muCT. The inherent limitations to PET resolution have, to date, excluded PET imaging from these ex-vivo imaging studies. In this work, we leverage the diminishing physical size of current generation SPMA designs to create a very small, simple, and high-resolution prototype detector system targeting ex-vivo tomographic imaging of small animal organs and tissues. We investigate sensitivity, spatial resolution, and the reconstructed image quality of a prototype small animal PET scanner designed specifically for imaging of excised murine tissue and organs. We aim to demonstrate that a cost-effective silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array based design with thin crystals (2 mm) to minimize depth of interaction errors might be able to achieve sub-millimeter resolution. We hypothesize that the substantial decrease in sensitivity associated with the thin crystals can be compensated for with increased solid angle detection, longer acquisitions, higher activity and wider acceptance energy windows (due to minimal scatter from excised organs). The constructed system has a functional field of view (FoV) of 40 mm diameter, which is adequate for most small animal specimen studies. We perform both analytical (3D-FBP) and iterative (ML-EM) methods in order to reconstruct tomographic images. Results demonstrate good agreement between the simulation and the prototype. Our detector system with pixelated crystals is able to separate small objects as close as 1.25 mm apart, whereas spatial resolution converges to the theoretical limit of 1.6 mm (half the size of the smallest detecting element), which is to comparable to the spatial resolution of the existing commercial small animal PET systems. Better system spatial resolution is achievable with new generation SiPM detector boards with 1 mm x 1 mm cell dimensions. We demonstrate through Monte Carlo simulations that it is possible to achieve sub-millimeter spatial image resolution (0.7 mm for our scanner) in complex objects using monolithic crystals and exploiting the light-sharing mechanism among the neighboring detector cells. Results also suggest that scanner (or object) rotation minimizes artifacts arising from poor angular sampling, which is even more significant in smaller PET designs as the gaps between the sensitive regions of the detector have a more exaggerated effect on the overall reconstructed image quality when the design is more compact. Sensitivity of the system, on the other hand, can be doubled by adding two additional detector heads resulting in a, fully closed, 4? geometry.

Photoreceptor Layer Thickness Changes During Dark Adaptation Observed With Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography

PubMed Central

Lu, Chen D.; Lee, ByungKun; Schottenhamml, Julia; Maier, Andreas; Pugh, Edward N.; Fujimoto, James G.

2017-01-01

Purpose To examine outer retinal band changes after flash stimulus and subsequent dark adaptation with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). Methods Five dark-adapted left eyes of five normal subjects were imaged with 3-μm axial-resolution UHR-OCT during 30 minutes of dark adaptation following 96%, 54%, 23%, and 0% full-field and 54% half-field rhodopsin bleach. We identified the ellipsoid zone inner segment/outer segment (EZ[IS/OS]), cone interdigitation zone (CIZ), rod interdigitation zone (RIZ), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and Bruch's membrane (BM) axial positions and generated two-dimensional thickness maps of the EZ(IS/OS) to the four bands. The average thickness over an area of the thickness map was compared against that of the dark-adapted baselines. The time-dependent thickness changes (photoresponses) were statistically compared against 0% bleach. Dark adaptometry was performed with the same bleaching protocol. Results The EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ photoresponse was significantly different at 96% (P < 0.0001) and 54% (P = 0.006) bleach. At all three bleaching levels, the EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ, -RPE, and -BM responses were significantly different (P < 0.0001). The EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ and EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ time courses were similar to the recovery of rod- and cone-mediated sensitivity, respectively, measured with dark adaptometry. The maximal EZ(IS/OS)-CIZ and EZ(IS/OS)-RIZ response magnitudes doubled from 54% to 96% bleach. Both EZ(IS/OS)-RPE and EZ(IS/OS)-BM responses resembled dampened oscillations that were graded in amplitude and duration with bleaching intensity. Half-field photoresponses were localized to the stimulated retina. Conclusions With noninvasive, near-infrared UHR-OCT, we characterized three distinct, spatially localized photoresponses in the outer retinal bands. These photoresponses have potential value as physical correlates of photoreceptor function. PMID:28898357

High definition clouds and precipitation for climate prediction -results from a unified German research initiative on high resolution modeling and observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rauser, F.

2013-12-01

We present results from the German BMBF initiative 'High Definition Cloud and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction -HD(CP)2'. This initiative addresses most of the problems that are discussed in this session in one, unified approach: cloud physics, convection, boundary layer development, radiation and subgrid variability are approached in one organizational framework. HD(CP)2 merges both observation and high performance computing / model development communities to tackle a shared problem: how to improve the understanding of the most important subgrid-scale processes of cloud and precipitation physics, and how to utilize this knowledge for improved climate predictions. HD(CP)2 is a coordinated initiative to: (i) realize; (ii) evaluate; and (iii) statistically characterize and exploit for the purpose of both parameterization development and cloud / precipitation feedback analysis; ultra-high resolution (100 m in the horizontal, 10-50 m in the vertical) regional hind-casts over time periods (3-15 y) and spatial scales (1000-1500 km) that are climatically meaningful. HD(CP)2 thus consists of three elements (the model development and simulations, their observational evaluation and exploitation/synthesis to advance CP prediction) and its first three-year phase has started on October 1st 2012. As a central part of HD(CP)2, the HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) has been carried out in spring 2013. In this campaign, high resolution measurements with a multitude of instruments from all major centers in Germany have been carried out in a limited domain, to allow for unprecedented resolution and precision in the observation of microphysics parameters on a resolution that will allow for evaluation and improvement of ultra-high resolution models. At the same time, a local area version of the new climate model ICON of the Max Planck Institute and the German weather service has been developed that allows for LES-type simulations on high resolutions on limited domains. The advantage of modifying an existing, evolving climate model is to share insights from high resolution runs directly with the large-scale modelers and to allow for easy intercomparison and evaluation later on. Within this presentation, we will give a short overview on HD(CP)2 , show results from the observation campaign HOPE and the LES simulations of the same domain and conditions and will discuss how these will lead to an improved understanding and evaluation background for the efforts to improve fast physics in our climate model.

ANTI-PARALLEL EUV FLOWS OBSERVED ALONG ACTIVE REGION FILAMENT THREADS WITH HI-C

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

Alexander, Caroline E.; Walsh, Robert W.; Régnier, Stéphane

Plasma flows within prominences/filaments have been observed for many years and hold valuable clues concerning the mass and energy balance within these structures. Previous observations of these flows primarily come from Hα and cool extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lines (e.g., 304 Å) where estimates of the size of the prominence threads has been limited by the resolution of the available instrumentation. Evidence of 'counter-steaming' flows has previously been inferred from these cool plasma observations, but now, for the first time, these flows have been directly imaged along fundamental filament threads within the million degree corona (at 193 Å). In this work, wemore » present observations of an AR filament observed with the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) that exhibits anti-parallel flows along adjacent filament threads. Complementary data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager are presented. The ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution of Hi-C allow the anti-parallel flow velocities to be measured (70-80 km s{sup –1}) and gives an indication of the resolvable thickness of the individual strands (0.''8 ± 0.''1). The temperature of the plasma flows was estimated to be log T (K) = 5.45 ± 0.10 using Emission Measure loci analysis. We find that SDO/AIA cannot clearly observe these anti-parallel flows or measure their velocity or thread width due to its larger pixel size. We suggest that anti-parallel/counter-streaming flows are likely commonplace within all filaments and are currently not observed in EUV due to current instrument spatial resolution.« less

Ultra-high resolution crystal structure of recombinant caprine β-lactoglobulin.

PubMed

Crowther, Jennifer M; Lassé, Moritz; Suzuki, Hironori; Kessans, Sarah A; Loo, Trevor S; Norris, Gillian E; Hodgkinson, Alison J; Jameson, Geoffrey B; Dobson, Renwick C J

2014-11-03

β-Lactoglobulin (βlg) is the most abundant whey protein in the milks of ruminant animals. While bovine βlg has been subjected to a vast array of studies, little is known about the caprine ortholog. We present an ultra-high resolution crystal structure of caprine βlg complemented by analytical ultracentrifugation and small-angle X-ray scattering data. In both solution and crystalline states caprine βlg is dimeric (K(D)<5 μM); however, our data suggest a flexible quaternary arrangement of subunits within the dimer. These structural findings will provide insight into relationships among structural, processing, nutritional and immunological characteristics that distinguish cow's and goat's milk. Copyright © 2014 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Broadband rotary joint for high speed ultrahigh resolution endoscopic OCT imaging (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alemohammad, Milad; Yuan, Wu; Mavadia-Shukla, Jessica; Liang, Wenxuan; Yu, Xiaoyun; Yu, Shaoyong; Li, Xingde

2016-03-01

Endoscopic OCT is a promising technology enabling noninvasive in vivo imaging of internal organs, such as the gastrointestinal tract and airways. The past few years have witnessed continued efforts to achieve ultrahigh resolution and speed. It is well-known that the axial resolution in OCT imaging has a quadratic dependence on the central wavelength. While conventional OCT endoscopes operate in 1300 nm wavelength, the second-generation endoscopes are designed for operation around 800 nm where turn-key, broadband sources are becoming readily available. Traditionally 1300 nm OCT endoscopes are scanned at the proximal end, and a broadband fiber-optic rotary joint as a key component in scanning endoscopic OCT is commercially available. Bandwidths in commercial 800 nm rotary joints are unfortunately compromised due to severe chromatic aberration, which limits the resolution afforded by the broadband light source. In the past we remedied this limitation by using a home-made capillary-tube-based rotary joint where the maximum reliable speed is ~10 revolutions/second. In this submission we report our second-generation, home-built high-speed and broadband rotary joint for 800 nm wavelength, which uses achromatic doublets in order achieve broadband achromatic operation. The measured one-way throughput of the rotary joint is >67 % while the fluctuation of the double-pass coupling efficiency during 360° rotation is less than +/-5 % at a speed of 70 revolutions/second. We demonstrate the operation of this rotary joint in conjunction with our ultrahigh-resolution (2.4 µm in air) diffractive catheter by three-dimensional full-circumferential endoscopic imaging of guinea pig esophagus at 70 frames per second in vivo.

Microbleed and microinfarct detection in amyloid angiopathy: a high-resolution MRI-histopathology study

PubMed Central

van Veluw, Susanne J.; Charidimou, Andreas; van der Kouwe, Andre J.; Lauer, Arne; Reijmer, Yael D.; Costantino, Isabel; Gurol, M. Edip; Biessels, Geert Jan; Frosch, Matthew P.; Viswanathan, Anand; Greenberg, Steven M.

2016-01-01

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a common neuropathological finding in the ageing human brain, associated with cognitive impairment. Neuroimaging markers of severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy are cortical microbleeds and microinfarcts. These parenchymal brain lesions are considered key contributors to cognitive impairment. Therefore, they are important targets for therapeutic strategies and may serve as surrogate neuroimaging markers in clinical trials. We aimed to gain more insight into the pathological basis of magnetic resonance imaging-defined microbleeds and microinfarcts in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and to explore the pathological burden that remains undetected, by using high and ultra-high resolution ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging, as well as detailed histological sampling. Brain samples from five cases (mean age 85 ± 6 years) with pathology-proven cerebral amyloid angiopathy and multiple microbleeds on in vivo clinical magnetic resonance imaging were subjected to high-resolution ex vivo 7 T magnetic resonance imaging. On the obtained high-resolution (200 μm isotropic voxels) ex vivo magnetic resonance images, 171 microbleeds were detected compared to 66 microbleeds on the corresponding in vivo magnetic resonance images. Of 13 sampled microbleeds that were matched on histology, five proved to be acute and eight old microhaemorrhages. The iron-positive old microhaemorrhages appeared approximately four times larger on magnetic resonance imaging compared to their size on histology. In addition, 48 microinfarcts were observed on ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging in three out of five cases (two cases exhibited no microinfarcts). None of them were visible on in vivo 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging after a retrospective analysis. Of nine sampled microinfarcts that were matched on histology, five were confirmed as acute and four as old microinfarcts. Finally, we explored the proportion of microhaemorrhage and microinfarct burden that is beyond the detection limits of ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging, by scanning a smaller sample at ultra-high resolution, followed by serial sectioning. At ultra-high resolution (75 μm isotropic voxels) magnetic resonance imaging we observed an additional 48 microbleeds (compared to high resolution), which proved to correspond to vasculopathic changes (i.e. morphological changes to the small vessels) instead of frank haemorrhages on histology. After assessing the serial sections of this particular sample, no additional haemorrhages were observed that were missed on magnetic resonance imaging. In contrast, nine microinfarcts were found in these sections, of which six were only retrospectively visible at ultra-high resolution. In conclusion, these findings suggest that microbleeds on in vivo magnetic resonance imaging are specific for microhaemorrhages in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and that increasing the resolution of magnetic resonance images results in the detection of more ‘non-haemorrhagic’ pathology. In contrast, the vast majority of microinfarcts currently remain under the detection limits of clinical in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. PMID:27645801

Surface-Induced Dissociation of Protein Complexes in a Hybrid Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer

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

Yan, Jing; Zhou, Mowei; Gilbert, Joshua D.

Mass spectrometry continues to develop as a valuable tool in the analysis of proteins and protein complexes. In protein complex mass spectrometry studies, surface-induced dissociation (SID) has been successfully applied in quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instruments. SID provides structural information on noncovalent protein complexes that is complementary to other techniques. However, the mass resolution of Q-TOF instruments can limit the information that can be obtained for protein complexes by SID. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) provides ultrahigh resolution and ultrahigh mass accuracy measurements. Here in this study, an SID device was designed and successfully installed in amore » hybrid FT-ICR instrument in place of the standard gas collision cell. The SID-FT-ICR platform has been tested with several protein complex systems (homooligomers, a heterooligomer, and a protein-ligand complex, ranging from 53 to 85 kDa), and the results are consistent with data previously acquired on Q-TOF platforms, matching predictions from known protein interface information. Lastly, SID fragments with the same m/z but different charge states are well-resolved based on distinct spacing between adjacent isotope peaks, and the addition of metal cations and ligands can also be isotopically resolved with the ultrahigh mass resolution available in FT-ICR.« less

Surface-Induced Dissociation of Protein Complexes in a Hybrid Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer

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

Yan, Jing; Zhou, Mowei; Gilbert, Joshua D.

Mass spectrometry continues to develop as a valuable tool in the analysis of proteins and protein complexes. In protein complex mass spectrometry studies, surface-induced dissociation (SID) has been successfully applied in quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instruments. SID provides structural information on non-covalent protein complexes that is complementary to other techniques. However, the mass resolution of Q-TOF instruments can limit the information that can be obtained for protein complexes by SID. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) provides ultrahigh resolution and ultrahigh mass accuracy measurements. In this study, an SID device was designed and successfully installed in a hybridmore » FT-ICR instrument in place of the standard gas collision cell. The SID-FT-ICR platform has been tested with several protein complex systems (homooligomers, a heterooligomer, and a protein-ligand complex, ranging from 53 kDa to 85 kDa), and the results are consistent with data previously acquired on Q-TOF platforms, matching predictions from known protein interface information. SID fragments with the same m/z but different charge states are well-resolved based on distinct spacing between adjacent isotope peaks, and the addition of metal cations and ligands can also be isotopically resolved with the ultrahigh mass resolution available in FT-ICR.« less

Surface-Induced Dissociation of Protein Complexes in a Hybrid Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer

DOE PAGES

Yan, Jing; Zhou, Mowei; Gilbert, Joshua D.; ...

2016-12-02

Mass spectrometry continues to develop as a valuable tool in the analysis of proteins and protein complexes. In protein complex mass spectrometry studies, surface-induced dissociation (SID) has been successfully applied in quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF) instruments. SID provides structural information on noncovalent protein complexes that is complementary to other techniques. However, the mass resolution of Q-TOF instruments can limit the information that can be obtained for protein complexes by SID. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) provides ultrahigh resolution and ultrahigh mass accuracy measurements. Here in this study, an SID device was designed and successfully installed in amore » hybrid FT-ICR instrument in place of the standard gas collision cell. The SID-FT-ICR platform has been tested with several protein complex systems (homooligomers, a heterooligomer, and a protein-ligand complex, ranging from 53 to 85 kDa), and the results are consistent with data previously acquired on Q-TOF platforms, matching predictions from known protein interface information. Lastly, SID fragments with the same m/z but different charge states are well-resolved based on distinct spacing between adjacent isotope peaks, and the addition of metal cations and ligands can also be isotopically resolved with the ultrahigh mass resolution available in FT-ICR.« less

In Situ Environmental TEM in Imaging Gas and Liquid Phase Chemical Reactions for Materials Research.

PubMed

Wu, Jianbo; Shan, Hao; Chen, Wenlong; Gu, Xin; Tao, Peng; Song, Chengyi; Shang, Wen; Deng, Tao

2016-11-01

Gas and liquid phase chemical reactions cover a broad range of research areas in materials science and engineering, including the synthesis of nanomaterials and application of nanomaterials, for example, in the areas of sensing, energy storage and conversion, catalysis, and bio-related applications. Environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) provides a unique opportunity for monitoring gas and liquid phase reactions because it enables the observation of those reactions at the ultra-high spatial resolution, which is not achievable through other techniques. Here, the fundamental science and technology developments of gas and liquid phase TEM that facilitate the mechanistic study of the gas and liquid phase chemical reactions are discussed. Combined with other characterization tools integrated in TEM, unprecedented material behaviors and reaction mechanisms are observed through the use of the in situ gas and liquid phase TEM. These observations and also the recent applications in this emerging area are described. The current challenges in the imaging process are also discussed, including the imaging speed, imaging resolution, and data management. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Advanced infrared astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kostiuk, T.; Deming, Drake; Mumma, M.

1988-01-01

This task supports the application of infrared heterodyne and Fourier transform spectroscopy to ultra-high resolution studies of molecular constituents of planetary astomspheres and cometary comae. High spectral and spatial resolutions are especially useful for detection and study of localized, non-thermal phenomena in low temperature and low density regions, for detection of trace constituents and for measurement of winds and dynamical phenomena such as thermal tides. Measurement and analysis of individual spectial lines permits retrieval of atmospheric molecular abundances and temperatures and thus, information on local photochemical processes. Determination of absolute line positions to better than 10 to the minus eighth power permits direct measurements of gas velocity to a few meters/sec. Observations are made from ground based heterodyne spectrometers at the Kitt Peak McMath solar telescope and from the NASA infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Wind velocities at 110km altitude on Venus were extracted approximately 1 m/sec from measurements of non-thermal emission cores of 10.3 micron CO2 lines. Results indicate a subsolar to antisolar circulationwith a small zonal retrograde component.

SiliPET: An ultra-high resolution design of a small animal PET scanner based on stacks of double-sided silicon strip detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Domenico, Giovanni; Zavattini, Guido; Cesca, Nicola; Auricchio, Natalia; Andritschke, Robert; Schopper, Florian; Kanbach, Gottfried

2007-02-01

We investigated with Monte Carlo simulations, using the EGSNrcMP code, the capabilities of a small animal PET scanner based on four stacks of double-sided silicon strip detectors. Each stack consists of 40 silicon detectors with dimension of 60×60×1 mm 3 and 128 orthogonal strips on each side. Two coordinates of the interaction are given by the strips, whereas the third coordinate is given by the detector number in the stack. The stacks are arranged to form a box of 5×5×6 cm 3 with minor sides opened; the box represents the minimal FOV of the scanner. The performance parameters of the SiliPET scanner have been estimated giving a (positron range limited) spatial resolution of 0.52 mm FWHM, and an absolute sensitivity of 5.1% at the center of system. Preliminary results of a proof of principle measurement done with the MEGA advanced Compton imager using a ≈1 mm diameter 22Na source, showed a focal ray tracing FWHM of 1 mm.

Pushing the limits of signal resolution to make coupling measurement easier.

PubMed

Herbert Pucheta, José Enrique; Pitoux, Daisy; Grison, Claire M; Robin, Sylvie; Merlet, Denis; Aitken, David J; Giraud, Nicolas; Farjon, Jonathan

2015-05-07

Probing scalar couplings are essential for structural elucidation in molecular (bio)chemistry. While the measurement of JHH couplings is facilitated by SERF experiments, overcrowded signals represent a significant limitation. Here, a new band selective pure shift SERF allows access to δ(1)H and JHH with an ultrahigh spectral resolution.

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING FOR DRYLAND VEGETATION MONITORING

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

Nancy F. Glenn; Jessica J. Mitchell; Matthew O. Anderson

2012-06-01

UAV-based hyperspectral remote sensing capabilities developed by the Idaho National Lab and Idaho State University, Boise Center Aerospace Lab, were recently tested via demonstration flights that explored the influence of altitude on geometric error, image mosaicking, and dryland vegetation classification. The test flights successfully acquired usable flightline data capable of supporting classifiable composite images. Unsupervised classification results support vegetation management objectives that rely on mapping shrub cover and distribution patterns. Overall, supervised classifications performed poorly despite spectral separability in the image-derived endmember pixels. Future mapping efforts that leverage ground reference data, ultra-high spatial resolution photos and time series analysis shouldmore » be able to effectively distinguish native grasses such as Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), from invasives such as burr buttercup (Ranunculus testiculatus) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum).« less

Final Technical Report for SISGR: Ultrafast Molecular Scale Chemical Imaging

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

Hersam, Mark C.; Guest, Jeffrey R.; Guisinger, Nathan P.

2017-04-10

The Northwestern-Argonne SISGR program utilized newly developed instrumentation and techniques including integrated ultra-high vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy/scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-TERS/STM) and surface-enhanced femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering (SE-FSRS) to advance the spatial and temporal resolution of chemical imaging for the study of photoinduced dynamics of molecules on plasmonically active surfaces. An accompanying theory program addressed modeling of charge transfer processes using constrained density functional theory (DFT) in addition to modeling of SE-FSRS, thereby providing a detailed description of the excited state dynamics. This interdisciplinary and highly collaborative research resulted in 62 publications with ~ 48% of them being co-authored by multiplemore » SISGR team members. A summary of the scientific accomplishments from this SISGR program is provided in this final technical report.« less

Xenon-plasma-light low-energy ultrahigh-resolution photoemission study of Co(S1-xSex)2 (x=0.075)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Takafumi; Souma, Seigo; Sugawara, Katsuaki; Nakayama, Kosuke; Raj, Satyabrata; Hiraka, Haruhiro; Takahashi, Takashi

2007-09-01

We have performed low-energy ultrahigh-resolution photoemission spectroscopy on Co(S1-xSex)2 (x=0.075) to elucidate the bulk electronic states responsible for the ferromagnetic transition. By using a newly developed plasma-driven low-energy xenon (Xe) discharge lamp (hν=8.436eV) , we clearly observed a sharp quasiparticle peak at the Fermi level together with the remarkable temperature dependence of the electron density of states across the transition temperature. Comparison with the experimental result by the HeIα resonance line (hν=21.218eV) indicates that the sharp quasiparticle is of bulk origin and is produced by the Fermi-level crossing of the Co 3d eg↓ subband.

Revealing fine microstructural morphology in the living human retina using Optical Coherence Tomography with pancorrection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torti, C.; Považay, B.; Hofer, B.; Unterhuber, A.; Hermann, B.; Drexler, W.

2008-09-01

Ultra-high speed optical coherence tomography employing an ultra-broadband light source has been combined with adaptive optics utilizing a single high stroke deformable mirror and chromatic aberration compensation. The reduction of motion artefacts, geometric and chromatic aberrations (pancorrection) permits to achieve an isotropic resolution of 2-3 μm in the human eye. The performance of this non-invasive imaging modality enables to resolve cellular structures including cone photoreceptors, nerve fibre bundles and collagenous plates of the lamina cribrosa, and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in the human retina in vivo with superior detail. Alterations of cellular morphology due to cone degeneration in a colour-blind subject are investigated in ultra-high resolution with selective depth sectioning for the first time.

Sensitivity and specificity considerations for fMRI encoding, decoding, and mapping of auditory cortex at ultra-high field.

PubMed

Moerel, Michelle; De Martino, Federico; Kemper, Valentin G; Schmitter, Sebastian; Vu, An T; Uğurbil, Kâmil; Formisano, Elia; Yacoub, Essa

2018-01-01

Following rapid technological advances, ultra-high field functional MRI (fMRI) enables exploring correlates of neuronal population activity at an increasing spatial resolution. However, as the fMRI blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast is a vascular signal, the spatial specificity of fMRI data is ultimately determined by the characteristics of the underlying vasculature. At 7T, fMRI measurement parameters determine the relative contribution of the macro- and microvasculature to the acquired signal. Here we investigate how these parameters affect relevant high-end fMRI analyses such as encoding, decoding, and submillimeter mapping of voxel preferences in the human auditory cortex. Specifically, we compare a T 2 * weighted fMRI dataset, obtained with 2D gradient echo (GE) EPI, to a predominantly T 2 weighted dataset obtained with 3D GRASE. We first investigated the decoding accuracy based on two encoding models that represented different hypotheses about auditory cortical processing. This encoding/decoding analysis profited from the large spatial coverage and sensitivity of the T 2 * weighted acquisitions, as evidenced by a significantly higher prediction accuracy in the GE-EPI dataset compared to the 3D GRASE dataset for both encoding models. The main disadvantage of the T 2 * weighted GE-EPI dataset for encoding/decoding analyses was that the prediction accuracy exhibited cortical depth dependent vascular biases. However, we propose that the comparison of prediction accuracy across the different encoding models may be used as a post processing technique to salvage the spatial interpretability of the GE-EPI cortical depth-dependent prediction accuracy. Second, we explored the mapping of voxel preferences. Large-scale maps of frequency preference (i.e., tonotopy) were similar across datasets, yet the GE-EPI dataset was preferable due to its larger spatial coverage and sensitivity. However, submillimeter tonotopy maps revealed biases in assigned frequency preference and selectivity for the GE-EPI dataset, but not for the 3D GRASE dataset. Thus, a T 2 weighted acquisition is recommended if high specificity in tonotopic maps is required. In conclusion, different fMRI acquisitions were better suited for different analyses. It is therefore critical that any sequence parameter optimization considers the eventual intended fMRI analyses and the nature of the neuroscience questions being asked. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In vivo High Angular Resolution Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Mouse Brain at 16.4 Tesla

PubMed Central

Alomair, Othman I.; Brereton, Ian M.; Smith, Maree T.; Galloway, Graham J.; Kurniawan, Nyoman D.

2015-01-01

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the rodent brain at ultra-high magnetic fields (> 9.4 Tesla) offers a higher signal-to-noise ratio that can be exploited to reduce image acquisition time or provide higher spatial resolution. However, significant challenges are presented due to a combination of longer T 1 and shorter T 2/T2* relaxation times and increased sensitivity to magnetic susceptibility resulting in severe local-field inhomogeneity artefacts from air pockets and bone/brain interfaces. The Stejskal-Tanner spin echo diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence is often used in high-field rodent brain MRI due to its immunity to these artefacts. To accurately determine diffusion-tensor or fibre-orientation distribution, high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) with strong diffusion weighting (b >3000 s/mm2) and at least 30 diffusion-encoding directions are required. However, this results in long image acquisition times unsuitable for live animal imaging. In this study, we describe the optimization of HARDI acquisition parameters at 16.4T using a Stejskal-Tanner sequence with echo-planar imaging (EPI) readout. EPI segmentation and partial Fourier encoding acceleration were applied to reduce the echo time (TE), thereby minimizing signal decay and distortion artefacts while maintaining a reasonably short acquisition time. The final HARDI acquisition protocol was achieved with the following parameters: 4 shot EPI, b = 3000 s/mm2, 64 diffusion-encoding directions, 125×150 μm2 in-plane resolution, 0.6 mm slice thickness, and 2h acquisition time. This protocol was used to image a cohort of adult C57BL/6 male mice, whereby the quality of the acquired data was assessed and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) derived parameters were measured. High-quality images with high spatial and angular resolution, low distortion and low variability in DTI-derived parameters were obtained, indicating that EPI-DWI is feasible at 16.4T to study animal models of white matter (WM) diseases. PMID:26110770

High-Efficiency High-Resolution Global Model Developments at the NASA Goddard Data Assimilation Office

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Shian-Jiann; Atlas, Robert (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Data Assimilation Office (DAO) has been developing a new generation of ultra-high resolution General Circulation Model (GCM) that is suitable for 4-D data assimilation, numerical weather predictions, and climate simulations. These three applications have conflicting requirements. For 4-D data assimilation and weather predictions, it is highly desirable to run the model at the highest possible spatial resolution (e.g., 55 km or finer) so as to be able to resolve and predict socially and economically important weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and severe winter storms. For climate change applications, the model simulations need to be carried out for decades, if not centuries. To reduce uncertainty in climate change assessments, the next generation model would also need to be run at a fine enough spatial resolution that can at least marginally simulate the effects of intense tropical cyclones. Scientific problems (e.g., parameterization of subgrid scale moist processes) aside, all three areas of application require the model's computational performance to be dramatically improved as compared to the previous generation. In this talk, I will present the current and future developments of the "finite-volume dynamical core" at the Data Assimilation Office. This dynamical core applies modem monotonicity preserving algorithms and is genuinely conservative by construction, not by an ad hoc fixer. The "discretization" of the conservation laws is purely local, which is clearly advantageous for resolving sharp gradient flow features. In addition, the local nature of the finite-volume discretization also has a significant advantage on distributed memory parallel computers. Together with a unique vertically Lagrangian control volume discretization that essentially reduces the dimension of the computational problem from three to two, the finite-volume dynamical core is very efficient, particularly at high resolutions. I will also present the computational design of the dynamical core using a hybrid distributed-shared memory programming paradigm that is portable to virtually any of today's high-end parallel super-computing clusters.

High-Efficiency High-Resolution Global Model Developments at the NASA Goddard Data Assimilation Office

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Shian-Jiann; Atlas, Robert (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Data Assimilation Office (DAO) has been developing a new generation of ultra-high resolution General Circulation Model (GCM) that is suitable for 4-D data assimilation, numerical weather predictions, and climate simulations. These three applications have conflicting requirements. For 4-D data assimilation and weather predictions, it is highly desirable to run the model at the highest possible spatial resolution (e.g., 55 kin or finer) so as to be able to resolve and predict socially and economically important weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and severe winter storms. For climate change applications, the model simulations need to be carried out for decades, if not centuries. To reduce uncertainty in climate change assessments, the next generation model would also need to be run at a fine enough spatial resolution that can at least marginally simulate the effects of intense tropical cyclones. Scientific problems (e.g., parameterization of subgrid scale moist processes) aside, all three areas of application require the model's computational performance to be dramatically improved as compared to the previous generation. In this talk, I will present the current and future developments of the "finite-volume dynamical core" at the Data Assimilation Office. This dynamical core applies modem monotonicity preserving algorithms and is genuinely conservative by construction, not by an ad hoc fixer. The "discretization" of the conservation laws is purely local, which is clearly advantageous for resolving sharp gradient flow features. In addition, the local nature of the finite-volume discretization also has a significant advantage on distributed memory parallel computers. Together with a unique vertically Lagrangian control volume discretization that essentially reduces the dimension of the computational problem from three to two, the finite-volume dynamical core is very efficient, particularly at high resolutions. I will also present the computational design of the dynamical core using a hybrid distributed- shared memory programming paradigm that is portable to virtually any of today's high-end parallel super-computing clusters.

Ultrahigh-speed X-ray imaging of hypervelocity projectiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Stuart; Singh, Bipin; Cool, Steven; Entine, Gerald; Campbell, Larry; Bishel, Ron; Rushing, Rick; Nagarkar, Vivek V.

2011-08-01

High-speed X-ray imaging is an extremely important modality for healthcare, industrial, military and research applications such as medical computed tomography, non-destructive testing, imaging in-flight projectiles, characterizing exploding ordnance, and analyzing ballistic impacts. We report on the development of a modular, ultrahigh-speed, high-resolution digital X-ray imaging system with large active imaging area and microsecond time resolution, capable of acquiring at a rate of up to 150,000 frames per second. The system is based on a high-resolution, high-efficiency, and fast-decay scintillator screen optically coupled to an ultra-fast image-intensified CCD camera designed for ballistic impact studies and hypervelocity projectile imaging. A specially designed multi-anode, high-fluence X-ray source with 50 ns pulse duration provides a sequence of blur-free images of hypervelocity projectiles traveling at speeds exceeding 8 km/s (18,000 miles/h). This paper will discuss the design, performance, and high frame rate imaging capability of the system.

MICROSTRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES IN MEWDS DEMONSTRATED BY ULTRAHIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

PubMed Central

NGUYEN, MY HANH T.; WITKIN, ANDRE J.; REICHEL, ELIAS; KO, TONY H.; FUJIMOTO, JAMES G.; SCHUMAN, JOEL S.; DUKER, JAY S.

2007-01-01

Background Histopathological studies of acute multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS) have not been reported because of the transient and benign nature of the disease. Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT), capable of high resolution in vivo imaging, offers a unique opportunity to visualize retinal microstructure in the disease. Methods UHR-OCT images of the maculae of five patients with MEWDS were obtained and analyzed. Diagnosis was based on clinical presentation, examination, visual field testing, and angiography. Results UHR-OCT revealed disturbances in the photoreceptor inner/outer segment junction (IS/OS) in each of the five patients (six eyes) with MEWDS. In addition, thinning of the outer nuclear layer was seen in the case of recurrent MEWDS, suggesting that repeated episodes of MEWDS may result in photoreceptor atrophy. Conclusions Subtle disruptions of the photoreceptor IS/OS are demonstrated in all eyes affected by MEWDS. UHR-OCT may be a useful adjunct to diagnosis and monitoring of MEWDS. PMID:17420691

Set-up of a high-resolution 300 mK atomic force microscope in an ultra-high vacuum compatible {sup 3}He/10 T cryostat

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

Allwörden, H. von; Ruschmeier, K.; Köhler, A.

The design of an atomic force microscope with an all-fiber interferometric detection scheme capable of atomic resolution at about 500 mK is presented. The microscope body is connected to a small pumped {sup 3}He reservoir with a base temperature of about 300 mK. The bakeable insert with the cooling stage can be moved from its measurement position inside the bore of a superconducting 10 T magnet into an ultra-high vacuum chamber, where the tip and sample can be exchanged in situ. Moreover, single atoms or molecules can be evaporated onto a cold substrate located inside the microscope. Two side chambersmore » are equipped with standard surface preparation and surface analysis tools. The performance of the microscope at low temperatures is demonstrated by resolving single Co atoms on Mn/W(110) and by showing atomic resolution on NaCl(001).« less

Enantioselective simultaneous analysis of selected pharmaceuticals in environmental samples by ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid based chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Camacho-Muñoz, Dolores; Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara; Thomas, Kevin V

2016-08-31

In order to assess the true impact of each single enantiomer of pharmacologically active compounds (PACs) in the environment, highly efficient, fast and sensitive analytical methods are needed. For the first time this paper focuses on the use of ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid based chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer to develop multi-residue enantioselective methods for chiral PACs in environmental matrices. This technique exploits the advantages of supercritical fluid chromatography, ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Two coated modified 2.5 μm-polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases were investigated: an amylose tris-3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate column and a cellulose tris-3-chloro-4-methylphenylcarbamate column. The effect of different chromatographic variables on chiral recognition is highlighted. This novel approach resulted in the baseline resolution of 13 enantiomers PACs (aminorex, carprofen, chloramphenicol, 3-N-dechloroethylifosfamide, flurbiprofen, 2-hydroxyibuprofen, ifosfamide, imazalil, naproxen, ofloxacin, omeprazole, praziquantel and tetramisole) and partial resolution of 2 enantiomers PACs (ibuprofen and indoprofen) under fast-gradient conditions (<10 min analysis time). The overall performance of the methods was satisfactory. The applicability of the methods was tested on influent and effluent wastewater samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first feasibility study on the simultaneous separation of chemically diverse chiral PACs in environmental matrices using ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid based chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Key clinical benefits of neuroimaging at 7T.

PubMed

Trattnig, Siegfried; Springer, Elisabeth; Bogner, Wolfgang; Hangel, Gilbert; Strasser, Bernhard; Dymerska, Barbara; Cardoso, Pedro Lima; Robinson, Simon Daniel

2018-03-01

The growing interest in ultra-high field MRI, with more than 35.000 MR examinations already performed at 7T, is related to improved clinical results with regard to morphological as well as functional and metabolic capabilities. Since the signal-to-noise ratio increases with the field strength of the MR scanner, the most evident application at 7T is to gain higher spatial resolution in the brain compared to 3T. Of specific clinical interest for neuro applications is the cerebral cortex at 7T, for the detection of changes in cortical structure, like the visualization of cortical microinfarcts and cortical plaques in Multiple Sclerosis. In imaging of the hippocampus, even subfields of the internal hippocampal anatomy and pathology may be visualized with excellent spatial resolution. Using Susceptibility Weighted Imaging, the plaque-vessel relationship and iron accumulations in Multiple Sclerosis can be visualized, which may provide a prognostic factor of disease. Vascular imaging is a highly promising field for 7T which is dealt with in a separate dedicated article in this special issue. The static and dynamic blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast also increases with the field strength, which significantly improves the accuracy of pre-surgical evaluation of vital brain areas before tumor removal. Improvement in acquisition and hardware technology have also resulted in an increasing number of MR spectroscopic imaging studies in patients at 7T. More recent parallel imaging and short-TR acquisition approaches have overcome the limitations of scan time and spatial resolution, thereby allowing imaging matrix sizes of up to 128×128. The benefits of these acquisition approaches for investigation of brain tumors and Multiple Sclerosis have been shown recently. Together, these possibilities demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of conducting routine diagnostic imaging and clinical research at 7T. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of conductive nanobiomaterials derived from viral assemblies by low-voltage STEM imaging and Raman scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plascencia-Villa, Germán; Carreño-Fuentes, Liliana; Bahena, Daniel; José-Yacamán, Miguel; Palomares, Laura A.; Ramírez, Octavio T.

2014-09-01

New technologies require the development of novel nanomaterials that need to be fully characterized to achieve their potential. High-resolution low-voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has proven to be a very powerful technique in nanotechnology, but its use for the characterization of nanobiomaterials has been limited. Rotavirus VP6 self-assembles into nanotubular assemblies that possess an intrinsic affinity for Au ions. This property was exploited to produce hybrid nanobiomaterials by the in situ functionalization of recombinant VP6 nanotubes with gold nanoparticles. In this work, Raman spectroscopy and advanced analytical electron microscopy imaging with spherical aberration-corrected (Cs) STEM and nanodiffraction at low-voltage doses were employed to characterize nanobiomaterials. STEM imaging revealed the precise structure and arrangement of the protein templates, as well as the nanostructure and atomic arrangement of gold nanoparticles with high spatial sub-Angstrom resolution and avoided radiation damage. The imaging was coupled with backscattered electron imaging, ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscopy and x-ray spectroscopy. The hybrid nanobiomaterials that were obtained showed unique properties as bioelectronic conductive devices and showed enhanced Raman scattering by their precise arrangement into superlattices, displaying the utility of viral assemblies as functional integrative self-assembled nanomaterials for novel applications.

Ultra-high performance size-exclusion chromatography in polar solvents.

PubMed

Vancoillie, Gertjan; Vergaelen, Maarten; Hoogenboom, Richard

2016-12-23

Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is amongst the most widely used polymer characterization methods in both academic and industrial polymer research allowing the determination of molecular weight and distribution parameters, i.e. the dispersity (Ɖ), of unknown polymers. The many advantages, including accuracy, reproducibility and low sample consumption, have contributed to the worldwide success of this analytical technique. The current generation of SEC systems have a stationary phase mostly containing highly porous, styrene-divinylbenzene particles allowing for a size-based separation of various polymers in solution but limiting the flow rate and solvent compatibility. Recently, sub-2μm ethylene-bridged hybrid (BEH) packing materials have become available for SEC analysis. These packing materials can not only withstand much higher pressures up to 15000psi but also show high spatial stability towards different solvents. Combining these BEH columns with the ultra-high performance LC (UHPLC) technology opens up UHP-SEC analysis, showing strongly reduced runtimes and unprecedented solvent compatibility. In this work, this novel characterization technique was compared to conventional SEC using both highly viscous and highly polar solvents as eluent, namely N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol, focusing on the suitability of the BEH-columns for analysis of highly functional polymers. The results show a high functional group compatibility comparable with conventional SEC with remarkably short runtimes and enhanced resolution in methanol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of an ultralow-dose high-resolution pediatric PET scanner design based on monolithic scintillators with dual-sided digital SiPM readout: a simulation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhaylova, Ekaterina; Tabacchini, Valerio; Borghi, Giacomo; Mollet, Pieter; D'Hoe, Ester; Schaart, Dennis R.; Vandenberghe, Stefaan

2017-11-01

The goal of this simulation study is the performance evaluation and comparison of six potential designs for a time-of-flight PET scanner for pediatric patients of up to about 12 years of age. It is designed to have a high sensitivity and provide high-contrast and high-resolution images. The simulated pediatric PET is a full ring scanner, consisting of 32  ×  32 mm2 monolithic LYSO:Ce crystals coupled to digital silicon photomultiplier arrays. The six considered designs differ in axial lengths (27.2 cm, 54.4 cm and 102 cm) and crystal thicknesses (22 mm and 11 mm). The simulations are based on measured detector response data. We study two possible detector arrangements: 22 mm-thick crystals with dual-sided readout and 11 mm-thick crystals with back-sided readout. The six designs are simulated by means of the GEANT4 application for tomographic emission software, using the measured spatial, energy and time response of the monolithic scintillator detectors as input. The performance of the six designs is compared on the basis of four studies: (1) spatial resolution; (2) NEMA NU2-2012 sensitivity and scatter fraction (SF) tests; (3) non-prewhitening signal-to-noise ratio observer study; and (4) receiver operating characteristics analysis. Based on the results, two designs are identified as cost-effective solutions for fast and efficient imaging of children: one with 54.4 cm axial field-of-view (FOV) and 22 mm-thick crystals, and another one with 102 cm axial FOV and 11 cm-thick crystals. The first one has a higher center point sensitivity than the second one, but requires dual-sided readout. The second design has the advantage of allowing a whole-body scan in a single bed position acquisition. Both designs have the potential to provide an excellent spatial resolution (˜2 mm) and an ultra-high sensitivity (>100 cps kBq-1 ).

Development of ultrahigh-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xian-Rong; Zhong, Zhong; Cai, Yong Q.; Coburn, S.

2008-08-01

One of the major goals of the National Synchrotron Light Source II project is to achieve ultrahigh energy resolution up to 0.1 meV for medium-energy inelastic X-ray scattering spectroscopy based on the angular dispersion optics employing extremely asymmetric backscattering geometry. In this papaer, we describe the complete monochromatization mechanisms underlying the new optics. We have also designed and tested a CDW-CDW prototype under ambient condition, with which we have successfully demonstrated the important angular dispersion effect, the Borrman enhanced transmission effect, and other optical principles involved in every step of the entire diffraction process, and found good agreement with the theoretical expectations. These studies indicate that the new optics are feasible in principle but face some technical challenges that need to be solved by our future systematic research and development activities before their practical applications.

Optical clearing for luminal organ imaging with ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Yanmei; Yuan, Wu; Mavadia-Shukla, Jessica; Li, Xingde

2016-08-01

The imaging depth of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in highly scattering biological tissues (such as luminal organs) is limited, particularly for OCT operating at shorter wavelength regions (such as around 800 nm). For the first time, the optical clearing effect of the mixture of liquid paraffin and glycerol on luminal organs was explored with ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain OCT at 800 nm. Ex vivo studies were performed on pig esophagus and bronchus, and guinea pig esophagus with different volume ratios of the mixture. We found that the mixture of 40% liquid paraffin had the best optical clearing effect on esophageal tissues with a short effective time of ˜10 min, which means the clearing effect occurs about 10 min after the application of the clearing agent. In contrast, no obvious optical clearing effect was identified on bronchus tissues.

Quantification of photoreceptor layer thickness in different macular pathologies using ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drexler, Wolfgang; Hermann, Boris; Unterhuber, Angelika; Sattmann, Harald; Wirtitsch, Matthias; Stur, Michael; Scholda, Christoph; Ergun, Erdem; Anger, Elisabeth; Ko, Tony H.; Schubert, Christian; Ahnelt, Peter K.; Fujimoto, James G.; Fercher, Adolf F.

2004-07-01

In vivo ultrahigh resolution ophthalmic OCT has been performed in more than 300 eyes of 200 patients with several retinal pathologies, demonstrating unprecedented visualization of all major intraretinal layers, in particular the photoreceptor layer. Visualization as well as quantification of the inner and outer segment of the photoreceptor layer especially in the foveal region has been acvhieved. In normal subjects the photoreceptor layer thickness in the center of the fovea is about of 90 μm, approximately equally distributed to the inner and the outer photoreceptor segment. In the parafoveal region this thickness is reduced to ~50 μm (~30 μm for the inner and ~20 μm for the outer segment). This is in good agreement with well known increase of cone outer segments in the central foveal region. Photoreceptor layer impairment in different macular pathologies like macular hole, central serous chorioretinopathy, age related macular degeneration, foveomacular dystrophies, Stargardt dystrophy as well as retinitis pigmentosa has been investigated. Photoreceptor layer loss significantly correlated with visual acuity (R2 = 0.6, p < 0.001) and microperimetry findings for the first time in 22 eyes with Stargardt dystrophy. Visualization and quantification of photoreceptor inner and outer segment using ultrahigh resolution OCT has the potential to improve early ophthalmic diagnosis, contributes to a better understanding of pathogenesis of retinal diseases as well as might have impact in the development and monitoring of novel therapy approaches.

Functional imaging and the cerebellum: recent developments and challenges. Editorial.

PubMed

Habas, Christophe

2012-06-01

Recent neuroimaging developments allow a better in vivo characterization of the structural and functional connectivity of the human cerebellum. Ultrahigh fields, which considerably increase spatial resolution, enable to visualize deep cerebellar nuclei and cerebello-cortical sublayers. Tractography reconstructs afferent and efferent pathway of the cerebellum. Resting-state functional connectivity individualizes the prewired, parallel close-looped sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective networks passing through the cerebellum. These results are un agreement with activation maps obtained during stimulation functional neuroimaging or inferred from neurological deficits due to cerebellar lesions. Therefore, neuroimaging supports the hypothesis that cerebellum constitutes a general modulator involved in optimizing mental performance and computing internal models. However, the great challenges will remain to unravel: (1) the functional role of red and bulbar olivary nuclei, (2) the information processing in the cerebellar microcircuitry, and (3) the abstract computation performed by the cerebellum and shared by sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective domains.

Novel Solid Electrolytes for Li-Ion Batteries: A Perspective from Electron Microscopy Studies

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

Ma, Cheng; Chi, Miaofang

2016-06-08

Solid electrolytes can simultaneously overcome two of the most formidable challenges of Li-ion batteries: the severe safety issues and insufficient energy densities. However, before they can be implemented in actual batteries, the ionic conductivity needs to be improved and the interface with electrodes must be optimized. The prerequisite for addressing these issues is a thorough understanding of the material’s behavior at the microscopic and/or the atomic level. (Scanning) transmission electron microscopy is a powerful tool for this purpose, as it can reach an ultrahigh spatial resolution. Here, we review recent electron microscopy investigations on the ion transport behavior in solidmore » electrolytes and their interfaces. Specifically, three aspects will be highlighted: the influence of grain interior atomic configuration on ionic conductivity, the contribution of grain boundaries, and the behavior of solid electrolyte/electrode interfaces. In conclusion, based on this, the perspectives for future research will be discussed.« less

Slit-lamp photography and videography with high magnifications

PubMed Central

Yuan, Jin; Jiang, Hong; Mao, Xinjie; Ke, Bilian; Yan, Wentao; Liu, Che; Cintrón-Colón, Hector R; Perez, Victor L; Wang, Jianhua

2015-01-01

Purpose To demonstrate the use of the slit-lamp photography and videography with extremely high magnifications for visualizing structures of the anterior segment of the eye. Methods A Canon 60D digital camera with Movie Crop Function was adapted into a Nikon FS-2 slit-lamp to capture still images and video clips of the structures of the anterior segment of the eye. Images obtained using the slit-lamp were tested for spatial resolution. The cornea of human eyes was imaged with the slit-lamp and the structures were compared with the pictures captured using the ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT). The central thickness of the corneal epithelium and total cornea was obtained using the slit-lamp and the results were compared with the thickness obtained using UHR-OCT. Results High-quality ocular images and higher spatial resolutions were obtained by using the slit-lamp with extremely high magnifications and Movie Crop Function, rather than the traditional slit-lamp. The structures and characteristics of the cornea, such as the normal epithelium, abnormal epithelium of corneal intraepithelial neoplasia, LASIK interface, and contact lenses, were clearly visualized using this device. These features were confirmed by comparing the obtained images with those acquired using UHR-OCT. Moreover, the tear film debris on the ocular surface and the corneal nerve in the anterior corneal stroma were also visualized. The thicknesses of the corneal epithelium and total cornea were similar to that measured using UHR-OCT (P < 0.05). Conclusions We demonstrated that the slit-lamp photography and videography with extremely high magnifications allows better visualization of the anterior segment structures of the eye, especially of the epithelium, when compared with the traditional slit-lamp. PMID:26020484

Topographic gravity modeling for global Bouguer maps to degree 2160: Validation of spectral and spatial domain forward modeling techniques at the 10 microGal level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirt, Christian; Reußner, Elisabeth; Rexer, Moritz; Kuhn, Michael

2016-09-01

Over the past years, spectral techniques have become a standard to model Earth's global gravity field to 10 km scales, with the EGM2008 geopotential model being a prominent example. For some geophysical applications of EGM2008, particularly Bouguer gravity computation with spectral techniques, a topographic potential model of adequate resolution is required. However, current topographic potential models have not yet been successfully validated to degree 2160, and notable discrepancies between spectral modeling and Newtonian (numerical) integration well beyond the 10 mGal level have been reported. Here we accurately compute and validate gravity implied by a degree 2160 model of Earth's topographic masses. Our experiments are based on two key strategies, both of which require advanced computational resources. First, we construct a spectrally complete model of the gravity field which is generated by the degree 2160 Earth topography model. This involves expansion of the topographic potential to the 15th integer power of the topography and modeling of short-scale gravity signals to ultrahigh degree of 21,600, translating into unprecedented fine scales of 1 km. Second, we apply Newtonian integration in the space domain with high spatial resolution to reduce discretization errors. Our numerical study demonstrates excellent agreement (8 μGgal RMS) between gravity from both forward modeling techniques and provides insight into the convergence process associated with spectral modeling of gravity signals at very short scales (few km). As key conclusion, our work successfully validates the spectral domain forward modeling technique for degree 2160 topography and increases the confidence in new high-resolution global Bouguer gravity maps.

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography for quantitative topographic mapping of retinal and intraretinal architectural morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, Tony H.; Hartl, Ingmar; Drexler, Wolfgang; Ghanta, Ravi K.; Fujimoto, James G.

2002-06-01

Quantitative, three-dimensional mapping of retinal architectural morphology was achieved using an ultrahigh resolution ophthalmic OCT system. This OCT system utilizes a broad bandwidth titanium-sapphire laser light source generating bandwidths of up to 300 nm near 800 nm center wavelength. The system enables real-time cross-sectional imaging of the retina with ~3 micrometers axial resolution. The macula and the papillomacular axis of a normal human subject were systematically mapped using a series of linear scans. Edge detection and segmentation algorithms were developed to quantify retinal and intraretinal thicknesses. Topographic mapping of the total retinal thickness and the total ganglion cell/inner plexiform layer thickness was achieved around the macula. A topographic mapping quantifying the progressive thickening of the nerve fiber layer (NFL) nasally approaching the optic disk was also demonstrated. The ability to create three-dimensional topographic mapping of retinal architectural morphology at ~3 micrometers axial resolution will be relevant for the diagnosis of many retinal diseases. The topographic quantification of these structures can serve as a powerful tool for developing algorithms and clinical scanning protocols for the screening and staging of ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma.

Ultrahigh pressure fast size exclusion chromatography for top-down proteomics.

PubMed

Chen, Xin; Ge, Ying

2013-09-01

Top-down MS-based proteomics has gained a solid growth over the past few years but still faces significant challenges in the LC separation of intact proteins. In top-down proteomics, it is essential to separate the high mass proteins from the low mass species due to the exponential decay in S/N as a function of increasing molecular mass. SEC is a favored LC method for size-based separation of proteins but suffers from notoriously low resolution and detrimental dilution. Herein, we reported the use of ultrahigh pressure (UHP) SEC for rapid and high-resolution separation of intact proteins for top-down proteomics. Fast separation of intact proteins (6-669 kDa) was achieved in < 7 min with high resolution and high efficiency. More importantly, we have shown that this UHP-SEC provides high-resolution separation of intact proteins using a MS-friendly volatile solvent system, allowing the direct top-down MS analysis of SEC-eluted proteins without an additional desalting step. Taken together, we have demonstrated that UHP-SEC is an attractive LC strategy for the size separation of proteins with great potential for top-down proteomics. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Aquatic plant-derived changes in oil sands naphthenic acid signatures determined by low-, high- and ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Headley, John V; Peru, Kerry M; Armstrong, Sarah A; Han, Xiumei; Martin, Jonathan W; Mapolelo, Mmilili M; Smith, Donald F; Rogers, Ryan P; Marshall, Alan G

2009-02-01

Mass spectrometry is a common tool for studying the fate of complex organic compound mixtures in oil sands processed water (OSPW), but a comparison of low-, high- ( approximately 10 000), and ultrahigh-resolution ( approximately 400 000) instrumentation for this purpose has not previously been made. High-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF MS) and ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), with negative-ion electrospray ionization, provided evidence for the selective dissipation of components in OSPW. Dissipation of oil sands naphthenic acids (NAs with general formula C(n)H(2n+z)O(2) where n is the number of carbon atoms, and Z is zero or a negative even number describing the number of rings) was masked (by components such as fatty acids, O(3), O(5), O(6), O(7), SO(2), SO(3), SO(4), SO(5), SO(6), and NO(4) species) at low resolution (1000) when using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Changes observed in the relative composition of components in OSPW appear to be due primarily to the presence of plants, specifically cattails (Typha latifolia) and their associated microorganisms. The observed dissipation included a range of heteratomic species containing O(2), O(3), O(4), and O(5), present in Athabasca oil sands acid extracts. For the heteratomic O(2) species, namely naphthenic acids, an interesting structural relationship suggests that low and high carbon number NAs are dissipated by the plants preferentially, with a minimum around C(14)/C(15). Other heteratomic species containing O(6), O(7), SO(2), SO(3), SO(4), SO(5), SO(6), and NO(4) appear to be relatively recalcitrant to the cattails and were not dissipated to the same extent in planted systems. Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Toward resolving the catalytic mechanism of dihydrofolate reductase using neutron and ultrahigh-resolution X-ray crystallography [Neutron and ultrahigh resolution X-ray crystallography reveals water as the proton donor in the catalytic mechanism of dihydrofolate reductase

DOE PAGES

Wan, Qun; Bennett, Brad C.; Wilson, Mark A.; ...

2014-12-01

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reduction of dihydrofolate (DHF) to tetrahydrofolate (THF). An important step in the mechanism involves proton donation to the N5 atom of DHF. The inability to determine the protonation states of active site residues and substrate has led to the lack of consensus on a catalytic mechanism. To resolve this ambiguity, we conducted neutron and ultrahigh resolution X-ray crystallographic studies of the pseudo-Michaelis ternary complex of DHFR with folate and NADP + from E. coli. The neutron data were collected to 2.0 Å resolution using a 3.6 mm 3 crystal with the quasi-Laue technique, andmore » the structure reveals that the N3 atom of folate is protonated while Asp27 is negatively charged. Previous mechanisms have proposed a keto-to-enol tautomerization of the substrate to facilitate protonation of the N5 atom. The structure supports the existence of the keto tautomer due to protonation of the N3 atom, suggesting tautomerization is unnecessary for catalysis. In the 1.05 Å resolution X-ray structure of the ternary complex, conformational disorder of the Met20 side chain is coupled to electron density for a partially occupied water within hydrogen-bonding distance of the N5 atom of folate; this suggests direct protonation of substrate by solvent. We propose a catalytic mechanism for DHFR that involves stabilization of the keto tautomer of the substrate, elevation of the pK a of the N5 atom of DHF by Asp27, and protonation of N5 by water whose access to the active site is gated by fluctuation of the Met20 side chain even though the Met-20 loop is closed.« less

Two-dimensional single-shot diffusion-weighted stimulated EPI with reduced FOV for ultrahigh-b radial diffusion-weighted imaging of spinal cord.

PubMed

Sapkota, Nabraj; Shi, Xianfeng; Shah, Lubdha M; Bisson, Erica F; Rose, John W; Jeong, Eun-Kee

2017-06-01

High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the spinal cord (SC) is problematic because of the small cross-section of the SC and the large field inhomogeneity. Obtaining the ultrahigh-b DWI poses a further challenge. The purpose of the study was to design and validate two-dimensional (2D) single-shot diffusion-weighted stimulated echo planar imaging with reduced field of view (2D ss-DWSTEPI-rFOV) for ultrahigh-b radial DWI (UHB-rDWI) of the SC. A novel time-efficient 2D ss-DWSTEPI-rFOV sequence was developed based on the stimulated echo sequence. Reduced-phase field of view was obtained by using two slice-selective 90 ° radiofrequency pulses in the presence of the orthogonal slice selection gradients. The sequence was validated on a cylindrical phantom and demonstrated on SC imaging. Ultrahigh-b radial diffusion-weighted ( bmax = 7300 s/mm2) images of the SC with greatly reduced distortion were obtained. The exponential plus constant fitting of the diffusion-decay curve estimated the constant fraction (restricted water fraction) as 0.36 ± 0.05 in the SC white matter. A novel 2D ss-DWSTEPI-rFOV sequence has been designed and demonstrated for high-resolution UHB-rDWI of localized anatomic structures with significantly reduced distortion induced by nonlinear static field inhomogeneity. Magn Reson Med 77:2167-2173, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Metamaterial-based transmit and receive system for whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high magnetic fields.

PubMed

Herrmann, Tim; Liebig, Thorsten; Mallow, Johannes; Bruns, Christian; Stadler, Jörg; Mylius, Judith; Brosch, Michael; Svedja, Jan Taro; Chen, Zhichao; Rennings, Andreas; Scheich, Henning; Plaumann, Markus; Hauser, Marcus J B; Bernarding, Johannes; Erni, Daniel

2018-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high fields (UHF), such as 7 T, provides an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and has led to unprecedented high-resolution anatomic images and brain activation maps. Although a variety of radio frequency (RF) coil architectures have been developed for imaging at UHF conditions, they usually are specialized for small volumes of interests (VoI). So far, whole-body coil resonators are not available for commercial UHF human whole-body MRI systems. The goal of the present study was the development and validation of a transmit and receive system for large VoIs that operates at a 7 T human whole-body MRI system. A Metamaterial Ring Antenna System (MRAS) consisting of several ring antennas was developed, since it allows for the imaging of extended VoIs. Furthermore, the MRAS not only requires lower intensities of the irradiated RF energy, but also provides a more confined and focused injection of excitation energy on selected body parts. The MRAS consisted of several antennas with 50 cm inner diameter, 10 cm width and 0.5 cm depth. The position of the rings was freely adjustable. Conformal resonant right-/left-handed metamaterial was used for each ring antenna with two quadrature feeding ports for RF power. The system was successfully implemented and demonstrated with both a silicone oil and a water-NaCl-isopropanol phantom as well as in vivo by acquiring whole-body images of a crab-eating macaque. The potential for future neuroimaging applications was demonstrated by the acquired high-resolution anatomic images of the macaque's head. Phantom and in vivo measurements of crab-eating macaques provided high-resolution images with large VoIs up to 40 cm in xy-direction and 45 cm in z-direction. The results of this work demonstrate the feasibility of the MRAS system for UHF MRI as proof of principle. The MRAS shows a substantial potential for MR imaging of larger volumes at 7 T UHF. This new technique may provide new diagnostic potential in spatially extended pathologies such as searching for spread-out tumor metastases or monitoring systemic inflammatory processes.

Metamaterial-based transmit and receive system for whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high magnetic fields

PubMed Central

Liebig, Thorsten; Mallow, Johannes; Bruns, Christian; Stadler, Jörg; Mylius, Judith; Brosch, Michael; Svedja, Jan Taro; Chen, Zhichao; Rennings, Andreas; Scheich, Henning; Plaumann, Markus; Hauser, Marcus J. B.; Bernarding, Johannes; Erni, Daniel

2018-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at ultra-high fields (UHF), such as 7 T, provides an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and has led to unprecedented high-resolution anatomic images and brain activation maps. Although a variety of radio frequency (RF) coil architectures have been developed for imaging at UHF conditions, they usually are specialized for small volumes of interests (VoI). So far, whole-body coil resonators are not available for commercial UHF human whole-body MRI systems. The goal of the present study was the development and validation of a transmit and receive system for large VoIs that operates at a 7 T human whole-body MRI system. A Metamaterial Ring Antenna System (MRAS) consisting of several ring antennas was developed, since it allows for the imaging of extended VoIs. Furthermore, the MRAS not only requires lower intensities of the irradiated RF energy, but also provides a more confined and focused injection of excitation energy on selected body parts. The MRAS consisted of several antennas with 50 cm inner diameter, 10 cm width and 0.5 cm depth. The position of the rings was freely adjustable. Conformal resonant right-/left-handed metamaterial was used for each ring antenna with two quadrature feeding ports for RF power. The system was successfully implemented and demonstrated with both a silicone oil and a water-NaCl-isopropanol phantom as well as in vivo by acquiring whole-body images of a crab-eating macaque. The potential for future neuroimaging applications was demonstrated by the acquired high-resolution anatomic images of the macaque’s head. Phantom and in vivo measurements of crab-eating macaques provided high-resolution images with large VoIs up to 40 cm in xy-direction and 45 cm in z-direction. The results of this work demonstrate the feasibility of the MRAS system for UHF MRI as proof of principle. The MRAS shows a substantial potential for MR imaging of larger volumes at 7 T UHF. This new technique may provide new diagnostic potential in spatially extended pathologies such as searching for spread-out tumor metastases or monitoring systemic inflammatory processes. PMID:29370245

Boosting the SNR by adding a receive-only endorectal monopole to an external antenna array for high-resolution, T2 -weighted imaging of early-stage cervical cancer with 7-T MRI.

PubMed

van Kalleveen, I M L; Hoogendam, J P; Raaijmakers, A J E; Visser, F; Arteaga de Castro, C S; Verheijen, R H M; Luijten, P R; Zweemer, R P; Veldhuis, W B; Klomp, D W J

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain in early-stage cervical cancer at ultrahigh-field MRI (e.g. 7 T) using a combination of multiple external antennas and a single endorectal antenna. In particular, we used an endorectal monopole antenna to increase the SNR in cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This should allow high-resolution, T 2 -weighted imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for metabolic staging, which could facilitate the local tumor status assessment. In a prospective feasibility study, five healthy female volunteers and six patients with histologically proven stage IB1-IIB cervical cancer were scanned at 7 T. We used seven external fractionated dipole antennas for transmit-receive (transceive) and an endorectally placed monopole antenna for reception only. A region of interest, containing both normal cervix and tumor tissue, was selected for the SNR measurement. Separated signal and noise measurements were obtained in the region of the cervix for each element and in the near field of the monopole antenna (radius < 30 mm) to calculate the SNR gain of the endorectal antenna in each patient. We obtained high-resolution, T 2 -weighted images with a voxel size of 0.7 × 0.8 × 3.0 mm 3 . In four cases with optimal placement of the endorectal antenna (verified on the T 2 -weighted images), a mean gain of 2.2 in SNR was obtained at the overall cervix and tumor tissue area. Within a radius of 30 mm from the monopole antenna, a mean SNR gain of 3.7 was achieved in the four optimal cases. Overlap between the two different regions of the SNR calculations was around 24%. We have demonstrated that the use of an endorectal monopole antenna substantially increases the SNR of 7-T MRI at the cervical anatomy. Combined with the intrinsically high SNR of ultrahigh-field MRI, this gain may be employed to obtain metabolic information using MRS and to enhance spatial resolutions to assess tumor invasion. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ultrahigh-resolution imaging of the human brain with phase-cycled balanced steady-state free precession at 7 T.

PubMed

Zeineh, Michael M; Parekh, Mansi B; Zaharchuk, Greg; Su, Jason H; Rosenberg, Jarrett; Fischbein, Nancy J; Rutt, Brian K

2014-05-01

The objectives of this study were to acquire ultra-high resolution images of the brain using balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) at 7 T and to identify the potential utility of this sequence. Eight volunteers participated in this study after providing informed consent. Each volunteer was scanned with 8 phase cycles of bSSFP at 0.4-mm isotropic resolution using 0.5 number of excitations and 2-dimensional parallel acceleration of 1.75 × 1.75. Each phase cycle required 5 minutes of scanning, with pauses between the phase cycles allowing short periods of rest. The individual phase cycles were aligned and then averaged. The same volunteers underwent scanning using 3-dimensional (3D) multiecho gradient recalled echo at 0.8-mm isotropic resolution, 3D Cube T2 at 0.7-mm isotropic resolution, and thin-section coronal oblique T2-weighted fast spin echo at 0.22 × 0.22 × 2.0-mm resolution for comparison. Two neuroradiologists assessed image quality and potential research and clinical utility. The volunteers generally tolerated the scan sessions well, and composite high-resolution bSSFP images were produced for each volunteer. Rater analysis demonstrated that bSSFP had a superior 3D visualization of the microarchitecture of the hippocampus, very good contrast to delineate the borders of the subthalamic nucleus, and relatively good B1 homogeneity throughout. In addition to an excellent visualization of the cerebellum, subtle details of the brain and skull base anatomy were also easier to identify on the bSSFP images, including the line of Gennari, membrane of Liliequist, and cranial nerves. Balanced steady-state free precession had a strong iron contrast similar to or better than the comparison sequences. However, cortical gray-white contrast was significantly better with Cube T2 and T2-weighted fast spin echo. Balanced steady-state free precession can facilitate ultrahigh-resolution imaging of the brain. Although total imaging times are long, the individually short phase cycles can be acquired separately, improving examination tolerability. These images may be beneficial for studies of the hippocampus, iron-containing structures such as the subthalamic nucleus and line of Gennari, and the basal cisterns and their contents.

Distinguishing d- and l-aspartic and isoaspartic acids in amyloid β peptides with ultrahigh resolution ion mobility spectrometry.

PubMed

Zheng, Xueyun; Deng, Liulin; Baker, Erin S; Ibrahim, Yehia M; Petyuk, Vladislav A; Smith, Richard D

2017-07-11

While α-linked amino acids in the l-form are exclusively utilized in mammalian protein building, β-linked and d-form amino acids also have important biological roles. Unfortunately, the structural elucidation and separation of these different amino acid types in peptides has been analytically challenging to date due to the numerous isomers present, limiting our knowledge about their existence and biological roles. Here, we utilized an ultrahigh resolution ion mobility spectrometry platform coupled with mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) to separate amyloid β (Aβ) peptides containing l-aspartic acid, d-aspartic acid, l-isoaspartic acid, and d-isoaspartic acid residues which span α- and β-linked amino acids in both d- and l-forms. The results illustrate how IMS-MS could be used to better understand age-related diseases or protein folding disorders resulting from amino acid modifications.

Ultra-high resolution computed tomography imaging

DOEpatents

Paulus, Michael J.; Sari-Sarraf, Hamed; Tobin, Jr., Kenneth William; Gleason, Shaun S.; Thomas, Jr., Clarence E.

2002-01-01

A method for ultra-high resolution computed tomography imaging, comprising the steps of: focusing a high energy particle beam, for example x-rays or gamma-rays, onto a target object; acquiring a 2-dimensional projection data set representative of the target object; generating a corrected projection data set by applying a deconvolution algorithm, having an experimentally determined a transfer function, to the 2-dimensional data set; storing the corrected projection data set; incrementally rotating the target object through an angle of approximately 180.degree., and after each the incremental rotation, repeating the radiating, acquiring, generating and storing steps; and, after the rotating step, applying a cone-beam algorithm, for example a modified tomographic reconstruction algorithm, to the corrected projection data sets to generate a 3-dimensional image. The size of the spot focus of the beam is reduced to not greater than approximately 1 micron, and even to not greater than approximately 0.5 microns.

Direct chemical profiling of olive (Olea europaea) fruit epicuticular waxes by direct electrospray-ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Vichi, Stefania; Cortés-Francisco, Nuria; Romero, Agustí; Caixach, Josep

2015-03-01

In the present paper, an electrospray ionization (ESI)-Orbitrap method is proposed for the direct chemical profiling of epicuticular wax (EW) from Olea europaea fruit. It constitutes a rapid and efficient tool suitable for a wide-ranging screening of a large number of samples. In a few minutes, the method provides a comprehensive characterization of total EW extracts, based on the molecular formula of their components. Accurate mass measurements are obtained by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry, and compositional restrictions are set on the basis of the information available from previous studies of olive EW. By alternating positive and negative ESI modes within the same analysis, complementary results are obtained and a wide range of chemical species is covered. This provides a detailed compositional overview that otherwise would only be available by applying multiple analytical techniques. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Q-switch-pumped supercontinuum for ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Maria, Michael; Bravo Gonzalo, Ivan; Feuchter, Thomas; Denninger, Mark; Moselund, Peter M; Leick, Lasse; Bang, Ole; Podoleanu, Adrian

2017-11-15

In this Letter, we investigate the possibility of using a commercially available Q-switch-pumped supercontinuum (QS-SC) source, operating in the kilohertz regime, for ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) in the 1300 nm region. The QS-SC source proves to be more intrinsically stable from pulse to pulse than a mode-locked-based SC (ML-SC) source while, at the same time, is less expensive. However, its pumping rate is lower than that used in ML-SC sources. Therefore, we investigate here specific conditions to make such a source usable for OCT. We compare images acquired with the QS-SC source and with a current state-of-the-art SC source used for imaging. We show that comparable visual contrast obtained with the two technologies is achievable by increasing the readout time of the camera to include a sufficient number of QS-SC pulses.

High-resolution microscope for tip-enhanced optical processes in ultrahigh vacuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steidtner, Jens; Pettinger, Bruno

2007-10-01

An optical microscope based on tip-enhanced optical processes that can be used for studies on adsorbates as well as thin layers and nanostructures is presented. The microscope provides chemical and topographic informations with a resolution of a few nanometers and can be employed in ultrahigh vacuum as well as gas phase. The construction involves a number of improvements compared to conventional instruments. The central idea is to mount, within an UHV system, an optical platform with all necessary optical elements to a rigid frame that also carries the scanning tunneling microscope unit and to integrate a high numerical aperture parabolic mirror between the scanning probe microscope head and the sample. The parabolic mirror serves to focus the incident light and to collect a large fraction of the scattered light. The first experimental results of Raman measurements on silicon samples as well as brilliant cresyl blue layers on single crystalline gold and platinum surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum are presented. For dye adsorbates a Raman enhancement of ˜106 and a net signal gain of up to 4000 was observed. The focus diameter (˜λ/2) was measured by Raman imaging the focal region on a Si surface. The requirements of the parabolic mirror in terms of alignment accuracy were experimentally determined as well.

Optogenetic pacing in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Alex, Aneesh; Li, Airong; Tanzi, Rudolph E.; Zhou, Chao

2015-01-01

Electrical stimulation is currently the gold standard for cardiac pacing. However, it is invasive and nonspecific for cardiac tissues. We recently developed a noninvasive cardiac pacing technique using optogenetic tools, which are widely used in neuroscience. Optogenetic pacing of the heart provides high spatial and temporal precisions, is specific for cardiac tissues, avoids artifacts associated with electrical stimulation, and therefore promises to be a powerful tool in basic cardiac research. We demonstrated optogenetic control of heart rhythm in a well-established model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. We developed transgenic flies expressing a light-gated cation channel, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), specifically in their hearts and demonstrated successful optogenetic pacing of ChR2-expressing Drosophila at different developmental stages, including the larva, pupa, and adult stages. A high-speed and ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence microscopy imaging system that is capable of providing images at a rate of 130 frames/s with axial and transverse resolutions of 1.5 and 3.9 μm, respectively, was used to noninvasively monitor Drosophila cardiac function and its response to pacing stimulation. The development of a noninvasive integrated optical pacing and imaging system provides a novel platform for performing research studies in developmental cardiology. PMID:26601299

X ray microscope/telescope test and alignment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Arthur B. C.; Hoover, Richard B.

1991-01-01

The tasks performed by the Center for Applied Optics (CAO) in support of the Normal Incidence Multilayer X-Ray Optics Program are detailed. The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA) was launched on a Terrier-boosted Black Brant sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range on 13 May 1991. High resolution images of the sun in the soft x ray to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime were obtained with normal-incidence Cassegrain, Ritchey-Chretien, and Herschelian telescopes mounted in the sounding rocket. MSSTA represents the first use of multilayer optics to study a very broad range of x ray and EUV solar emissions. Energy-selective properties of multilayer-coated optics allow distinct groups of emission lines to be isolated in the solar corona and transition region. Features of the near and far coronal structures including magnetic loops of plasmas, coronal plumes, coronal holes, faint structures, and cool prominences are visible in these images. MSSTA successfully obtained unprecedented information regarding the structure and dynamics of the solar atmosphere in the temperature range of 10(exp 4)-10(exp 7) K. The performance of the MSSTA has demonstrated a unique combination of ultra-high spatial resolution and spectral differentiation by use of multilayer optics.

Stereological assessment of mouse lung parenchyma via nondestructive, multiscale micro-CT imaging validated by light microscopic histology

PubMed Central

Vasilescu, Dragoş M.; Klinge, Christine; Knudsen, Lars; Yin, Leilei; Wang, Ge; Weibel, Ewald R.; Ochs, Matthias

2013-01-01

Quantitative assessment of the lung microstructure using standard stereological methods such as volume fractions of tissue, alveolar surface area, or number of alveoli, are essential for understanding the state of normal and diseased lung. These measures are traditionally obtained from histological sections of the lung tissue, a process that ultimately destroys the three-dimensional (3-D) anatomy of the tissue. In comparison, a novel X-ray-based imaging method that allows nondestructive sectioning and imaging of fixed lungs at multiple resolutions can overcome this limitation. Scanning of the whole lung at high resolution and subsequent regional sampling at ultrahigh resolution without physically dissecting the organ allows the application of design-based stereology for assessment of the whole lung structure. Here we validate multiple stereological estimates performed on micro–computed tomography (μCT) images by comparing them with those obtained via conventional histology on the same mouse lungs. We explore and discuss the potentials and limitations of the two approaches. Histological examination offers higher resolution and the qualitative differentiation of tissues by staining, but ultimately loses 3-D tissue relationships, whereas μCT allows for the integration of morphometric data with the spatial complexity of lung structure. However, μCT has limited resolution satisfactory for the sterological estimates presented in this study but not for differentiation of tissues. We conclude that introducing stereological methods in μCT studies adds value by providing quantitative information on internal structures while not curtailing more complex approaches to the study of lung architecture in the context of physiological or pathological studies. PMID:23264542

Fluctuating Dermatoglyphic Asymmetries in Youth at Ultrahigh-risk for Psychotic Disorders

PubMed Central

Russak, Olivia Diane Fern; Ives, Lindsay; Mittal, Vijay A.; Dean, Derek J.

2015-01-01

Fluctuating dermatoglyphic asymmetry represents one specific class of minor physical anomaly that has been proposed to reflect prenatal insult and vulnerability to psychosis. However, very little is known about fluctuating dermatoglyphic asymmetry in youth showing symptoms of ultrahigh risk (UHR) for psychosis. Using high-resolution photographs of fingerprints and clinical interviews, the UHR group in this study showed greater fluctuating dermatoglyphic asymmetry compared to controls; however, this was not further linked to symptomatology. The results of this study provide an important perspective on potential biomarkers and support neurodevelopmental conceptions of psychosis. PMID:26723845

An 8-channel transceiver 7-channel receive RF coil setup for high SNR ultrahigh-field MRI of the shoulder at 7T.

PubMed

Rietsch, Stefan H G; Pfaffenrot, Viktor; Bitz, Andreas K; Orzada, Stephan; Brunheim, Sascha; Lazik-Palm, Andrea; Theysohn, Jens M; Ladd, Mark E; Quick, Harald H; Kraff, Oliver

2017-12-01

In this work, we present an 8-channel transceiver (Tx/Rx) 7-channel receive (Rx) radiofrequency (RF) coil setup for 7 T ultrahigh-field MR imaging of the shoulder. A C-shaped 8-channel Tx/Rx coil was combined with an anatomically close-fitting 7-channel Rx-only coil. The safety and performance parameters of this coil setup were evaluated on the bench and in phantom experiments. The 7 T MR imaging performance of the shoulder RF coil setup was evaluated in in vivo measurements using a 3D DESS, a 2D PD-weighted TSE sequence, and safety supervision based on virtual observation points. Distinct SNR gain and acceleration capabilities provided by the additional 7-channel Rx-only coil were demonstrated in phantom and in vivo measurements. The power efficiency indicated good performance of each channel and a maximum B 1 + of 19 μT if the hardware RF power limits of the MR system were exploited. MR imaging of the shoulder was demonstrated with clinically excellent image quality and submillimeter spatial resolution. The presented 8-channel transceiver 7-channel receive RF coil setup was successfully applied for in vivo 7 T MRI of the shoulder providing a clear SNR gain vs the transceiver array without the additional receive array. Homogeneous images across the shoulder region were obtained using 8-channel subject-specific phase-only RF shimming. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Assessment of the metrological performance of an in situ storage image sensor ultra-high speed camera for full-field deformation measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, Marco; Pierron, Fabrice; Forquin, Pascal

2014-02-01

Ultra-high speed (UHS) cameras allow us to acquire images typically up to about 1 million frames s-1 for a full spatial resolution of the order of 1 Mpixel. Different technologies are available nowadays to achieve these performances, an interesting one is the so-called in situ storage image sensor architecture where the image storage is incorporated into the sensor chip. Such an architecture is all solid state and does not contain movable devices as occurs, for instance, in the rotating mirror UHS cameras. One of the disadvantages of this system is the low fill factor (around 76% in the vertical direction and 14% in the horizontal direction) since most of the space in the sensor is occupied by memory. This peculiarity introduces a series of systematic errors when the camera is used to perform full-field strain measurements. The aim of this paper is to develop an experimental procedure to thoroughly characterize the performance of such kinds of cameras in full-field deformation measurement and identify the best operative conditions which minimize the measurement errors. A series of tests was performed on a Shimadzu HPV-1 UHS camera first using uniform scenes and then grids under rigid movements. The grid method was used as full-field measurement optical technique here. From these tests, it has been possible to appropriately identify the camera behaviour and utilize this information to improve actual measurements.

Comparison of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography for the separation of spirostanol saponins.

PubMed

Zhu, Ling-Ling; Zhao, Yang; Xu, Yong-Wei; Sun, Qing-Long; Sun, Xin-Guang; Kang, Li-Ping; Yan, Ren-Yi; Zhang, Jie; Liu, Chao; Ma, Bai-Ping

2016-02-20

Spirostanol saponins are important active components of some herb medicines, and their isolation and purification are crucial for the research and development of traditional Chinese medicines. We aimed to compare the separation of spirostanol saponins by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). Four groups of spirostanol saponins were separated respectively by UHPSFC and UHPLC. After optimization, UHPSFC was performed with a HSS C18 SB column or a Diol column and with methanol as the co-solvent. A BEH C18 column and mobile phase containing water (with 0.1% formic acid) and acetonitrile were used in UHPLC. We found that UHPSFC could be performed automatically and quickly. It is effective in separating the spirostanol saponins which share the same aglycone and vary in sugar chains, and is very sensitive to the number and the position of hydroxyl groups in aglycones. However, the resolution of spirostanol saponins with different aglycones and the same sugar moiety by UHPSFC was not ideal and could be resolved by UHPLC instead. UHPLC is good at differentiating the variation in aglycones, and is influenced by double bonds in aglycones. Therefore, UHPLC and UHPSFC are complementary in separating spirostanol saponins. Considering the naturally produced spirostanol saponins in herb medicines are different both in aglycones and in sugar chains, a better separation can be achieved by combination of UHPLC and UHPSFC. UHPSFC is a powerful technique for improving the resolution when UHPLC cannot resolve a mixture of spirostanol saponins and vice versa. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measurement of the Flux of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays from Monocular Observations by the High Resolution Fly's Eye Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbasi, R. U.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Amann, J. F.; Archbold, G.; Bellido, J. A.; Belov, K.; Belz, J. W.; Bergman, D. R.; Cao, Z.; Clay, R. W.; Cooper, M. D.; Dai, H.; Dawson, B. R.; Everett, A. A.; Fedorova, Yu. A.; Girard, J. H.; Gray, R. C.; Hanlon, W. F.; Hoffman, C. M.; Holzscheiter, M. H.; Hüntemeyer, P.; Jones, B. F.; Jui, C. C.; Kieda, D. B.; Kim, K.; Kirn, M. A.; Loh, E. C.; Manago, N.; Marek, L. J.; Martens, K.; Martin, G.; Matthews, J. A.; Matthews, J. N.; Meyer, J. R.; Moore, S. A.; Morrison, P.; Moosman, A. N.; Mumford, J. R.; Munro, M. W.; Painter, C. A.; Perera, L.; Reil, K.; Riehle, R.; Roberts, M.; Sarracino, J. S.; Sasaki, M.; Schnetzer, S. R.; Shen, P.; Simpson, K. M.; Sinnis, G.; Smith, J. D.; Sokolsky, P.; Song, C.; Springer, R. W.; Stokes, B. T.; Taylor, S. F.; Thomas, S. B.; Thompson, T. N.; Thomson, G. B.; Tupa, D.; Westerhoff, S.; Wiencke, L. R.; Vanderveen, T. D.; Zech, A.; Zhang, X.

2004-04-01

We have measured the cosmic ray spectrum above 1017.2 eV using the two air-fluorescence detectors of the High Resolution Fly's Eye observatory operating in monocular mode. We describe the detector, phototube, and atmospheric calibrations, as well as the analysis techniques for the two detectors. We fit the spectrum to a model consisting of galactic and extragalactic sources.

Identification of low-abundance cancer biomarker candidate TIMP1 from serum with lectin fractionation and peptide affinity enrichment by ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Ahn, Yeong Hee; Kim, Kwang Hoe; Shin, Park Min; Ji, Eun Sun; Kim, Hoguen; Yoo, Jong Shin

2012-02-07

As investigating a proteolytic target peptide originating from the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) known to be aberrantly glycosylated in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), we first confirmed that TIMP1 is to be a CRC biomarker candidate in human serum. For this, we utilized matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry (MS) showing ultrahigh-resolution and high mass accuracy. This investigation used phytohemagglutinin-L(4) (L-PHA) lectin, which shows binding affinity to the β-1,6-N-acetylglucosamine moiety of N-linked glycan on a protein, to compare fractionated aberrant protein glycoforms from both noncancerous control and CRC serum. Each lectin-captured fraction containing aberrant glycoforms of TIMP1 was digested by trypsin, resulting in the tryptic target peptide, representative of the serum glycoprotein TIMP1. The resulting target peptide was enriched using a stable isotope standard and capture by the antipeptide antibody (SISCAPA) technique and analyzed by a 15 T MALDI FTICR mass spectrometer with high mass accuracy (Δ < 0.5 ppm to the theoretical mass value of the target peptide). Since exact measurement of multiplex isotopic peaks of the target peptide could be accomplished by virtue of high mass resolution (Rs > 400,000), robust identification of the target peptide is only achievable with 15 T FTICR MS. Also, MALDI data obtained in this study showed that the L-PHA-captured glycoforms of TIMP1 were measured in the pooled CRC serum with about 5 times higher abundance than that in the noncancerous serum, and were further proved by MRM mass analysis. These results confirm that TIMP1 in human serum is a potent CRC biomarker candidate, demonstrating that ultrahigh-resolution MS can be a powerful tool toward identifying and verifying potential protein biomarker candidates. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Characterization of unknown brominated disinfection byproducts during chlorination using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Zhang, Haifeng; Zhang, Yahe; Shi, Quan; Zheng, Hongdie; Yang, Min

2014-03-18

Brominated disinfection byproducts (Br-DBPs), formed from the reaction of disinfectant(s) with natural organic matter in the presence of bromide in raw water, are generally more cytotoxic and genotoxic than their chlorinated analogues. To date, only a few Br-DBPs in drinking water have been identified, while a significant portion of Br-DBPs in drinking water is still unknown. In this study, negative ion electrospray ionization ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR MS) was used to characterize unknown Br-DBPs in artificial drinking water. In total, 441 formulas for one-bromine-containing products and 37 formulas for two-bromine-containing products, most of which had not been previously reported, were detected in the chlorinated sample. Most Br-DBPs have corresponding chlorine-containing analogues with identical CHO composition. In addition, on-resonance collision-induced dissociation (CID) of single ultrahigh resolved bromine containing mass peaks was performed in the ICR cell to isolate single bromine-containing components in a very complex natural organic matter spectrum and provide structure information. Relatively abundant neutral loss of CO2 was observed in MS-MS spectra, indicating that the unknown Br-DBPs are rich in carboxyl groups. The results demonstrate that the ESI FT-ICR MS method could provide valuable molecular composition and structure information on unknown Br-DBPs.

Identifying ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray accelerators with future ultrahigh-energy neutrino detectors

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

Fang, Ke; Miller, M. Coleman; Kotera, Kumiko

2016-12-01

The detection of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrino sources would contribute significantly to solving the decades-old mystery of the origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays. We investigate the ability of a future UHE neutrino detector to identify the brightest neutrino point sources, by exploring the parameter space of the total number of observed events and the angular resolution of the detector. The favored parameter region can be translated to requirements for the effective area, sky coverage and angular resolution of future detectors, for a given source number density and evolution history. Moreover, by studying the typical distance to sources that are expectedmore » to emit more than one event for a given diffuse neutrino flux, we find that a significant fraction of the identifiable UHE neutrino sources may be located in the nearby Universe if the source number density is above ∼10{sup −6} Mpc{sup −3}. If sources are powerful and rare enough, as predicted in blazar scenarios, they can first be detected at distant locations. Our result also suggests that if UHE cosmic-ray accelerators are neither beamed nor transients, it will be possible to associate the detected UHE neutrino sources with nearby UHE cosmic-ray and gamma-ray sources, and that they may also be observed using other messengers, including ones with limited horizons such as TeV gamma rays, UHE gamma rays and cosmic rays. We find that for a ∼>5σ detection of UHE neutrino sources with a uniform density, n {sub s} {sub ∼}10{sup −7}−10{sup −5} Mpc{sup −3}, at least ∼100−1000 events and sub-degree angular resolution are needed, and the results depend on the source evolution model.« less

Band-selective excited ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY: fast screening of organic molecules and complex mixtures.

PubMed

Kakita, Veera Mohana Rao; Vemulapalli, Sahithya Phani Babu; Bharatam, Jagadeesh

2016-04-01

Precise assignments of (1) H atomic sites and establishment of their through-bond COSY or TOCSY connectivity are crucial for molecular structural characterization by using (1) H NMR spectroscopy. However, this exercise is often hampered by signal overlap, primarily because of (1) H-(1) H scalar coupling multiplets, even at typical high magnetic fields. The recent developments in homodecoupling strategies for effectively suppressing the coupling multiplets into nice singlets (pure-shift), particularly, Morris's advanced broadband pure-shift yielded by chirp excitation (PSYCHE) decoupling and ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY schemes, have shown new possibilities for unambiguous structural elucidation of complex organic molecules. The superior broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY exhibits enhanced performance over the earlier TOCSY methods, which however warrants prolonged experimental times due to the requirement of large number of dwell increments along the indirect dimension. Herein, we present fast and band-selective analog of the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY, which is useful for analyzing complex organic molecules that exhibit characteristic yet crowded spectral regions. The simple pulse scheme relies on band-selective excitation (BSE) followed by PSYCHE homodecoupling in the indirect dimension. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY has been exemplified for Estradiol and a complex carbohydrate mixture comprised of six constituents of closely comparable molecular weights. The experimental times are greatly reduced viz., ~20 fold for Estradiol and ~10 fold for carbohydrate mixture, with respect to the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY. Furthermore, unlike the earlier homonuclear band-selective decoupling, the BSE-PSYCHE-decoupling provides fully decoupled pure-shift spectra for all the individual chemical sites within the excited band. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY is expected to have significant potential for quick screening of complex organic molecules and mixtures at ultrahigh resolution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ultra-low noise supercontinuum source for ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography at 1300 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalo, I. B.; Maria, M.; Engelsholm, R. D.; Feuchter, T.; Leick, L.; Moselund, P. M.; Podoleanu, A.; Bang, O.

2018-02-01

Supercontinuum (SC) sources are of great interest for many applications due to their ultra-broad optical bandwidth, good beam quality and high power spectral density [1]. In particular, the high average power over large bandwidths makes SC light sources excellent candidates for ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) [2-5]. However, conventional SC sources suffer from high pulse-to-pulse intensity fluctuations as a result of the noise-sensitive nonlinear effects involved in the SC generation process [6-9]. This intensity noise from the SC source can limit the performance of OCT, resulting in a reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) [10-12]. Much work has been done to reduce the noise of the SC sources for instance with fiber tapers [7,8] or increasing the repetition rate of the pump laser for averaging in the spectrometer [10,12]. An alternative approach is to use all-normal dispersion (ANDi) fibers [13,14] to generate SC light from well-known coherent nonlinear processes [15-17]. In fact, reduction of SC noise using ANDi fibers compared to anomalous dispersion SC pumped by sub-picosecond pulses has been recently demonstrated [18], but a cladding mode was used to stabilize the ANDi SC. In this work, we characterize the noise performance of a femtosecond pumped ANDi based SC and a commercial SC source in an UHR-OCT system at 1300 nm. We show that the ANDi based SC presents exceptional noise properties compared to a commercial source. An improvement of 5 dB in SNR is measured in the UHR-OCT system, and the noise behavior resembles that of a superluminiscent diode. This preliminary study is a step forward towards development of an ultra-low noise SC source at 1300 nm for ultra-high resolution OCT.

Identifying ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray accelerators with future ultrahigh-energy neutrino detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Ke; Kotera, Kumiko; Miller, M. Coleman; Murase, Kohta; Oikonomou, Foteini

2016-12-01

The detection of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrino sources would contribute significantly to solving the decades-old mystery of the origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays. We investigate the ability of a future UHE neutrino detector to identify the brightest neutrino point sources, by exploring the parameter space of the total number of observed events and the angular resolution of the detector. The favored parameter region can be translated to requirements for the effective area, sky coverage and angular resolution of future detectors, for a given source number density and evolution history. Moreover, by studying the typical distance to sources that are expected to emit more than one event for a given diffuse neutrino flux, we find that a significant fraction of the identifiable UHE neutrino sources may be located in the nearby Universe if the source number density is above ~10-6 Mpc-3. If sources are powerful and rare enough, as predicted in blazar scenarios, they can first be detected at distant locations. Our result also suggests that if UHE cosmic-ray accelerators are neither beamed nor transients, it will be possible to associate the detected UHE neutrino sources with nearby UHE cosmic-ray and gamma-ray sources, and that they may also be observed using other messengers, including ones with limited horizons such as TeV gamma rays, UHE gamma rays and cosmic rays. We find that for a gtrsim5σ detection of UHE neutrino sources with a uniform density, ns~10-7-10-5 Mpc-3, at least ~100-1000 events and sub-degree angular resolution are needed, and the results depend on the source evolution model.

Enhanced Isotopic Ratio Outlier Analysis (IROA) Peak Detection and Identification with Ultra-High Resolution GC-Orbitrap/MS: Potential Application for Investigation of Model Organism Metabolomes.

PubMed

Qiu, Yunping; Moir, Robyn D; Willis, Ian M; Seethapathy, Suresh; Biniakewitz, Robert C; Kurland, Irwin J

2018-01-18

Identifying non-annotated peaks may have a significant impact on the understanding of biological systems. In silico methodologies have focused on ESI LC/MS/MS for identifying non-annotated MS peaks. In this study, we employed in silico methodology to develop an Isotopic Ratio Outlier Analysis (IROA) workflow using enhanced mass spectrometric data acquired with the ultra-high resolution GC-Orbitrap/MS to determine the identity of non-annotated metabolites. The higher resolution of the GC-Orbitrap/MS, together with its wide dynamic range, resulted in more IROA peak pairs detected, and increased reliability of chemical formulae generation (CFG). IROA uses two different 13 C-enriched carbon sources (randomized 95% 12 C and 95% 13 C) to produce mirror image isotopologue pairs, whose mass difference reveals the carbon chain length (n), which aids in the identification of endogenous metabolites. Accurate m/z, n, and derivatization information are obtained from our GC/MS workflow for unknown metabolite identification, and aids in silico methodologies for identifying isomeric and non-annotated metabolites. We were able to mine more mass spectral information using the same Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth protocol (Qiu et al. Anal. Chem 2016) with the ultra-high resolution GC-Orbitrap/MS, using 10% ammonia in methane as the CI reagent gas. We identified 244 IROA peaks pairs, which significantly increased IROA detection capability compared with our previous report (126 IROA peak pairs using a GC-TOF/MS machine). For 55 selected metabolites identified from matched IROA CI and EI spectra, using the GC-Orbitrap/MS vs. GC-TOF/MS, the average mass deviation for GC-Orbitrap/MS was 1.48 ppm, however, the average mass deviation was 32.2 ppm for the GC-TOF/MS machine. In summary, the higher resolution and wider dynamic range of the GC-Orbitrap/MS enabled more accurate CFG, and the coupling of accurate mass GC/MS IROA methodology with in silico fragmentation has great potential in unknown metabolite identification, with applications for characterizing model organism networks.

Measurement of the flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays from monocular observations by the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment.

PubMed

Abbasi, R U; Abu-Zayyad, T; Amann, J F; Archbold, G; Bellido, J A; Belov, K; Belz, J W; Bergman, D R; Cao, Z; Clay, R W; Cooper, M D; Dai, H; Dawson, B R; Everett, A A; Fedorova, Yu A; Girard, J H V; Gray, R C; Hanlon, W F; Hoffman, C M; Holzscheiter, M H; Hüntemeyer, P; Jones, B F; Jui, C C H; Kieda, D B; Kim, K; Kirn, M A; Loh, E C; Manago, N; Marek, L J; Martens, K; Martin, G; Matthews, J A J; Matthews, J N; Meyer, J R; Moore, S A; Morrison, P; Moosman, A N; Mumford, J R; Munro, M W; Painter, C A; Perera, L; Reil, K; Riehle, R; Roberts, M; Sarracino, J S; Sasaki, M; Schnetzer, S R; Shen, P; Simpson, K M; Sinnis, G; Smith, J D; Sokolsky, P; Song, C; Springer, R W; Stokes, B T; Taylor, S F; Thomas, S B; Thompson, T N; Thomson, G B; Tupa, D; Westerhoff, S; Wiencke, L R; VanderVeen, T D; Zech, A; Zhang, X

2004-04-16

We have measured the cosmic ray spectrum above 10(17.2) eV using the two air-fluorescence detectors of the High Resolution Fly's Eye observatory operating in monocular mode. We describe the detector, phototube, and atmospheric calibrations, as well as the analysis techniques for the two detectors. We fit the spectrum to a model consisting of galactic and extragalactic sources.

Ultra-high resolution water window x ray microscope optics design and analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shealy, David L.; Wang, C.

1993-01-01

This project has been focused on the design and analysis of an ultra-high resolution water window soft-x-ray microscope. These activities have been accomplished by completing two tasks contained in the statement of work of this contract. The new results from this work confirm: (1) that in order to achieve resolutions greater than three times the wavelength of the incident radiation, it will be necessary to use spherical mirror surfaces and to use graded multilayer coatings on the secondary in order to accommodate the large variations of the angle of incidence over the secondary when operating the microscope at numerical apertures of 0.35 or greater; (2) that surface contour errors will have a significant effect on the optical performance of the microscope and must be controlled to a peak-to-valley variation of 50-100 A and a frequency of 8 periods over the surface of a mirror; and (3) that tolerance analysis of the spherical Schwarzschild microscope has been shown that the water window operations will require 2-3 times tighter tolerances to achieve a similar performance of operations with 130 A radiation. These results have been included in a manuscript included in the appendix.

X-ray Interferometry with Transmissive Beam Combiners for Ultra-High Angular Resolution Astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skinner, G. K.; Krismanic, John F.

2009-01-01

Abstract Interferometry provides one of the possible routes to ultra-high angular resolution for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. Sub-micro-arc-second angular resolution, necessary to achieve objectives such as imaging the regions around the event horizon of a super-massive black hole at the center of an active galaxy, can be achieved if beams from parts of the incoming wavefront separated by 100s of meters can be stably and accurately brought together at small angles. One way of achieving this is by using grazing incidence mirrors. We here investigate an alternative approach in which the beams are recombined by optical elements working in transmission. It is shown that the use of diffractive elements is a particularly attractive option. We report experimental results from a simple 2-beam interferometer using a low-cost commercially available profiled film as the diffractive elements. A rotationally symmetric filled (or mostly filled) aperture variant of such an interferometer, equivalent to an X-ray axicon, is shown to offer a much wider bandpass than either a Phase Fresnel Lens (PFL) or a PFL with a refractive lens in an achromatic pair. Simulations of an example system are presented.

Ultrahigh-resolution mapping of peatland microform using ground-based structure from motion with multiview stereo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercer, Jason J.; Westbrook, Cherie J.

2016-11-01

Microform is important in understanding wetland functions and processes. But collecting imagery of and mapping the physical structure of peatlands is often expensive and requires specialized equipment. We assessed the utility of coupling computer vision-based structure from motion with multiview stereo photogrammetry (SfM-MVS) and ground-based photos to map peatland topography. The SfM-MVS technique was tested on an alpine peatland in Banff National Park, Canada, and guidance was provided on minimizing errors. We found that coupling SfM-MVS with ground-based photos taken with a point and shoot camera is a viable and competitive technique for generating ultrahigh-resolution elevations (i.e., <0.01 m, mean absolute error of 0.083 m). In evaluating 100+ viable SfM-MVS data collection and processing scenarios, vegetation was found to considerably influence accuracy. Vegetation class, when accounted for, reduced absolute error by as much as 50%. The logistic flexibility of ground-based SfM-MVS paired with its high resolution, low error, and low cost makes it a research area worth developing as well as a useful addition to the wetland scientists' toolkit.

Ultra-high resolution, polarization sensitive transversal optical coherence tomography for structural analysis and strain mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiesauer, Karin; Pircher, Michael; Goetzinger, Erich; Hitzenberger, Christoph K.; Engelke, Rainer; Ahrens, Gisela; Pfeiffer, Karl; Ostrzinski, Ute; Gruetzner, Gabi; Oster, Reinhold; Stifter, David

2006-02-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a contactless and non-invasive technique nearly exclusively applied for bio-medical imaging of tissues. Besides the internal structure, additionally strains within the sample can be mapped when OCT is performed in a polarization sensitive (PS) way. In this work, we demonstrate the benefits of PS-OCT imaging for non-biological applications. We have developed the OCT technique beyond the state-of-the-art: based on transversal ultra-high resolution (UHR-)OCT, where an axial resolution below 2 μm within materials is obtained using a femtosecond laser as light source, we have modified the setup for polarization sensitive measurements (transversal UHR-PS-OCT). We perform structural analysis and strain mapping for different types of samples: for a highly strained elastomer specimen we demonstrate the necessity of UHR-imaging. Furthermore, we investigate epoxy waveguide structures, photoresist moulds for the fabrication of micro-electromechanical parts (MEMS), and the glass-fibre composite outer shell of helicopter rotor blades where cracks are present. For these examples, transversal scanning UHR-PS-OCT is shown to provide important information about the structural properties and the strain distribution within the samples.

Ultrahigh-Resolution 3-Dimensional Seismic Imaging of Seeps from the Continental Slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Subsurface, Seafloor and Into the Water Column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brookshire, B. N., Jr.; Mattox, B. A.; Parish, A. E.; Burks, A. G.

2016-02-01

Utilizing recently advanced ultrahigh-resolution 3-dimensional (UHR3D) seismic tools we have imaged the seafloor geomorphology and associated subsurface aspects of seep related expulsion features along the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico with unprecedented clarity and continuity. Over an area of approximately 400 km2, over 50 discrete features were identified and three general seafloor geomorphologies indicative of seep activity including mounds, depressions and bathymetrically complex features were quantitatively characterized. Moreover, areas of high seafloor reflectivity indicative of mineralization and areas of coherent seismic amplitude anomalies in the near-seafloor water column indicative of active gas expulsion were identified. In association with these features, shallow source gas accumulations and migration pathways based on salt related stratigraphic uplift and faulting were imaged. Shallow, bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) interpreted to be free gas trapped under near seafloor gas hydrate accumulations were very clearly imaged.

Investigation of bio-oil produced by hydrothermal liquefaction of food waste using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Kostyukevich, Yury; Vlaskin, Mikhail; Borisova, Ludmila; Zherebker, Alexander; Perminova, Irina; Kononikhin, Alexey; Popov, Igor; Nikolaev, Eugene

2018-02-01

Recent research has revealed that more than 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted globally every year. The disposal of such huge biomass has become a challenge. In the present paper, we report the production of the bio-oil by hydrothermal liquefaction of three classes of food waste: meat, cheese and fruits. The highest yield of the bio-oil was observed for meat (∼60%) and cheese (∼75%), while for fruits, it was considerably low (∼10%). The molecular composition of the obtained bio-oil was investigated using ultrahigh resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometry and was found to be similar to that obtained from algae. Several thousand heteroatom compounds (N, N 2 , ON 2 , etc. classes) were reliably identified from each sample. It was found that bio-oils produced from meat and cheese have many compounds (∼90%) with common molecular formulas, while bio-oil produced from fruits differs considerably (∼30% of compounds are unique).

Activated iron-containing microglia in the human hippocampus identified by magnetic resonance imaging in Alzheimer disease

PubMed Central

Zeineh, Michael M.; Chen, Yuanxin; Kitzler, Hagen H.; Hammond, Robert; Vogel, Hannes; Rutt, Brian K.

2016-01-01

Although amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary pathology play important roles in Alzheimer disease (AD), our understanding of AD is incomplete, and the contribution of microglia and iron to neurodegeneration is unknown. High-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is exquisitely sensitive to microscopic iron. To explore iron-associated neuroinflammatory AD pathology, we studied AD and control human brain specimens by (1) performing ultra-high resolution ex vivo 7 Tesla MRI, (2) coregistering the MRI with successive histologic staining for iron, microglia, amyloid beta, and tau, and (3) quantifying the relationship between magnetic resonance signal intensity and histological staining. In AD, we identified numerous small MR hypointensities primarily within the subiculum that were best explained by the combination of microscopic iron and activated microglia (p = 0.025), in contradistinction to the relatively lesser contribution of tau or amyloid. Neuropathologically, this suggests that microglial-mediated neurodegeneration may occur in the hippocampal formation in AD and is detectable by ultra-high resolution MRI. PMID:26190634

Highly informative multiclass profiling of lipids by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography - Low resolution (quadrupole) mass spectrometry by using electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interfaces.

PubMed

Beccaria, Marco; Inferrera, Veronica; Rigano, Francesca; Gorynski, Krzysztof; Purcaro, Giorgia; Pawliszyn, Janusz; Dugo, Paola; Mondello, Luigi

2017-08-04

A simple, fast, and versatile method, using an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system coupled with a low resolution (single quadrupole) mass spectrometer was optimized to perform multiclass lipid profiling of human plasma. Particular attention was made to develop a method suitable for both electrospray ionization and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interfaces (sequentially in positive- and negative-ion mode), without any modification of the chromatographic conditions (mobile phase, flow-rate, gradient, etc.). Emphasis was given to the extrapolation of the structural information based on the fragmentation pattern obtained using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface, under each different ionization condition, highlighting the complementary information obtained using the electrospray ionization interface, of support for related molecule ions identification. Furthermore, mass spectra of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol obtained using the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface are reported and discussed for the first time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adaptive optics optical coherence tomography at 120,000 depth scans/s for non-invasive cellular phenotyping of the living human retina

PubMed Central

Torti, Cristiano; Považay, Boris; Hofer, Bernd; Unterhuber, Angelika; Carroll, Joseph; Ahnelt, Peter Kurt; Drexler, Wolfgang

2012-01-01

This paper presents a successful combination of ultra-high speed (120,000 depth scans/s), ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography with adaptive optics and an achromatizing lens for compensation of monochromatic and longitudinal chromatic ocular aberrations, respectively, allowing for non-invasive volumetric imaging in normal and pathologic human retinas at cellular resolution. The capability of this imaging system is demonstrated here through preliminary studies by probing cellular intraretinal structures that have not been accessible so far with in vivo, non-invasive, label-free imaging techniques, including pigment epithelial cells, micro-vasculature of the choriocapillaris, single nerve fibre bundles and collagenous plates of the lamina cribrosa in the optic nerve head. In addition, the volumetric extent of cone loss in two colour-blinds could be quantified for the first time. This novel technique provides opportunities to enhance the understanding of retinal pathogenesis and early diagnosis of retinal diseases. PMID:19997159

Activated iron-containing microglia in the human hippocampus identified by magnetic resonance imaging in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Zeineh, Michael M; Chen, Yuanxin; Kitzler, Hagen H; Hammond, Robert; Vogel, Hannes; Rutt, Brian K

2015-09-01

Although amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary pathology play important roles in Alzheimer disease (AD), our understanding of AD is incomplete, and the contribution of microglia and iron to neurodegeneration is unknown. High-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is exquisitely sensitive to microscopic iron. To explore iron-associated neuroinflammatory AD pathology, we studied AD and control human brain specimens by (1) performing ultra-high resolution ex vivo 7 Tesla MRI, (2) coregistering the MRI with successive histologic staining for iron, microglia, amyloid beta, and tau, and (3) quantifying the relationship between magnetic resonance signal intensity and histological staining. In AD, we identified numerous small MR hypointensities primarily within the subiculum that were best explained by the combination of microscopic iron and activated microglia (p = 0.025), in contradistinction to the relatively lesser contribution of tau or amyloid. Neuropathologically, this suggests that microglial-mediated neurodegeneration may occur in the hippocampal formation in AD and is detectable by ultra-high resolution MRI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Molecular signature of organic nitrogen in septic-impacted groundwater

USGS Publications Warehouse

Arnold, William A.; Longnecker, Krista; Kroeger, Kevin D.; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B.

2014-01-01

Dissolved inorganic and organic nitrogen levels are elevated in aquatic systems due to anthropogenic activities. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) arises from various sources, and its impact could be more clearly constrained if specific sources were identified and if the molecular-level composition of DON were better understood. In this work, the pharmaceutical carbamazepine was used to identify septic-impacted groundwater in a coastal watershed. Using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry data, the nitrogen-containing features of the dissolved organic matter in septic-impacted and non-impacted samples were compared. The septic-impacted groundwater samples have a larger abundance of nitrogen-containing formulas. Impacted samples have additional DON features in the regions ascribed as ‘protein-like’ and ‘lipid-like’ in van Krevelen space and have more intense nitrogen-containing features in a specific region of a carbon versus mass plot. These features are potential indicators of dissolved organic nitrogen arising from septic effluents, and this work suggests that ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry is a valuable tool to identify and characterize sources of DON.

Seismic evidence for multiple-stage exhumation of high/ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks in the eastern Dabie orogenic belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Yinhe; Zhao, Kaifeng; Tang, Chi-Chia; Xu, Yixian

2018-05-01

The Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt in China contains one of the largest exposures of high and ultrahigh pressure (HP and UHP) metamorphic rocks in the world. The origin of HP/UHP metamorphic rocks and their exhumation to the surface in this belt have attracted great interest in the geologic community because the study of exhumation history of HP/UHP rocks helps to understand the process of continental-continental collision and the tectonic evolution of post-collision. However, the exhumation mechanism of the HP-UHP rocks to the surface is still contentious. In this study, by deploying 28 broadband seismic stations in the eastern Dabie orogenic belt and combining seismic data from 40 stations of the China National Seismic Network (CNSN), we image the high-resolution crustal isotropic shear velocity and radial anisotropy structure using ambient noise tomography. Our high-resolution 3D models provide new information about the exhumation mechanism of HP/UHP rocks and the origin of two dome structures.

Length-extension resonator as a force sensor for high-resolution frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy in air.

PubMed

Beyer, Hannes; Wagner, Tino; Stemmer, Andreas

2016-01-01

Frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy has turned into a well-established method to obtain atomic resolution on flat surfaces, but is often limited to ultra-high vacuum conditions and cryogenic temperatures. Measurements under ambient conditions are influenced by variations of the dew point and thin water layers present on practically every surface, complicating stable imaging with high resolution. We demonstrate high-resolution imaging in air using a length-extension resonator operating at small amplitudes. An additional slow feedback compensates for changes in the free resonance frequency, allowing stable imaging over a long period of time with changing environmental conditions.

New technologies for HWIL testing of WFOV, large-format FPA sensor systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fink, Christopher

2016-05-01

Advancements in FPA density and associated wide-field-of-view infrared sensors (>=4000x4000 detectors) have outpaced the current-art HWIL technology. Whether testing in optical projection or digital signal injection modes, current-art technologies for infrared scene projection, digital injection interfaces, and scene generation systems simply lack the required resolution and bandwidth. For example, the L3 Cincinnati Electronics ultra-high resolution MWIR Camera deployed in some UAV reconnaissance systems features 16MP resolution at 60Hz, while the current upper limit of IR emitter arrays is ~1MP, and single-channel dual-link DVI throughput of COTs graphics cards is limited to 2560x1580 pixels at 60Hz. Moreover, there are significant challenges in real-time, closed-loop, physics-based IR scene generation for large format FPAs, including the size and spatial detail required for very large area terrains, and multi - channel low-latency synchronization to achieve the required bandwidth. In this paper, the author's team presents some of their ongoing research and technical approaches toward HWIL testing of large-format FPAs with wide-FOV optics. One approach presented is a hybrid projection/injection design, where digital signal injection is used to augment the resolution of current-art IRSPs, utilizing a multi-channel, high-fidelity physics-based IR scene simulator in conjunction with a novel image composition hardware unit, to allow projection in the foveal region of the sensor, while non-foveal regions of the sensor array are simultaneously stimulated via direct injection into the post-detector electronics.

Thermal events documented in Hadean zircons by ion microprobe depth profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trail, Dustin; Mojzsis, Stephen J.; Harrison, T. Mark

2007-08-01

We report the first U-Th-Pb ion microprobe depth profiles of four Hadean zircons from the Jack Hills and Mount Narryer supracrustal belts of the Narryer Gneiss Complex (NGC), Western Australia. This ultra-high spatial resolution technique probes the age and origin of sub-micron features in individual crystals that can record episodes of zircon growth. Near-surface grain dates of 2700 Ma or older are coincident with post-depositional growth/modification. Some ages may coincide with documented pre-deposition metamorphic events for the NGC and igneous emplacement at ca. 3700 Ma. Separate events that do not correlate in time with known geologic episodes prior to the preserved rock record are also present on pre-4000 Ma zircons. We find evidence for a ˜3.9 Ga event, which is coterminous within age uncertainty with one or several large basin-forming impacts (e.g. Nectaris) on the Moon attributed to the late heavy bombardment of the inner solar system.

The impact of using different modern climate data sets in pollen-based paleoclimate reconstructions of North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladd, M.; Way, R. G.; Viau, A. E.

2015-03-01

The use of different modern climate data sets is shown to impact a continental-scale pollen-based reconstruction of mean July temperature (TJUL) over the last 2000 years for North America. Data from climate stations, physically modeled from climate stations and reanalysis products are used to calibrate the reconstructions. Results show that the use of reanalysis products produces warmer and/or smoother reconstructions as compared to the use of station based data sets. The reconstructions during the period of 1050-1550 CE are shown to be more variable because of a high latitude cold-bias in the modern TJUL data. The ultra-high resolution WorldClim gridded data may only useful if the modern pollen sites have at least the same spatial precision as the gridded dataset. Hence we justify the use of the lapse-rate corrected University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) based Whitmore modern climate data set for North American pollen-based climate reconstructions.

Radioactive Nanomaterials for Multimodality Imaging

PubMed Central

Chen, Daiqin; Dougherty, Casey A.; Yang, Dongzhi; Wu, Hongwei; Hong, Hao

2016-01-01

Nuclear imaging techniques, including primarily positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), can provide quantitative information for a biological event in vivo with ultra-high sensitivity, however, the comparatively low spatial resolution is their major limitation in clinical application. By convergence of nuclear imaging with other imaging modalities like computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging, the hybrid imaging platforms can overcome the limitations from each individual imaging technique. Possessing versatile chemical linking ability and good cargo-loading capacity, radioactive nanomaterials can serve as ideal imaging contrast agents. In this review, we provide a brief overview about current state-of-the-art applications of radioactive nanomaterials in the circumstances of multimodality imaging. We present strategies for incorporation of radioisotope(s) into nanomaterials along with applications of radioactive nanomaterials in multimodal imaging. Advantages and limitations of radioactive nanomaterials for multimodal imaging applications are discussed. Finally, a future perspective of possible radioactive nanomaterial utilization is presented for improving diagnosis and patient management in a variety of diseases. PMID:27227167

Magnetic Resonance Based Electrical Properties Tomography: A Review

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaotong; Liu, Jiaen

2014-01-01

Frequency-dependent electrical properties (EPs; conductivity and permittivity) of biological tissues provide important diagnostic information (e.g. tumor characterization), and also play an important role in quantifying radiofrequency (RF) coil induced Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) which is a major safety concern in high- and ultrahigh-field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) applications. Cross-sectional imaging of EPs has been pursued for decades. Recently introduced Electrical Properties Tomography (EPT) approaches utilize the measurable RF magnetic field induced by the RF coil in an MRI system to quantitatively reconstruct the EP distribution in vivo and non-invasively with a spatial resolution of a few millimeters or less. This paper reviews the Electrical Properties Tomography approach from its basic theory in electromagnetism to the state of the art research outcomes. Emphasizing on the imaging reconstruction methods rather than experimentation techniques, we review the developed imaging algorithms, validation results in physical phantoms and biological tissues, as well as their applications in in vivo tumor detection and subject-specific SAR prediction. Challenges for future research are also discussed. PMID:24803104

Ultrafast terahertz control of extreme tunnel currents through single atoms on a silicon surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jelic, Vedran; Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Nguyen, Peter H.; Rathje, Christopher; Hornig, Graham J.; Sharum, Haille M.; Hoffman, James R.; Freeman, Mark R.; Hegmann, Frank A.

2017-06-01

Ultrafast control of current on the atomic scale is essential for future innovations in nanoelectronics. Extremely localized transient electric fields on the nanoscale can be achieved by coupling picosecond duration terahertz pulses to metallic nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate terahertz scanning tunnelling microscopy (THz-STM) in ultrahigh vacuum as a new platform for exploring ultrafast non-equilibrium tunnelling dynamics with atomic precision. Extreme terahertz-pulse-driven tunnel currents up to 107 times larger than steady-state currents in conventional STM are used to image individual atoms on a silicon surface with 0.3 nm spatial resolution. At terahertz frequencies, the metallic-like Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface is unable to screen the electric field from the bulk, resulting in a terahertz tunnel conductance that is fundamentally different than that of the steady state. Ultrafast terahertz-induced band bending and non-equilibrium charging of surface states opens new conduction pathways to the bulk, enabling extreme transient tunnel currents to flow between the tip and sample.

Characterization of Impact Damage in Ultra-High Performance Concrete Using Spatially Correlated Nanoindentation/SEM/EDX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moser, R. D.; Allison, P. G.; Chandler, M. Q.

2013-12-01

Little work has been done to study the fundamental material behaviors and failure mechanisms of cement-based materials including ordinary Portland cement concrete and ultra-high performance concretes (UHPCs) under high strain impact and penetration loads at lower length scales. These high strain rate loadings have many possible effects on UHPCs at the microscale and nanoscale, including alterations in the hydration state and bonding present in phases such as calcium silicate hydrate, in addition to fracture and debonding. In this work, the possible chemical and physical changes in UHPCs subjected to high strain rate impact and penetration loads were investigated using a novel technique wherein nanoindentation measurements were spatially correlated with images using scanning electron microscopy and chemical composition using energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis. Results indicate that impact degrades both the elastic modulus and indentation hardness of UHPCs, and in particular hydrated phases, with damage likely occurring due to microfracturing and debonding.

Improved Visualization of Glaucomatous Retinal Damage Using High-speed Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography

PubMed Central

Mumcuoglu, Tarkan; Wollstein, Gadi; Wojtkowski, Maciej; Kagemann, Larry; Ishikawa, Hiroshi; Gabriele, Michelle L.; Srinivasan, Vivek; Fujimoto, James G.; Duker, Jay S.; Schuman, Joel S.

2009-01-01

Purpose To test if improving optical coherence tomography (OCT) resolution and scanning speed improves the visualization of glaucomatous structural changes as compared with conventional OCT. Design Prospective observational case series. Participants Healthy and glaucomatous subjects in various stages of disease. Methods Subjects were scanned at a single visit with commercially available OCT (StratusOCT) and high-speed ultrahigh-resolution (hsUHR) OCT. The prototype hsUHR OCT had an axial resolution of 3.4 μm (3 times higher than StratusOCT), with an A-scan rate of 24 000 hertz (60 times faster than StratusOCT). The fast scanning rate allowed the acquisition of novel scanning patterns such as raster scanning, which provided dense coverage of the retina and optic nerve head. Main Outcome Measures Discrimination of retinal tissue layers and detailed visualization of retinal structures. Results High-speed UHR OCT provided a marked improvement in tissue visualization as compared with StratusOCT. This allowed the identification of numerous retinal layers, including the ganglion cell layer, which is specifically prone to glaucomatous damage. Fast scanning and the enhanced A-scan registration properties of hsUHR OCT provided maps of the macula and optic nerve head with unprecedented detail, including en face OCT fundus images and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness maps. Conclusion High-speed UHR OCT improves visualization of the tissues relevant to the detection and management of glaucoma. PMID:17884170

Atomic-scale imaging of DNA using scanning tunnelling microscopy.

PubMed

Driscoll, R J; Youngquist, M G; Baldeschwieler, J D

1990-07-19

The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has been used to visualize DNA under water, under oil and in air. Images of single-stranded DNA have shown that submolecular resolution is possible. Here we describe atomic-resolution imaging of duplex DNA. Topographic STM images of uncoated duplex DNA on a graphite substrate obtained in ultra-high vacuum are presented that show double-helical structure, base pairs, and atomic-scale substructure. Experimental STM profiles show excellent correlation with atomic contours of the van der Waals surface of A-form DNA derived from X-ray crystallography. A comparison of variations in the barrier to quantum mechanical tunnelling (barrier-height) with atomic-scale topography shows correlation over the phosphate-sugar backbone but anticorrelation over the base pairs. This relationship may be due to the different chemical characteristics of parts of the molecule. Further investigation of this phenomenon should lead to a better understanding of the physics of imaging adsorbates with the STM and may prove useful in sequencing DNA. The improved resolution compared with previously published STM images of DNA may be attributable to ultra-high vacuum, high data-pixel density, slow scan rate, a fortuitously clean and sharp tip and/or a relatively dilute and extremely clean sample solution. This work demonstrates the potential of the STM for characterization of large biomolecular structures, but additional development will be required to make such high resolution imaging of DNA and other large molecules routine.

Sea Level History in 3D: Early results of an ultra-high resolution MCS survey across IODP Expedition 313 drillsites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mountain, G. S.; Kucuk, H. M.; Nedimovic, M. R.; Austin, J. A., Jr.; Fulthorpe, C.; Newton, A.; Baldwin, K.; Johnson, C.; Stanley, J. N.; Bhatnagar, T.

2015-12-01

Although globally averaged sea level is rising at roughly 3 mm/yr (and is accelerating), rates of local sea-level change measured at coastlines may differ from this number by a factor of two or more; at some locations, sea level may even be falling. This is due to local processes that can match or even reverse the global trend, making it clear that reliable predictions of future impacts of sea-level rise require a firm understanding of processes at the local level. The history of local sea-level change and shoreline response is contained in the geologic record of shallow-water sediments. We report on a continuing study of sea-level history in sediments at the New Jersey continental margin, where compaction and glacial isostatic adjustment are currently adding 2 mm/yr to the globally averaged rise. We collected 570 sq km of ultra-high resolution 3D MCS data aboard the R/V Langseth in June-July 2015; innovative recording and preliminary results are described by Nedimovic et al. in this same session. The goal was to provide regional context to coring and logging at IODP Exp 313 sites 27-29 that were drilled 750 m into the New Jersey shelf in 2009. These sites recovered a nearly continuous record of post-Eocene sediments from non-marine soils, estuaries, shoreface, delta front, pro-delta and open marine settings. Existing seismic data are good but are 2D high-resolution profiles at line spacings too wide to enable mapping of key nearshore features. The Langseth 3D survey used shallow towing of a tuned air gun array to preserve high frequencies, and twenty-four 50-m PCables each 12.5 apart provided 6.25 x 3.125 m common-midpoint bins along seventy-seven 50-km sail lines. With this especially dense spatial resolution of a pre-stack time migrated volume we expect to map rivers, incised valleys, barrier islands, inlets and bays, pro-delta clinoforms, tidal deltas, sequence boundaries, debris flow aprons, and more. Seismic attributes linked to sedimentary facies and geochronology at Exp 313 drill sites will be extended throughout the volume to map the local response to global sea-level change. These analyses will provide an unrivaled opportunity to gauge the local expression of sea-level change for much of the last 40 Ma and lead to informed predictions regarding impacts of a global rise of sea level expected to continue well into the future.

Ultra-High Resolution Spectroscopic Remote Sensing: A Microscope on Planetary Atmospheres

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kostiuk, Theodor

2010-01-01

Remote sensing of planetary atmospheres is not complete without studies of all levels of the atmosphere, including the dense cloudy- and haze filled troposphere, relatively clear and important stratosphere and the upper atmosphere, which are the first levels to experience the effects of solar radiation. High-resolution spectroscopy can provide valuable information on these regions of the atmosphere. Ultra-high spectral resolution studies can directly measure atmospheric winds, composition, temperature and non-thermal phenomena, which describe the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere. Spectroscopy in the middle to long infrared wavelengths can also probe levels where dust of haze limit measurements at shorter wavelength or can provide ambiguous results on atmospheric species abundances or winds. A spectroscopic technique in the middle infrared wavelengths analogous to a radio receiver. infrared heterodyne spectroscopy [1], will be describe and used to illustrate the detailed study of atmospheric phenomena not readily possible with other methods. The heterodyne spectral resolution with resolving power greater than 1,000.000 measures the true line shapes of emission and absorption lines in planetary atmospheres. The information on the region of line formation is contained in the line shapes. The absolute frequency of the lines can be measured to I part in 100 ,000,000 and can be used to accurately measure the Doppler frequency shift of the lines, directly measuring the line-of-sight velocity of the gas to --Im/s precision (winds). The technical and analytical methods developed and used to measure and analyze infrared heterodyne measurements will be described. Examples of studies on Titan, Venus, Mars, Earth, and Jupiter will be presented. 'These include atmospheric dynamics on slowly rotating bodies (Titan [2] and Venus [3] and temperature, composition and chemistry on Mars 141, Venus and Earth. The discovery and studies of unique atmospheric phenomena will also be described, such as non-thermal and lasing phenomena on Mars and Venus, mid-infrared aurora on Jupiter [5], and results of small body impacts on Jupiter [6]. The heterodyne technique can also be applied for detailed study of the Earth's stratosphere and mesosphere by measuring trace constituent abundances and temporal and spatial variability as well as winds, which provide information of transport. All ground-based measurements will be described as complementary and supporting studies for on-going and future space missions [7] (Mars Express, Venus Express, Cassini Huygens, JUNO, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, and the Europa Jupiter System Mission, an Earth Science Venture Class missions), Proposed instrument and technology development for a space flight infrared heterodyne spectrometer will be described.

An intra-neural microstimulation system for ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography.

PubMed

Glover, Paul M; Watkins, Roger H; O'Neill, George C; Ackerley, Rochelle; Sanchez-Panchuelo, Rosa; McGlone, Francis; Brookes, Matthew J; Wessberg, Johan; Francis, Susan T

2017-10-01

Intra-neural microstimulation (INMS) is a technique that allows the precise delivery of low-current electrical pulses into human peripheral nerves. Single unit INMS can be used to stimulate individual afferent nerve fibres during microneurography. Combining this with neuroimaging allows the unique monitoring of central nervous system activation in response to unitary, controlled tactile input, with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) providing exquisite spatial localisation of brain activity and magnetoencephalography (MEG) high temporal resolution. INMS systems suitable for use within electrophysiology laboratories have been available for many years. We describe an INMS system specifically designed to provide compatibility with both ultra-high field (7T) fMRI and MEG. Numerous technical and safety issues are addressed. The system is fully analogue, allowing for arbitrary frequency and amplitude INMS stimulation. Unitary recordings obtained within both the MRI and MEG screened-room environments are comparable with those obtained in 'clean' electrophysiology recording environments. Single unit INMS (current <7μA, 200μs pulses) of individual mechanoreceptive afferents produces appropriate and robust responses during fMRI and MEG. This custom-built MRI- and MEG-compatible stimulator overcomes issues with existing INMS approaches; it allows well-controlled switching between recording and stimulus mode, prevents electrical shocks because of long cable lengths, permits unlimited patterns of stimulation, and provides a system with improved work-flow and participant comfort. We demonstrate that the requirements for an INMS-integrated system, which can be used with both fMRI and MEG imaging systems, have been fully met. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial downscaling of soil prediction models based on weighted generalized additive models in smallholder farm settings.

PubMed

Xu, Yiming; Smith, Scot E; Grunwald, Sabine; Abd-Elrahman, Amr; Wani, Suhas P; Nair, Vimala D

2017-09-11

Digital soil mapping (DSM) is gaining momentum as a technique to help smallholder farmers secure soil security and food security in developing regions. However, communications of the digital soil mapping information between diverse audiences become problematic due to the inconsistent scale of DSM information. Spatial downscaling can make use of accessible soil information at relatively coarse spatial resolution to provide valuable soil information at relatively fine spatial resolution. The objective of this research was to disaggregate the coarse spatial resolution soil exchangeable potassium (K ex ) and soil total nitrogen (TN) base map into fine spatial resolution soil downscaled map using weighted generalized additive models (GAMs) in two smallholder villages in South India. By incorporating fine spatial resolution spectral indices in the downscaling process, the soil downscaled maps not only conserve the spatial information of coarse spatial resolution soil maps but also depict the spatial details of soil properties at fine spatial resolution. The results of this study demonstrated difference between the fine spatial resolution downscaled maps and fine spatial resolution base maps is smaller than the difference between coarse spatial resolution base maps and fine spatial resolution base maps. The appropriate and economical strategy to promote the DSM technique in smallholder farms is to develop the relatively coarse spatial resolution soil prediction maps or utilize available coarse spatial resolution soil maps at the regional scale and to disaggregate these maps to the fine spatial resolution downscaled soil maps at farm scale.

Ultra-high speed digital micro-mirror device based ptychographic iterative engine method

PubMed Central

Sun, Aihui; He, Xiaoliang; Kong, Yan; Cui, Haoyang; Song, Xiaojun; Xue, Liang; Wang, Shouyu; Liu, Cheng

2017-01-01

To reduce the long data acquisition time of the common mechanical scanning based Ptychographic Iterative Engine (PIE) technique, the digital micro-mirror device (DMD) is used to form the fast scanning illumination on the sample. Since the transverse mechanical scanning in the common PIE is replaced by the on/off switching of the micro-mirrors, the data acquisition time can be reduced from more than 15 minutes to less than 20 seconds for recording 12 × 10 diffraction patterns to cover the same field of 147.08 mm2. Furthermore, since the precision of DMD fabricated with the optical lithography is always higher than 10 nm (1 μm for the mechanical translation stage), the time consuming position-error-correction procedure is not required in the iterative reconstruction. These two improvements fundamentally speed up both the data acquisition and the reconstruction procedures in PIE, and relax its requirements on the stability of the imaging system, therefore remarkably improve its applicability for many practices. It is demonstrated experimentally with both USAF resolution target and biological sample that, the spatial resolution of 5.52 μm and the field of view of 147.08 mm2 can be reached with the DMD based PIE method. In a word, by using the DMD to replace the translation stage, we can effectively overcome the main shortcomings of common PIE related to the mechanical scanning, while keeping its advantages on both the high resolution and large field of view. PMID:28717560

Oligomers Formed Through In-cloud Metylglyoxal Reactions: Chemical Composition, Properties, and Mechanisms Investigated by Ultra-high Resolution FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry

EPA Science Inventory

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is a substantial component of total atmospheric organic particulate matter, but little is known about the composition of SOA formed through cloud processing. We conducted aqueous phase photooxidation experiments of methylglyoxal and hydroxyl radica...

RadioAstron Maser Observations: a Record in Angular Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobolev, A. M.; Shakhvorostova, N. N.; Alakoz, A. V.; Baan, W. A.; RadioAstron Maser Team

2017-06-01

Extremely long baselines of the space-ground interferometer RadioAstron allow to achieve ultra-high angular resolutions. The possibility of detection of a maser emission with resolutions about tens of micro-arcseconds was arguable before successful experiments reported in this paper. We present the results of the maser survey obtained by RadioAstron during first 5 years of operation. Extremely high angular resolution of 11 microarcseconds have been achieved in observations of the megamaser galaxy NGC 4258. For the galaxy at the distance about 7 Mpc this corresponds to linear resolution around 80 AU. Very compact features with angular sizes about 20 micro-arcseconds have been detected in star-forming regions of our Galaxy. Corresponding linear sizes are about 5-10 millions of kilometers.

Advances in Gamma-Ray Imaging with Intensified Quantum-Imaging Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Ling

Nuclear medicine, an important branch of modern medical imaging, is an essential tool for both diagnosis and treatment of disease. As the fundamental element of nuclear medicine imaging, the gamma camera is able to detect gamma-ray photons emitted by radiotracers injected into a patient and form an image of the radiotracer distribution, reflecting biological functions of organs or tissues. Recently, an intensified CCD/CMOS-based quantum detector, called iQID, was developed in the Center for Gamma-Ray Imaging. Originally designed as a novel type of gamma camera, iQID demonstrated ultra-high spatial resolution (< 100 micron) and many other advantages over traditional gamma cameras. This work focuses on advancing this conceptually-proven gamma-ray imaging technology to make it ready for both preclinical and clinical applications. To start with, a Monte Carlo simulation of the key light-intensification device, i.e. the image intensifier, was developed, which revealed the dominating factor(s) that limit energy resolution performance of the iQID cameras. For preclinical imaging applications, a previously-developed iQID-based single-photon-emission computed-tomography (SPECT) system, called FastSPECT III, was fully advanced in terms of data acquisition software, system sensitivity and effective FOV by developing and adopting a new photon-counting algorithm, thicker columnar scintillation detectors, and system calibration method. Originally designed for mouse brain imaging, the system is now able to provide full-body mouse imaging with sub-350-micron spatial resolution. To further advance the iQID technology to include clinical imaging applications, a novel large-area iQID gamma camera, called LA-iQID, was developed from concept to prototype. Sub-mm system resolution in an effective FOV of 188 mm x 188 mm has been achieved. The camera architecture, system components, design and integration, data acquisition, camera calibration, and performance evaluation are presented in this work. Mounted on a castered counter-weighted clinical cart, the camera also features portable and mobile capabilities for easy handling and on-site applications at remote locations where hospital facilities are not available.

Optical and tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at the ultimate spatial limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chi

2009-12-01

The combination of optical detection system with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) leads to the possibility of resolving radiative transition probability with the ultrahigh spatial resolution of STM in real space. This opens an innovative approach toward revealing the correlation between molecular structure, electronic characteristics, and optical properties. This thesis describes a series of experiments that manifests this correlation, including atomic silver chains and single porphine molecules. In atomic silver chains, the number and positions of the emission maxima in the photon images match the nodes in the dI/d V images of "particle-in-a-box" states. This surprising correlation between the emission maxima and nodes in the density of states is a manifestation of Fermi's golden rule in real space for radiative transitions, which provides an understanding of the mechanism of STM induced light emission. From single porphine molecules, orthogonal spatial contrast of two types of vibronic coupling is resolved by both photon spectroscopy and vibronic-mode-selected photon images. Intramolecular transitions from the two orthogonal LUMOs individually couple to different molecular normal modes. This is the first demonstration of the photon emission probability of a single molecule and its direct correlations with the molecular orbitals. This also provides the first real space experimental evidence to separate the tangled effects of molecular conformations and nano-environments on the inhomogeneity of molecular emission. DSB molecules are found to have two conformational isomers and one of them shows surface chirality. All these conformers and enantiomers can be switched to each other by electron injection. Different DSB conformers present distinct manipulation dynamics, which demonstrate how different conformations and their preferred adsorption geometries can have pronounced influence on the molecular mechanics on the surface. Overall, this thesis studies the very fundamental nature of single molecules and artificial nanostructures by integrating all kinds of important functions of STM: topography, spectroscopy, manipulation, and photon emission. Detailed correlations between the emission patterns and orbital structures are revealed by the ultimate spatial resolution of our "STM photon microscopy".

High resolution spectroscopy in the microwave and far infrared

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pickett, Herbert M.

1990-01-01

High resolution rotational spectroscopy has long been central to remote sensing techniques in atmospheric sciences and astronomy. As such, laboratory measurements must supply the required data to make direct interpretation of data for instruments which sense atmospheres using rotational spectra. Spectral measurements in the microwave and far infrared regions are also very powerful tools when combined with infrared measurements for characterizing the rotational structure of vibrational spectra. In the past decade new techniques were developed which have pushed high resolution spectroscopy into the wavelength region between 25 micrometers and 2 mm. Techniques to be described include: (1) harmonic generation of microwave sources, (2) infrared laser difference frequency generation, (3) laser sideband generation, and (4) ultrahigh resolution interferometers.

Search for ultra high energy astrophysical neutrinos with the ANITA experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romero-Wolf, Andrew

2010-12-01

This work describes a search for cosmogenic neutrinos at energies above 1018 eV with the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA). ANITA is a balloon-borne radio interferometer designed to measure radio impulsive emission from particle showers produced in the Antarctic ice-sheet by ultra-high energy neutrinos (UHEnu). Flying at 37 km altitude the ANITA detector is sensitive to 1M km3 of ice and is expected to produce the highest exposure to ultra high energy neutrinos to date. The design, flight performance, and analysis of the first flight of ANITA in 2006 are the subject of this dissertation. Due to sparse anthropogenic backgrounds throughout the Antarctic continent, the ANITA analysis depends on high resolution directional reconstruction. An interferometric method was developed that not only provides high resolution but is also sensitive to very weak radio emissions. The results of ANITA provide the strongest constraints on current ultra-high energy neutrino models. In addition there was a serendipitous observation of ultra-high energy cosmic ray geosynchrotron emissions that are of distinct character from the expected neutrino signal. This thesis includes a study of the radio Cherenkov emission from ultra-high energy electromagnetic showers in ice in the time-domain. All previous simulations computed the radio pulse frequency spectrum. I developed a purely time-domain algorithm for computing radiation using the vector potentials of charged particle tracks. The results are fully consistent with previous frequency domain calculations and shed new light into the properties of the radio pulse in the time domain. The shape of the pulse in the time domain is directly related to the depth development of the excess charge in the shower and its width to the observation angle with respect to the Cherenkov direction. This information can be of great practical importance for interpreting actual data.

Optical properties and molecular diversity of dissolved organic matter in the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonsior, Michael; Luek, Jenna; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M.; Cooper, Lee W.

2017-10-01

Changes in the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its light absorbing chromophoric component (CDOM) are of particular interest in the Arctic region because of climate change effects that lead to warmer sea surface temperatures and longer exposure to sunlight. We used continuous UV-vis (UV-vis) spectroscopy, excitation emission matrix fluorescence and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry during a transect from the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea to the Chukchi Sea ice edge through Bering Strait to determine the variability of DOM and CDOM. These data were combined with discrete sampling for stable oxygen isotopes of seawater, in order to evaluate the contributions of melted sea ice versus runoff to the DOM and CDOM components. This study demonstrated that high geographical resolution of optical properties in conjunction with stable oxygen ratios and non-targeted ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry was able to distinguish between different DOM sources in the Arctic, including identification of labile DOM sources in Bering Strait associated with high algal blooms and sampling locations influenced by terrestrially-derived DOM, such as the terrestrial DOM signal originating from Arctic rivers and dirty/anchor sea ice. Results of this study also revealed the overall variability and chemodiversity of Arctic DOM present in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

Discrepancy between fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography in detection of macular disease.

PubMed

Kozak, Igor; Morrison, Victoria L; Clark, Thomas M; Bartsch, Dirk-Uwe; Lee, Byung Ro; Falkenstein, Iryna; Tammewar, Ajay M; Mojana, Francesca; Freeman, William R

2008-04-01

To compare high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography (FA) in detection of macular edema (ME) of various etiologies. In a retrospective study over a 12-month period at one retina center, data for consecutive eyes that had undergone simultaneous conventional FA (HRA; Heidelberg Engineering, Vista, CA) and StratusOCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) to rule out ME were reviewed. A subset of patients underwent additional examination with extremely high-resolution (6-microm)/ultrahigh-speed spectral OCT/scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (OTI, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Of 1,272 eyes, 1,208 (94.97%) had the finding of ME or subretinal fluid confirmed by both techniques. There were 49 eyes (3.86%) for which FA showed dye leakage in the macular area and OCT showed normal foveal contour. Of 10 eyes in this group that underwent imaging with ultrahigh-speed spectral OCT/scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, 8 had subtle diffuse lucencies in the retina. For 15 eyes (1.17%), OCT showed intraretinal and subretinal fluid, which was missed by FA. Both FA and high-resolution OCT are highly sensitive techniques and correlate well in detection of ME. However, there is a small chance that when performed alone they might miss existing subtle ME.

Realism of Indian Summer Monsoon Simulation in a Quarter Degree Global Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salunke, P.; Mishra, S. K.; Sahany, S.; Gupta, K.

2017-12-01

This study assesses the fidelity of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) simulations using a global model at an ultra-high horizontal resolution (UHR) of 0.25°. The model used was the atmospheric component of the Community Earth System Model version 1.2.0 (CESM 1.2.0) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Precipitation and temperature over the Indian region were analyzed for a wide range of space and time scales to evaluate the fidelity of the model under UHR, with special emphasis on the ISM simulations during the period of June-through-September (JJAS). Comparing the UHR simulations with observed data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) over the Indian land, it was found that 0.25° resolution significantly improved spatial rainfall patterns over many regions, including the Western Ghats and the South-Eastern peninsula as compared to the standard model resolution. Convective and large-scale rainfall components were analyzed using the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA)-Interim (ERA-I) data and it was found that at 0.25° resolution, there was an overall increase in the large-scale component and an associated decrease in the convective component of rainfall as compared to the standard model resolution. Analysis of the diurnal cycle of rainfall suggests a significant improvement in the phase characteristics simulated by the UHR model as compared to the standard model resolution. Analysis of the annual cycle of rainfall, however, failed to show any significant improvement in the UHR model as compared to the standard version. Surface temperature analysis showed small improvements in the UHR model simulations as compared to the standard version. Thus, one may conclude that there are some significant improvements in the ISM simulations using a 0.25° global model, although there is still plenty of scope for further improvement in certain aspects of the annual cycle of rainfall.

A New Era in Medical Training Through Simulation-Based Training Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

next steps is to seek initial verification against published data. 2.2 Ultra-High Resolution Display for Army Medicine (UHRDARM) The eMagin ...view between 60 and 80 degrees while only consuming less than 2 watts of total power consumption. Figures 1 and 2: Photos courtesy of eMagin

Monitoring cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germination using ultrahigh-resolution UAS images

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Examination of seed germination rate is of great importance for growers early in the season to determine the necessity for replanting their fields. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of using unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-based visible-band images to monitor and quantify the c...

Multifrequency Ultra-High Resolution Miniature Scanning Microscope Using Microchannel And Solid-State Sensor Technologies And Method For Scanning Samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yu (Inventor)

2006-01-01

A miniature, ultra-high resolution, and color scanning microscope using microchannel and solid-state technology that does not require focus adjustment. One embodiment includes a source of collimated radiant energy for illuminating a sample, a plurality of narrow angle filters comprising a microchannel structure to permit the passage of only unscattered radiant energy through the microchannels with some portion of the radiant energy entering the microchannels from the sample, a solid-state sensor array attached to the microchannel structure, the microchannels being aligned with an element of the solid-state sensor array, that portion of the radiant energy entering the microchannels parallel to the microchannel walls travels to the sensor element generating an electrical signal from which an image is reconstructed by an external device, and a moving element for movement of the microchannel structure relative to the sample. Discloses a method for scanning samples whereby the sensor array elements trace parallel paths that are arbitrarily close to the parallel paths traced by other elements of the array.

A Computational Framework for High-Throughput Isotopic Natural Abundance Correction of Omics-Level Ultra-High Resolution FT-MS Datasets

PubMed Central

Carreer, William J.; Flight, Robert M.; Moseley, Hunter N. B.

2013-01-01

New metabolomics applications of ultra-high resolution and accuracy mass spectrometry can provide thousands of detectable isotopologues, with the number of potentially detectable isotopologues increasing exponentially with the number of stable isotopes used in newer isotope tracing methods like stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM) experiments. This huge increase in usable data requires software capable of correcting the large number of isotopologue peaks resulting from SIRM experiments in a timely manner. We describe the design of a new algorithm and software system capable of handling these high volumes of data, while including quality control methods for maintaining data quality. We validate this new algorithm against a previous single isotope correction algorithm in a two-step cross-validation. Next, we demonstrate the algorithm and correct for the effects of natural abundance for both 13C and 15N isotopes on a set of raw isotopologue intensities of UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine derived from a 13C/15N-tracing experiment. Finally, we demonstrate the algorithm on a full omics-level dataset. PMID:24404440

Formularity: Software for Automated Formula Assignment of Natural and Other Organic Matter from Ultrahigh-Resolution Mass Spectra.

PubMed

Tolić, Nikola; Liu, Yina; Liyu, Andrey; Shen, Yufeng; Tfaily, Malak M; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B; Longnecker, Krista; Kuo, Li-Jung; Robinson, Errol W; Paša-Tolić, Ljiljana; Hess, Nancy J

2017-12-05

Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry, such as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT ICR MS), can resolve thousands of molecular ions in complex organic matrices. A Compound Identification Algorithm (CIA) was previously developed for automated elemental formula assignment for natural organic matter (NOM). In this work, we describe software Formularity with a user-friendly interface for CIA function and newly developed search function Isotopic Pattern Algorithm (IPA). While CIA assigns elemental formulas for compounds containing C, H, O, N, S, and P, IPA is capable of assigning formulas for compounds containing other elements. We used halogenated organic compounds (HOC), a chemical class that is ubiquitous in nature as well as anthropogenic systems, as an example to demonstrate the capability of Formularity with IPA. A HOC standard mix was used to evaluate the identification confidence of IPA. Tap water and HOC spike in Suwannee River NOM were used to assess HOC identification in complex environmental samples. Strategies for reconciliation of CIA and IPA assignments were discussed. Software and sample databases with documentation are freely available.

Ultrahigh speed endoscopic optical coherence tomography using micromotor imaging catheter and VCSEL technology.

PubMed

Tsai, Tsung-Han; Potsaid, Benjamin; Tao, Yuankai K; Jayaraman, Vijaysekhar; Jiang, James; Heim, Peter J S; Kraus, Martin F; Zhou, Chao; Hornegger, Joachim; Mashimo, Hiroshi; Cable, Alex E; Fujimoto, James G

2013-07-01

We developed a micromotor based miniature catheter with an outer diameter of 3.2 mm for ultrahigh speed endoscopic swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) using a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) at a 1 MHz axial scan rate. The micromotor can rotate a micro-prism at several hundred frames per second with less than 5 V drive voltage to provide fast and stable scanning, which is not sensitive to the bending of the catheter. The side-viewing probe can be pulled back to acquire a three-dimensional (3D) data set covering a large area on the specimen. The VCSEL provides a high axial scan rate to support dense sampling under high frame rate operation. Using a high speed data acquisition system, in vivo 3D-OCT imaging in the rabbit GI tract and ex vivo imaging of a human colon specimen with 8 μm axial resolution, 8 μm lateral resolution and 1.2 mm depth range in tissue at a frame rate of 400 fps was demonstrated.

Ultrahigh speed endoscopic optical coherence tomography using micromotor imaging catheter and VCSEL technology

PubMed Central

Tsai, Tsung-Han; Potsaid, Benjamin; Tao, Yuankai K.; Jayaraman, Vijaysekhar; Jiang, James; Heim, Peter J. S.; Kraus, Martin F.; Zhou, Chao; Hornegger, Joachim; Mashimo, Hiroshi; Cable, Alex E.; Fujimoto, James G.

2013-01-01

We developed a micromotor based miniature catheter with an outer diameter of 3.2 mm for ultrahigh speed endoscopic swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) using a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) at a 1 MHz axial scan rate. The micromotor can rotate a micro-prism at several hundred frames per second with less than 5 V drive voltage to provide fast and stable scanning, which is not sensitive to the bending of the catheter. The side-viewing probe can be pulled back to acquire a three-dimensional (3D) data set covering a large area on the specimen. The VCSEL provides a high axial scan rate to support dense sampling under high frame rate operation. Using a high speed data acquisition system, in vivo 3D-OCT imaging in the rabbit GI tract and ex vivo imaging of a human colon specimen with 8 μm axial resolution, 8 μm lateral resolution and 1.2 mm depth range in tissue at a frame rate of 400 fps was demonstrated. PMID:23847737

Determination of Triazine Herbicides in Drinking Water by Dispersive Micro Solid Phase Extraction with Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometric Detection.

PubMed

Chen, Dawei; Zhang, Yiping; Miao, Hong; Zhao, Yunfeng; Wu, Yongning

2015-11-11

A novel dispersive micro solid phase extraction (DMSPE) method based on a polymer cation exchange material (PCX) was applied to the simultaneous determination of the 30 triazine herbicides in drinking water with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometric detection. Drinking water samples were acidified with formic acid, and then triazines were adsorbed by the PCX sorbent. Subsequently, the analytes were eluted with ammonium hydroxide/acetonitrile. The chromatographic separation was performed on an HSS T3 column using water (4 mM ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid) and acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid) as the mobile phase. The method achieved LODs of 0.2-30.0 ng/L for the 30 triazines, with recoveries in the range of 70.5-112.1%, and the precision of the method was better than 12.7%. These results indicated that the proposed method had the advantages of convenience and high efficiency when applied to the analysis of the 30 triazines in drinking water.

Wavy Architecture Thin-Film Transistor for Ultrahigh Resolution Flexible Displays.

PubMed

Hanna, Amir Nabil; Kutbee, Arwa Talal; Subedi, Ram Chandra; Ooi, Boon; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2018-01-01

A novel wavy-shaped thin-film-transistor (TFT) architecture, capable of achieving 70% higher drive current per unit chip area when compared with planar conventional TFT architectures, is reported for flexible display application. The transistor, due to its atypical architecture, does not alter the turn-on voltage or the OFF current values, leading to higher performance without compromising static power consumption. The concept behind this architecture is expanding the transistor's width vertically through grooved trenches in a structural layer deposited on a flexible substrate. Operation of zinc oxide (ZnO)-based TFTs is shown down to a bending radius of 5 mm with no degradation in the electrical performance or cracks in the gate stack. Finally, flexible low-power LEDs driven by the respective currents of the novel wavy, and conventional coplanar architectures are demonstrated, where the novel architecture is able to drive the LED at 2 × the output power, 3 versus 1.5 mW, which demonstrates the potential use for ultrahigh resolution displays in an area efficient manner. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Latin-cross-shaped integrated resonant cantilever with second torsion-mode resonance for ultra-resoluble bio-mass sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Xiaoyuan; Zhang, Zhixiang; Li, Xinxin

2008-03-01

Second torsion-mode resonance is proposed for microcantilever biosensors for ultra-high mass-weighing sensitivity and resolution. By increasing both the resonant frequency and Q-factor, the higher mode torsional resonance is favorable for improving the mass-sensing performance. For the first time, a Latin-cross-shaped second-mode resonant cantilever is constructed and optimally designed for both signal-readout and resonance-exciting elements. The cantilever sensor is fabricated by using silicon micromachining techniques. The transverse piezoresistive sensing element and the specific-shaped resonance-exciting loop are successfully integrated in the cantilever. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) antibody-antigen specific binding is implemented for the sensing experiment. The proposed cantilever sensor is designed with significantly superior sensitivity to the previously reported first torsion-mode one. After analysis with an Allan variance algorithm, which can be easily embedded in the sensing system, the Latin-cross-shaped second torsion-mode resonant cantilever is evaluated with ultra-high mass resolution. Therefore, the high-performance integrated micro-sensor is promising for on-the-spot bio-molecule detection.

A high sensitivity 20Mfps CMOS image sensor with readout speed of 1Tpixel/sec for visualization of ultra-high speed phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuroda, R.; Sugawa, S.

2017-02-01

Ultra-high speed (UHS) CMOS image sensors with on-chop analog memories placed on the periphery of pixel array for the visualization of UHS phenomena are overviewed in this paper. The developed UHS CMOS image sensors consist of 400H×256V pixels and 128 memories/pixel, and the readout speed of 1Tpixel/sec is obtained, leading to 10 Mfps full resolution video capturing with consecutive 128 frames, and 20 Mfps half resolution video capturing with consecutive 256 frames. The first development model has been employed in the high speed video camera and put in practical use in 2012. By the development of dedicated process technologies, photosensitivity improvement and power consumption reduction were simultaneously achieved, and the performance improved version has been utilized in the commercialized high-speed video camera since 2015 that offers 10 Mfps with ISO16,000 photosensitivity. Due to the improved photosensitivity, clear images can be captured and analyzed even under low light condition, such as under a microscope as well as capturing of UHS light emission phenomena.

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, Alan G.

1998-06-01

As for Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) interferometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the introduction of pulsed Fourier transform techniques revolutionized ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry: increased speed (factor of 10,000), increased sensitivity (factor of 100), increased mass resolution (factor of 10,000-an improvement not shared by the introduction of FT techniques to IR or NMR spectroscopy), increased mass range (factor of 500), and automated operation. FT-ICR mass spectrometry is the most versatile technique for unscrambling and quantifying ion-molecule reaction kinetics and equilibria in the absence of solvent (i.e., the gas phase). In addition, FT-ICR MS has the following analytically important features: speed (~1 second per spectrum); ultrahigh mass resolution and ultrahigh mass accuracy for analysis of mixtures and polymers; attomole sensitivity; MSn with one spectrometer, including two-dimensional FT/FT-ICR/MS; positive and/or negative ions; multiple ion sources (especially MALDI and electrospray); biomolecular molecular weight and sequencing; LC/MS; and single-molecule detection up to 108 Dalton. Here, some basic features and recent developments of FT-ICR mass spectrometry are reviewed, with applications ranging from crude oil to molecular biology.

Unmanned aerial monitoring of fluvial changes in the vicinity of selected gauges of the Local System for Flood Monitoring in Klodzko County, SW Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeziorska, Justyna; Witek, Matylda; Niedzielski, Tomasz

2013-04-01

Only high resolution spatial data enable precise measurements of various morphometric characteristics of river channels and ensure meaningful effects of research into fluvial changes. Using ground-based measurement tools is time-consuming and expensive. Traditional photogrammetry often does not reach a desired resolution, and the technology is cost effective only for the large-area coverage. The present research introduces potentials of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) for monitoring fluvial changes. Observations were carried out with the ultralight UAV swinglet CAM produced by senseFly. This lightweight (0,5 kg), small (wingspan: 80 cm) aircraft allowed frequent (with approximately monthly sampling resolution) and low-cost missions. Three hydrologic gauges, the surroundings of which were the target of series of photos taken by camera placed in airplane frame, belong to the Local System for Flood Monitoring in Kłodzko County (SW Poland). The only way of obtaining reliable results is an appropriate image rectification, in order to measure morphometric characteristics of terrain, free of geometrical deformations induced by the topographical relief, the tilt of the camera axis and the distortion of the optics. Commercially available software for the production of digital orthophotos and digital surface models (DSMs) from a range of uncalibrated oblique and vertical aerial images was successfully used to achieve this aim. As a result of completing the above procedure 9 orthophotos were generated (one for each of 3 study areas during 3 missions). For extraction of terrain parameters, a DSM was produced as a result of bundle block adjustment. Both products reached ultra-high resolution of 4cm/px. Various fluvial forms were classified and recognized, and a few time series of maps from each study area were compared in order to detect potential changes within the fluvial system. We inferred on the origins of the short-term responses of fluvial systems, and such an inference was feasible due to the analysis of metrological and hydrological data recorded by the Local System for Flood Monitoring in Kłodzko County. Orthophotos and DSMs, generated from imagery obtained by UAV, show high accuracy of results and are suitable for measuring fluvial changes. This approach moves beyond current restrictions of traditional data collecting, due to its unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution and low cost of application.

Fusing Cubesat and Landsat 8 data for near-daily mapping of leaf area index at 3 m resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCabe, M.; Houborg, R.

2017-12-01

Constellations of small cubesats are emerging as a relatively inexpensive observational resource with the potential to overcome spatio-temporal constraints of traditional single-sensor satellite missions. With more than 130 compact 3U (i.e., 10 x 10 x 30 cm) cubesats currently in orbit, the company "Planet" has realized near-daily image capture in RGB and the near-infrared (NIR) at 3 m resolution for every location on the earth. However cross-sensor inconsistencies can be a limiting factor, which result from relatively low signal-to-noise ratios, varying overpass times, and sensor-specific spectral response functions. In addition, the sensor radiometric information content is more limited compared to conventional satellite systems such as Landsat. In this study, a synergistic machine-learning framework utilizing Planet, Landsat 8, and MODIS data is developed to produce Landsat 8 consistent LAI with a factor of 10 increase in spatial resolution and a daily observing potential, globally. The Cubist machine-learning technique is used to establish scene-specific links between scale-consistent cubesat RGB+NIR imagery and Landsat 8 LAI. The scheme implements a novel LAI target sampling technique for model training purposes, which accounts for changes in cover conditions over the cubesat and Landsat acquisition timespans. Results over an agricultural region in Saudi Arabia highlight the utility of the approach for detecting high frequency (i.e., near-daily) and fine-scale (i.e., 3 m) intra-field dynamics in LAI with demonstrated potential for timely identification of developing crop risks. The framework maximizes the utility of ultra-high resolution cubesat data for agricultural management and resource efficiency optimization at the precision scale.

Initial results of a new generation dual source CT system using only an in-plane comb filter for ultra-high resolution temporal bone imaging.

PubMed

Meyer, Mathias; Haubenreisser, Holger; Raupach, Rainer; Schmidt, Bernhard; Lietzmann, Florian; Leidecker, Christianne; Allmendinger, Thomas; Flohr, Thomas; Schad, Lothar R; Schoenberg, Stefan O; Henzler, Thomas

2015-01-01

To prospectively evaluate radiation dose and image quality of a third generation dual-source CT (DSCT) without z-axis filter behind the patient for temporal bone CT. Forty-five patients were either examined on a first, second, or third generation DSCT in an ultra-high-resolution (UHR) temporal bone-imaging mode. On the third generation DSCT system, the tighter focal spot of 0.2 mm(2) removes the necessity for an additional z-axis-filter, leading to an improved z-axis radiation dose efficiency. Images of 0.4 mm were reconstructed using standard filtered-back-projection or iterative reconstruction (IR) technique for previous generations of DSCT and a novel IR algorithm for the third generation DSCT. Radiation dose and image quality were compared between the three DSCT systems. The statistically significantly highest subjective and objective image quality was evaluated for the third generation DSCT when compared to the first or second generation DSCT systems (all p < 0.05). Total effective dose was 63%/39% lower for the third generation examination as compared to the first and second generation DSCT. Temporal bone imaging without z-axis-UHR-filter and a novel third generation IR algorithm allows for significantly higher image quality while lowering effective dose when compared to the first two generations of DSCTs. • Omitting the z-axis-filter allows a reduction in radiation dose of 50% • A smaller focal spot of 0.2 mm (2) significantly improves spatial resolution • Ultra-high-resolution temporal-bone-CT helps to gain diagnostic information of the middle/inner ear.

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence elastography combined with a rigid micro-endoscope (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Qi; Curatolo, Andrea; Wijesinghe, Philip; Hamzah, Juliana; Ganss, Ruth; Noble, Peter B.; Karnowski, Karol; Sampson, David D.; Kim, Jun Ki; Lee, Wei M.; Kennedy, Brendan F.

2017-02-01

The mechanical forces that living cells experience represent an important framework in the determination of a range of intricate cellular functions and processes. Current insight into cell mechanics is typically provided by in vitro measurement systems; for example, atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements are performed on cells in culture or, at best, on freshly excised tissue. Optical techniques, such as Brillouin microscopy and optical elastography, have been used for ex vivo and in situ imaging, recently achieving cellular-scale resolution. The utility of these techniques in cell mechanics lies in quick, three-dimensional and label-free mechanical imaging. Translation of these techniques toward minimally invasive in vivo imaging would provide unprecedented capabilities in tissue characterization. Here, we take the first steps along this path by incorporating a gradient-index micro-endoscope into an ultrahigh resolution optical elastography system. Using this endoscope, a lateral resolution of 2 µm is preserved over an extended depth-of-field of 80 µm, achieved by Bessel beam illumination. We demonstrate this combined system by imaging stiffness of a silicone phantom containing stiff inclusions and a freshly excised murine liver tissue. Additionally, we test this system on murine ribs in situ. We show that our approach can provide high quality extended depth-of-field images through an endoscope and has the potential to measure cell mechanics deep in tissue. Eventually, we believe this tool will be capable of studying biological processes and disease progression in vivo.

Cochlear Implant Electrode Localization Using an Ultra-High Resolution Scan Mode on Conventional 64-Slice and New Generation 192-Slice Multi-Detector Computed Tomography.

PubMed

Carlson, Matthew L; Leng, Shuai; Diehn, Felix E; Witte, Robert J; Krecke, Karl N; Grimes, Josh; Koeller, Kelly K; Bruesewitz, Michael R; McCollough, Cynthia H; Lane, John I

2017-08-01

A new generation 192-slice multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) clinical scanner provides enhanced image quality and superior electrode localization over conventional MDCT. Currently, accurate and reliable cochlear implant electrode localization using conventional MDCT scanners remains elusive. Eight fresh-frozen cadaveric temporal bones were implanted with full-length cochlear implant electrodes. Specimens were subsequently scanned with conventional 64-slice and new generation 192-slice MDCT scanners utilizing ultra-high resolution modes. Additionally, all specimens were scanned with micro-CT to provide a reference criterion for electrode position. Images were reconstructed according to routine temporal bone clinical protocols. Three neuroradiologists, blinded to scanner type, reviewed images independently to assess resolution of individual electrodes, scalar localization, and severity of image artifact. Serving as the reference standard, micro-CT identified scalar crossover in one specimen; imaging of all remaining cochleae demonstrated complete scala tympani insertions. The 192-slice MDCT scanner exhibited improved resolution of individual electrodes (p < 0.01), superior scalar localization (p < 0.01), and reduced blooming artifact (p < 0.05), compared with conventional 64-slice MDCT. There was no significant difference between platforms when comparing streak or ring artifact. The new generation 192-slice MDCT scanner offers several notable advantages for cochlear implant imaging compared with conventional MDCT. This technology provides important feedback regarding electrode position and course, which may help in future optimization of surgical technique and electrode design.

Enhancing Spatial Resolution of Remotely Sensed Imagery Using Deep Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, J. M.; Bridges, S.; Collins, C.; Rushing, J.; Graves, S. J.

2017-12-01

Researchers at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville are using Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to develop a method for enhancing the spatial resolutions of moderate resolution (10-60m) multispectral satellite imagery. This enhancement will effectively match the resolutions of imagery from multiple sensors to provide increased global temporal-spatial coverage for a variety of Earth science products. Our research is centered on using Deep Learning for automatically generating transformations for increasing the spatial resolution of remotely sensed images with different spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. One of the most important steps in using images from multiple sensors is to transform the different image layers into the same spatial resolution, preferably the highest spatial resolution, without compromising the spectral information. Recent advances in Deep Learning have shown that CNNs can be used to effectively and efficiently upscale or enhance the spatial resolution of multispectral images with the use of an auxiliary data source such as a high spatial resolution panchromatic image. In contrast, we are using both the spatial and spectral details inherent in low spatial resolution multispectral images for image enhancement without the use of a panchromatic image. This presentation will discuss how this technology will benefit many Earth Science applications that use remotely sensed images with moderate spatial resolutions.

Materials processing in space, 1980 science planning document. [crystal growth, containerless processing, solidification, bioprocessing, and ultrahigh vacuum processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naumann, R. J.

1980-01-01

The scientific aspects of the Materials Processing in Space program are described with emphasis on the major categories of interest: (1) crystal growth; (2) solidification of metals, alloys, and composites; (3) fluids and chemical processes; (4) containerless processing, glasses, and refractories; (5) ultrahigh vacuum processes; and (6) bioprocessing. An index is provided for each of these areas. The possible contributions that materials science experiments in space can make to the various disciplines are summarized, and the necessity for performing experiments in space is justified. What has been learned from previous experiments relating to space processing, current investigations, and remaining issues that require resolution are discussed. Recommendations for the future direction of the program are included.

Preliminary experience with 4K ultra-high definition endoscope: analysis of pros and cons in skull base surgery.

PubMed

Rigante, M; La Rocca, G; Lauretti, L; D'Alessandris, G Q; Mangiola, A; Anile, C; Olivi, A; Paludetti, G

2017-06-01

During the last two decades endoscopic skull base surgery observed a continuous technical and technological development 3D endoscopy and ultra High Definition (HD) endoscopy have provided great advances in terms of visualisation and spatial resolution. Ultra-high definition (UHD) 4K systems, recently introduced in the clinical practice, will shape next steps forward especially in skull base surgery field. Patients were operated on through transnasal transsphenoidal endoscopic approaches performed using Olympus NBI 4K UHD endoscope with a 4 mm 0° Ultra Telescope, 300 W xenon lamp (CLV-S400) predisposed for narrow band imaging (NBI) technology connected through a camera head to a high-quality control unit (OTV-S400 - VISERA 4K UHD) (Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). Two screens are used, one 31" Monitor - (LMD-X310S) and one main ultra-HD 55" screen optimised for UHD image reproduction (LMD-X550S). In selected cases, we used a navigation system (Stealthstation S7, Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, US). We evaluated 22 pituitary adenomas (86.3% macroadenomas; 13.7% microadenomas). 50% were not functional (NF), 22.8% GH, 18.2% ACTH, 9% PRL-secreting. Three of 22 were recurrences. In 91% of cases we achieved total removal, while in 9% near total resection. A mean follow-up of 187 days and average length of hospitalisation was 3.09 ± 0.61 days. Surgical duration was 128.18± 30.74 minutes. We experienced only 1 case of intraoperative low flow fistula with no further complications. None of the cases required any post- or intraoperative blood transfusion. The visualisation and high resolution of the operative field provided a very detailed view of all anatomical structures and pathologies allowing an improvement in safety and efficacy of the surgical procedure. The operative time was similar to the standard 2D HD and 3D procedures and the physical strain was also comparable to others in terms of ergonomics and weight. © Copyright by Società Italiana di Otorinolaringologia e Chirurgia Cervico-Facciale, Rome, Italy.

Elemental Composition Analysis to Investigate NOx Effects on Secondary Organic Aerosol from α-Pinene Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, H. J.; Park, J. H.; Babar, Z.

2015-12-01

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) accounts for 20-70% of atmospheric fine aerosol. NOx plays crucial roles in SOA formation and consequently affects the composition and yield of SOA. SOA component speciation is incomplete due to its complex composition of polar oxygenated and multifunctional species. In this study, ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (UHR MS) was applied to improve the understanding of NOx effects on biogenic SOA formation by identifying the elemental composition of SOA. Additional research aim was to investigate oligomer components that are considered as a driving force for SOA formation and growth. In this study α-pinene SOA from photochemical reaction was examined. SOA formation was performed in the absence and presence of NOx at dry condition (<5% RH) of room temperature (~25oC) in ~8 m3 KNU smog chamber. SOA was collected on Teflon-coated glass fiber filter, which was extracted using acetonitrile and analyzed by ultrahigh resolution 15T FT-ICR MS. UHR MS data were interpreted in various ways including molecular formula, Kendrick diagram, van Krevelen diagram, and double bond equivalent values. Substantially large fractions of them are nitrogen containing species. Thousands of individual species of SOA were identified. For SOA in the absence of NOx. intensity normalized mean O/C, H/C, N/C, OM/OC ratios were 0.43, 1.52, 0.02, and 1.68, respectively. For SOA in the presence of NOx, those ratios were 0.52, 0.95, 0.08, and 1.48, respectively. 4 different oligomer formation mechanisms (addition, H abstraction, hydrolysis and de-hydrolysis reaction) were examined on the basis of SOA compositions. Detailed discussion will be presented on the molecular structure and building block of oligomers in SOA as well as the evolution of individual elemental composition by multi-generation reactions. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2011-01350000).

Effect of Nb on Delayed Fracture Resistance of Ultra-High Strength Martensitic Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Rongjie; Fonstein, Nina; Pottore, Narayan; Jun, Hyun Jo; Bhattacharya, Debanshu; Jansto, Steve

Ultra-high strength steels are materials of considerable interest for automotive and structural applications and are increasingly being used in those areas. Higher strength, however, makes steels more prone to hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The effects of Nb and other alloying elements on the hydrogen-induced delayed fracture resistance of cold rolled martensitic steels with ultra-high strength 2000 MPa were studied using an acid immersion test, thermal desorption analysis (TDA) and measuring of permeation. The microstructure was characterized by high resolution field emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). It was shown that the combined addition of Nb significantly improved the delayed fracture resistance of investigated steel. The addition of Nb to alloyed martensitic steels resulted in very apparent grain refinement of the prior austenite grain size. The Nb microalloyed steel contained a lower diffusible hydrogen content during thermal desorption analysis as compared to the base steel and had a higher trapped hydrogen amount after charging. The reason that Nb improved the delayed fracture resistance of steels can be attributed mostly to both hydrogen trapping and grain refinement.

Ultrahigh Energy Density in SrTiO3 Film Capacitors.

PubMed

Hou, Chuangming; Huang, Weichuan; Zhao, Wenbo; Zhang, Dalong; Yin, Yuewei; Li, Xiaoguang

2017-06-21

Solid-state dielectric film capacitors with high-energy-storage density will further promote advanced electronic devices and electrical power systems toward miniaturization, lightweight, and integration. In this study, the influence of interface and thickness on energy storage properties of SrTiO 3 (STO) films grown on La 0.67 Sr 0.33 MnO 3 (LSMO) electrode are systematically studied. The cross-sectional high resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals an ion interdiffusion layer and oxygen vacancies at the STO/LSMO interface. The capacitors show good frequency stability and increased dielectric constant with increasing STO thickness (410-710 nm). The breakdown strength (E b ) increases with decreasing STO thickness and reaches 6.8 MV/cm. Interestingly, the E b under positive field is enhanced significantly and an ultrahigh energy density up to 307 J/cm 3 with a high efficiency of 89% is realized. The enhanced E b may be related to the modulation of local electric field and redistribution of oxygen vacancies at the STO/LSMO interface. Our results should be helpful for potential strategies to design devices with ultrahigh energy density.

Coherent Pound-Drever-Hall technique for high resolution fiber optic strain sensor at very low light power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mengxin; Liu, Qingwen; Chen, Jiageng; He, Zuyuan

2017-04-01

Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) technique has been widely adopted for ultrahigh resolution fiber-optic sensors, but its performance degenerates seriously as the light power drops. To solve this problem, we developed a coherent PDH technique for weak optical signal detection, with which the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of demodulated PDH signal is dramatically improved. In the demonstrational experiments, a high resolution fiber-optic sensor using the proposed technique is realized, and n"-order strain resolution at a low light power down to -43 dBm is achieved, which is about 15 dB lower compared with classical PDH technique. The proposed coherent PDH technique has great potentials in longer distance and larger scale sensor networks.

Effects of spatial resolution ratio in image fusion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ling, Y.; Ehlers, M.; Usery, E.L.; Madden, M.

2008-01-01

In image fusion, the spatial resolution ratio can be defined as the ratio between the spatial resolution of the high-resolution panchromatic image and that of the low-resolution multispectral image. This paper attempts to assess the effects of the spatial resolution ratio of the input images on the quality of the fused image. Experimental results indicate that a spatial resolution ratio of 1:10 or higher is desired for optimal multisensor image fusion provided the input panchromatic image is not downsampled to a coarser resolution. Due to the synthetic pixels generated from resampling, the quality of the fused image decreases as the spatial resolution ratio decreases (e.g. from 1:10 to 1:30). However, even with a spatial resolution ratio as small as 1:30, the quality of the fused image is still better than the original multispectral image alone for feature interpretation. In cases where the spatial resolution ratio is too small (e.g. 1:30), to obtain better spectral integrity of the fused image, one may downsample the input high-resolution panchromatic image to a slightly lower resolution before fusing it with the multispectral image.

Development of optical neuroimaging to detect drug-induced brain functional changes in vivo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Congwu; Pan, Yingtian

2014-03-01

Deficits in prefrontal function play a crucial role in compulsive cocaine use, which is a hallmark of addiction. Dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex might result from effects of cocaine on neurons as well as from disruption of cerebral blood vessels. However, the mechanisms underlying cocaine's neurotoxic effects are not fully understood, partially due to technical limitations of current imaging techniques (e.g., PET, fMRI) to differentiate vascular from neuronal effects at sufficiently high temporal and spatial resolutions. We have recently developed a multimodal imaging platform which can simultaneously characterize the changes in cerebrovascular hemodynamics, hemoglobin oxygenation and intracellular calcium fluorescence for monitoring the effects of cocaine on the brain. Such a multimodality imaging technique (OFI) provides several uniquely important merits, including: 1) a large field-of-view, 2) high spatiotemporal resolutions, 3) quantitative 3D imaging of the cerebral blood flow (CBF) networks, 4) label-free imaging of hemodynamic changes, 5) separation of vascular compartments (e.g., arterial and venous vessels) and monitoring of cortical brain metabolic changes, 6) discrimination of cellular (neuronal) from vascular responses. These imaging features have been further advanced in combination with microprobes to form micro-OFI that allows quantification of drug effects on subcortical brain. In addition, our ultrahigh-resolution ODT (μODT) enables 3D microangiography and quantitative imaging of capillary CBF networks. These optical strategies have been used to investigate the effects of cocaine on brain physiology to facilitate the studies of brain functional changes induced by addictive substance to provide new insights into neurobiological effects of the drug on the brain.

3D ultra-high resolution seismic imaging of shallow Solfatara crater in Campi Flegrei (Italy): New insights on deep hydrothermal fluid circulation processes.

PubMed

De Landro, Grazia; Serlenga, Vincenzo; Russo, Guido; Amoroso, Ortensia; Festa, Gaetano; Bruno, Pier Paolo; Gresse, Marceau; Vandemeulebrouck, Jean; Zollo, Aldo

2017-06-13

Seismic tomography can be used to image the spatial variation of rock properties within complex geological media such as volcanoes. Solfatara is a volcano located within the Campi Flegrei, a still active caldera, so it is of major importance to characterize its level of activity and potential danger. In this light, a 3D tomographic high-resolution P-wave velocity image of the shallow central part of Solfatara crater is obtained using first arrival times and a multiscale approach. The retrieved images, integrated with the resistivity section and temperature and the CO 2 flux measurements, define the following characteristics: 1. A depth-dependent P-wave velocity layer down to 14 m, with V p  < 700 m/s typical of poorly-consolidated tephra and affected by CO 2 degassing; 2. An intermediate layer, deepening towards the mineralized liquid-saturated area (Fangaia), interpreted as permeable deposits saturated with condensed water; 3. A deep, confined high velocity anomaly associated with a CO 2 reservoir. These features are expression of an area located between the Fangaia, water saturated and replenished from deep aquifers, and the main fumaroles, superficial relief of the deep rising CO 2 flux. Therefore, the changes in the outgassing rate greatly affect the shallow hydrothermal system, which can be used as a "mirror" of fluid migration processes occurring at depth.

Study of the mass spectrometric behaviors of anthocyanins in negative ionization mode and its applications for characterization of anthocyanins and non-anthocyanin polyphenols

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A study of the mass spectroscopic behaviors of anthocyanins in the negative ionization mode was reported and it can be used for differentiation anthocyanins from other non-anthocyanin polyphenols. For the study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry (...

Back in Time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Under a Jet Propulsion Laboratory SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research), Cambridge Research and Instrumentation Inc., developed a new class of filters for the construction of small, low-cost multispectral imagers. The VariSpec liquid crystal enables users to obtain multi-spectral, ultra-high resolution images using a monochrome CCD (charge coupled device) camera. Application areas include biomedical imaging, remote sensing, and machine vision.

Possibilities of lasers within NOTES.

PubMed

Stepp, Herbert; Sroka, Ronald

2010-10-01

Lasers possess unique properties that render them versatile light sources particularly for NOTES. Depending on the laser light sources used, diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes can be achieved. The diagnostic potential offered by innovative concepts such as new types of ultra-thin endoscopes and optical probes supports the physician with optical information of ultra-high resolution, tissue discrimination and manifold types of fluorescence detection. In addition, the potential 3-D capability promises enhanced recognition of tissue type and pathological status. These diagnostic techniques might enable or at least contribute to accurate and safe procedures within the spatial restrictions inherent with NOTES. The therapeutic potential ranges from induction of phototoxic effects over tissue welding, coagulation and tissue cutting to stone fragmentation. As proven in many therapeutic laser endoscopic treatment concepts, laser surgery is potentially bloodless and transmits the energy without mechanical forces. Specialized NOTES endoscopes will likely incorporate suitable probes for improving diagnostic procedures, laser fibres with advantageous light delivery possibility or innovative laser beam manipulation systems. NOTES training centres may support the propagation of the complex handling and the safety aspects for clinical use to the benefit of the patient.

Molecular-level dynamics of refractory dissolved organic matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niggemann, J.; Gerdts, G.; Dittmar, T.

2012-04-01

Refractory dissolved organic matter (DOM) accounts for most of the global oceanic organic carbon inventory. Processes leading to its formation and factors determining its stability are still largely unknown. We hypothesize that refractory DOM carries a universal molecular signature. Characterizing spatial and temporal variability in this universal signature is a key to understanding dynamics of refractory DOM. We present results from a long-term study of the DOM geo-metabolome in the open North Sea. Geo-metabolomics considers the entity of DOM as a population of compounds, each characterized by a specific function and reactivity in the cycling of energy and elements. Ten-thousands of molecular formulae were identified in DOM by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry analysis (FT-ICR-MS, Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry). The DOM pool in the North Sea was influenced by a complex interplay of processes that produced, transformed and degraded dissolved molecules. We identified a stable fraction in North Sea DOM with a molecular composition similar to deep ocean DOM. Molecular-level changes in this stable fraction provide novel information on dynamics and interactions of refractory DOM.

Characterization of organic material in ice core samples from North America, Greenland, and Antarctica using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catanzano, V.; Grannas, A. M.; Sleighter, R. L.; Hatcher, P. G.

2013-12-01

Historically, it has been an analytical challenge to detect and identify the organic components present in ice cores, due to the low abundance of organic carbon. In order to detect and characterize the small amounts of organic matter in ice cores, ultra high resolution instrumentation is required. Here we report the use of ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, coupled with electrospray ionization, to identify the molecular formulas and compound classes of organic matter in both modern and ancient ice core and glacial samples from Wyoming, Greenland, and Antarctica. A suite of 21 samples were analyzed and thousands of distinct molecular species were identified in each sample, providing clues to the nature and sources of organic matter in these regions. Major biochemical classes of compounds were detected such as lignins, tannins, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, unsaturated hydrocarbons, and condensed aromatic compounds. We will compare the nature of the organic matter present in the samples in order to determine the differences in dominant organic compound classes and in heteroatom (nitrogen and sulfur) abundance. By analyzing these differences, it is possible to investigate the historical patterns of organic matter deposition/source, and begin to investigate the influence of climate change, volcanism, and onset of the industrial revolution on the nature of organic matter preserved in ice cores.

An ultrahigh vacuum multipurpose specimen chamber with sample introduction system for in situ transmission electron microscopy investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heinemann, K.; Poppa, H.

1986-01-01

A commercial transmission electron microscope (TEM), with flat-plate upper pole piece configuration of the objective lens, and top-entry specimen introduction was modified by introducing an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) specimen chamber for in situ TEM experimentation. The pumping and design principles and special features of this UHV chamber, which makes it possible to obtain 5 x 10 to the -10th mbar pressure at the site of the specimen, while maintaining the airlock system that allows operation in the 10 to the -10th mbar range within 15 min after specimen change, are described. Design operating pressures and image quality (resolution of metal particles smaller than 1 nm in size) were achieved. Schematic drawings and design dimensions are included.

Functional magnetic resonance microscopy at single-cell resolution in Aplysia californica

PubMed Central

Radecki, Guillaume; Nargeot, Romuald; Jelescu, Ileana Ozana; Le Bihan, Denis; Ciobanu, Luisa

2014-01-01

In this work, we show the feasibility of performing functional MRI studies with single-cell resolution. At ultrahigh magnetic field, manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance microscopy allows the identification of most motor neurons in the buccal network of Aplysia at low, nontoxic Mn2+ concentrations. We establish that Mn2+ accumulates intracellularly on injection into the living Aplysia and that its concentration increases when the animals are presented with a sensory stimulus. We also show that we can distinguish between neuronal activities elicited by different types of stimuli. This method opens up a new avenue into probing the functional organization and plasticity of neuronal networks involved in goal-directed behaviors with single-cell resolution. PMID:24872449

Analysis of Ultra High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature Level 4 Datasets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, Grant

2011-01-01

Sea surface temperature (SST) studies are often focused on improving accuracy, or understanding and quantifying uncertainties in the measurement, as SST is a leading indicator of climate change and represents the longest time series of any ocean variable observed from space. Over the past several decades SST has been studied with the use of satellite data. This allows a larger area to be studied with much more frequent measurements being taken than direct measurements collected aboard ship or buoys. The Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) is an international project that distributes satellite derived sea surface temperatures (SST) data from multiple platforms and sensors. The goal of the project is to distribute these SSTs for operational uses such as ocean model assimilation and decision support applications, as well as support fundamental SST research and climate studies. Examples of near real time applications include hurricane and fisheries studies and numerical weather forecasting. The JPL group has produced a new 1 km daily global Level 4 SST product, the Multiscale Ultrahigh Resolution (MUR), that blends SST data from 3 distinct NASA radiometers: the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer ? Earth Observing System(AMSRE). This new product requires further validation and accuracy assessment, especially in coastal regions.We examined the accuracy of the new MUR SST product by comparing the high resolution version and a lower resolution version that has been smoothed to 19 km (but still gridded to 1 km). Both versions were compared to the same data set of in situ buoy temperature measurements with a focus on study regions of the oceans surrounding North and Central America as well as two smaller regions around the Gulf Stream and California coast. Ocean fronts exhibit high temperature gradients (Roden, 1976), and thus satellite data of SST can be used in the detection of these fronts. In this case, accuracy is less of a concern because the primary focus is on the spatial derivative of SST. We calculated the gradients for both versions of the MUR data set and did statistical comparisons focusing on the same regions.

Naval Research Laboratory 1984 Review.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-16

pulsed infrared comprehensive characterization of ultrahigh trans- sources and electronics for video signal process- parency fluoride glasses and...operates a video system through this port if desired. The optical bench in consisting of visible and infrared television cam- the trailer holds a high...resolution Fourier eras, a high-quality video cassette recorder and transform spectrometer to use in the receiving display, and a digitizer to convert

Distinguishing d - and l -aspartic and isoaspartic acids in amyloid β peptides with ultrahigh resolution ion mobility spectrometry

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

Zheng, Xueyun; Deng, Liulin; Baker, Erin S.

2017-01-01

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) was utilized to separate Aβ peptide variants containing isomeric asparic and isoaspartic acid residues with either al- ord-form. The abundance of each variant is of great interest in Alzheimer's disease studies and also to evaluate how often these modifications are occurring in other environmental and biological samples.

Design and performance of an ultra-high vacuum spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope operating at 30 mK and in a vector magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Allwörden, Henning; Eich, Andreas; Knol, Elze J.; Hermenau, Jan; Sonntag, Andreas; Gerritsen, Jan W.; Wegner, Daniel; Khajetoorians, Alexander A.

2018-03-01

We describe the design and performance of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that operates at a base temperature of 30 mK in a vector magnetic field. The cryogenics is based on an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) top-loading wet dilution refrigerator that contains a vector magnet allowing for fields up to 9 T perpendicular and 4 T parallel to the sample. The STM is placed in a multi-chamber UHV system, which allows in situ preparation and exchange of samples and tips. The entire system rests on a 150-ton concrete block suspended by pneumatic isolators, which is housed in an acoustically isolated and electromagnetically shielded laboratory optimized for extremely low noise scanning probe measurements. We demonstrate the overall performance by illustrating atomic resolution and quasiparticle interference imaging and detail the vibrational noise of both the laboratory and microscope. We also determine the electron temperature via measurement of the superconducting gap of Re(0001) and illustrate magnetic field-dependent measurements of the spin excitations of individual Fe atoms on Pt(111). Finally, we demonstrate spin resolution by imaging the magnetic structure of the Fe double layer on W(110).

Design and performance of an ultra-high vacuum spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope operating at 30 mK and in a vector magnetic field.

PubMed

von Allwörden, Henning; Eich, Andreas; Knol, Elze J; Hermenau, Jan; Sonntag, Andreas; Gerritsen, Jan W; Wegner, Daniel; Khajetoorians, Alexander A

2018-03-01

We describe the design and performance of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that operates at a base temperature of 30 mK in a vector magnetic field. The cryogenics is based on an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) top-loading wet dilution refrigerator that contains a vector magnet allowing for fields up to 9 T perpendicular and 4 T parallel to the sample. The STM is placed in a multi-chamber UHV system, which allows in situ preparation and exchange of samples and tips. The entire system rests on a 150-ton concrete block suspended by pneumatic isolators, which is housed in an acoustically isolated and electromagnetically shielded laboratory optimized for extremely low noise scanning probe measurements. We demonstrate the overall performance by illustrating atomic resolution and quasiparticle interference imaging and detail the vibrational noise of both the laboratory and microscope. We also determine the electron temperature via measurement of the superconducting gap of Re(0001) and illustrate magnetic field-dependent measurements of the spin excitations of individual Fe atoms on Pt(111). Finally, we demonstrate spin resolution by imaging the magnetic structure of the Fe double layer on W(110).

Clinical Performance of an Ultrahigh Resolution Chromosomal Microarray Optimized for Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

PubMed

Ho, Karen S; Twede, Hope; Vanzo, Rena; Harward, Erin; Hensel, Charles H; Martin, Megan M; Page, Stephanie; Peiffer, Andreas; Mowery-Rushton, Patricia; Serrano, Moises; Wassman, E Robert

2016-01-01

Copy number variants (CNVs) as detected by chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) significantly contribute to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study summarizes the results of 3.5 years of CMA testing by a CLIA-certified clinical testing laboratory 5487 patients with neurodevelopmental conditions were clinically evaluated for rare copy number variants using a 2.8-million probe custom CMA optimized for the detection of CNVs associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. We report an overall detection rate of 29.4% in our neurodevelopmental cohort, which rises to nearly 33% when cases with DD/ID and/or MCA only are considered. The detection rate for the ASD cohort is also significant, at 25%. Additionally, we find that detection rate and pathogenic yield of CMA vary significantly depending on the primary indications for testing, the age of the individuals tested, and the specialty of the ordering doctor. We also report a significant difference between the detection rate on the ultrahigh resolution optimized array in comparison to the array from which it originated. This increase in detection can significantly contribute to the efficient and effective medical management of neurodevelopmental conditions in the clinic.

Formularity: Software for Automated Formula Assignment of Natural and Other Organic Matter from Ultrahigh-Resolution Mass Spectra

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

Tolić, Nikola; Liu, Yina; Liyu, Andrey

Ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry, such as Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), can resolve thousands of molecular ions in complex organic matrices. A Compound Identification Algorithm (CIA) was previously developed for automated elemental formula assignment for natural organic matter (NOM). In this work we describe a user friendly interface for CIA, titled Formularity, which includes an additional functionality to perform search of formulas based on an Isotopic Pattern Algorithm (IPA). While CIA assigns elemental formulas for compounds containing C, H, O, N, S, and P, IPA is capable of assigning formulas for compounds containing other elements. We used halogenatedmore » organic compounds (HOC), a chemical class that is ubiquitous in nature as well as anthropogenic systems, as an example to demonstrate the capability of Formularity with IPA. A HOC standard mix was used to evaluate the identification confidence of IPA. The HOC spike in NOM and tap water were used to assess HOC identification in natural and anthropogenic matrices. Strategies for reconciliation of CIA and IPA assignments are discussed. Software and sample databases with documentation are freely available from the PNNL OMICS software repository https://omics.pnl.gov/software/formularity.« less

Halogenated Organic Compounds Identified in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewaters Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Luek, Jenna L; Schmitt-Kopplin, Philippe; Mouser, Paula J; Petty, William Tyler; Richardson, Susan D; Gonsior, Michael

2017-05-16

Large volumes of water return to the surface following hydraulic fracturing of deep shale formations to retrieve oil and natural gas. Current understanding of the specific organic constituents in these hydraulic fracturing wastewaters is limited to hydrocarbons and a fraction of known chemical additives. In this study, we analyzed hydraulic fracturing wastewater samples using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) as a nontargeted technique to assign unambiguous molecular formulas to singly charged molecular ions. Halogenated molecular formulas were identified and confirmed using isotopic simulation and MS-MS fragmentation spectra. The abundance of halogenated organic compounds in flowback fluids rather than older wastewaters suggested that the observed molecular ions might have been related to hydraulic fracturing additives and related subsurface reactions, such as through the reaction of shale-extracted chloride, bromide, and iodide with strong oxidant additives (e.g., hypochlorite, persulfate, hydrogen peroxide) and subsequently with diverse dissolved organic matter. Some molecular ions matched the exact masses of known disinfection byproducts including diiodoacetic acid, dibromobenzoic acid, and diiodobenzoic acid. The identified halogenated organic compounds, particularly iodinated organic molecules, are absent from inland natural systems and these compounds could therefore play an important role as environmental tracers.

Research on compression performance of ultrahigh-definition videos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiangqun; He, Xiaohai; Qing, Linbo; Tao, Qingchuan; Wu, Di

2017-11-01

With the popularization of high-definition (HD) images and videos (1920×1080 pixels and above), there are even 4K (3840×2160) television signals and 8 K (8192×4320) ultrahigh-definition videos. The demand for HD images and videos is increasing continuously, along with the increasing data volume. The storage and transmission cannot be properly solved only by virtue of the expansion capacity of hard disks and the update and improvement of transmission devices. Based on the full use of the coding standard high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), super-resolution reconstruction technology, and the correlation between the intra- and the interprediction, we first put forward a "division-compensation"-based strategy to further improve the compression performance of a single image and frame I. Then, by making use of the above thought and HEVC encoder and decoder, a video compression coding frame is designed. HEVC is used inside the frame. Last, with the super-resolution reconstruction technology, the reconstructed video quality is further improved. The experiment shows that by the proposed compression method for a single image (frame I) and video sequence here, the performance is superior to that of HEVC in a low bit rate environment.

A new collimator for I-123-IMP SPECT imaging of the brain

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

Oyamada, H.; Fukukita, H.; Tanaka, E.

1985-05-01

At present, commercially available I-123-IMP is contaminated with I-124 and its concentration on the assay date is said to be approximately 5%. Therefore, the application of medium energy parallel hole collimator (MEPC) used in many places for SPECT results in deterioration of the image quality. Recently, the authors have developed a new collimator for I-123-IMP SPECT imaging comprised of 4 slat type units; ultrahigh resolution (UHR), high resolution (HR), high sensitivity (HS), and ultrahigh sensitivity (UHS). The slit width/septum thickness in mm for UHR, HR, HS, and UHS are 0.9/0.5, 1.5/0.85, 3.2/1.5, and 5.2/2.0, respectively. In practice, either UHR ormore » HR is set to the detector (Shimadzu LFOV-E, modified type) together with either HS or UHS. The former is always set to the detector with the slit direction parallel to the rotation axis, and the latter is set with its slit direction at a right angle to the former. This is based on an idea that, upon sacrifice of resolution to some extent, sensitivity can be gained on the axial direction while the resolution on the transaxial slice will still be sufficiently preserved. Resolutions (transaxial direction/axial direction) in FWHM (mm) for each combination (UHR-HS, UHR-UHS, HR-HS, and HR-UHS) were 15.9/31.4, 15.9/36.5,23.2/33.3, and 23.9/40.7, respectively, whereas the resolution of MEPC was 28.7/29.5. On the other hand, relative sensitivities to MEPC were 0.57, 0.86, 0.80, and 1.16. The authors conclude that the combination of UHR and HS is best suited for clinical practice and, at present they are obtaining I-123-IMP SPECT images of good quality.« less

Industry-relevant magnetron sputtering and cathodic arc ultra-high vacuum deposition system for in situ x-ray diffraction studies of thin film growth using high energy synchrotron radiation.

PubMed

Schroeder, J L; Thomson, W; Howard, B; Schell, N; Näslund, L-Å; Rogström, L; Johansson-Jõesaar, M P; Ghafoor, N; Odén, M; Nothnagel, E; Shepard, A; Greer, J; Birch, J

2015-09-01

We present an industry-relevant, large-scale, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) magnetron sputtering and cathodic arc deposition system purposefully designed for time-resolved in situ thin film deposition/annealing studies using high-energy (>50 keV), high photon flux (>10(12) ph/s) synchrotron radiation. The high photon flux, combined with a fast-acquisition-time (<1 s) two-dimensional (2D) detector, permits time-resolved in situ structural analysis of thin film formation processes. The high-energy synchrotron-radiation based x-rays result in small scattering angles (<11°), allowing large areas of reciprocal space to be imaged with a 2D detector. The system has been designed for use on the 1-tonne, ultra-high load, high-resolution hexapod at the P07 High Energy Materials Science beamline at PETRA III at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany. The deposition system includes standard features of a typical UHV deposition system plus a range of special features suited for synchrotron radiation studies and industry-relevant processes. We openly encourage the materials research community to contact us for collaborative opportunities using this unique and versatile scientific instrument.

A DOM Odyssey: The Tale of Molecular Transformations in an Aquifer near Bemidji, MN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podgorski, D. C.; Zito, P.; Smith, D. F.; Cao, X.; Schmidt-Rohr, K.; Wagner, S.; Stubbins, A.; Aiken, G.; Cozzarelli, I.; Bekins, B. A.; Spencer, R. G.

2017-12-01

Analytical methods including fluorescence spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry have significantly advanced the understanding of compositional controls on dissolved organic matter (DOM) processing and fate. Yet, we still heavily rely on extrapolation of chemical changes identified at the edges of the compositional continuum (i.e., endmembers) to assess DOM reactivity and stability. While extrapolation of chemical transformations is useful for determining relative changes in DOM composition, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying core structures and composition is required to develop advanced biogeochemical models. Studying DOM from natural systems is complicated by many variables associated with an open system including input from multiple sources, simultaneous photo-alteration and microbial processing, and obtaining samples that cover high spatial and temporal resolution. A 38-year biodegradation study at the National Crude Oil Spill Research site near Bemidji, MN provides a unique opportunity to monitor DOM in a relatively closed system. An extensively characterized 1 m thick oil body is confined to a 25 x 75 m2 area at the water table in the aquifer. Oxidized metabolites partition from the oil into the underlying aquifer increase the DOC concentration to > 100 ppm from < 2 ppm up-gradient from the oil body. This newly produced DOM is comprised of aliphatic compounds with high H/C, low O/C and blue-shifted fluorescence, similar in composition to permafrost- and algal-derived DOM. The aliphatic DOM is transported laterally from the oil pool by groundwater, creating a plume that ultimately discharges into the Unnamed Lake 325 m downgradient. More than 10 years later and hundreds of meters downgradient from the oil body, the DOC concentration has decreased to 3-5 ppm and the DOM is compositionally non-distinct. Microbes have left behind degradation products and selectively preserved compounds that exhibit red-shifted fluorescence and molecular formulas with O/C and H/C similar to those associated with the `island of stability'. Samples collected spatially from the DOM plume between these two endmembers provide sufficient temporal resolution to model both DOC concentration and DOM composition as a result of biodegradation.

A computational atlas of the hippocampal formation using ex vivo, ultra-high resolution MRI: Application to adaptive segmentation of in vivo MRI.

PubMed

Iglesias, Juan Eugenio; Augustinack, Jean C; Nguyen, Khoa; Player, Christopher M; Player, Allison; Wright, Michelle; Roy, Nicole; Frosch, Matthew P; McKee, Ann C; Wald, Lawrence L; Fischl, Bruce; Van Leemput, Koen

2015-07-15

Automated analysis of MRI data of the subregions of the hippocampus requires computational atlases built at a higher resolution than those that are typically used in current neuroimaging studies. Here we describe the construction of a statistical atlas of the hippocampal formation at the subregion level using ultra-high resolution, ex vivo MRI. Fifteen autopsy samples were scanned at 0.13 mm isotropic resolution (on average) using customized hardware. The images were manually segmented into 13 different hippocampal substructures using a protocol specifically designed for this study; precise delineations were made possible by the extraordinary resolution of the scans. In addition to the subregions, manual annotations for neighboring structures (e.g., amygdala, cortex) were obtained from a separate dataset of in vivo, T1-weighted MRI scans of the whole brain (1mm resolution). The manual labels from the in vivo and ex vivo data were combined into a single computational atlas of the hippocampal formation with a novel atlas building algorithm based on Bayesian inference. The resulting atlas can be used to automatically segment the hippocampal subregions in structural MRI images, using an algorithm that can analyze multimodal data and adapt to variations in MRI contrast due to differences in acquisition hardware or pulse sequences. The applicability of the atlas, which we are releasing as part of FreeSurfer (version 6.0), is demonstrated with experiments on three different publicly available datasets with different types of MRI contrast. The results show that the atlas and companion segmentation method: 1) can segment T1 and T2 images, as well as their combination, 2) replicate findings on mild cognitive impairment based on high-resolution T2 data, and 3) can discriminate between Alzheimer's disease subjects and elderly controls with 88% accuracy in standard resolution (1mm) T1 data, significantly outperforming the atlas in FreeSurfer version 5.3 (86% accuracy) and classification based on whole hippocampal volume (82% accuracy). Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Refinement procedure for the image alignment in high-resolution electron tomography.

PubMed

Houben, L; Bar Sadan, M

2011-01-01

High-resolution electron tomography from a tilt series of transmission electron microscopy images requires an accurate image alignment procedure in order to maximise the resolution of the tomogram. This is the case in particular for ultra-high resolution where even very small misalignments between individual images can dramatically reduce the fidelity of the resultant reconstruction. A tomographic-reconstruction based and marker-free method is proposed, which uses an iterative optimisation of the tomogram resolution. The method utilises a search algorithm that maximises the contrast in tomogram sub-volumes. Unlike conventional cross-correlation analysis it provides the required correlation over a large tilt angle separation and guarantees a consistent alignment of images for the full range of object tilt angles. An assessment based on experimental reconstructions shows that the marker-free procedure is competitive to the reference of marker-based procedures at lower resolution and yields sub-pixel accuracy even for simulated high-resolution data. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multiplexed EFPI sensors with ultra-high resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ushakov, Nikolai; Liokumovich, Leonid

2014-05-01

An investigation of performance of multiplexed displacement sensors based on extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers has been carried out. We have considered serial and parallel configurations and analyzed the issues and advantages of the both. We have also extended the previously developed baseline demodulation algorithm for the case of a system of multiplexed sensors. Serial and parallel multiplexing schemes have been experimentally implemented with 3 and 4 sensing elements, respectively. For both configurations the achieved baseline standard deviations were between 30 and 200 pm, which is, to the best of our knowledge, more than an order less than any other multiplexed EFPI resolution ever reported.

Ultrahigh vertical resolution radar measurements in the lower stratosphere at Arecibo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ierkic, H. M.; Perillat, P.; Woodman, R. F.

1990-01-01

The paper reports on heretofore unprecedented observations of the turbulent layers in the lower stratosphere using the Arecibo 2380-MHz radar. Spectral profiles with about 20 m height and 15 s time resolutions at altitudes in the range 16-19 km are used to parametrize relevant characteristics of the turbulence, namely, vertical widths, distributions, lifetimes, and cutoffs height. These measurements validate previous deconvolved estimates and are free from contaminating factors like shear or beam broadening and partial reflections. Some theoretical predictions are verified, in particular those relating to the height of cutoff and the outer scale of the turbulence.

Experimental Evaluation of the High-Speed Motion Vector Measurement by Combining Synthetic Aperture Array Processing with Constrained Least Square Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoyama, Ryouta; Yagi, Shin-ichi; Tamura, Kiyoshi; Sato, Masakazu

2009-07-01

Ultrahigh speed dynamic elastography has promising potential capabilities in applying clinical diagnosis and therapy of living soft tissues. In order to realize the ultrahigh speed motion tracking at speeds of over thousand frames per second, synthetic aperture (SA) array signal processing technology must be introduced. Furthermore, the overall system performance should overcome the fine quantitative evaluation in accuracy and variance of echo phase changes distributed across a tissue medium. On spatial evaluation of local phase changes caused by pulsed excitation on a tissue phantom, investigation was made with the proposed SA signal system utilizing different virtual point sources that were generated by an array transducer to probe each component of local tissue displacement vectors. The final results derived from the cross-correlation method (CCM) brought about almost the same performance as obtained by the constrained least square method (LSM) extended to successive echo frames. These frames were reconstructed by SA processing after the real-time acquisition triggered by the pulsed irradiation from a point source. The continuous behavior of spatial motion vectors demonstrated the dynamic generation and traveling of the pulsed shear wave at a speed of one thousand frames per second.

Connecting blazars with ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and astrophysical neutrinos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Resconi, E.; Coenders, S.; Padovani, P.; Giommi, P.; Caccianiga, L.

2017-06-01

We present a strong hint of a connection between high-energy γ-ray emitting blazars, very high energy neutrinos, and ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. We first identify potential hadronic sources by filtering γ-ray emitters in spatial coincidence with the high-energy neutrinos detected by IceCube. The neutrino filtered γ-ray emitters are then correlated with the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array by scanning in γ-ray flux (Fγ) and angular separation (θ) between sources and cosmic rays. A maximal excess of 80 cosmic rays (42.5 expected) is found at θ ≤ 10° from the neutrino-filtered γ-ray emitters selected from the second hard Fermi-LAT catalogue (2FHL) and for Fγ(>50 GeV) ≥ 1.8 × 10-11 ph cm-2 s-1. The probability for this to happen is 2.4 × 10-5, which translates to ˜2.4 × 10-3 after compensation for all the considered trials. No excess of cosmic rays is instead observed for the complement sample of γ-ray emitters (I.e. not in spatial connection with IceCube neutrinos). A likelihood ratio test comparing the connection between the neutrino-filtered and the complement source samples with the cosmic rays favours a connection between neutrino-filtered emitters and cosmic rays with a probability of ˜1.8 × 10-3 (2.9σ) after compensation for all the considered trials. The neutrino-filtered γ-ray sources that make up the cosmic rays excess are blazars of the high synchrotron peak type. More statistics is needed to further investigate these sources as candidate cosmic ray and neutrino emitters.

A simple dual online ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography system (sDO-UHPLC) for high throughput proteome analysis.

PubMed

Lee, Hangyeore; Mun, Dong-Gi; Bae, Jingi; Kim, Hokeun; Oh, Se Yeon; Park, Young Soo; Lee, Jae-Hyuk; Lee, Sang-Won

2015-08-21

We report a new and simple design of a fully automated dual-online ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography system. The system employs only two nano-volume switching valves (a two-position four port valve and a two-position ten port valve) that direct solvent flows from two binary nano-pumps for parallel operation of two analytical columns and two solid phase extraction (SPE) columns. Despite the simple design, the sDO-UHPLC offers many advantageous features that include high duty cycle, back flushing sample injection for fast and narrow zone sample injection, online desalting, high separation resolution and high intra/inter-column reproducibility. This system was applied to analyze proteome samples not only in high throughput deep proteome profiling experiments but also in high throughput MRM experiments.

Ultrahigh-speed non-invasive widefield angiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blatter, Cedric; Klein, Thomas; Grajciar, Branislav; Schmoll, Tilman; Wieser, Wolfgang; Andre, Raphael; Huber, Robert; Leitgeb, Rainer A.

2012-07-01

Retinal and choroidal vascular imaging is an important diagnostic benefit for ocular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. The current gold standard for vessel visualization is fluorescence angiography. We present a potential non-invasive alternative to image blood vessels based on functional Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). For OCT to compete with the field of view and resolution of angiography while maintaining motion artifacts to a minimum, ultrahigh-speed imaging has to be introduced. We employ Fourier domain mode locking swept source technology that offers high quality imaging at an A-scan rate of up to 1.68 MHz. We present retinal angiogram over ˜48 deg acquired in a few seconds in a single recording without the need of image stitching. OCT at 1060 nm allows for high penetration in the choroid and efficient separate characterization of the retinal and choroidal vascularization.

Restoring the spatial resolution of refocus images on 4D light field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, JaeGuyn; Park, ByungKwan; Kang, JooYoung; Lee, SeongDeok

2010-01-01

This paper presents the method for generating a refocus image with restored spatial resolution on a plenoptic camera, which functions controlling the depth of field after capturing one image unlike a traditional camera. It is generally known that the camera captures 4D light field (angular and spatial information of light) within a limited 2D sensor and results in reducing 2D spatial resolution due to inevitable 2D angular data. That's the reason why a refocus image is composed of a low spatial resolution compared with 2D sensor. However, it has recently been known that angular data contain sub-pixel spatial information such that the spatial resolution of 4D light field can be increased. We exploit the fact for improving the spatial resolution of a refocus image. We have experimentally scrutinized that the spatial information is different according to the depth of objects from a camera. So, from the selection of refocused regions (corresponding depth), we use corresponding pre-estimated sub-pixel spatial information for reconstructing spatial resolution of the regions. Meanwhile other regions maintain out-of-focus. Our experimental results show the effect of this proposed method compared to existing method.

High Spatial Resolution Commercial Satellite Imaging Product Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Robert E.; Pagnutti, Mary; Blonski, Slawomir; Ross, Kenton W.; Stnaley, Thomas

2005-01-01

NASA Stennis Space Center's Remote Sensing group has been characterizing privately owned high spatial resolution multispectral imaging systems, such as IKONOS, QuickBird, and OrbView-3. Natural and man made targets were used for spatial resolution, radiometric, and geopositional characterizations. Higher spatial resolution also presents significant adjacency effects for accurate reliable radiometry.

Supercontinuum ultra-high resolution line-field OCT; experimental spectrograph comparison and comparison with current clinical OCT systems by the imaging of a human cornea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawman, Samuel; Romano, Vito; Madden, Peter W.; Mason, Sharon; Williams, Bryan M.; Zheng, Yalin; Shen, Yao-Chun

2018-03-01

Ultra high axial resolution (UHR) was demonstrated early in the development of optical coherence tomography (OCT), but has not yet reached clinical practice. We present the combination of supercontinuum light source and line field (LF-) OCT as a technical and economical route to get UHR-OCT into clinic and other OCT application areas. We directly compare images of a human donor cornea taken with low and high resolution current generation clinical OCT systems with UHR-LF-OCT. These images highlight the massive information increase of UHR-OCT. Application to pharmaceutical pellets, and the functionality and imaging performance of different imaging spectrograph choices for LF- OCT are also demonstrated.

High-resolution LCOS microdisplay with sub-kHz frame rate for high performance, high precision 3D sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarev, Grigory; Bonifer, Stefanie; Engel, Philip; Höhne, Daniel; Notni, Gunther

2017-06-01

We report about the implementation of the liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) microdisplay with 1920 by 1080 resolution and 720 Hz frame rate. The driving solution is FPGA-based. The input signal is converted from the ultrahigh-resolution HDMI 2.0 signal into HD frames, which follow with the specified 720 Hz frame rate. Alternatively the signal is generated directly on the FPGA with built-in pattern generator. The display is showing switching times below 1.5 ms for the selected working temperature. The bit depth of the addressed image achieves 8 bit within each frame. The microdisplay is used in the fringe projection-based 3D sensing system, implemented by Fraunhofer IOF.

A scanning tunneling microscope with a scanning range from hundreds of micrometers down to nanometer resolution.

PubMed

Kalkan, Fatih; Zaum, Christopher; Morgenstern, Karina

2012-10-01

A beetle type stage and a flexure scanning stage are combined to form a two stages scanning tunneling microscope (STM). It operates at room temperature in ultrahigh vacuum and is capable of scanning areas up to 300 μm × 450 μm down to resolution on the nanometer scale. This multi-scale STM has been designed and constructed in order to investigate prestructured metallic or semiconducting micro- and nano-structures in real space from atomic-sized structures up to the large-scale environment. The principle of the instrument is demonstrated on two different systems. Gallium nitride based micropillars demonstrate scan areas up to hundreds of micrometers; a Au(111) surface demonstrates nanometer resolution.

Optical properties of relativistic plasma mirrors

PubMed Central

Vincenti, H.; Monchocé, S.; Kahaly, S.; Bonnaud, G.; Martin, Ph.; Quéré, F.

2014-01-01

The advent of ultrahigh-power femtosecond lasers creates a need for an entirely new class of optical components based on plasmas. The most promising of these are known as plasma mirrors, formed when an intense femtosecond laser ionizes a solid surface. These mirrors specularly reflect the main part of a laser pulse and can be used as active optical elements to manipulate its temporal and spatial properties. Unfortunately, the considerable pressures exerted by the laser can deform the mirror surface, unfavourably affecting the reflected beam and complicating, or even preventing, the use of plasma mirrors at ultrahigh intensities. Here we derive a simple analytical model of the basic physics involved in laser-induced deformation of a plasma mirror. We validate this model numerically and experimentally, and use it to show how such deformation might be mitigated by appropriate control of the laser phase. PMID:24614748

Automated Verification of Spatial Resolution in Remotely Sensed Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Bruce; Ryan, Robert; Holekamp, Kara; Vaughn, Ronald

2011-01-01

Image spatial resolution characteristics can vary widely among sources. In the case of aerial-based imaging systems, the image spatial resolution characteristics can even vary between acquisitions. In these systems, aircraft altitude, speed, and sensor look angle all affect image spatial resolution. Image spatial resolution needs to be verified with estimators that include the ground sample distance (GSD), the modulation transfer function (MTF), and the relative edge response (RER), all of which are key components of image quality, along with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range. Knowledge of spatial resolution parameters is important to determine if features of interest are distinguishable in imagery or associated products, and to develop image restoration algorithms. An automated Spatial Resolution Verification Tool (SRVT) was developed to rapidly determine the spatial resolution characteristics of remotely sensed aerial and satellite imagery. Most current methods for assessing spatial resolution characteristics of imagery rely on pre-deployed engineered targets and are performed only at selected times within preselected scenes. The SRVT addresses these insufficiencies by finding uniform, high-contrast edges from urban scenes and then using these edges to determine standard estimators of spatial resolution, such as the MTF and the RER. The SRVT was developed using the MATLAB programming language and environment. This automated software algorithm assesses every image in an acquired data set, using edges found within each image, and in many cases eliminating the need for dedicated edge targets. The SRVT automatically identifies high-contrast, uniform edges and calculates the MTF and RER of each image, and when possible, within sections of an image, so that the variation of spatial resolution characteristics across the image can be analyzed. The automated algorithm is capable of quickly verifying the spatial resolution quality of all images within a data set, enabling the appropriate use of those images in a number of applications.

Resolution Enhancement of Hyperion Hyperspectral Data using Ikonos Multispectral Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

spatial - resolution hyperspectral image to produce a sharpened product. The result is a product that has the spectral properties of the ...multispectral sensors. In this work, we examine the benefits of combining data from high- spatial - resolution , low- spectral - resolution spectral imaging...sensors with data obtained from high- spectral - resolution , low- spatial - resolution spectral imaging sensors.

Thematic and spatial resolutions affect model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

PubMed

Liang, Yu; He, Hong S; Fraser, Jacob S; Wu, ZhiWei

2013-01-01

Subjective decisions of thematic and spatial resolutions in characterizing environmental heterogeneity may affect the characterizations of spatial pattern and the simulation of occurrence and rate of ecological processes, and in turn, model-based tree species distribution. Thus, this study quantified the importance of thematic and spatial resolutions, and their interaction in predictions of tree species distribution (quantified by species abundance). We investigated how model-predicted species abundances changed and whether tree species with different ecological traits (e.g., seed dispersal distance, competitive capacity) had different responses to varying thematic and spatial resolutions. We used the LANDIS forest landscape model to predict tree species distribution at the landscape scale and designed a series of scenarios with different thematic (different numbers of land types) and spatial resolutions combinations, and then statistically examined the differences of species abundance among these scenarios. Results showed that both thematic and spatial resolutions affected model-based predictions of species distribution, but thematic resolution had a greater effect. Species ecological traits affected the predictions. For species with moderate dispersal distance and relatively abundant seed sources, predicted abundance increased as thematic resolution increased. However, for species with long seeding distance or high shade tolerance, thematic resolution had an inverse effect on predicted abundance. When seed sources and dispersal distance were not limiting, the predicted species abundance increased with spatial resolution and vice versa. Results from this study may provide insights into the choice of thematic and spatial resolutions for model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

Thematic and Spatial Resolutions Affect Model-Based Predictions of Tree Species Distribution

PubMed Central

Liang, Yu; He, Hong S.; Fraser, Jacob S.; Wu, ZhiWei

2013-01-01

Subjective decisions of thematic and spatial resolutions in characterizing environmental heterogeneity may affect the characterizations of spatial pattern and the simulation of occurrence and rate of ecological processes, and in turn, model-based tree species distribution. Thus, this study quantified the importance of thematic and spatial resolutions, and their interaction in predictions of tree species distribution (quantified by species abundance). We investigated how model-predicted species abundances changed and whether tree species with different ecological traits (e.g., seed dispersal distance, competitive capacity) had different responses to varying thematic and spatial resolutions. We used the LANDIS forest landscape model to predict tree species distribution at the landscape scale and designed a series of scenarios with different thematic (different numbers of land types) and spatial resolutions combinations, and then statistically examined the differences of species abundance among these scenarios. Results showed that both thematic and spatial resolutions affected model-based predictions of species distribution, but thematic resolution had a greater effect. Species ecological traits affected the predictions. For species with moderate dispersal distance and relatively abundant seed sources, predicted abundance increased as thematic resolution increased. However, for species with long seeding distance or high shade tolerance, thematic resolution had an inverse effect on predicted abundance. When seed sources and dispersal distance were not limiting, the predicted species abundance increased with spatial resolution and vice versa. Results from this study may provide insights into the choice of thematic and spatial resolutions for model-based predictions of tree species distribution. PMID:23861828

Measurement of ciliary beat frequency using ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jason J.; Jing, Joseph C.; Su, Erica; Badger, Christopher; Coughlan, Carolyn A.; Chen, Zhongping; Wong, Brian J. F.

2016-02-01

Ciliated epithelial cells populate up to 80% of the surface area of the human airway and are responsible for mucociliary transport, which is the key protective mechanism that provides the first line of defense in the respiratory tract. Cilia beat in a rhythmic pattern and may be easily affected by allergens, pollutants, and pathogens, altering ciliary beat frequency (CBF) subsequently. Diseases including cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and primary ciliary dyskinesia may also decrease CBF. CBF is therefore a critical component of respiratory health. The current clinical method of measuring CBF is phase-contrast microscopy, which involves a tissue biopsy obtained via brushing of the nasal cavity. While this method is minimally invasive, the tissue sample must be oriented to display its profile view, making the visualization of a single layer of cilia challenging. In addition, the conventional method requires subjective analysis of CBF, e.g., manually counting by visual inspection. On the contrary, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used to study the retina in ophthalmology as well as vasculature in cardiology, and offers higher resolution than conventional computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Based on this technology, our lab specifically developed an ultra-high resolution OCT system to image the microstructure of the ciliated epithelial cells. Doppler analysis was also performed to determine CBF. Lastly, we also developed a program that utilizes fast Fourier transform to determine CBF under phase-contrast microscopy, providing a more objective method compared to the current method.

Design of a Dry Dilution Refrigerator for MMC Gamma Detector Arrays

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

Friedrich, Stephan; Boyd, Stephen; Cantor, Robin

2017-04-03

The goal of this LCP is to develop an ultra-high resolution gamma detector based on magnetic microcalorimeters (MMCs) for accurate non-destructive analysis (NDA) of nuclear materials. For highest energy resolution, we will introduce erbium-doped silver (Ag:Er) as a novel sensor material to replace current Au:Er sensors. The detector sensitivity will be increased by developing arrays of 32 Ag:Er pixels read out by 16 SQUID preamplifiers. MMC detectors require operating temperatures of ~15 mK and thus the use of a dilution refrigerator, and the desire for user-friendly operation without cryogenic liquids requires that this refrigerator use pulse-tube pre-cooling to ~4 K.more » For long-term reliability, we intend to re-design the heat switch that is needed to apply the magnetizing current to the Ag:Er sensor and that used to fail in earlier designs after months of operation. A cryogenic Compton veto will be installed to reduce the spectral background of the MMC, especially at low energies where ultra-high energy resolution is most important. The goals for FY16 were 1) to purchase a liquid-cryogen-free dilution refrigerator and adapt it for MMC operation, and 2) to fabricate Ag:Er-based MMC γ-detectors with improved performance and optimize their response. This report discusses the design of the instruments, and progress in MMC detector fabrication. Details of the MMC fabrication have been discussed in an April 2016 report to DOE.« less

Advanced Technologies for Ultrahigh Resolution and Functional Optical Coherence Tomography

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-15

photoreceptors in retinitis pigmentosa and related diseases,” Am. J. Ophthalmol. 142, 945- 952, December 2006. 56. A.D. Aguirre, Y. Chen, J.G. Fujimoto, L...1000 patients. These studies provided new insights into retinal pathologies, especially alterations in photoreceptor structure. 1.1.2 Broadband...powers. For applications where light exposure levels are limited by safety considerations, such as retinal imaging, broadband SLD sources provide

The INSU and DMN network of ST radars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petitdidier, M.; Klaus, V.; Baudin, F.; Crochet, M.; Penazzi, G.; Quinty, P.

1986-01-01

Due to their capabilities of measuring wind profiles with good time and height resolution, Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) are well adapted to carry out atmospheric research. In France, a Very High Frequency (VHF) and an Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) ST radar are working for research purposes. The INSU (Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers) and the DMN (Direction de la Meteorologie Nationale) networks are discussed.

Tunable far infrared studies of molecular parameters in support of stratospheric measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chance, Kelly V.; Evenson, K. M.; Park, K.; Radostitz, J. V.; Jennings, D. A.; Nolt, I. G.; Vanek, M. D.

1991-01-01

Lab studies were made in support of far infrared spectroscopy of the stratosphere using the Tunable Far InfraRed (TuFIR) method of ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy and, more recently, spectroscopic and retrieval calculations performed in support of satellite-based atmospheric measurement programs: the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME), and the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY).

New design for a time-of-flight mass spectrometer with a liquid beam laser desorption ion source for the analysis of biomolecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charvat, A.; Lugovoj, E.; Faubel, M.; Abel, B.

2004-05-01

We describe a novel liquid beam mass spectrometer, based on a recently discovered nanosecond laser desorption phenomenon, [W. Kleinekofort, J. Avdiev, and B. Brutschy, Int. J. Mass Ion. Processes 152, 135 (1996)] which allows the liquid-to-vacuum transfer, and subsequent mass analysis of pre-existing ions and ionic associates from liquid microjets of aqueous solutions. The goal of our novel technical approach is to establish a system with good mass resolution that implements improvements on critical components that make the system more reliable and easier to operate. For laser desorption pulsed dye-laser difference frequency mixing is used that provides tunable infrared light near the absorption maximum of liquid water around 3 μm. Different types of liquid beam glass nozzles (convergent capillary and aperture plate nozzles) are investigated and characterized. Starting from theoretical considerations of hydrodynamic drag forces on micrometer size droplets in supersonic rarefied gas flows we succeeded in capturing efficiently the liquid beam in a liquid beam recycling trap operating at the vapor pressure of liquid water. For improving the pollution resistance, the liquid jet high vacuum ion source region is spatially separated from the reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) working behind a gate valve in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. A simple (simulation optimized) ion optics is employed for the ion transfer from the source to the high vacuum region. This new feature is also mostly responsible for the improved mass resolution. With the present tandem-TOF-MS setup a resolution of m/Δm≈1800 for the low and m/Δm≈700 in the high mass region has been obtained for several biomolecules of different mass and complexity (amino acids, insulin, and cytochrome c).

A general protocol of ultra-high resolution MR angiography to image the cerebro-vasculature in 6 different rats strains at high field.

PubMed

Pastor, Géraldine; Jiménez-González, María; Plaza-García, Sandra; Beraza, Marta; Padro, Daniel; Ramos-Cabrer, Pedro; Reese, Torsten

2017-09-01

Differences in the cerebro-vasculature among strains as well as individual animals might explain variability in animal models and thus, a non-invasive method tailored to image cerebral vessel of interest with high signal to noise ratio is required. Experimentally, we describe a new general protocol of three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography to visualize non-invasively the cerebral vasculature in 6 different rat strains. Flow compensated angiograms of Sprague Dawley, Wistar Kyoto, Lister Hooded, Long Evans, Fisher 344 and Spontaneous Hypertensive Rat strains were obtained without the use of contrast agents. At 11.7T using a repetition time of 60ms, an isotropic resolution of up to 62μm was achieved; total imaging time was 98min for a 3D data set. The visualization of the cerebral arteries was improved by removing extra-cranial vessels prior to the calculation of maximum intensity projection to obtain the angiograms. Ultimately, we demonstrate that the newly implemented method is also suitable to obtain angiograms following middle cerebral artery occlusion, despite the presence of intense vasogenic edema 24h after reperfusion. The careful selection of the excitation profile and repetition time at a higher static magnetic field allowed an increase in spatial resolution to reliably detect of the hypothalamic artery, the anterior choroidal artery as well as arterial branches of the peri-amygdoidal complex and the optical nerve in six different rat strains. MR angiography without contrast agent can be utilized to study cerebro-vascular abnormalities in various animal models. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Retrieved Products from Simulated Hyperspectral Observations of a Hurricane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Kouvaris, Louis; Iredell, Lena; Blaisdell, John

2015-01-01

Demonstrate via Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) the potential utility of flying high spatial resolution AIRS class IR sounders on future LEO and GEO missions.The study simulates and analyzes radiances for 3 sounders with AIRS spectral and radiometric properties on different orbits with different spatial resolutions: 1) Control run 13 kilometers AIRS spatial resolution at nadir on LEO in Aqua orbit; 2) 2 kilometer spatial resolution LEO sounder at nadir ARIES; 3) 5 kilometers spatial resolution sounder on a GEO orbit, radiances simulated every 72 minutes.

Developing a structure-function model for the cryptophyte phycoerythrin 545 using ultrahigh resolution crystallography and ultrafast laser spectroscopy.

PubMed

Doust, Alexander B; Marai, Christopher N J; Harrop, Stephen J; Wilk, Krystyna E; Curmi, Paul M G; Scholes, Gregory D

2004-11-12

Cryptophyte algae differ from cyanobacteria and red algae in the architecture of their photosynthetic light harvesting systems, even though all three are evolutionarily related. Central to cryptophyte light harvesting is the soluble antenna protein phycoerythrin 545 (PE545). The ultrahigh resolution crystal structure of PE545, isolated from a unicellular cryptophyte Rhodomonas CS24, is reported at both 1.1A and 0.97A resolution, revealing details of the conformation and environments of the chromophores. Absorption, emission and polarized steady state spectroscopy (298K, 77K), as well as ultrafast (20fs time resolution) measurements of population dynamics are reported. Coupled with complementary quantum chemical calculations of electronic transitions of the bilins, these enable assignment of spectral absorption characteristics to each chromophore in the structure. Spectral differences between the tetrapyrrole pigments due to chemical differences between bilins, as well as their binding and interaction with the local protein environment are described. Based on these assignments, and considering customized optical properties such as strong coupling, a model for light harvesting by PE545 is developed which explains the fast, directional harvesting of excitation energy. The excitation energy is funnelled from four peripheral pigments (beta158,beta82) into a central chromophore dimer (beta50/beta61) in approximately 1ps. Those chromophores, in turn, transfer the excitation energy to the red absorbing molecules located at the periphery of the complex in approximately 4ps. A final resonance energy transfer step sensitizes just one of the alpha19 bilins on a time scale of 22ps. Furthermore, it is concluded that binding of PE545 to the thylakoid membrane is not essential for efficient energy transfer to the integral membrane chlorophyll a-containing complexes associated with PS-II.

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence microscopy accurately classifies precancerous and cancerous human cervix free of labeling

PubMed Central

Zeng, Xianxu; Zhang, Xiaoan; Li, Canyu; Wang, Xiaofang; Jerwick, Jason; Xu, Tao; Ning, Yuan; Wang, Yihong; Zhang, Linlin; Zhang, Zhan; Ma, Yutao; Zhou, Chao

2018-01-01

Cervical cancer remains the fourth most common cause of cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer deaths for women in developing countries. Traditional screening tools, such as human papillomavirus and Pap tests, cannot provide results in real-time and cannot localize suspicious regions. Colposcopy-directed biopsies are invasive in nature and only a few sites of the cervix may be chosen for investigation. A non-invasive, label-free and real-time imaging method with a resolution approaching that of histopathology is desirable for early detection of the disease. Methods: Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence microscopy (OCM) is an emerging imaging technique used to obtain 3-dimensional (3-D) “optical biopsies” of biological samples with cellular resolution. In this study, 497 3-D OCM datasets from 159 specimens were collected from 92 patients. Results: Distinctive patterns for normal cervix, squamocolumnar junction, ectropion, low-grade and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and HSIL) and invasive cervical lesions were clearly observed from OCM images, which matched well with corresponding histological slides. OCM images demonstrated a sensitivity of 80% (95% confidence interval, CI, 72%-86%) and a specificity of 89% (95% CI, 84%-93%) for detecting high-risk lesions (HSIL and invasive lesions) when blindly tested by three investigators. A substantial inter-observer agreement was observed (κ=0.627), which showed high diagnostic consistency among three investigators. Conclusion: These results laid the foundation for future non-invasive optical evaluation of cervical tissue in vivo, which could lead to a less invasive and more effective screening and “see-and-treat” strategy for the management of cervical cancer. PMID:29896305

Wide tuning range wavelength-swept laser with a single SOA at 1020 nm for ultrahigh resolution Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Lee, Sang-Won; Song, Hyun-Woo; Jung, Moon-Youn; Kim, Seung-Hwan

2011-10-24

In this study, we demonstrated a wide tuning range wavelength-swept laser with a single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) at 1020 nm for ultrahigh resolution, Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (UHR, FD-OCT). The wavelength-swept laser was constructed with an external line-cavity based on a Littman configuration. An optical wavelength selection filter consisted of a grating, a telescope, and a polygon scanner. Before constructing the optical wavelength selection filter, we observed that the optical power, the spectrum bandwidth, and the center wavelength of the SOA were affected by the temperature of the thermoelectric (TE) cooler in the SOA mount as well as the applied current. Therefore, to obtain a wide wavelength tuning range, we adjusted the temperature of the TE cooler in the SOA mount. When the temperature in the TE cooler was 9 °C, our swept source had a tuning range of 142 nm and a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 121.5 nm at 18 kHz. The measured instantaneous spectral bandwidth (δλ) is 0.085 nm, which was measured by an optical spectrum analyzer with a resolution bandwidth of 0.06 nm. This value corresponds to an imaging depth of 3.1 mm in air. Additionally, the averaged optical power of our swept source was 8.2 mW. In UHR, FD/SS-OCT using our swept laser, the measured axial resolution was 4.0 μm in air corresponding to 2.9 μm in tissue (n = 1.35). The sensitivity was measured to be 93.1 dB at a depth of 100 μm. Finally, we obtained retinal images (macular and optic disk) and a corneal image. © 2011 Optical Society of America

High-resolution X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein using the high-pressure cryocooling method.

PubMed

Higashiura, Akifumi; Ohta, Kazunori; Masaki, Mika; Sato, Masaru; Inaka, Koji; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Nakagawa, Atsushi

2013-11-01

Recently, many technical improvements in macromolecular X-ray crystallography have increased the number of structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank and improved the resolution limit of protein structures. Almost all high-resolution structures have been determined using a synchrotron radiation source in conjunction with cryocooling techniques, which are required in order to minimize radiation damage. However, optimization of cryoprotectant conditions is a time-consuming and difficult step. To overcome this problem, the high-pressure cryocooling method was developed (Kim et al., 2005) and successfully applied to many protein-structure analyses. In this report, using the high-pressure cryocooling method, the X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein was determined at 0.86 Å resolution. Structural comparisons between high- and ambient-pressure cryocooled crystals at ultra-high resolution illustrate the versatility of this technique. This is the first ultra-high-resolution X-ray structure obtained using the high-pressure cryocooling method.

Measurement of the detective quantum efficiency in digital detectors consistent with the IEC 62220-1 standard: Practical considerations regarding the choice of filter material.

PubMed

Ranger, Nicole T; Samei, Ehsan; Dobbins, James T; Ravin, Carl E

2005-07-01

As part of a larger evaluation we attempted to measure the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of an amorphous silicon flat-panel detector using the method described in the International Electrotechnical Commission standard 62220-1 published in October 2003. To achieve the radiographic beam conditions specified in the standard, we purchased scientific-grade ultrahigh purity aluminum (99.999% purity, type-11999 alloy) filters in thicknesses ranging from 0.1 through 10.0 mm from a well-known, specialty metals supplier. Qualitative evaluation of flat field images acquired at 71 kV (RQA5 beam quality) with 21 mm of ultrahigh purity aluminum filtration demonstrated a low frequency mottle that was reproducible and was not observed when the measurement was repeated at 74 kV (RQA5 beam quality) with 21 mm of lower-purity aluminum (99.0% purity, type-1100 alloy) filtration. This finding was ultimately attributed to the larger grain size (approximately 1-2 mm) of high purity aluminum metal, which is a well-known characteristic, particularly in thicknesses greater than 1 mm. The impact of this low frequency mottle is to significantly overestimate the noise power spectrum (NPS) at spatial frequencies ⩽0.2mm-1, which in turn would cause an underestimation of the DQE in this range. A subsequent evaluation of ultrahigh purity aluminum, purchased from a second source, suggests, that reduced grain size can be achieved by the process of annealing. Images acquired with this sample demonstrated vertical striated nonuniformities that are attributed to the manufacturing method and which do not appear to appreciably impact the NPS at spatial frequencies ⩾0.5mm-1, but do result in an asymmetry in the x- and y-NPS at spatial frequencies ⩽0.2mm-1. Our observations of markedly visible nonuniformities in images acquired with high purity aluminum filtration suggest that the uniformity of filter materials should be carefully evaluated and taken into consideration when measuring the DQE. © 2005 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

An integrated optical coherence microscopy imaging and optical stimulation system for optogenetic pacing in Drosophila melanogaster (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alex, Aneesh; Li, Airong; Men, Jing; Jerwick, Jason; Tanzi, Rudolph E.; Zhou, Chao

2016-03-01

Electrical stimulation is the clinical standard for cardiac pacing. Although highly effective in controlling cardiac rhythm, the invasive nature, non-specificity to cardiac tissues and possible tissue damage limits its applications. Optogenetic pacing of the heart is a promising alternative, which is non-invasive and more specific, has high spatial and temporal precision, and avoids the shortcomings in electrical stimulation. Drosophila melanogaster, which is a powerful model organism with orthologs of nearly 75% of human disease genes, has not been studied for optogenetic pacing in the heart. Here, we developed a non-invasive integrated optical pacing and optical coherence microscopy (OCM) imaging system to control the heart rhythm of Drosophila at different developmental stages using light. The OCM system is capable of providing high imaging speed (130 frames/s) and ultrahigh imaging resolutions (1.5 μm and 3.9 μm for axial and transverse resolutions, respectively). A light-sensitive pacemaker was developed in Drosophila by specifically expressing the light-gated cation channel, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in transgenic Drosophila heart. We achieved non-invasive and specific optical control of the Drosophila heart rhythm throughout the fly's life cycle (larva, pupa, and adult) by stimulating the heart with 475 nm pulsed laser light. Heart response to stimulation pulses was monitored non-invasively with OCM. This integrated non-invasive optogenetic control and in vivo imaging technique provides a novel platform for performing research studies in developmental cardiology.

Detector motion method to increase spatial resolution in photon-counting detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Daehee; Park, Kyeongjin; Lim, Kyung Taek; Cho, Gyuseong

2017-03-01

Medical imaging requires high spatial resolution of an image to identify fine lesions. Photon-counting detectors in medical imaging have recently been rapidly replacing energy-integrating detectors due to the former`s high spatial resolution, high efficiency and low noise. Spatial resolution in a photon counting image is determined by the pixel size. Therefore, the smaller the pixel size, the higher the spatial resolution that can be obtained in an image. However, detector redesigning is required to reduce pixel size, and an expensive fine process is required to integrate a signal processing unit with reduced pixel size. Furthermore, as the pixel size decreases, charge sharing severely deteriorates spatial resolution. To increase spatial resolution, we propose a detector motion method using a large pixel detector that is less affected by charge sharing. To verify the proposed method, we utilized a UNO-XRI photon-counting detector (1-mm CdTe, Timepix chip) at the maximum X-ray tube voltage of 80 kVp. A similar spatial resolution of a 55- μm-pixel image was achieved by application of the proposed method to a 110- μm-pixel detector with a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The proposed method could be a way to increase spatial resolution without a pixel redesign when pixels severely suffer from charge sharing as pixel size is reduced.

The Effect of Remote Sensor Spatial Resolution in Monitoring U.S. Army Training Maneuver Sites

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

THE EFFECT OF REMOTE SENSOR SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN MONITORING U.S. ARMY...Multispectral Scanner with 6.5 meter spatial resolution provided the most effective digital data set for enhancing tank trails. However, this Airborne Scanner...primary objective of this research was to determine the capabilities and limitations of remote sensor systems having different spatial resolutions to

Coastal upwelling south of Madagascar: Temporal and spatial variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramanantsoa, Juliano D.; Krug, M.; Penven, P.; Rouault, M.; Gula, J.

2018-02-01

Madagascar's southern coastal marine zone is a region of high biological productivity which supports a wide range of marine ecosystems, including fisheries. This high biological productivity is attributed to coastal upwelling. This paper provides new insights on the structure, variability and drivers of the coastal upwelling south of Madagascar. Satellite remote sensing is used to characterize the spatial extent and strength of the coastal upwelling. A front detection algorithm is applied to thirteen years of Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) and an upwelling index is calculated. The influence of winds and ocean currents as drivers of the upwelling is investigated using satellite, in-situ observations, and a numerical model. Results reveal the presence of two well-defined upwelling cells. The first cell (Core 1) is located in the southeastern corner of Madagascar, and the second cell (Core 2) is west of the southern tip of Madagascar. These two cores are characterized by different seasonal variability, different intensities, different upwelled water mass origins, and distinct forcing mechanisms. Core 1 is associated with a dynamical upwelling forced by the detachment of the East Madagascar Current (EMC), which is reinforced by upwelling favourable winds. Core 2 appears to be primarily forced by upwelling favourable winds, but is also influenced by a poleward eastern boundary flow coming from the Mozambique Channel. The intrusion of Mozambique Channel warm waters could result in an asynchronicity in seasonality between upwelling surface signature and upwelling favourables winds.

The effects of transient attention on spatial resolution and the size of the attentional cue.

PubMed

Yeshurun, Yaffa; Carrasco, Marisa

2008-01-01

It has been shown that transient attention enhances spatial resolution, but is the effect of transient attention on spatial resolution modulated by the size of the attentional cue? Would a gradual increase in the size of the cue lead to a gradual decrement in spatial resolution? To test these hypotheses, we used a texture segmentation task in which performance depends on spatial resolution, and systematically manipulated the size of the attentional cue: A bar of different lengths (Experiment 1) or a frame of different sizes (Experiments 2-3) indicated the target region in a texture segmentation display. Observers indicated whether a target patch region (oriented line elements in a background of an orthogonal orientation), appearing at a range of eccentricities, was present in the first or the second interval. We replicated the attentional enhancement of spatial resolution found with small cues; attention improved performance at peripheral locations but impaired performance at central locations. However, there was no evidence of gradual resolution decrement with large cues. Transient attention enhanced spatial resolution at the attended location when it was attracted to that location by a small cue but did not affect resolution when it was attracted by a large cue. These results indicate that transient attention cannot adapt its operation on spatial resolution on the basis of the size of the attentional cue.

Selecting a spatial resolution for estimation of per-field green leaf area index

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curran, Paul J.; Williamson, H. Dawn

1988-01-01

For any application of multispectral scanner (MSS) data, a user is faced with a number of choices concerning the characteristics of the data; one of these is their spatial resolution. A pilot study was undertaken to determine the spatial resolution that would be optimal for the per-field estimation of green leaf area index (GLAI) in grassland. By reference to empirically-derived data from three areas of grassland, the suitable spatial resolution was hypothesized to lie in the lower portion of a 2-18 m range. To estimate per-field GLAI, airborne MSS data were collected at spatial resolutions of 2 m, 5 m and 10 m. The highest accuracies of per-field GLAI estimation were achieved using MSS data with spatial resolutions of 2 m and 5 m.

Forest Classification Accuracy as Influenced by Multispectral Scanner Spatial Resolution. [Sam Houston National Forest, Texas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nalepka, R. F. (Principal Investigator); Sadowski, F. E.; Sarno, J. E.

1976-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A supervised classification within two separate ground areas of the Sam Houston National Forest was carried out for two sq meters spatial resolution MSS data. Data were progressively coarsened to simulate five additional cases of spatial resolution ranging up to 64 sq meters. Similar processing and analysis of all spatial resolutions enabled evaluations of the effect of spatial resolution on classification accuracy for various levels of detail and the effects on area proportion estimation for very general forest features. For very coarse resolutions, a subset of spectral channels which simulated the proposed thematic mapper channels was used to study classification accuracy.

Real-time Graphics Processing Unit Based Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography and Surgical Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Kang

2011-12-01

In this dissertation, real-time Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) capable of multi-dimensional micrometer-resolution imaging targeted specifically for microsurgical intervention applications was developed and studied. As a part of this work several ultra-high speed real-time FD-OCT imaging and sensing systems were proposed and developed. A real-time 4D (3D+time) OCT system platform using the graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate OCT signal processing, the imaging reconstruction, visualization, and volume rendering was developed. Several GPU based algorithms such as non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT), numerical dispersion compensation, and multi-GPU implementation were developed to improve the impulse response, SNR roll-off and stability of the system. Full-range complex-conjugate-free FD-OCT was also implemented on the GPU architecture to achieve doubled image range and improved SNR. These technologies overcome the imaging reconstruction and visualization bottlenecks widely exist in current ultra-high speed FD-OCT systems and open the way to interventional OCT imaging for applications in guided microsurgery. A hand-held common-path optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT) distance-sensor based microsurgical tool was developed and validated. Through real-time signal processing, edge detection and feed-back control, the tool was shown to be capable of track target surface and compensate motion. The micro-incision test using a phantom was performed using a CP-OCT-sensor integrated hand-held tool, which showed an incision error less than +/-5 microns, comparing to >100 microns error by free-hand incision. The CP-OCT distance sensor has also been utilized to enhance the accuracy and safety of optical nerve stimulation. Finally, several experiments were conducted to validate the system for surgical applications. One of them involved 4D OCT guided micro-manipulation using a phantom. Multiple volume renderings of one 3D data set were performed with different view angles to allow accurate monitoring of the micro-manipulation, and the user to clearly monitor tool-to-target spatial relation in real-time. The system was also validated by imaging multiple biological samples, such as human fingerprint, human cadaver head and small animals. Compared to conventional surgical microscopes, GPU-based real-time FD-OCT can provide the surgeons with a real-time comprehensive spatial view of the microsurgical region and accurate depth perception.

The utility of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPSFC-MS/MS) for clinically relevant steroid analysis.

PubMed

Storbeck, Karl-Heinz; Gilligan, Lorna; Jenkinson, Carl; Baranowski, Elizabeth S; Quanson, Jonathan L; Arlt, Wiebke; Taylor, Angela E

2018-05-15

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays are considered the reference standard for serum steroid hormone analyses, while full urinary steroid profiles are only achievable by gas chromatography (GC-MS). Both LC-MS/MS and GC-MS have well documented strengths and limitations. Recently, commercial ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPSFC-MS/MS) systems have been developed. These systems combine the resolution of GC with the high-throughput capabilities of UHPLC. Uptake of this new technology into research and clinical labs has been slow, possibly due to the perceived increase in complexity. Here we therefore present fundamental principles of UHPSFC-MS/MS and the likely applications for this technology in the clinical research setting, while commenting on potential hurdles based on our experience to date. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Search for Cross-Correlations of Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays with BL Lacertae Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbasi, R. U.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Amann, J. F.; Archbold, G.; Belov, K.; Belz, J. W.; BenZvi, S.; Bergman, D. R.; Blake, S. A.; Boyer, J. H.; Burt, G. W.; Cao, Z.; Connolly, B. M.; Deng, W.; Fedorova, Y.; Findlay, J.; Finley, C. B.; Hanlon, W. F.; Hoffman, C. M.; Holzscheiter, M. H.; Hughes, G. A.; Hüntemeyer, P.; Jui, C. C. H.; Kim, K.; Kirn, M. A.; Knapp, B. C.; Loh, E. C.; Maestas, M. M.; Manago, N.; Mannel, E. J.; Marek, L. J.; Martens, K.; Matthews, J. A. J.; Matthews, J. N.; O'Neill, A.; Painter, C. A.; Perera, L.; Reil, K.; Riehle, R.; Roberts, M. D.; Rodriguez, D.; Sasaki, M.; Schnetzer, S. R.; Seman, M.; Sinnis, G.; Smith, J. D.; Snow, R.; Sokolsky, P.; Springer, R. W.; Stokes, B. T.; Thomas, J. R.; Thomas, S. B.; Thomson, G. B.; Tupa, D.; Westerhoff, S.; Wiencke, L. R.; Zech, A.; HIRES Collaboration

2006-01-01

Data taken in stereo mode by the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) air fluorescence experiment are analyzed to search for correlations between the arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with the positions of BL Lacertae objects. Several previous claims of significant correlations between BL Lac objects and cosmic rays observed by other experiments are tested. These claims are not supported by the HiRes data. However, we verify a recent analysis of correlations between HiRes events and a subset of confirmed BL Lac objects from the 10th Veron Catalog, and we study this correlation in detail. Due to the a posteriori nature of the search, the significance level cannot be reliably estimated and the correlation must be tested independently before any claim can be made. We identify the precise hypotheses that will be tested with statistically independent data.

High Resolution Mesoscale Weather Data Improvement to Spatial Effects for Dose-Rate Contour Plot Predictions

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

time. This is a very powerful tool in determining fine spatial resolution , as boundary conditions are not only updated at every timestep, but the ...HIGH RESOLUTION MESOSCALE WEATHER DATA IMPROVEMENT TO SPATIAL EFFECTS FOR DOSE-RATE CONTOUR PLOT PREDICTIONS THESIS Christopher P...11 1 HIGH RESOLUTION MESOSCALE WEATHER DATA IMPROVEMENT TO SPATIAL EFFECTS FOR DOSE-RATE CONTOUR PLOT

Fluorescence-guided tumor visualization using a custom designed NIR attachment to a surgical microscope for high sensitivity imaging (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kittle, David S.; Patil, Chirag G.; Mamelak, Adam; Hansen, Stacey; Perry, Jeff; Ishak, Laura; Black, Keith L.; Butte, Pramod V.

2016-03-01

Current surgical microscopes are limited in sensitivity for NIR fluorescence. Recent developments in tumor markers attached with NIR dyes require newer, more sensitive imaging systems with high resolution to guide surgical resection. We report on a small, single camera solution enabling advanced image processing opportunities previously unavailable for ultra-high sensitivity imaging of these agents. The system captures both visible reflectance and NIR fluorescence at 300 fps while displaying full HD resolution video at 60 fps. The camera head has been designed to easily mount onto the Zeiss Pentero microscope head for seamless integration into surgical procedures.

Waveguide image-slicers for ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beckert, Erik; Strassmeier, Klaus G.; Woche, Manfred; Eberhardt, Ramona; Tünnermann, Andreas; Andersen, Michael

2008-07-01

Waveguide image-slicer prototypes with resolutions up to 310.000 for the fiber fed PEPSI echelle spectrograph at the LBT and single waveguide thicknesses of down to 30 μm have been manufactured. The waveguides were macroscopically prepared, stacked up to an order of 7 and thinned back to square stack cross sections. A high filling ratio was achieved by realizing homogenous adhesive gaps of 4.6 μm, using index matching adhesives for TIR within the waveguides. The image-slicer stacks can be used in immersion mode and are miniaturized to be implemented in a set of four, measurements indicate an overall efficiency of above 80% for them.

Impact of the spatial resolution of satellite remote sensing sensors in the quantification of total suspended sediment concentration: A case study in turbid waters of Northern Western Australia.

PubMed

Dorji, Passang; Fearns, Peter

2017-01-01

The impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal waters is a cause of concern because such activities add to the total suspended sediment (TSS) budget of the coastal waters, which have negative impacts on the coastal ecosystem. Satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool in monitoring TSS concentration at high spatiotemporal resolution, but coastal managers should be mindful that the satellite-derived TSS concentrations are dependent on the satellite sensor's radiometric properties, atmospheric correction approaches, the spatial resolution and the limitations of specific TSS algorithms. In this study, we investigated the impact of different spatial resolutions of satellite sensor on the quantification of TSS concentration in coastal waters of northern Western Australia. We quantified the TSS product derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua, Landsat-8 Operational Land Image (OLI), and WorldView-2 (WV2) at native spatial resolutions of 250 m, 30 m and 2 m respectively and coarser spatial resolution (resampled up to 5 km) to quantify the impact of spatial resolution on the derived TSS product in different turbidity conditions. The results from the study show that in the waters of high turbidity and high spatial variability, the high spatial resolution WV2 sensor reported TSS concentration as high as 160 mg L-1 while the low spatial resolution MODIS-Aqua reported a maximum TSS concentration of 23.6 mg L-1. Degrading the spatial resolution of each satellite sensor for highly spatially variable turbid waters led to variability in the TSS concentrations of 114.46%, 304.68% and 38.2% for WV2, Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS-Aqua respectively. The implications of this work are particularly relevant in the situation of compliance monitoring where operations may be required to restrict TSS concentrations to a pre-defined limit.

Impact of the spatial resolution of satellite remote sensing sensors in the quantification of total suspended sediment concentration: A case study in turbid waters of Northern Western Australia

PubMed Central

Fearns, Peter

2017-01-01

The impact of anthropogenic activities on coastal waters is a cause of concern because such activities add to the total suspended sediment (TSS) budget of the coastal waters, which have negative impacts on the coastal ecosystem. Satellite remote sensing provides a powerful tool in monitoring TSS concentration at high spatiotemporal resolution, but coastal managers should be mindful that the satellite-derived TSS concentrations are dependent on the satellite sensor’s radiometric properties, atmospheric correction approaches, the spatial resolution and the limitations of specific TSS algorithms. In this study, we investigated the impact of different spatial resolutions of satellite sensor on the quantification of TSS concentration in coastal waters of northern Western Australia. We quantified the TSS product derived from MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua, Landsat-8 Operational Land Image (OLI), and WorldView-2 (WV2) at native spatial resolutions of 250 m, 30 m and 2 m respectively and coarser spatial resolution (resampled up to 5 km) to quantify the impact of spatial resolution on the derived TSS product in different turbidity conditions. The results from the study show that in the waters of high turbidity and high spatial variability, the high spatial resolution WV2 sensor reported TSS concentration as high as 160 mg L-1 while the low spatial resolution MODIS-Aqua reported a maximum TSS concentration of 23.6 mg L-1. Degrading the spatial resolution of each satellite sensor for highly spatially variable turbid waters led to variability in the TSS concentrations of 114.46%, 304.68% and 38.2% for WV2, Landsat-8 OLI and MODIS-Aqua respectively. The implications of this work are particularly relevant in the situation of compliance monitoring where operations may be required to restrict TSS concentrations to a pre-defined limit. PMID:28380059

Attention Modifies Spatial Resolution According to Task Demands.

PubMed

Barbot, Antoine; Carrasco, Marisa

2017-03-01

How does visual attention affect spatial resolution? In texture-segmentation tasks, exogenous (involuntary) attention automatically increases resolution at the attended location, which improves performance where resolution is too low (at the periphery) but impairs performance where resolution is already too high (at central locations). Conversely, endogenous (voluntary) attention improves performance at all eccentricities, which suggests a more flexible mechanism. Here, using selective adaptation to spatial frequency, we investigated the mechanism by which endogenous attention benefits performance in resolution tasks. Participants detected a texture target that could appear at several eccentricities. Adapting to high or low spatial frequencies selectively affected performance in a manner consistent with changes in resolution. Moreover, adapting to high, but not low, frequencies mitigated the attentional benefit at central locations where resolution was too high; this shows that attention can improve performance by decreasing resolution. Altogether, our results indicate that endogenous attention benefits performance by modulating the contribution of high-frequency information in order to flexibly adjust spatial resolution according to task demands.

Attention Modifies Spatial Resolution According to Task Demands

PubMed Central

Barbot, Antoine; Carrasco, Marisa

2017-01-01

How does visual attention affect spatial resolution? In texture-segmentation tasks, exogenous (involuntary) attention automatically increases resolution at the attended location, which improves performance where resolution is too low (at the periphery) but impairs performance where resolution is already too high (at central locations). Conversely, endogenous (voluntary) attention improves performance at all eccentricities, which suggests a more flexible mechanism. Here, using selective adaptation to spatial frequency, we investigated the mechanism by which endogenous attention benefits performance in resolution tasks. Participants detected a texture target that could appear at several eccentricities. Adapting to high or low spatial frequencies selectively affected performance in a manner consistent with changes in resolution. Moreover, adapting to high, but not low, frequencies mitigated the attentional benefit at central locations where resolution was too high; this shows that attention can improve performance by decreasing resolution. Altogether, our results indicate that endogenous attention benefits performance by modulating the contribution of high-frequency information in order to flexibly adjust spatial resolution according to task demands. PMID:28118103

Effects of spatial resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abrams, M.

1982-01-01

Studies of the effects of spatial resolution on extraction of geologic information are woefully lacking but spatial resolution effects can be examined as they influence two general categories: detection of spatial features per se; and the effects of IFOV on the definition of spectral signatures and on general mapping abilities.

High fat diet leads to changes in metabolite patterns in pig plasma, fecal, and urine samples detected by a ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem with high resolution mass spectrometry metabolomic study

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Non-targeted metabolite profiling can identify robust biological markers of dietary exposure that can lead to a better understanding of causal interactions between diet and health. In this study, pigs were used as an animal model to develop an efficient procedure to discover metabolites in biolog...

Frequency modulation detection atomic force microscopy in the liquid environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarvis, S. P.; Ishida, T.; Uchihashi, T.; Nakayama, Y.; Tokumoto, H.

True atomic resolution imaging using frequency modulation detection is already well established in ultra-high vacuum. In this paper we demonstrate that it also has great potential in the liquid environment. Using a combination of magnetic activation and high-aspect-ratio carbon nanotube probes, we show that imaging can be readily combined with point spectroscopy, revealing both the tip-sample interaction and the structure of the intermediate liquid.

Spatial, Temporal and Spectral Satellite Image Fusion via Sparse Representation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Huihui

Remote sensing provides good measurements for monitoring and further analyzing the climate change, dynamics of ecosystem, and human activities in global or regional scales. Over the past two decades, the number of launched satellite sensors has been increasing with the development of aerospace technologies and the growing requirements on remote sensing data in a vast amount of application fields. However, a key technological challenge confronting these sensors is that they tradeoff between spatial resolution and other properties, including temporal resolution, spectral resolution, swath width, etc., due to the limitations of hardware technology and budget constraints. To increase the spatial resolution of data with other good properties, one possible cost-effective solution is to explore data integration methods that can fuse multi-resolution data from multiple sensors, thereby enhancing the application capabilities of available remote sensing data. In this thesis, we propose to fuse the spatial resolution with temporal resolution and spectral resolution, respectively, based on sparse representation theory. Taking the study case of Landsat ETM+ (with spatial resolution of 30m and temporal resolution of 16 days) and MODIS (with spatial resolution of 250m ~ 1km and daily temporal resolution) reflectance, we propose two spatial-temporal fusion methods to combine the fine spatial information of Landsat image and the daily temporal resolution of MODIS image. Motivated by that the images from these two sensors are comparable on corresponding bands, we propose to link their spatial information on available Landsat- MODIS image pair (captured on prior date) and then predict the Landsat image from the MODIS counterpart on prediction date. To well-learn the spatial details from the prior images, we use a redundant dictionary to extract the basic representation atoms for both Landsat and MODIS images based on sparse representation. Under the scenario of two prior Landsat-MODIS image pairs, we build the corresponding relationship between the difference images of MODIS and ETM+ by training a low- and high-resolution dictionary pair from the given prior image pairs. In the second scenario, i.e., only one Landsat- MODIS image pair being available, we directly correlate MODIS and ETM+ data through an image degradation model. Then, the fusion stage is achieved by super-resolving the MODIS image combining the high-pass modulation in a two-layer fusion framework. Remarkably, the proposed spatial-temporal fusion methods form a unified framework for blending remote sensing images with phenology change or land-cover-type change. Based on the proposed spatial-temporal fusion models, we propose to monitor the land use/land cover changes in Shenzhen, China. As a fast-growing city, Shenzhen faces the problem of detecting the rapid changes for both rational city planning and sustainable development. However, the cloudy and rainy weather in region Shenzhen located makes the capturing circle of high-quality satellite images longer than their normal revisit periods. Spatial-temporal fusion methods are capable to tackle this problem by improving the spatial resolution of images with coarse spatial resolution but frequent temporal coverage, thereby making the detection of rapid changes possible. On two Landsat-MODIS datasets with annual and monthly changes, respectively, we apply the proposed spatial-temporal fusion methods to the task of multiple change detection. Afterward, we propose a novel spatial and spectral fusion method for satellite multispectral and hyperspectral (or high-spectral) images based on dictionary-pair learning and sparse non-negative matrix factorization. By combining the spectral information from hyperspectral image, which is characterized by low spatial resolution but high spectral resolution and abbreviated as LSHS, and the spatial information from multispectral image, which is featured by high spatial resolution but low spectral resolution and abbreviated as HSLS, this method aims to generate the fused data with both high spatial and high spectral resolutions. Motivated by the observation that each hyperspectral pixel can be represented by a linear combination of a few endmembers, this method first extracts the spectral bases of LSHS and HSLS images by making full use of the rich spectral information in LSHS data. The spectral bases of these two categories data then formulate a dictionary-pair due to their correspondence in representing each pixel spectra of LSHS data and HSLS data, respectively. Subsequently, the LSHS image is spatially unmixed by representing the HSLS image with respect to the corresponding learned dictionary to derive its representation coefficients. Combining the spectral bases of LSHS data and the representation coefficients of HSLS data, we finally derive the fused data characterized by the spectral resolution of LSHS data and the spatial resolution of HSLS data.

Identification of Reactive and Refractory Components of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen by FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, W. T.; Podgorski, D. C.; Osborne, D. M.; Corbett, J.; Chanton, J.

2010-12-01

Dissolved organic nitrogen is an often overlooked but potentially significant bioavailable component of dissolved organic matter. Studies of bulk DON turnover have been reported, but the compositions of the reactive and refractory components of DON are largely unknown. Here we show the unique ability of atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) coupled to ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry to identify the reactive and refractory components of DON. Figure 1 is an isolated 0.30 m/z window from an ultrahigh resolution APPI FT-ICR mass spectrum of DON in surface waters draining an agricultural area in South Florida. Using this optimized, negative-ion APPI strategy we have been able to identify the reactive and refractory components of DON in these nitrogen-rich waters. Similar results were observed with samples from soil porewaters in sedge-dominated fens and sphagnum-dominated bogs within the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatlands (GLAP) of northern Minnesota. Surprisingly, microbes appear to initially use similar enzymatic pathways to degrade DON and DOC, often with little release of nitrogen. Figure 1. Isolated 0.30 m/z window at nominal mass 432 from negative-ion APPI FT-ICR mass spectrum of DOM from waters draining an agricultural area in South Florida. Peaks marked contain nitrogen.

Mnemonic discrimination relates to perforant path integrity: An ultra-high resolution diffusion tensor imaging study.

PubMed

Bennett, Ilana J; Stark, Craig E L

2016-03-01

Pattern separation describes the orthogonalization of similar inputs into unique, non-overlapping representations. This computational process is thought to serve memory by reducing interference and to be mediated by the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Using ultra-high in-plane resolution diffusion tensor imaging (hrDTI) in older adults, we previously demonstrated that integrity of the perforant path, which provides input to the dentate gyrus from entorhinal cortex, was associated with mnemonic discrimination, a behavioral outcome designed to load on pattern separation. The current hrDTI study assessed the specificity of this perforant path integrity-mnemonic discrimination relationship relative to other cognitive constructs (identified using a factor analysis) and white matter tracts (hippocampal cingulum, fornix, corpus callosum) in 112 healthy adults (20-87 years). Results revealed age-related declines in integrity of the perforant path and other medial temporal lobe (MTL) tracts (hippocampal cingulum, fornix). Controlling for global effects of brain aging, perforant path integrity related only to the factor that captured mnemonic discrimination performance. Comparable integrity-mnemonic discrimination relationships were also observed for the hippocampal cingulum and fornix. Thus, whereas perforant path integrity specifically relates to mnemonic discrimination, mnemonic discrimination may be mediated by a broader MTL network. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nontargeted Screening Method for Illegal Additives Based on Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Fu, Yanqing; Zhou, Zhihui; Kong, Hongwei; Lu, Xin; Zhao, Xinjie; Chen, Yihui; Chen, Jia; Wu, Zeming; Xu, Zhiliang; Zhao, Chunxia; Xu, Guowang

2016-09-06

Identification of illegal additives in complex matrixes is important in the food safety field. In this study a nontargeted screening strategy was developed to find illegal additives based on ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). First, an analytical method for possible illegal additives in complex matrixes was established including fast sample pretreatment, accurate UHPLC separation, and HRMS detection. Second, efficient data processing and differential analysis workflow were suggested and applied to find potential risk compounds. Third, structure elucidation of risk compounds was performed by (1) searching online databases [Metlin and the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB)] and an in-house database which was established at the above-defined conditions of UHPLC-HRMS analysis and contains information on retention time, mass spectra (MS), and tandem mass spectra (MS/MS) of 475 illegal additives, (2) analyzing fragment ions, and (3) referring to fragmentation rules. Fish was taken as an example to show the usefulness of the nontargeted screening strategy, and six additives were found in suspected fish samples. Quantitative analysis was further carried out to determine the contents of these compounds. The satisfactory application of this strategy in fish samples means that it can also be used in the screening of illegal additives in other kinds of food samples.

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry study of tricyclazole photodegradation products in water.

PubMed

Gosetti, Fabio; Chiuminatto, Ugo; Mazzucco, Eleonora; Mastroianni, Rita; Bolfi, Bianca; Marengo, Emilio

2015-06-01

This paper reports the study of the photodegradation reactions that tricyclazole can naturally undergo, under the action of sunlight, in aqueous solutions of standard tricyclazole and of the commercial BEAM(TM) formulation. The analyses are carried out by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography technique coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Analysis of both tricyclazole and BEAM(TM) water solutions undergone to hydrolysis does not evidence new chromatographic peaks with respect to the not treated solutions. On the contrary, analysis of the same samples subjected to sunlight irradiation shows a decreased intensity of tricyclazole signal and the presence of new chromatographic peaks. Two photodegradation products of tricyclazole have been identified, one of which has been also quantified, being the commercial standard available. The pattern is similar for the solutions of the standard fungicide and of the BEAM(TM) formulation. The results obtained from eco-toxicological tests show that toxicity of tricyclazole standard solutions is greater than that of the irradiated ones, whereas toxicity levels of all the BEAM(TM) solutions investigated (non-irradiated, irradiated, and hydrolyzed) are comparable and lower than those shown by tricyclazole standard solutions. Experiments performed in paddy water solution show that there is no difference in the degradation products formed.

Metabolic profile of Kudiezi injection in rats by UHPLC coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingdan; Zhang, Xiaoxue; Zhao, Yangyang; Song, Aihua; Sun, Wei; Yin, Ran

2018-02-01

In this study, a reliable and sensitive ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry method was developed for the systematic study of the metabolic profile of Kudiezi injection in rat plasma, bile, urine, and feces after intravenous administration of a single dose. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent Eclipse Plus C 18 column (4.6 mm × 50 mm, 1.8 μm) and the identification of prototype components and metabolites was achieved on a Bruker Solarix 7.0 T ultra-high resolution spectrometer in negative ion mode. Results indicated that a total of 76 constituents including 29 prototype compounds and 47 metabolites (10 phase I metabolites and 37 phase II metabolites) were tentatively identified. And the metabolic pathways of these prototype compounds including hydroxylation, dehydrogenation, glucuronidation, and sulfate conjugation. In conclusion, the developed method with high resolution and sensitivity was effective for screening and identification of prototypes and metabolites of Kudiezi injection in vivo. Moreover, these results would provide significant information for further pharmacokinetic and pharmacological research of Kudiezi injection in vivo. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Molecular-level evidence provided by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry for oil-derived doc in groundwater at Bemidji, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Islam, Ananna; Ahmed, Arif; Hur, Manhoi; Thorn, Kevin A.; Kim, Sunghwan

2016-01-01

Dissolved organic matter samples extracted from ground water at the USGS Bemidji oil spill site in Minnesota were investigated by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. Principle component analysis (PCA) of the elemental composition assignments of the samples showed that the score plots for the contaminated sites were well separated from those for the uncontaminated sites. Additionally, spectra obtained from the same sampling site 7 and 19 years after the spill were grouped together in the score plot, strongly suggesting a steady state of contamination within the 12 year interval. The double bond equivalence (DBE) of Ox class compounds was broader for the samples from the contaminated sites, because of the complex nature of oil and the consequent formation of compounds with saturated and/or aromatic structures from the oxygenated products of oil. In addition, Ox class compounds with a relatively smaller number of x (x < 8; x = number of oxygen) and OxS1 class compounds were more abundant in the samples from the contaminated sites, because of the lower oxygen and higher sulfur contents of the oil compared to humic substances. The molecular-level signatures presented here can be a fundamental basis for in-depth analysis of oil contamination.

Theoretical analysis of microring resonator-based biosensor with high resolution and free of temperature influence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Aoqun; Zou, Lu; Tang, Haiquan; Duan, Qianqian; Ji, Jianlong; Zhang, Qianwu; Zhang, Xuming; Sang, Shengbo

2017-06-01

The issue of thermal effects is inevitable for the ultrahigh refractive index (RI) measurement. A biosensor with parallel-coupled dual-microring resonator configuration is proposed to achieve high resolution and free thermal effects measurement. Based on the coupled-resonator-induced transparency effect, the design and principle of the biosensor are introduced in detail, and the performance of the sensor is deduced by simulations. Compared to the biosensor based on a single-ring configuration, the designed biosensor has a 10-fold increased Q value according to the simulation results, thus the sensor is expected to achieve a particularly high resolution. In addition, the output signal of the mathematical model of the proposed sensor can eliminate the thermal influence by adopting an algorithm. This work is expected to have great application potentials in the areas of high-resolution RI measurement, such as biomedical discoveries, virus screening, and drinking water safety.

Synthetic Melanin E-Ink.

PubMed

Chang, Lingqian; Chen, Feng; Zhang, Xiaokang; Kuang, Tairong; Li, Mi; Hu, Jiaming; Shi, Junfeng; Lee, Ly James; Cheng, Huanyu; Li, Yiwen

2017-05-17

Extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of surfactant-free electronic ink (E-ink) with excellent display resolution for high-definition resolution display. Herein, we report the use of polydopamine-based synthetic melanin, a class of functional nanoparticles with similar chemical compositions and physical properties to those of naturally occurring melanin, as a new E-ink material. It was found that such E-ink displays could achieve ultrahigh resolution (>10 000 ppi) and low power consumption (operation voltage of only 1 V) in aqueous solutions. Interestingly, simple oxidation of synthetic melanin nanoparticles enables the generation of intrinsic fluorescence, allowing further development of fluorescent E-ink displays with nanoscale resolution. We describe these bioinspired materials in an initial proof-of-concept study and propose that synthetic melanin nanoparticles will be suitable for electronic nanoinks with a potential wide range of applications in molecular patterning and fluorescence bioimaging.

High-Resolution Metabolomics Assessment of Military Personnel: Evaluating Analytical Strategies for Chemical Detection.

PubMed

Liu, Ken H; Walker, Douglas I; Uppal, Karan; Tran, ViLinh; Rohrbeck, Patricia; Mallon, Timothy M; Jones, Dean P

2016-08-01

The aim of this study was to maximize detection of serum metabolites with high-resolution metabolomics (HRM). Department of Defense Serum Repository (DoDSR) samples were analyzed using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry with three complementary chromatographic phases and four ionization modes. Chemical coverage was evaluated by number of ions detected and accurate mass matches to a human metabolomics database. Individual HRM platforms provided accurate mass matches for up to 58% of the KEGG metabolite database. Combining two analytical methods increased matches to 72% and included metabolites in most major human metabolic pathways and chemical classes. Detection and feature quality varied by analytical configuration. Dual chromatography HRM with positive and negative electrospray ionization provides an effective generalized method for metabolic assessment of military personnel.

High-resolution metabolomics assessment of military personnel: Evaluating analytical strategies for chemical detection

PubMed Central

Liu, Ken H.; Walker, Douglas I.; Uppal, Karan; Tran, ViLinh; Rohrbeck, Patricia; Mallon, Timothy M.; Jones, Dean P.

2016-01-01

Objective To maximize detection of serum metabolites with high-resolution metabolomics (HRM). Methods Department of Defense Serum Repository (DoDSR) samples were analyzed using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry with three complementary chromatographic phases and four ionization modes. Chemical coverage was evaluated by number of ions detected and accurate mass matches to a human metabolomics database. Results Individual HRM platforms provided accurate mass matches for up to 58% of the KEGG metabolite database. Combining two analytical methods increased matches to 72%, and included metabolites in most major human metabolic pathways and chemical classes. Detection and feature quality varied by analytical configuration. Conclusions Dual chromatography HRM with positive and negative electrospray ionization provides an effective generalized method for metabolic assessment of military personnel. PMID:27501105

High-intensity xenon plasma discharge lamp for bulk-sensitive high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy.

PubMed

Souma, S; Sato, T; Takahashi, T; Baltzer, P

2007-12-01

We have developed a highly brilliant xenon (Xe) discharge lamp operated by microwave-induced electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) for ultrahigh-resolution bulk-sensitive photoemission spectroscopy (PES). We observed at least eight strong radiation lines from neutral or singly ionized Xe atoms in the energy region of 8.4-10.7 eV. The photon flux of the strongest Xe I resonance line at 8.437 eV is comparable to that of the He Ialpha line (21.218 eV) from the He-ECR discharge lamp. Stable operation for more than 300 h is achieved by efficient air-cooling of a ceramic tube in the resonance cavity. The high bulk sensitivity and high-energy resolution of PES using the Xe lines are demonstrated for some typical materials.

Results of the spatial resolution simulation for multispectral data (resolution brochures)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

The variable information content of Earth Resource products at different levels of spatial resolution and in different spectral bands is addressed. A low-cost brochure that scientists and laymen could use to visualize the effects of increasing the spatial resolution of multispectral scanner images was produced.

In vivo assessment of iron content of the cerebral cortex in healthy aging using 7-Tesla T2*-weighted phase imaging.

PubMed

Buijs, Mathijs; Doan, Nhat Trung; van Rooden, Sanneke; Versluis, Maarten J; van Lew, Baldur; Milles, Julien; van der Grond, Jeroen; van Buchem, Mark A

2017-05-01

Accumulation of brain iron has been suggested as a biomarker of neurodegeneration. Increased iron has been seen in the cerebral cortex in postmortem studies of neurodegenerative diseases and healthy aging. Until recently, the diminutive thickness of the cortex and its relatively low iron content have hampered in vivo study of cortical iron accumulation. Using phase images of a T2*-weighted sequence at ultrahigh field strength (7 Tesla), we examined the iron content of 22 cortical regions in 70 healthy subjects aged 22-80 years. The cortex was automatically segmented and parcellated, and phase shift was analyzed using an in-house developed method. We found a significant increase in phase shift with age in 20 of 22 cortical regions, concurrent with current understanding of cortical iron accumulation. Our findings suggest that increased cortical iron content can be assessed in healthy aging in vivo. The high spatial resolution and sensitivity to iron of our method make it a potentially useful tool for studying cortical iron accumulation in healthy aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Shielding calculations for the National Synchrotron Light Source-II experimental beamlines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Job, Panakkal K.; Casey, William R.

2013-01-01

Brookhaven National Laboratory is in the process of building a new Electron storage ring for scientific research using synchrotron radiation. This facility, called the "National Synchrotron Light Source II" (NSLS-II), will provide x-ray radiation of ultra-high brightness and exceptional spatial and energy resolution. It will also provide advanced insertion devices, optics, detectors, and robotics, designed to maximize the scientific output of the facility. The project scope includes the design of an electron storage ring and the experimental beamlines, which stores a maximum of 500 mA electron beam current at an energy of 3.0 GeV. When fully built there will be at least 58 beamlines using synchrotron radiation for experimental programs. It is planned to operate the facility primarily in a top-off mode, thereby maintaining the maximum variation in the synchrotron radiation flux to <1%. Because of the very demanding requirements for synchrotron radiation brilliance for the experiments, each of the 58 beamlines will be unique in terms of the source properties and experimental configuration. This makes the shielding configuration of each of the beamlines unique. The shielding calculation methodology and the results for five representative beamlines of NSLS-II, have been presented in this paper.

Image sharpening for mixed spatial and spectral resolution satellite systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hallada, W. A.; Cox, S.

1983-01-01

Two methods of image sharpening (reconstruction) are compared. The first, a spatial filtering technique, extrapolates edge information from a high spatial resolution panchromatic band at 10 meters and adds it to the low spatial resolution narrow spectral bands. The second method, a color normalizing technique, is based on the ability to separate image hue and brightness components in spectral data. Using both techniques, multispectral images are sharpened from 30, 50, 70, and 90 meter resolutions. Error rates are calculated for the two methods and all sharpened resolutions. The results indicate that the color normalizing method is superior to the spatial filtering technique.

Spatial Resolution Requirements for Accurate Identification of Drivers of Atrial Fibrillation

PubMed Central

Roney, Caroline H.; Cantwell, Chris D.; Bayer, Jason D.; Qureshi, Norman A.; Lim, Phang Boon; Tweedy, Jennifer H.; Kanagaratnam, Prapa; Vigmond, Edward J.; Ng, Fu Siong

2017-01-01

Background— Recent studies have demonstrated conflicting mechanisms underlying atrial fibrillation (AF), with the spatial resolution of data often cited as a potential reason for the disagreement. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the variation in spatial resolution of mapping may lead to misinterpretation of the underlying mechanism in persistent AF. Methods and Results— Simulations of rotors and focal sources were performed to estimate the minimum number of recording points required to correctly identify the underlying AF mechanism. The effects of different data types (action potentials and unipolar or bipolar electrograms) and rotor stability on resolution requirements were investigated. We also determined the ability of clinically used endocardial catheters to identify AF mechanisms using clinically recorded and simulated data. The spatial resolution required for correct identification of rotors and focal sources is a linear function of spatial wavelength (the distance between wavefronts) of the arrhythmia. Rotor localization errors are larger for electrogram data than for action potential data. Stationary rotors are more reliably identified compared with meandering trajectories, for any given spatial resolution. All clinical high-resolution multipolar catheters are of sufficient resolution to accurately detect and track rotors when placed over the rotor core although the low-resolution basket catheter is prone to false detections and may incorrectly identify rotors that are not present. Conclusions— The spatial resolution of AF data can significantly affect the interpretation of the underlying AF mechanism. Therefore, the interpretation of human AF data must be taken in the context of the spatial resolution of the recordings. PMID:28500175

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

Kirtley, John R., E-mail: jkirtley@stanford.edu; Rosenberg, Aaron J.; Palmstrom, Johanna C.

Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) microscopy has excellent magnetic field sensitivity, but suffers from modest spatial resolution when compared with other scanning probes. This spatial resolution is determined by both the size of the field sensitive area and the spacing between this area and the sample surface. In this paper we describe scanning SQUID susceptometers that achieve sub-micron spatial resolution while retaining a white noise floor flux sensitivity of ≈2μΦ{sub 0}/Hz{sup 1/2}. This high spatial resolution is accomplished by deep sub-micron feature sizes, well shielded pickup loops fabricated using a planarized process, and a deep etch step that minimizes themore » spacing between the sample surface and the SQUID pickup loop. We describe the design, modeling, fabrication, and testing of these sensors. Although sub-micron spatial resolution has been achieved previously in scanning SQUID sensors, our sensors not only achieve high spatial resolution but also have integrated modulation coils for flux feedback, integrated field coils for susceptibility measurements, and batch processing. They are therefore a generally applicable tool for imaging sample magnetization, currents, and susceptibilities with higher spatial resolution than previous susceptometers.« less

Chromatic and Achromatic Spatial Resolution of Local Field Potentials in Awake Cortex

PubMed Central

Jansen, Michael; Li, Xiaobing; Lashgari, Reza; Kremkow, Jens; Bereshpolova, Yulia; Swadlow, Harvey A.; Zaidi, Qasim; Alonso, Jose-Manuel

2015-01-01

Local field potentials (LFPs) have become an important measure of neuronal population activity in the brain and could provide robust signals to guide the implant of visual cortical prosthesis in the future. However, it remains unclear whether LFPs can detect weak cortical responses (e.g., cortical responses to equiluminant color) and whether they have enough visual spatial resolution to distinguish different chromatic and achromatic stimulus patterns. By recording from awake behaving macaques in primary visual cortex, here we demonstrate that LFPs respond robustly to pure chromatic stimuli and exhibit ∼2.5 times lower spatial resolution for chromatic than achromatic stimulus patterns, a value that resembles the ratio of achromatic/chromatic resolution measured with psychophysical experiments in humans. We also show that, although the spatial resolution of LFP decays with visual eccentricity as is also the case for single neurons, LFPs have higher spatial resolution and show weaker response suppression to low spatial frequencies than spiking multiunit activity. These results indicate that LFP recordings are an excellent approach to measure spatial resolution from local populations of neurons in visual cortex including those responsive to color. PMID:25416722

Calculation of the spatial resolution in two-photon absorption spectroscopy applied to plasma diagnosis

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

Garcia-Lechuga, M.; Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Óptica “Daza de Valdés,” CSIC, 28006-Madrid; Fuentes, L. M.

2014-10-07

We report a detailed characterization of the spatial resolution provided by two-photon absorption spectroscopy suited for plasma diagnosis via the 1S-2S transition of atomic hydrogen for optogalvanic detection and laser induced fluorescence (LIF). A precise knowledge of the spatial resolution is crucial for a correct interpretation of measurements, if the plasma parameters to be analysed undergo strong spatial variations. The present study is based on a novel approach which provides a reliable and realistic determination of the spatial resolution. Measured irradiance distribution of laser beam waists in the overlap volume, provided by a high resolution UV camera, are employed tomore » resolve coupled rate equations accounting for two-photon excitation, fluorescence decay and ionization. The resulting three-dimensional yield distributions reveal in detail the spatial resolution for optogalvanic and LIF detection and related saturation due to depletion. Two-photon absorption profiles broader than the Fourier transform-limited laser bandwidth are also incorporated in the calculations. The approach allows an accurate analysis of the spatial resolution present in recent and future measurements.« less

[An effective method for improving the imaging spatial resolution of terahertz time domain spectroscopy system].

PubMed

Zhang, Zeng-yan; Ji, Te; Zhu, Zhi-yong; Zhao, Hong-wei; Chen, Min; Xiao, Ti-qiao; Guo, Zhi

2015-01-01

Terahertz radiation is an electromagnetic radiation in the range between millimeter waves and far infrared. Due to its low energy and non-ionizing characters, THz pulse imaging emerges as a novel tool in many fields, such as material, chemical, biological medicine, and food safety. Limited spatial resolution is a significant restricting factor of terahertz imaging technology. Near field imaging method was proposed to improve the spatial resolution of terahertz system. Submillimeter scale's spauial resolution can be achieved if the income source size is smaller than the wawelength of the incoming source and the source is very close to the sample. But many changes were needed to the traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system, and it's very complex to analyze sample's physical parameters through the terahertz signal. A method of inserting a pinhole upstream to the sample was first proposed in this article to improve the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system. The measured spatial resolution of terahertz time domain spectroscopy system by knife edge method can achieve spatial resolution curves. The moving stage distance between 10 % and 90 Yo of the maximum signals respectively was defined as the, spatial resolution of the system. Imaging spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system was improved dramatically after inserted a pinhole with diameter 0. 5 mm, 2 mm upstream to the sample. Experimental results show that the spatial resolution has been improved from 1. 276 mm to 0. 774 mm, with the increment about 39 %. Though this simple method, the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system was increased from millimeter scale to submillimeter scale. A pinhole with diameter 1 mm on a polyethylene plate was taken as sample, to terahertz imaging study. The traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system and pinhole inserted terahertz time domain spectroscopy system were applied in the imaging experiment respectively. The relative THz-power loss imaging of samples were use in this article. This method generally delivers the best signal to noise ratio in loss images, dispersion effects are cancelled. Terahertz imaging results show that the sample's boundary was more distinct after inserting the pinhole in front of, sample. The results also conform that inserting pinhole in front of sample can improve the imaging spatial resolution effectively. The theoretical analyses of the method which improve the spatial resolution by inserting a pinhole in front of sample were given in this article. The analyses also indicate that the smaller the pinhole size, the longer spatial coherence length of the system, the better spatial resolution of the system. At the same time the terahertz signal will be reduced accordingly. All the experimental results and theoretical analyses indicate that the method of inserting a pinhole in front of sample can improve the spatial resolution of traditional terahertz time domain spectroscopy system effectively, and it will further expand the application of terahertz imaging technology.

Dynamically reconfigurable optical packet switch (DROPS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chi-Heng; Chou, Hsu-Feng; Bowers, John E.; Toudeh-Fallah, Farzam; Gyurek, Russ

2006-12-01

A novel Dynamically Reconfigurable Optical Packet Switch (DROPS) that combines both spectral and spatial switching capabilities is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Compared with an Arrayed Waveguide Grating Router (AWGR), the added spatial switching capability provided by the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) enables dynamically reconfigurable routing that is not possible with an AWGR alone. This methodology has several advantages over an AWGR including scalability, additional degrees of freedom in routing a packet from an ingress port to an egress port and more flexibility in path or line card recovery. The experimental demonstration implemented with 10-Gb/s packets shows that the added spatial switching does not degrade the bit-error-rate performance, indicating the promising potential of DROPS as a versatile and ultra-high capacity switch for optical packet-switched networks.

Non-destructive testing of layer-to-layer fusion of a 3D print using ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Israelsen, Niels M.; Maria, Michael; Feuchter, Thomas; Podoleanu, Adrian; Bang, Ole

2017-06-01

Within the last decade, 3D printing has moved from a costly approach of building mechanical items to the present state-of-the-art phase where access to 3D printers is now common, both in industry and in private places. The plastic printers are the most common type of 3D printers providing prints that are light, robust and of lower cost. The robustness of the structure printed is only maintained if each layer printed is properly fused to its previously printed layers. In situations where the printed component has to accomplish a key mechanical role there is a need to characterize its mechanical strength. This may only be revealed by in-depth testing in order to discover unwanted air-gaps in the structure. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an in-depth imaging method, that is sensitive to variations in the refractive index and therefore can resolve with high resolution translucid samples. We report on volume imaging of a 3D printed block made with 100% PLA fill. By employing ultrahigh resolution OCT (UHR-OCT) we show that some parts of the PLA volume reveal highly scattering interfaces which likely correspond to transitions from one layer to another. In doing so, we document that UHR-OCT can act as a powerful tool that can be used in detecting fractures between layers stemming from insufficient fusion between printed structure layers. UHR-OCT can therefore serve as an useful assessment method of quality of 3D prints.

Using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and toxicity identification techniques to characterize the toxicity of oil sands process-affected water: The case for classical naphthenic acids.

PubMed

Hughes, Sarah A; Mahaffey, Ashley; Shore, Bryon; Baker, Josh; Kilgour, Bruce; Brown, Christine; Peru, Kerry M; Headley, John V; Bailey, Howard C

2017-11-01

Previous assessments of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) toxicity were hampered by lack of high-resolution analytical analysis, use of nonstandard toxicity methods, and variability between OSPW samples. We integrated ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry with a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) approach to quantitatively identify the primary cause of acute toxicity of OSPW to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The initial characterization of OSPW toxicity indicated that toxicity was associated with nonpolar organic compounds, and toxicant(s) were further isolated within a range of discrete methanol fractions that were then subjected to Orbitrap mass spectrometry to evaluate the contribution of naphthenic acid fraction compounds to toxicity. The results showed that toxicity was attributable to classical naphthenic acids, with the potency of individual compounds increasing as a function of carbon number. Notably, the mass of classical naphthenic acids present in OSPW was dominated by carbon numbers ≤16; however, toxicity was largely a function of classical naphthenic acids with ≥17 carbons. Additional experiments found that acute toxicity of the organic fraction was similar when tested at conductivities of 400 and 1800 μmhos/cm and that rainbow trout fry were more sensitive to the organic fraction than larval fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Collectively, the results will aid in developing treatment goals and targets for removal of OSPW toxicity in water return scenarios both during operations and on mine closure. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3148-3157. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

An ultra-high resolution last deglacial marine sediment records of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashid, H.; Piper, D.; Marche, B.; Vermooten, M.; Lazar, K.; Brockway, B.

2016-12-01

Lack of high sedimentation rate records of past changes pertaining to the late Pleistocene Laurentide ice-sheet (LIS) dynamics has prevented efforts to differentiate the various forcings in modulating abrupt climate changes. Here, we present an ultra-high resolution sediment record spanning approximately 1,500 km of the Eastern Canadian continental margin. The new record comprises four sediment cores which were collected from the northwest Labrador Sea (i.e., Saglek Bank) to southwestern Flemish Pass to the southeast Grand Banks in outer shelf and slope settings. Fifty new 14C-accelerator mass spectrometric dates were obtained to construct the stratigraphy. The total sediment thickness of the new record is 41 m covering the past 26 ka with 1.58/ka mean sediment rate, the highest sediment rate ever reported from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean for this time interval. Further, the temporal resolution of the record varies from a couple of decades to centuries depending on the time interval. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data in conjunction with physical properties of sediments and petrology allowed us to distinguish sediment delivered by major ice-streams of the LIS namely the Hudson Strait, Hopedale Saddle, and Cumberland Sound ice streams. Heinrich layers 1 and 2 are well identified by their Labrador Sea specific characteristics. The so-called Younger Dryas equivalent Heinrich layer H0 was identified in these cores but the timing of onset of H0 has an offset by nearly 1,000 years with that of the 12.9 ka, suggesting that the YD event was not initiated by the Hudson Strait compared to other Heinrich events.

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography imaging of diseased rat lung using Gaussian shaped super continuum sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishizawa, N.; Ishida, S.; Kitatsuji, M.; Ohshima, H.; Hasegawa, Y.; Matsushima, M.; Kawabe, T.

2012-02-01

We have been investigating ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) imaging of lung tissues using fiber super continuum sources. The high power, low-noise, Gaussian shaped supercontinuum generated with ultrashort pulses and optical fibers at several wavelengths were used as the broadband light sources for UHR-OCT. For the 800 nm wavelength region, the axial resolution was 3.0 um in air and 2.0 um in tissue. Since the lung consists of tiny alveoli which are separated by thin wall, the UHR-OCT is supposed to be effective for lung imaging. The clear images of alveoli of rat were observed with and without index matching effects by saline. In this work, we investigated the UHR-OCT imaging of lung disease model. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced acute lung injury / acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) model of rat was prepared as the sample with disease and the UHR-OCT imaging of the disease part was demonstrated. The increment of signal intensity by pleural thickening was observed. The accumulation of exudative fluid in alveoli was also observed for two samples. By the comparison with normal lung images, we can obviously show the difference in the ALI/ARDS models. Since the lung consists of alveolar surrounded by capillary vessels, the effect of red-blood cells (RBC) is considered to be important. In this work, ex-vivo UHR-OCT imaging of RBC was demonstrated. Each RBC was able to be observed individually using UHR-OCT. The effect of RBC was estimated with the rat lung perfused with PBS.

Targeted Recombinant Progeny: a design for ultra-high resolution mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci in crosses between inbred or pure lines.

PubMed

Heifetz, Eliyahu M; Soller, Morris

2015-07-07

High-resolution mapping of the loci (QTN) responsible for genetic variation in quantitative traits is essential for positional cloning of candidate genes, and for effective marker assisted selection. The confidence interval (QTL) flanking the point estimate of QTN-location is proportional to the number of individuals in the mapping population carrying chromosomes recombinant in the given interval. Consequently, many designs for high resolution QTN mapping are based on increasing the proportion of recombinants in the mapping population. The "Targeted Recombinant Progeny" (TRP) design is a new design for high resolution mapping of a target QTN in crosses between pure, or inbred lines. It is a three-generation procedure generating a large number of recombinant individuals within a QTL previously shown to contain a QTN. This is achieved by having individuals that carry chromosomes recombinant across the target QTL interval as parents of a large mapping population; most of whom will therefore carry recombinant chromosomes targeted to the given QTL. The TRP design is particularly useful for high resolution mapping of QTN that differentiate inbred or pure lines, and hence are not amenable to high resolution mapping by genome-wide association tests. In the absence of residual polygenic variation, population sizes required for achieving given mapping resolution by the TRP-F2 design relative to a standard F2 design ranged from 0.289 for a QTN with standardized allele substitution effect = 0.2, mapped to an initial QTL of 0.2 Morgan to 0.041 for equivalent QTN mapped to an initial QTL of 0.02 M. In the presence of residual polygenic variation, the relative effectiveness of the TRP design ranges from 1.068 to 0.151 for the same initial QTL intervals and QTN effect. Thus even in the presence of polygenic variation, the TRP can still provide major savings. Simulation showed that mapping by TRP should be based on 30-50 markers spanning the initial interval; and on at least 50 or more G2 families representing this number of recombination points,. The TRP design can be an effective procedure for achieving high and ultra-high mapping resolution of a target QTN previously mapped to a known confidence interval (QTL).

Additional studies of forest classification accuracy as influenced by multispectral scanner spatial resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sadowski, F. E.; Sarno, J. E.

1976-01-01

First, an analysis of forest feature signatures was used to help explain the large variation in classification accuracy that can occur among individual forest features for any one case of spatial resolution and the inconsistent changes in classification accuracy that were demonstrated among features as spatial resolution was degraded. Second, the classification rejection threshold was varied in an effort to reduce the large proportion of unclassified resolution elements that previously appeared in the processing of coarse resolution data when a constant rejection threshold was used for all cases of spatial resolution. For the signature analysis, two-channel ellipse plots showing the feature signature distributions for several cases of spatial resolution indicated that the capability of signatures to correctly identify their respective features is dependent on the amount of statistical overlap among signatures. Reductions in signature variance that occur in data of degraded spatial resolution may not necessarily decrease the amount of statistical overlap among signatures having large variance and small mean separations. Features classified by such signatures may thus continue to have similar amounts of misclassified elements in coarser resolution data, and thus, not necessarily improve in classification accuracy.

Handling Different Spatial Resolutions in Image Fusion by Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares for Incomplete Image Multisets.

PubMed

Piqueras, Sara; Bedia, Carmen; Beleites, Claudia; Krafft, Christoph; Popp, Jürgen; Maeder, Marcel; Tauler, Romà; de Juan, Anna

2018-06-05

Data fusion of different imaging techniques allows a comprehensive description of chemical and biological systems. Yet, joining images acquired with different spectroscopic platforms is complex because of the different sample orientation and image spatial resolution. Whereas matching sample orientation is often solved by performing suitable affine transformations of rotation, translation, and scaling among images, the main difficulty in image fusion is preserving the spatial detail of the highest spatial resolution image during multitechnique image analysis. In this work, a special variant of the unmixing algorithm Multivariate Curve Resolution Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) for incomplete multisets is proposed to provide a solution for this kind of problem. This algorithm allows analyzing simultaneously images collected with different spectroscopic platforms without losing spatial resolution and ensuring spatial coherence among the images treated. The incomplete multiset structure concatenates images of the two platforms at the lowest spatial resolution with the image acquired with the highest spatial resolution. As a result, the constituents of the sample analyzed are defined by a single set of distribution maps, common to all platforms used and with the highest spatial resolution, and their related extended spectral signatures, covering the signals provided by each of the fused techniques. We demonstrate the potential of the new variant of MCR-ALS for multitechnique analysis on three case studies: (i) a model example of MIR and Raman images of pharmaceutical mixture, (ii) FT-IR and Raman images of palatine tonsil tissue, and (iii) mass spectrometry and Raman images of bean tissue.

Assessing the Resolution Adaptability of the Zhang-McFarlane Cumulus Parameterization With Spatial and Temporal Averaging: RESOLUTION ADAPTABILITY OF ZM SCHEME

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

Yun, Yuxing; Fan, Jiwen; Xiao, Heng

Realistic modeling of cumulus convection at fine model resolutions (a few to a few tens of km) is problematic since it requires the cumulus scheme to adapt to higher resolution than they were originally designed for (~100 km). To solve this problem, we implement the spatial averaging method proposed in Xiao et al. (2015) and also propose a temporal averaging method for the large-scale convective available potential energy (CAPE) tendency in the Zhang-McFarlane (ZM) cumulus parameterization. The resolution adaptability of the original ZM scheme, the scheme with spatial averaging, and the scheme with both spatial and temporal averaging at 4-32more » km resolution is assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, by comparing with Cloud Resolving Model (CRM) results. We find that the original ZM scheme has very poor resolution adaptability, with sub-grid convective transport and precipitation increasing significantly as the resolution increases. The spatial averaging method improves the resolution adaptability of the ZM scheme and better conserves the total transport of moist static energy and total precipitation. With the temporal averaging method, the resolution adaptability of the scheme is further improved, with sub-grid convective precipitation becoming smaller than resolved precipitation for resolution higher than 8 km, which is consistent with the results from the CRM simulation. Both the spatial distribution and time series of precipitation are improved with the spatial and temporal averaging methods. The results may be helpful for developing resolution adaptability for other cumulus parameterizations that are based on quasi-equilibrium assumption.« less

Achieving high spatial resolution using a microchannel plate detector with an economic and scalable approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiggins, B. B.; deSouza, Z. O.; Vadas, J.; Alexander, A.; Hudan, S.; deSouza, R. T.

2017-11-01

A second generation position-sensitive microchannel plate detector using the induced signal approach has been realized. This detector is presently capable of measuring the incident position of electrons, photons, or ions. To assess the spatial resolution, the masked detector was illuminated by electrons. The initial, measured spatial resolution of 276 μm FWHM was improved by requiring a minimum signal amplitude on the anode and by employing digital signal processing techniques. The resulting measured spatial resolution of 119 μm FWHM corresponds to an intrinsic resolution of 98 μm FWHM when the effect of the finite slit width is de-convoluted. This measurement is a substantial improvement from the last reported spatial resolution of 466 μm FWHM using the induced signal approach. To understand the factors that limit the measured resolution, the performance of the detector is simulated.

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in clinical CT systems. Part II. Experimental assessment of spatial resolution performance.

PubMed

Li, Ke; Garrett, John; Ge, Yongshuai; Chen, Guang-Hong

2014-07-01

Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) methods have been introduced to clinical CT systems and are being used in some clinical diagnostic applications. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally assess the unique spatial resolution characteristics of this nonlinear reconstruction method and identify its potential impact on the detectabilities and the associated radiation dose levels for specific imaging tasks. The thoracic section of a pediatric phantom was repeatedly scanned 50 or 100 times using a 64-slice clinical CT scanner at four different dose levels [CTDIvol =4, 8, 12, 16 (mGy)]. Both filtered backprojection (FBP) and MBIR (Veo(®), GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were used for image reconstruction and results were compared with one another. Eight test objects in the phantom with contrast levels ranging from 13 to 1710 HU were used to assess spatial resolution. The axial spatial resolution was quantified with the point spread function (PSF), while the z resolution was quantified with the slice sensitivity profile. Both were measured locally on the test objects and in the image domain. The dependence of spatial resolution on contrast and dose levels was studied. The study also features a systematic investigation of the potential trade-off between spatial resolution and locally defined noise and their joint impact on the overall image quality, which was quantified by the image domain-based channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detectability index d'. (1) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR depends on both radiation dose level and image contrast level, whereas it is supposedly independent of these two factors in FBP. The axial spatial resolution of MBIR always improved with an increasing radiation dose level and/or contrast level. (2) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR became equivalent to that of FBP at some transitional contrast level, above which MBIR demonstrated superior spatial resolution than FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.

Compact & Ultra-High Resolution Terahertz Spectroscopic/Fingerprint System

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-11

successfully fusion - spliced with commercial silica fibers for the first time, which makes the whole MOPA system monolithic. Fig. 7 (a) shows the output...QPM-GaP crystals and the proposed THz crystal fiber converters for high power parametric THz source, THz waveguide modeling for high efficiency and...THz spectroscopic/fingerprinting system. We have achieved 0.212 mJ fiber laser pulses with transform-limited linewidth, bonded QPM-GaP crystals and

Design of a Multi-Pinhole Collimator for I-123 DaTscan Imaging on Dual-Headed SPECT Systems in Combination with a Fan-Beam Collimator.

PubMed

King, Michael A; Mukherjee, Joyeeta M; Könik, Arda; Zubal, I George; Dey, Joyoni; Licho, Robert

2016-02-01

For the 2011 FDA approved Parkinson's Disease (PD) SPECT imaging agent I-123 labeled DaTscan, the volume of interest (VOI) is the interior portion of the brain. However imaging of the occipital lobe is also required with PD for calculation of the striatal binding ratio (SBR), a parameter of significance in early diagnosis, differentiation of PD from other disorders with similar clinical presentations, and monitoring progression. Thus we propose the usage of a combination of a multi-pinhole (MPH) collimator on one head of the SPECT system and a fan-beam on the other. The MPH would be designed to provide high resolution and sensitivity for imaging of the interior portion of the brain. The fan-beam collimator would provide lower resolution but complete sampling of the brain addressing data sufficiency and allowing a volume-of-interest to be defined over the occipital lobe for calculation of SBR's. Herein we focus on the design of the MPH component of the combined system. Combined reconstruction will be addressed in a subsequent publication. An analysis of 46 clinical DaTscan studies was performed to provide information to define the VOI, and design of a MPH collimator to image this VOI. The system spatial resolution for the MPH was set to 4.7 mm, which is comparable to that of clinical PET systems, and significantly smaller than that of fan-beam collimators employed in SPECT. With this set, we compared system sensitivities for three aperture array designs, and selected the 3 × 3 array due to it being the highest of the three. The combined sensitivity of the apertures for it was similar to that of an ultra-high resolution fan-beam (LEUHRF) collimator, but smaller than that of a high-resolution fan-beam collimator (LEHRF). On the basis of these results we propose the further exploration of this design through simulations, and the development of combined MPH and fan-beam reconstruction.

Advanced imaging of the macrostructure and microstructure of bone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Genant, H. K.; Gordon, C.; Jiang, Y.; Link, T. M.; Hans, D.; Majumdar, S.; Lang, T. F.

2000-01-01

Noninvasive and/or nondestructive techniques are capable of providing more macro- or microstructural information about bone than standard bone densitometry. Although the latter provides important information about osteoporotic fracture risk, numerous studies indicate that bone strength is only partially explained by bone mineral density. Quantitative assessment of macro- and microstructural features may improve our ability to estimate bone strength. The methods available for quantitatively assessing macrostructure include (besides conventional radiographs) quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and volumetric quantitative computed tomography (vQCT). Methods for assessing microstructure of trabecular bone noninvasively and/or nondestructively include high-resolution computed tomography (hrCT), micro-computed tomography (muCT), high-resolution magnetic resonance (hrMR), and micromagnetic resonance (muMR). vQCT, hrCT and hrMR are generally applicable in vivo; muCT and muMR are principally applicable in vitro. Although considerable progress has been made in the noninvasive and/or nondestructive imaging of the macro- and microstructure of bone, considerable challenges and dilemmas remain. From a technical perspective, the balance between spatial resolution versus sampling size, or between signal-to-noise versus radiation dose or acquisition time, needs further consideration, as do the trade-offs between the complexity and expense of equipment and the availability and accessibility of the methods. The relative merits of in vitro imaging and its ultrahigh resolution but invasiveness versus those of in vivo imaging and its modest resolution but noninvasiveness also deserve careful attention. From a clinical perspective, the challenges for bone imaging include balancing the relative advantages of simple bone densitometry against the more complex architectural features of bone or, similarly, the deeper research requirements against the broader clinical needs. The considerable potential biological differences between the peripheral appendicular skeleton and the central axial skeleton have to be addressed further. Finally, the relative merits of these sophisticated imaging techniques have to be weighed with respect to their applications as diagnostic procedures requiring high accuracy or reliability on one hand and their monitoring applications requiring high precision or reproducibility on the other. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.

a Spiral-Based Downscaling Method for Generating 30 M Time Series Image Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, B.; Chen, J.; Xing, H.; Wu, H.; Zhang, J.

2017-09-01

The spatial detail and updating frequency of land cover data are important factors influencing land surface dynamic monitoring applications in high spatial resolution scale. However, the fragmentized patches and seasonal variable of some land cover types (e. g. small crop field, wetland) make it labor-intensive and difficult in the generation of land cover data. Utilizing the high spatial resolution multi-temporal image data is a possible solution. Unfortunately, the spatial and temporal resolution of available remote sensing data like Landsat or MODIS datasets can hardly satisfy the minimum mapping unit and frequency of current land cover mapping / updating at the same time. The generation of high resolution time series may be a compromise to cover the shortage in land cover updating process. One of popular way is to downscale multi-temporal MODIS data with other high spatial resolution auxiliary data like Landsat. But the usual manner of downscaling pixel based on a window may lead to the underdetermined problem in heterogeneous area, result in the uncertainty of some high spatial resolution pixels. Therefore, the downscaled multi-temporal data can hardly reach high spatial resolution as Landsat data. A spiral based method was introduced to downscale low spatial and high temporal resolution image data to high spatial and high temporal resolution image data. By the way of searching the similar pixels around the adjacent region based on the spiral, the pixel set was made up in the adjacent region pixel by pixel. The underdetermined problem is prevented to a large extent from solving the linear system when adopting the pixel set constructed. With the help of ordinary least squares, the method inverted the endmember values of linear system. The high spatial resolution image was reconstructed on the basis of high spatial resolution class map and the endmember values band by band. Then, the high spatial resolution time series was formed with these high spatial resolution images image by image. Simulated experiment and remote sensing image downscaling experiment were conducted. In simulated experiment, the 30 meters class map dataset Globeland30 was adopted to investigate the effect on avoid the underdetermined problem in downscaling procedure and a comparison between spiral and window was conducted. Further, the MODIS NDVI and Landsat image data was adopted to generate the 30m time series NDVI in remote sensing image downscaling experiment. Simulated experiment results showed that the proposed method had a robust performance in downscaling pixel in heterogeneous region and indicated that it was superior to the traditional window-based methods. The high resolution time series generated may be a benefit to the mapping and updating of land cover data.

Chromatic and Achromatic Spatial Resolution of Local Field Potentials in Awake Cortex.

PubMed

Jansen, Michael; Li, Xiaobing; Lashgari, Reza; Kremkow, Jens; Bereshpolova, Yulia; Swadlow, Harvey A; Zaidi, Qasim; Alonso, Jose-Manuel

2015-10-01

Local field potentials (LFPs) have become an important measure of neuronal population activity in the brain and could provide robust signals to guide the implant of visual cortical prosthesis in the future. However, it remains unclear whether LFPs can detect weak cortical responses (e.g., cortical responses to equiluminant color) and whether they have enough visual spatial resolution to distinguish different chromatic and achromatic stimulus patterns. By recording from awake behaving macaques in primary visual cortex, here we demonstrate that LFPs respond robustly to pure chromatic stimuli and exhibit ∼2.5 times lower spatial resolution for chromatic than achromatic stimulus patterns, a value that resembles the ratio of achromatic/chromatic resolution measured with psychophysical experiments in humans. We also show that, although the spatial resolution of LFP decays with visual eccentricity as is also the case for single neurons, LFPs have higher spatial resolution and show weaker response suppression to low spatial frequencies than spiking multiunit activity. These results indicate that LFP recordings are an excellent approach to measure spatial resolution from local populations of neurons in visual cortex including those responsive to color. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

The spatial resolution of silicon-based electron detectors in beta-autoradiography.

PubMed

Cabello, Jorge; Wells, Kevin

2010-03-21

Thin tissue autoradiography is an imaging modality where ex-vivo tissue sections are placed in direct contact with autoradiographic film. These tissue sections contain a radiolabelled ligand bound to a specific biomolecule under study. This radioligand emits beta - or beta+ particles ionizing silver halide crystals in the film. High spatial resolution autoradiograms are obtained using low energy radioisotopes, such as (3)H where an intrinsic 0.1-1 microm spatial resolution can be achieved. Several digital alternatives have been presented over the past few years to replace conventional film but their spatial resolution has yet to equal film, although silicon-based imaging technologies have demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to conventional film. It will be shown in this work how pixel size is a critical parameter for achieving high spatial resolution for low energy uncollimated beta imaging. In this work we also examine the confounding factors impeding silicon-based technologies with respect to spatial resolution. The study considers charge diffusion in silicon and detector noise, and this is applied to a range of radioisotopes typically used in autoradiography. Finally an optimal detector geometry to obtain the best possible spatial resolution for a specific technology and a specific radioisotope is suggested.

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

Scaduto, DA; Hu, Y-H; Zhao, W

Purpose: Spatial resolution in digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is affected by inherent/binned detector resolution, oblique entry of x-rays, and focal spot size/motion; the limited angular range further limits spatial resolution in the depth-direction. While DBT is being widely adopted clinically, imaging performance metrics and quality control protocols have not been standardized. AAPM Task Group 245 on Tomosynthesis Quality Control has been formed to address this deficiency. Methods: Methods of measuring spatial resolution are evaluated using two prototype quality control phantoms for DBT. Spatial resolution in the detector plane is measured in projection and reconstruction domains using edge-spread function (ESF), point-spreadmore » function (PSF) and modulation transfer function (MTF). Spatial resolution in the depth-direction and effective slice thickness are measured in the reconstruction domain using slice sensitivity profile (SSP) and artifact spread function (ASF). An oversampled PSF in the depth-direction is measured using a 50 µm angulated tungsten wire, from which the MTF is computed. Object-dependent PSF is derived and compared with ASF. Sensitivity of these measurements to phantom positioning, imaging conditions and reconstruction algorithms is evaluated. Results are compared from systems of varying acquisition geometry (9–25 projections over 15–60°). Dependence of measurements on feature size is investigated. Results: Measurements of spatial resolution using PSF and LSF are shown to depend on feature size; depth-direction spatial resolution measurements are shown to similarly depend on feature size for ASF, though deconvolution with an object function removes feature size-dependence. A slanted wire may be used to measure oversampled PSFs, from which MTFs may be computed for both in-plane and depth-direction resolution. Conclusion: Spatial resolution measured using PSF is object-independent with sufficiently small object; MTF is object-independent. Depth-direction spatial resolution may be measured directly using MTF or indirectly using ASF or SSP as surrogate measurements. While MTF is object-independent, it is invalid for nonlinear reconstructions.« less

Spatial and temporal remote sensing data fusion for vegetation monitoring

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The suite of available remote sensing instruments varies widely in terms of sensor characteristics, spatial resolution and acquisition frequency. For example, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides daily global observations at 250m to 1km spatial resolution. While imagery...

Development of a large-area Multigap RPC with adequate spatial resolution for muon tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Wang, Y.; Wang, X.; Zeng, M.; Xie, B.; Han, D.; Lyu, P.; Wang, F.; Li, Y.

2016-11-01

We study the performance of a large-area 2-D Multigap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) designed for muon tomography with high spatial resolution. An efficiency up to 98% and a spatial resolution of around 270 μ m are obtained in cosmic ray and X-ray tests. The performance of the MRPC is also investigated for two working gases: standard gas and pure Freon. The result shows that the MRPC working in pure Freon can provide higher efficiency and better spatial resolution.

Towards 10 meV resolution: The design of an ultrahigh resolution soft X-ray RIXS spectrometer

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

Dvorak, Joseph; Jarrige, Ignace; Bisogni, Valentina

Here we present the optical design of the Centurion soft X-ray resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectrometer to be located on the SIX beamline at NSLS-II. The spectrometer is designed to reach a resolving power of 100 000 at 1000 eV at its best resolution. It is also designed to have continuously variable 2θ motion over a range of 112° using a custom triple rotating flange. We have analyzed several possible spectrometer designs capable of reaching the target resolution. After careful analysis, we have adopted a Hettrick-Underwood spectrometer design, with an additional plane mirror to maintain a fixed direction formore » the outgoing beam. The spectrometer can cancel defocus and coma aberrations at all energies, has an erect focal plane, and minimizes mechanical motions of the detector. When the beamline resolution is accounted for, the net spectral resolution will be 14 meV at 1000 eV. Lastly, this will open up many low energy excitations to study and will expand greatly the power of soft X-ray RIXS.« less

Towards 10 meV resolution: The design of an ultrahigh resolution soft X-ray RIXS spectrometer

DOE PAGES

Dvorak, Joseph; Jarrige, Ignace; Bisogni, Valentina; ...

2016-11-10

Here we present the optical design of the Centurion soft X-ray resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectrometer to be located on the SIX beamline at NSLS-II. The spectrometer is designed to reach a resolving power of 100 000 at 1000 eV at its best resolution. It is also designed to have continuously variable 2θ motion over a range of 112° using a custom triple rotating flange. We have analyzed several possible spectrometer designs capable of reaching the target resolution. After careful analysis, we have adopted a Hettrick-Underwood spectrometer design, with an additional plane mirror to maintain a fixed direction formore » the outgoing beam. The spectrometer can cancel defocus and coma aberrations at all energies, has an erect focal plane, and minimizes mechanical motions of the detector. When the beamline resolution is accounted for, the net spectral resolution will be 14 meV at 1000 eV. Lastly, this will open up many low energy excitations to study and will expand greatly the power of soft X-ray RIXS.« less

Holographic Optical Elements with Ultra-High Spatial Frequencies.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

optical film thickness is equal to one-quarter of the wavelength of the incident radiation and the film’s index of refraction is...Am amount of photoresist material removed by developer N diffractive order number n index of refraction nx index of refraction -- x direction ny index ...since a material with the required index of refraction is usually hard to find4 7 . For example, there is no inorganic material available for

Estimation of Orbital Neutron Detector Spatial Resolution by Systematic Shifting of Differential Topographic Masks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McClanahan, T. P.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Boynton, W. V.; Chin, G.; Livengood, T.; Starr, R. D.; Evans, L. G.; Mazarico, E.; Smith, D. E.

2012-01-01

We present a method and preliminary results related to determining the spatial resolution of orbital neutron detectors using epithermal maps and differential topographic masks. Our technique is similar to coded aperture imaging methods for optimizing photonic signals in telescopes [I]. In that approach photon masks with known spatial patterns in a telescope aperature are used to systematically restrict incoming photons which minimizes interference and enhances photon signal to noise. Three orbital neutron detector systems with different stated spatial resolutions are evaluated. The differing spatial resolutions arise due different orbital altitudes and the use of neutron collimation techniques. 1) The uncollimated Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer (LPNS) system has spatial resolution of 45km FWHM from approx. 30km altitude mission phase [2]. The Lunar Rennaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) with two detectors at 50km altitude evaluated here: 2) the collimated 10km FWHM spatial resolution detector CSETN and 3) LEND's collimated Sensor for Epithermal Neutrons (SETN). Thus providing two orbital altitudes to study factors of: uncollimated vs collimated and two average altitudes for their effect on fields-of-view.

Some effects of finite spatial resolution on skin friction measurements in turbulent boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Westphal, Russell V.

1988-01-01

The effects of finite spatial resolution often cause serious errors in measurements in turbulent boundary layers, with particularly large effects for measurements of fluctuating skin friction and velocities within the sublayer. However, classical analyses of finite spatial resolution effects have generally not accounted for the substantial inhomogeneity and anisotropy of near-wall turbulence. The present study has made use of results from recent computational simulations of wall-bounded turbulent flows to examine spatial resolution effects for measurements made at a wall using both single-sensor probes and those employing two sensing volumes in a V shape. Results are presented to show the effects of finite spatial resolution on a variety of quantitites deduced from the skin friction field.

PEPSI-feed: linking PEPSI to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope using a 450m long fibre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sablowski, D. P.; Weber, M.; Woche, M.; Ilyin, I.; Järvinen, A.; Strassmeier, K. G.; Gabor, P.

2016-07-01

Limited observing time at large telescopes equipped with the most powerful spectrographs makes it almost impossible to gain long and well-sampled time-series observations. Ditto, high-time-resolution observations of bright targets with high signal-to-noise are rare. By pulling an optical fibre of 450m length from the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) to connect the Potsdam Echelle Polarimetric and Spectroscopic Instrument (PEPSI) to the VATT, allows for ultra-high resolution time-series measurements of bright targets. This article presents the fibre-link in detail from the technical point-of-view, demonstrates its performance from first observations, and sketches current applications.

Computer synthesis of high resolution electron micrographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nathan, R.

1976-01-01

Specimen damage, spherical aberration, low contrast and noisy sensors combine to prevent direct atomic viewing in a conventional electron microscope. The paper describes two methods for obtaining ultra-high resolution in biological specimens under the electron microscope. The first method assumes the physical limits of the electron objective lens and uses a series of dark field images of biological crystals to obtain direct information on the phases of the Fourier diffraction maxima; this information is used in an appropriate computer to synthesize a large aperture lens for a 1-A resolution. The second method assumes there is sufficient amplitude scatter from images recorded in focus which can be utilized with a sensitive densitometer and computer contrast stretching to yield fine structure image details. Cancer virus characterization is discussed as an illustrative example. Numerous photographs supplement the text.

Polystyrene negative resist for high-resolution electron beam lithography

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

We studied the exposure behavior of low molecular weight polystyrene as a negative tone electron beam lithography (EBL) resist, with the goal of finding the ultimate achievable resolution. It demonstrated fairly well-defined patterning of a 20-nm period line array and a 15-nm period dot array, which are the densest patterns ever achieved using organic EBL resists. Such dense patterns can be achieved both at 20 and 5 keV beam energies using different developers. In addition to its ultra-high resolution capability, polystyrene is a simple and low-cost resist with easy process control and practically unlimited shelf life. It is also considerably more resistant to dry etching than PMMA. With a low sensitivity, it would find applications where negative resist is desired and throughput is not a major concern. PMID:21749679

Measuring the speed resolution of extensive air showers at the Southern Pierre Auger Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesterling, Kathleen; Sarazin, Fred

2009-10-01

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays induce extensive air showers (EASs) in Earth's atmosphere which are assumed to propagate at the speed of light. The fluorescence detector (FD) at the Southern Pierre Auger Observatory detects the light signal from the EAS and directly measures the energy of the cosmic ray. When two or more FD sites observe an event, the geometry of the shower can be calculated independently of the velocity it is traveling. It is then possible to fit the time profile recorded in the FD using the shower speed as a free parameter. The analysis of a collection of stereo events allowed us to determine with what speed resolution we can measure EASs with sensitivity to subluminal components. Knowing the speed resolution we can look for objects propagating significantly below the speed of light.

In vivo imaging of human labial glands using advanced optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Ozawa, Nobuyoshi; Sumi, Yasunori; Shimozato, Kazuo; Chong, Changho; Kurabayashi, Tohru

2009-09-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has emerged as a high-resolution noninvasive clinical imaging application. The purpose of this study was to show OCT images of human labial glands obtained using a swept-source (SS) OCT system. Labial gland OCT imaging was carried out using our new SS-OCT system for 5 healthy volunteers using a hand-held in vivo OCT scanning probe. The labial tissue was scanned in a superior to inferior direction in 2 and 3 dimensions. The resulting 2- and 3-dimensional ultrahigh-resolution images of in vivo OCT human labial minor salivary glands revealed the epithelium, connective tissue, lobes, and duct. OCT was capable of providing simultaneous and noninvasive structural information with high resolution. This clinical imaging modality promises to have clinical impact in the diagnosis of such conditions as Sjögren syndrome and xerostomia.

Characterization and modelling of the spatially- and spectrally-varying point-spread function in hyperspectral imaging systems for computational correction of axial optical aberrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Špiclin, Žiga; Bürmen, Miran; Pernuš, Franjo; Likar, Boštjan

2012-03-01

Spatial resolution of hyperspectral imaging systems can vary significantly due to axial optical aberrations that originate from wavelength-induced index-of-refraction variations of the imaging optics. For systems that have a broad spectral range, the spatial resolution will vary significantly both with respect to the acquisition wavelength and with respect to the spatial position within each spectral image. Variations of the spatial resolution can be effectively characterized as part of the calibration procedure by a local image-based estimation of the pointspread function (PSF) of the hyperspectral imaging system. The estimated PSF can then be used in the image deconvolution methods to improve the spatial resolution of the spectral images. We estimated the PSFs from the spectral images of a line grid geometric caliber. From individual line segments of the line grid, the PSF was obtained by a non-parametric estimation procedure that used an orthogonal series representation of the PSF. By using the non-parametric estimation procedure, the PSFs were estimated at different spatial positions and at different wavelengths. The variations of the spatial resolution were characterized by the radius and the fullwidth half-maximum of each PSF and by the modulation transfer function, computed from images of USAF1951 resolution target. The estimation and characterization of the PSFs and the image deconvolution based spatial resolution enhancement were tested on images obtained by a hyperspectral imaging system with an acousto-optic tunable filter in the visible spectral range. The results demonstrate that the spatial resolution of the acquired spectral images can be significantly improved using the estimated PSFs and image deconvolution methods.

Evaluating the Value of High Spatial Resolution in National Capacity Expansion Models using ReEDS

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

Krishnan, Venkat; Cole, Wesley

2016-11-14

Power sector capacity expansion models (CEMs) have a broad range of spatial resolutions. This paper uses the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, a long-term national scale electric sector CEM, to evaluate the value of high spatial resolution for CEMs. ReEDS models the United States with 134 load balancing areas (BAs) and captures the variability in existing generation parameters, future technology costs, performance, and resource availability using very high spatial resolution data, especially for wind and solar modeled at 356 resource regions. In this paper we perform planning studies at three different spatial resolutions--native resolution (134 BAs), state-level, and NERCmore » region level--and evaluate how results change under different levels of spatial aggregation in terms of renewable capacity deployment and location, associated transmission builds, and system costs. The results are used to ascertain the value of high geographically resolved models in terms of their impact on relative competitiveness among renewable energy resources.« less

The Analysis of Burrows Recognition Accuracy in XINJIANG'S Pasture Area Based on Uav Visible Images with Different Spatial Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, D.; Zheng, J. H.; Ma, T.; Chen, J. J.; Li, X.

2018-04-01

The rodent disaster is one of the main biological disasters in grassland in northern Xinjiang. The eating and digging behaviors will cause the destruction of ground vegetation, which seriously affected the development of animal husbandry and grassland ecological security. UAV low altitude remote sensing, as an emerging technique with high spatial resolution, can effectively recognize the burrows. However, how to select the appropriate spatial resolution to monitor the calamity of the rodent disaster is the first problem we need to pay attention to. The purpose of this study is to explore the optimal spatial scale on identification of the burrows by evaluating the impact of different spatial resolution for the burrows identification accuracy. In this study, we shoot burrows from different flight heights to obtain visible images of different spatial resolution. Then an object-oriented method is used to identify the caves, and we also evaluate the accuracy of the classification. We found that the highest classification accuracy of holes, the average has reached more than 80 %. At the altitude of 24 m and the spatial resolution of 1cm, the accuracy of the classification is the highest We have created a unique and effective way to identify burrows by using UAVs visible images. We draw the following conclusion: the best spatial resolution of burrows recognition is 1 cm using DJI PHANTOM-3 UAV, and the improvement of spatial resolution does not necessarily lead to the improvement of classification accuracy. This study lays the foundation for future research and can be extended to similar studies elsewhere.

Experimental evaluation and basis function optimization of the spatially variant image-space PSF on the Ingenuity PET/MR scanner

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

Kotasidis, Fotis A., E-mail: Fotis.Kotasidis@unige.ch; Zaidi, Habib; Geneva Neuroscience Centre, Geneva University, CH-1205 Geneva

2014-06-15

Purpose: The Ingenuity time-of-flight (TF) PET/MR is a recently developed hybrid scanner combining the molecular imaging capabilities of PET with the excellent soft tissue contrast of MRI. It is becoming common practice to characterize the system's point spread function (PSF) and understand its variation under spatial transformations to guide clinical studies and potentially use it within resolution recovery image reconstruction algorithms. Furthermore, due to the system's utilization of overlapping and spherical symmetric Kaiser-Bessel basis functions during image reconstruction, its image space PSF and reconstructed spatial resolution could be affected by the selection of the basis function parameters. Hence, a detailedmore » investigation into the multidimensional basis function parameter space is needed to evaluate the impact of these parameters on spatial resolution. Methods: Using an array of 12 × 7 printed point sources, along with a custom made phantom, and with the MR magnet on, the system's spatially variant image-based PSF was characterized in detail. Moreover, basis function parameters were systematically varied during reconstruction (list-mode TF OSEM) to evaluate their impact on the reconstructed resolution and the image space PSF. Following the spatial resolution optimization, phantom, and clinical studies were subsequently reconstructed using representative basis function parameters. Results: Based on the analysis and under standard basis function parameters, the axial and tangential components of the PSF were found to be almost invariant under spatial transformations (∼4 mm) while the radial component varied modestly from 4 to 6.7 mm. Using a systematic investigation into the basis function parameter space, the spatial resolution was found to degrade for basis functions with a large radius and small shape parameter. However, it was found that optimizing the spatial resolution in the reconstructed PET images, while having a good basis function superposition and keeping the image representation error to a minimum, is feasible, with the parameter combination range depending upon the scanner's intrinsic resolution characteristics. Conclusions: Using the printed point source array as a MR compatible methodology for experimentally measuring the scanner's PSF, the system's spatially variant resolution properties were successfully evaluated in image space. Overall the PET subsystem exhibits excellent resolution characteristics mainly due to the fact that the raw data are not under-sampled/rebinned, enabling the spatial resolution to be dictated by the scanner's intrinsic resolution and the image reconstruction parameters. Due to the impact of these parameters on the resolution properties of the reconstructed images, the image space PSF varies both under spatial transformations and due to basis function parameter selection. Nonetheless, for a range of basis function parameters, the image space PSF remains unaffected, with the range depending on the scanner's intrinsic resolution properties.« less

An evaluation of spatial resolution of a prototype proton CT scanner.

PubMed

Plautz, Tia E; Bashkirov, V; Giacometti, V; Hurley, R F; Johnson, R P; Piersimoni, P; Sadrozinski, H F-W; Schulte, R W; Zatserklyaniy, A

2016-12-01

To evaluate the spatial resolution of proton CT using both a prototype proton CT scanner and Monte Carlo simulations. A custom cylindrical edge phantom containing twelve tissue-equivalent inserts with four different compositions at varying radial displacements from the axis of rotation was developed for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a prototype proton CT scanner. Two scans of the phantom, centered on the axis of rotation, were obtained with a 200 MeV, low-intensity proton beam: one scan with steps of 4°, and one scan with the phantom continuously rotating. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations of the phantom scan were performed using scanners idealized to various degrees. The data were reconstructed using an iterative projection method with added total variation superiorization based on individual proton histories. Edge spread functions in the radial and azimuthal directions were obtained using the oversampling technique. These were then used to obtain the modulation transfer functions. The spatial resolution was defined by the 10% value of the modulation transfer function (MTF 10% ) in units of line pairs per centimeter (lp/cm). Data from the simulations were used to better understand the contributions of multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom and the scanner hardware, as well as the effect of discretization of proton location. The radial spatial resolution of the prototype proton CT scanner depends on the total path length, W, of the proton in the phantom, whereas the azimuthal spatial resolution depends both on W and the position, u - , at which the most-likely path uncertainty is evaluated along the path. For protons contributing to radial spatial resolution, W varies with the radial position of the edge, whereas for protons contributing to azimuthal spatial resolution, W is approximately constant. For a pixel size of 0.625 mm, the radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from the fully idealized simulation data ranged between 6.31 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 197 mm i.e., close to the center of the phantom, and 13.79 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 97 mm, near the periphery of the phantom. The azimuthal spatial resolution ranged from 6.99 ± 0.23 lp/cm at u - = 75 mm (near the center) to 11.20 ± 0.26 lp/cm at u - = 20 mm (near the periphery). Multiple Coulomb scattering limits the radial spatial resolution for path lengths greater than approximately 130 mm, and the azimuthal spatial resolution for positions of evaluation greater than approximately 40 mm for W = 199 mm. The radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from data from the 4° stepped experimental scan ranged from 5.11 ± 0.61 lp/cm for W = 197 mm to 8.58 ± 0.50 lp/cm for W = 97 mm. In the azimuthal direction, the spatial resolution ranged from 5.37 ± 0.40 lp/cm at u - = 75 mm to 7.27 ± 0.39 lp/cm at u - = 20 mm. The continuous scan achieved the same spatial resolution as that of the stepped scan. Multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom is the limiting physical factor of the achievable spatial resolution of proton CT; additional loss of spatial resolution in the prototype system is associated with scattering in the proton tracking system and inadequacies of the proton path estimate used in the iterative reconstruction algorithm. Improvement in spatial resolution may be achievable by improving the most likely path estimate by incorporating information about high and low density materials, and by minimizing multiple Coulomb scattering in the proton tracking system.

An evaluation of spatial resolution of a prototype proton CT scanner

PubMed Central

Plautz, Tia E.; Bashkirov, V.; Giacometti, V.; Hurley, R. F.; Piersimoni, P.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Schulte, R. W.; Zatserklyaniy, A.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the spatial resolution of proton CT using both a prototype proton CT scanner and Monte Carlo simulations. Methods: A custom cylindrical edge phantom containing twelve tissue-equivalent inserts with four different compositions at varying radial displacements from the axis of rotation was developed for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a prototype proton CT scanner. Two scans of the phantom, centered on the axis of rotation, were obtained with a 200 MeV, low-intensity proton beam: one scan with steps of 4°, and one scan with the phantom continuously rotating. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations of the phantom scan were performed using scanners idealized to various degrees. The data were reconstructed using an iterative projection method with added total variation superiorization based on individual proton histories. Edge spread functions in the radial and azimuthal directions were obtained using the oversampling technique. These were then used to obtain the modulation transfer functions. The spatial resolution was defined by the 10% value of the modulation transfer function (MTF10%) in units of line pairs per centimeter (lp/cm). Data from the simulations were used to better understand the contributions of multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom and the scanner hardware, as well as the effect of discretization of proton location. Results: The radial spatial resolution of the prototype proton CT scanner depends on the total path length, W, of the proton in the phantom, whereas the azimuthal spatial resolution depends both on W and the position, u−, at which the most-likely path uncertainty is evaluated along the path. For protons contributing to radial spatial resolution, W varies with the radial position of the edge, whereas for protons contributing to azimuthal spatial resolution, W is approximately constant. For a pixel size of 0.625 mm, the radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from the fully idealized simulation data ranged between 6.31 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 197 mm i.e., close to the center of the phantom, and 13.79 ± 0.36 lp/cm for W = 97 mm, near the periphery of the phantom. The azimuthal spatial resolution ranged from 6.99 ± 0.23 lp/cm at u− = 75 mm (near the center) to 11.20 ± 0.26 lp/cm at u− = 20 mm (near the periphery). Multiple Coulomb scattering limits the radial spatial resolution for path lengths greater than approximately 130 mm, and the azimuthal spatial resolution for positions of evaluation greater than approximately 40 mm for W = 199 mm. The radial spatial resolution of the image reconstructed from data from the 4° stepped experimental scan ranged from 5.11 ± 0.61 lp/cm for W = 197 mm to 8.58 ± 0.50 lp/cm for W = 97 mm. In the azimuthal direction, the spatial resolution ranged from 5.37 ± 0.40 lp/cm at u− = 75 mm to 7.27 ± 0.39 lp/cm at u− = 20 mm. The continuous scan achieved the same spatial resolution as that of the stepped scan. Conclusions: Multiple Coulomb scattering in the phantom is the limiting physical factor of the achievable spatial resolution of proton CT; additional loss of spatial resolution in the prototype system is associated with scattering in the proton tracking system and inadequacies of the proton path estimate used in the iterative reconstruction algorithm. Improvement in spatial resolution may be achievable by improving the most likely path estimate by incorporating information about high and low density materials, and by minimizing multiple Coulomb scattering in the proton tracking system. PMID:27908179

Effects of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography on spatial scaling of net primary productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J. M.; Chen, X.; Ju, W.

2013-03-01

Due to the heterogeneous nature of the land surface, spatial scaling is an inevitable issue in the development of land models coupled with low-resolution Earth system models (ESMs) for predicting land-atmosphere interactions and carbon-climate feedbacks. In this study, a simple spatial scaling algorithm is developed to correct errors in net primary productivity (NPP) estimates made at a coarse spatial resolution based on sub-pixel information of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography. An eco-hydrological model BEPS-TerrainLab, which considers both vegetation and topographical effects on the vertical and lateral water flows and the carbon cycle, is used to simulate NPP at 30 m and 1 km resolutions for a 5700 km2 watershed with an elevation range from 518 m to 3767 m in the Qinling Mountain, Shaanxi Province, China. Assuming that the NPP simulated at 30 m resolution represents the reality and that at 1 km resolution is subject to errors due to sub-pixel heterogeneity, a spatial scaling index (SSI) is developed to correct the coarse resolution NPP values pixel by pixel. The agreement between the NPP values at these two resolutions is improved considerably from R2 = 0.782 to R2 = 0.884 after the correction. The mean bias error (MBE) in NPP modeled at the 1 km resolution is reduced from 14.8 g C m-2 yr-1 to 4.8 g C m-2 yr-1 in comparison with NPP modeled at 30 m resolution, where the mean NPP is 668 g C m-2 yr-1. The range of spatial variations of NPP at 30 m resolution is larger than that at 1 km resolution. Land cover fraction is the most important vegetation factor to be considered in NPP spatial scaling, and slope is the most important topographical factor for NPP spatial scaling especially in mountainous areas, because of its influence on the lateral water redistribution, affecting water table, soil moisture and plant growth. Other factors including leaf area index (LAI), elevation and aspect have small and additive effects on improving the spatial scaling between these two resolutions.

Effects of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography on spatial scaling of net primary productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J. M.; Chen, X.; Ju, W.

2013-07-01

Due to the heterogeneous nature of the land surface, spatial scaling is an inevitable issue in the development of land models coupled with low-resolution Earth system models (ESMs) for predicting land-atmosphere interactions and carbon-climate feedbacks. In this study, a simple spatial scaling algorithm is developed to correct errors in net primary productivity (NPP) estimates made at a coarse spatial resolution based on sub-pixel information of vegetation heterogeneity and surface topography. An eco-hydrological model BEPS-TerrainLab, which considers both vegetation and topographical effects on the vertical and lateral water flows and the carbon cycle, is used to simulate NPP at 30 m and 1 km resolutions for a 5700 km2 watershed with an elevation range from 518 m to 3767 m in the Qinling Mountain, Shanxi Province, China. Assuming that the NPP simulated at 30 m resolution represents the reality and that at 1 km resolution is subject to errors due to sub-pixel heterogeneity, a spatial scaling index (SSI) is developed to correct the coarse resolution NPP values pixel by pixel. The agreement between the NPP values at these two resolutions is improved considerably from R2 = 0.782 to R2 = 0.884 after the correction. The mean bias error (MBE) in NPP modelled at the 1 km resolution is reduced from 14.8 g C m-2 yr-1 to 4.8 g C m-2 yr-1 in comparison with NPP modelled at 30 m resolution, where the mean NPP is 668 g C m-2 yr-1. The range of spatial variations of NPP at 30 m resolution is larger than that at 1 km resolution. Land cover fraction is the most important vegetation factor to be considered in NPP spatial scaling, and slope is the most important topographical factor for NPP spatial scaling especially in mountainous areas, because of its influence on the lateral water redistribution, affecting water table, soil moisture and plant growth. Other factors including leaf area index (LAI) and elevation have small and additive effects on improving the spatial scaling between these two resolutions.

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

Li, Ke; Chen, Guang-Hong, E-mail: gchen7@wisc.edu; Garrett, John

Purpose: Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) methods have been introduced to clinical CT systems and are being used in some clinical diagnostic applications. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally assess the unique spatial resolution characteristics of this nonlinear reconstruction method and identify its potential impact on the detectabilities and the associated radiation dose levels for specific imaging tasks. Methods: The thoracic section of a pediatric phantom was repeatedly scanned 50 or 100 times using a 64-slice clinical CT scanner at four different dose levels [CTDI{sub vol} =4, 8, 12, 16 (mGy)]. Both filtered backprojection (FBP) and MBIRmore » (Veo{sup ®}, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were used for image reconstruction and results were compared with one another. Eight test objects in the phantom with contrast levels ranging from 13 to 1710 HU were used to assess spatial resolution. The axial spatial resolution was quantified with the point spread function (PSF), while the z resolution was quantified with the slice sensitivity profile. Both were measured locally on the test objects and in the image domain. The dependence of spatial resolution on contrast and dose levels was studied. The study also features a systematic investigation of the potential trade-off between spatial resolution and locally defined noise and their joint impact on the overall image quality, which was quantified by the image domain-based channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detectability index d′. Results: (1) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR depends on both radiation dose level and image contrast level, whereas it is supposedly independent of these two factors in FBP. The axial spatial resolution of MBIR always improved with an increasing radiation dose level and/or contrast level. (2) The axial spatial resolution of MBIR became equivalent to that of FBP at some transitional contrast level, above which MBIR demonstrated superior spatial resolution than FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Conclusions: Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.« less

Ultrahigh field magnetic resonance and colour Doppler real-time fusion imaging of the orbit--a hybrid tool for assessment of choroidal melanoma.

PubMed

Walter, Uwe; Niendorf, Thoralf; Graessl, Andreas; Rieger, Jan; Krüger, Paul-Christian; Langner, Sönke; Guthoff, Rudolf F; Stachs, Oliver

2014-05-01

A combination of magnetic resonance images with real-time high-resolution ultrasound known as fusion imaging may improve ophthalmologic examination. This study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of orbital high-field magnetic resonance and real-time colour Doppler ultrasound image fusion and navigation. This case study, performed between April and June 2013, included one healthy man (age, 47 years) and two patients (one woman, 57 years; one man, 67 years) with choroidal melanomas. All cases underwent 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging using a custom-made ocular imaging surface coil. The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine volume data set was then loaded into the ultrasound system for manual registration of the live ultrasound image and fusion imaging examination. Data registration, matching and then volume navigation were feasible in all cases. Fusion imaging provided real-time imaging capabilities and high tissue contrast of choroidal tumour and optic nerve. It also allowed adding a real-time colour Doppler signal on magnetic resonance images for assessment of vasculature of tumour and retrobulbar structures. The combination of orbital high-field magnetic resonance and colour Doppler ultrasound image fusion and navigation is feasible. Multimodal fusion imaging promises to foster assessment and monitoring of choroidal melanoma and optic nerve disorders. • Orbital magnetic resonance and colour Doppler ultrasound real-time fusion imaging is feasible • Fusion imaging combines the spatial and temporal resolution advantages of each modality • Magnetic resonance and ultrasound fusion imaging improves assessment of choroidal melanoma vascularisation.

High speed all optical shear wave imaging optical coherence elastography (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Shaozhen; Hsieh, Bao-Yu; Wei, Wei; Shen, Tueng; O'Donnell, Matthew; Wang, Ruikang K.

2016-03-01

Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) is a non-invasive testing modality that maps the mechanical property of soft tissues with high sensitivity and spatial resolution using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PhS-OCT). Shear wave OCE (SW-OCE) is a leading technique that relies on the speed of propagating shear waves to provide a quantitative elastography. Previous shear wave imaging OCT techniques are based on repeated M-B scans, which have several drawbacks such as long acquisition time and repeated wave stimulations. Recent developments of Fourier domain mode-locked high-speed swept-source OCT system has enabled enough speed to perform KHz B-scan rate OCT imaging. Here we propose ultra-high speed, single shot shear wave imaging to capture single-shot transient shear wave propagation to perform SW-OCE. The frame rate of shear wave imaging is 16 kHz, at A-line rate of ~1.62 MHz, which allows the detection of high-frequency shear wave of up to 8 kHz. The shear wave is generated photothermal-acoustically, by ultra-violet pulsed laser, which requires no contact to OCE subjects, while launching high frequency shear waves that carries rich localized elasticity information. The image acquisition and processing can be performed at video-rate, which enables real-time 3D elastography. SW-OCE measurements are demonstrated on tissue-mimicking phantoms and porcine ocular tissue. This approach opens up the feasibility to perform real-time 3D SW-OCE in clinical applications, to obtain high-resolution localized quantitative measurement of tissue biomechanical property.

Development of scanning holographic display using MEMS SLM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takaki, Yasuhiro

2016-10-01

Holography is an ideal three-dimensional (3D) display technique, because it produces 3D images that naturally satisfy human 3D perception including physiological and psychological factors. However, its electronic implementation is quite challenging because ultra-high resolution is required for display devices to provide sufficient screen size and viewing zone. We have developed holographic display techniques to enlarge the screen size and the viewing zone by use of microelectromechanical systems spatial light modulators (MEMS-SLMs). Because MEMS-SLMs can generate hologram patterns at a high frame rate, the time-multiplexing technique is utilized to virtually increase the resolution. Three kinds of scanning systems have been combined with MEMS-SLMs; the screen scanning system, the viewing-zone scanning system, and the 360-degree scanning system. The screen scanning system reduces the hologram size to enlarge the viewing zone and the reduced hologram patterns are scanned on the screen to increase the screen size: the color display system with a screen size of 6.2 in. and a viewing zone angle of 11° was demonstrated. The viewing-zone scanning system increases the screen size and the reduced viewing zone is scanned to enlarge the viewing zone: a screen size of 2.0 in. and a viewing zone angle of 40° were achieved. The two-channel system increased the screen size to 7.4 in. The 360-degree scanning increases the screen size and the reduced viewing zone is scanned circularly: the display system having a flat screen with a diameter of 100 mm was demonstrated, which generates 3D images viewed from any direction around the flat screen.

High-resolution scanning precession electron diffraction: Alignment and spatial resolution.

PubMed

Barnard, Jonathan S; Johnstone, Duncan N; Midgley, Paul A

2017-03-01

Methods are presented for aligning the pivot point of a precessing electron probe in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and for assessing the spatial resolution in scanning precession electron diffraction (SPED) experiments. The alignment procedure is performed entirely in diffraction mode, minimising probe wander within the bright-field (BF) convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) disk and is used to obtain high spatial resolution SPED maps. Through analysis of the power spectra of virtual bright-field images extracted from the SPED data, the precession-induced blur was measured as a function of precession angle. At low precession angles, SPED spatial resolution was limited by electronic noise in the scan coils; whereas at high precession angles SPED spatial resolution was limited by tilt-induced two-fold astigmatism caused by the positive spherical aberration of the probe-forming lens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial resolution properties of motion-compensated tomographic image reconstruction methods.

PubMed

Chun, Se Young; Fessler, Jeffrey A

2012-07-01

Many motion-compensated image reconstruction (MCIR) methods have been proposed to correct for subject motion in medical imaging. MCIR methods incorporate motion models to improve image quality by reducing motion artifacts and noise. This paper analyzes the spatial resolution properties of MCIR methods and shows that nonrigid local motion can lead to nonuniform and anisotropic spatial resolution for conventional quadratic regularizers. This undesirable property is akin to the known effects of interactions between heteroscedastic log-likelihoods (e.g., Poisson likelihood) and quadratic regularizers. This effect may lead to quantification errors in small or narrow structures (such as small lesions or rings) of reconstructed images. This paper proposes novel spatial regularization design methods for three different MCIR methods that account for known nonrigid motion. We develop MCIR regularization designs that provide approximately uniform and isotropic spatial resolution and that match a user-specified target spatial resolution. Two-dimensional PET simulations demonstrate the performance and benefits of the proposed spatial regularization design methods.

Development of a spatio-temporal disaggregation method (DisNDVI) for generating a time series of fine resolution NDVI images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bindhu, V. M.; Narasimhan, B.

2015-03-01

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a key parameter in understanding the vegetation dynamics, has high spatial and temporal variability. However, continuous monitoring of NDVI is not feasible at fine spatial resolution (<60 m) owing to the long revisit time needed by the satellites to acquire the fine spatial resolution data. Further, the study attains significance in the case of humid tropical regions of the earth, where the prevailing atmospheric conditions restrict availability of fine resolution cloud free images at a high temporal frequency. As an alternative to the lack of high resolution images, the current study demonstrates a novel disaggregation method (DisNDVI) which integrates the spatial information from a single fine resolution image and temporal information in terms of crop phenology from time series of coarse resolution images to generate estimates of NDVI at fine spatial and temporal resolution. The phenological variation of the pixels captured at the coarser scale provides the basis for relating the temporal variability of the pixel with the NDVI available at fine resolution. The proposed methodology was tested over a 30 km × 25 km spatially heterogeneous study area located in the south of Tamil Nadu, India. The robustness of the algorithm was assessed by an independent comparison of the disaggregated NDVI and observed NDVI obtained from concurrent Landsat ETM+ imagery. The results showed good spatial agreement across the study area dominated with agriculture and forest pixels, with a root mean square error of 0.05. The validation done at the coarser scale showed that disaggregated NDVI spatially averaged to 240 m compared well with concurrent MODIS NDVI at 240 m (R2 > 0.8). The validation results demonstrate the effectiveness of DisNDVI in improving the spatial and temporal resolution of NDVI images for utility in fine scale hydrological applications such as crop growth monitoring and estimation of evapotranspiration.

How Attention Affects Spatial Resolution

PubMed Central

Carrasco, Marisa; Barbot, Antoine

2015-01-01

We summarize and discuss a series of psychophysical studies on the effects of spatial covert attention on spatial resolution, our ability to discriminate fine patterns. Heightened resolution is beneficial in most, but not all, visual tasks. We show how endogenous attention (voluntary, goal driven) and exogenous attention (involuntary, stimulus driven) affect performance on a variety of tasks mediated by spatial resolution, such as visual search, crowding, acuity, and texture segmentation. Exogenous attention is an automatic mechanism that increases resolution regardless of whether it helps or hinders performance. In contrast, endogenous attention flexibly adjusts resolution to optimize performance according to task demands. We illustrate how psychophysical studies can reveal the underlying mechanisms of these effects and allow us to draw linking hypotheses with known neurophysiological effects of attention. PMID:25948640

Trinary arithmetic and logic unit (TALU) using savart plate and spatial light modulator (SLM) suitable for optical computation in multivalued logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Amal K.; Bhattacharya, Animesh; Raul, Moumita; Basuray, Amitabha

2012-07-01

Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is the most important unit in any computing system. Optical computing is becoming popular day-by-day because of its ultrahigh processing speed and huge data handling capability. Obviously for the fast processing we need the optical TALU compatible with the multivalued logic. In this regard we are communicating the trinary arithmetic and logic unit (TALU) in modified trinary number (MTN) system, which is suitable for the optical computation and other applications in multivalued logic system. Here the savart plate and spatial light modulator (SLM) based optoelectronic circuits have been used to exploit the optical tree architecture (OTA) in optical interconnection network.

Mapping Sargassum beds off, ChonBuri Province, Thailand, using ALOS AVNI2 image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noiraksar, Thidarat; Komatsu, Teruhisa; Sawayama, Shuhei; Phauk, Sophany; Hayashizaki, Ken-ichi

2012-10-01

Sargassum species grow on rocks and dead corals and form dense seaweed beds. Sargassum beds play ecological roles such as CO2 uptake and O2 production through photosynthesis, spawning and nursery grounds of fish, feeding ground for sea urchins and abalones, and substrates for attached animals and plants on leaves and holdfasts. However, increasing human impacts and climate change decrease or degrade Sargassum beds in ASEAN countries. It is necessary to grasp present spatial distributions of this habitat. Thailand, especially its coastal zone along the Gulf of Thailand, is facing degradation of Sargassum beds due to increase in industries and population. JAXA launched non-commercial satellite, ALOS, providing multiband images with ultra-high spatial resolution optical sensors (10 m), AVNIR2. Unfortunately, ALOS has terminated its mission in April 2011. However, JAXA has archived ALOS AVNIR2 images over the world. They are still useful for mapping coastal ecosystems. We examined capability of remote sensing with ALOS AVNIR2 to map Sargassum beds in waters off Sattahip protected area as a natural park in Chon Buri Province, Thailand, threatened by degradation of water quality due to above-mentioned impacts. Ground truth data were obtained in February 2012 by using continual pictures taken by manta tow. Supervised classification could detect Sargassum beds off Sattahip at about 70% user accuracy. It is estimated that error is caused by mixel effect of bottom substrates in a pixel with 10 x 10 m. Our results indicate that ALOS AVNIR2 images are useful for mapping Sargassum beds in Southeast Asia.

Detection of seagrass beds in Khunk Graben Bay, Thailand, using ALOS AVNI2 image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komatsu, Teruhisa; Noiraksar, Thidarat; Sakamoto, Shingo X.; Sawayama, Shuhei; Miyamoto, Hiroomi; Phauk, Sophany; Thongdee, Pornthep; Jualaong, Suthep; Nishida, Shuhei

2012-11-01

Coastal habitats having high productivity provide numerous ecological services such as foods, protection from strong waves through buffering effect, fixation of CO2 through photosynthesis, fostering biodiversity etc. However, increasing human impacts and climate change decrease or degrade coastal habitats. ASEAN region is developing most rapidly in the world. In the developing region, it is necessary to grasp present spatial distributions of habitats as a baseline data with standardized mapping methods. Remote sensing is one of the most effective methods for mapping. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) provides non-commercial satellite images with ultra-high spatial resolution optical sensors (10 m), AVNIR2, similar to LANDSAT TM. Using ALOS AVNIR2 images it may be possible to make habitat map in the region. In Thailand, shrimp ponds cause degradation of coastal ecosystem through cutting mangroves and eutrophicated discharge from ponds. We examined capability of remote sesing with ALOS AVNIR2 to map seagrass beds in Khung Kraben Bay, Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, surrounded by shrimp ponds. We analyzed ALOS AVNIR2 taken on 25 January 2008. Ground truth survey was conducted in October 2010 using side scan sonar and scuba diving. The survey revealed that there were broad seagrass beds consisting of Enhalus acroides. We used a decision tree to detect seagrass beds in the bay with quite turbid seawater coupled with Depth-Invariant Index proposed by Lyzenga (1985) and bottom reflectances. We could succeed to detect seagrass beds. Thus it is concluded that ALOS AVNIR2 is practical to map seagrass beds in this region.

Microgravity

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-07-01

Parvalbumins are found in the muscles, endocrine glands, skin cells, and some neurons of vertebrates, but the role they play for musculature is not yet understood. Researchers are exploring theories of a correlation between parvalbumin concentration levels and the relaxation speed of mammalian muscles after contraction. An ultra-high resolution structure was achieved from samples grown on STS-83 and in July 1997, during STS-94, PCAM produced the largest crystals of pike parvalbumin grown to date. Principal Investigator: Dan Carter of New Century Pharmaceuticals.

Pike Parvalbumin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Parvalbumins are found in the muscles, endocrine glands, skin cells, and some neurons of vertebrates, but the role they play for musculature is not yet understood. Researchers are exploring theories of a correlation between parvalbumin concentration levels and the relaxation speed of mammalian muscles after contraction. An ultra-high resolution structure was achieved from samples grown on STS-83 and in July 1997, during STS-94, PCAM produced the largest crystals of pike parvalbumin grown to date. Principal Investigator: Dan Carter of New Century Pharmaceuticals.

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

Weiss, Paul

Spectroscopic imaging tools and methods, based on scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs), are being developed and applied to examine buried layers and interfaces with ultrahigh resolution. These new methods measure buried contacts, molecule-substrate bonds, buried dipoles in molecular layers, and key structural aspects of adsorbed molecules, such as tilt angles. We are developing the ability to locate lateral projections of molecular parts as a means of determining the structures of molecular layers. We are developing the ability to measure the orientation of buried functionality.

Strain of laser annealed silicon surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemanich, R. J.; Haneman, D.

1982-05-01

High resolution Raman scattering measurements have been carried out on pulse and continuous-wave laser annealed silicon samples with various surface preparations. These included polished and ion-bombarded wafers, and saw-cut crystals. The pulse annealing treatments were carried out in ultrahigh vacuum and in air. The residual strain was inferred from the frequency shift of the first-order Raman active mode of Si, and was detectable in the range 10-2-10-3 in all except the polished samples.

Super-resolution optical microscopy for studying membrane structure and dynamics.

PubMed

Sezgin, Erdinc

2017-07-12

Investigation of cell membrane structure and dynamics requires high spatial and temporal resolution. The spatial resolution of conventional light microscopy is limited due to the diffraction of light. However, recent developments in microscopy enabled us to access the nano-scale regime spatially, thus to elucidate the nanoscopic structures in the cellular membranes. In this review, we will explain the resolution limit, address the working principles of the most commonly used super-resolution microscopy techniques and summarise their recent applications in the biomembrane field.

Novel dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction combined with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry to determine morpholine residues in citrus and apples.

PubMed

Chen, Dawei; Miao, Hong; Zou, Jianhong; Cao, Pei; Ma, Ning; Zhao, Yunfeng; Wu, Yongning

2015-01-21

This paper presents a new analytical method for the determination of morpholine residues in citrus and apples using a novel dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction (DMSPE), followed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). Samples were extracted with 1% formic acid in acetonitrile/water (1:1, v/v) and then cleaned up using the DMSPE procedure. Morpholine from the extract was adsorbed to a polymer cation exchange sorbent and eluted with ammonium hydroxide/acetonitrile (3:97, v/v) through a 1 mL syringe with a 0.22 μm nylon syringe filter. All of the samples were analyzed by UHPLC-HRMS/MS on a Waters Acquity BEH hydrophilic interaction chromatography column using 0.1% formic acid and 4 mM ammonium formate in water/acetonitrile as the mobile phase with gradient elution. The method showed good linearity (R(2) > 0.999) in the range of 1-100 μg/L for the analyte. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation values of morpholine were 2 and 5 μg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries of morpholine from the citrus and apple samples spiked at three different concentrations (5, 20, and 100 μg/kg) were in a range from 78.4 to 102.7%.

Ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid chromatography of lipophilic compounds with application to synthetic and commercial biodiesel.

PubMed

Ashraf-Khorassani, M; Yang, J; Rainville, P; Jones, M D; Fountain, K J; Isaac, G; Taylor, L T

2015-03-01

Ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) in combination with sub-2μm particles and either diode array ultraviolet (UV), evaporative light scattering, (ELSD), or mass spectrometric (MS) detection has been shown to be a valuable technique for the determination of acylglycerols in soybean, corn, sesame, and tobacco seed oils. Excellent resolution on an un-endcapped single C18 column (3.0mm×150mm) with a mobile phase gradient of acetonitrile and carbon dioxide in as little as 10min served greatly as an improvement on first generation packed column SFC instrumentation. Unlike high resolution gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, UHPSFC/MS was determined to be a superior analytical tool for both separation and detection of mono-, di-, and tri-acylglycerols as well as free glycerol itself in biodiesel without derivatization. Baseline separation of residual tri-, di-, and mono-acylglycerols alongside glycerol at 0.05% (w/w) was easily obtained employing packed column SFC. The new analytical methodology was applied to both commercial B100 biodiesel (i.e. fatty acid methyl esters) derived from vegetable oil and to an "in-house" synthetic biodiesel (i.e. fatty acid ethyl esters) derived from tobacco seed oil and ethanol both before and after purification via column chromatography on bare silica. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identification of Mercury and Dissolved Organic Matter Complexes Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry

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

Chen, Hongmei; Johnston, Ryne C.; Mann, Benjamin F.

The chemical speciation and bioavailability of mercury (Hg) is markedly influenced by its complexation with naturally dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic environments. To date, however, analytical methodologies capable of identifying such complexes are scarce. Here in this paper, we utilize ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) coupled with electrospray ionization to identify individual Hg–DOM complexes. The measurements were performed by direct infusion of DOM in a 1:1 methanol:water solution at a Hg to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) molar ratio of 3 × 10 –4. Heteroatomic molecules, especially those containing multiple S and N atoms, weremore » found to be among the most important in forming strong complexes with Hg. Major Hg–DOM complexes of C 10H 21N 2S 4Hg + and C 8H 17N 2S 4Hg + were identified based on both the exact molecular mass and patterns of Hg stable isotope distributions detected by FTICR-MS. Density functional theory was used to predict the solution-phase structures of candidate molecules. Finally, these findings represent the first step to unambiguously identify specific DOM molecules in Hg binding, although future studies are warranted to further optimize and validate the methodology so as to explore detailed molecular compositions and structures of Hg–DOM complexes that affect biological uptake and transformation of Hg in the environment.« less

Identification of Mercury and Dissolved Organic Matter Complexes Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry

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

Chen, Hongmei; Johnston, Ryne C.; Mann, Benjamin F.

The chemical speciation and bioavailability of mercury (Hg) is markedly influenced by its complexation with naturally dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic environments. To date, however, analytical methodologies capable of identifying such complexes are scarce. Here, we utilize ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) coupled with electrospray ionization to identify individual Hg-DOM complexes. The measurements were performed by direct infusion of DOM in a 1:1 methanol:water solution at a Hg to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) molar ratio of 3 × 10 -4. Heteroatomic molecules, especially those containing multiple S and N atoms, were found to bemore » among the most important in forming strong complexes with Hg. Major Hg-DOM complexes of C10H21N2S4Hg+ and C8H17N2S4Hg+ were identified based on both the exact molecular mass and patterns of Hg stable isotope distributions detected by FTICR-MS. Density functional theory was used to predict the solution-phase structures of candidate molecules. These findings represent the first step to unambiguously identify specific DOM molecules in Hg binding, although future studies are warranted to further optimize and validate the methodology so as to explore detailed molecular compositions and structures of Hg-DOM complexes that affect biological uptake and transformation of Hg in the environment.« less

Analytical strategies for controlling polysorbate-based nanomicelles in fruit juice.

PubMed

Krtkova, Veronika; Schulzova, Vera; Lacina, Ondrej; Hrbek, Vojtech; Tomaniova, Monika; Hajslova, Jana

2014-06-01

This study focused on the detection and quantification of organic micelle-type nanoparticles (NPs) with polysorbate components (polysorbate 20 and polysorbate 80) in their micelle shells that could be used to load biologically active compounds into fruit juice. Several advanced analytical techniques were applied in the stepwise method development strategy used. In the first phase, a system consisting of ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography employing a size exclusion column coupled with an evaporative light scattering detector (UHPLC-SEC-ELSD) was used for the fractionation of micelle assemblies from other, lower molecular weight sample components. The limit of detection (LoD) of these polysorbate micelles in spiked apple juice was 500 μg mL(-1). After this screening step, mass spectrometric (MS) detection was utilized to confirm the presence of polysorbates in the detected micelles. Two alternative MS techniques were tested: (i) ambient high-resolution mass spectrometry employing a direct analysis in real time ion source coupled with an Orbitrap MS analyzer (DART-Orbitrap MS) enabled fast and simple detection of the polysorbates present in the samples, with a lowest calibration level (LCL) of 1000 μg mL(-1); (ii) ultrahigh-performance reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRTOF-MS) provided highly selective and sensitive detection and quantification of polysorbates with an LCL of 0.5 μg mL(-1).

Identification of Mercury and Dissolved Organic Matter Complexes Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry

DOE PAGES

Chen, Hongmei; Johnston, Ryne C.; Mann, Benjamin F.; ...

2016-12-22

The chemical speciation and bioavailability of mercury (Hg) is markedly influenced by its complexation with naturally dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic environments. To date, however, analytical methodologies capable of identifying such complexes are scarce. Here in this paper, we utilize ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) coupled with electrospray ionization to identify individual Hg–DOM complexes. The measurements were performed by direct infusion of DOM in a 1:1 methanol:water solution at a Hg to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) molar ratio of 3 × 10 –4. Heteroatomic molecules, especially those containing multiple S and N atoms, weremore » found to be among the most important in forming strong complexes with Hg. Major Hg–DOM complexes of C 10H 21N 2S 4Hg + and C 8H 17N 2S 4Hg + were identified based on both the exact molecular mass and patterns of Hg stable isotope distributions detected by FTICR-MS. Density functional theory was used to predict the solution-phase structures of candidate molecules. Finally, these findings represent the first step to unambiguously identify specific DOM molecules in Hg binding, although future studies are warranted to further optimize and validate the methodology so as to explore detailed molecular compositions and structures of Hg–DOM complexes that affect biological uptake and transformation of Hg in the environment.« less

Ultra-high resolution profiles of macular intra-retinal layer thicknesses and associations with visual field defects in primary open angle glaucoma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qi; Huang, Shenghai; Ma, Qingkai; Lin, Huiling; Pan, Mengmeng; Liu, Xinting; Lu, Fan; Shen, Meixiao

2017-02-01

The structural characteristics of the outer retinal layers in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) are still controversial, and these changes, along with those in the inner retinal layers, could have clinical and/or pathophysiological significance. A custom-built ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) combined with an automated segmentation algorithm can image and measure the eight intra-retinal layers. The purpose of this study is to determine the thickness characteristics of the macular intra-retinal layers, especially the outer layers, in POAG patients. Thirty-four POAG patients (56 eyes) and 33 normal subjects (63 eyes) were enrolled. Thickness profiles of the eight intra-retinal layers along a 6-mm length centred on the fovea at the horizontal and vertical meridians were obtained and the regional thicknesses were compared between two groups. The associations between the thicknesses of each intra-retinal layer and the macular visual field (VF) sensitivity were then analysed. POAG affected not only the inner retinal layers but also the photoreceptor layers and retinal pigment epithelium of the outer retina. However, the VF loss was correlated mainly with the damage of the inner retinal layers. UHR-OCT with automated algorithm is a useful tool in detecting microstructural changes of macula with respect to the progression of glaucoma.

Oligomers, organosulfates, and nitroxy organosulfates in rainwater identified by ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization FT-ICR mass spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altieri, K. E.; Turpin, B. J.; Seitzinger, S. P.

2008-09-01

Wet deposition is an important removal mechanism for atmospheric organic matter, and a potentially important input for receiving ecosystems, yet less than 50% of rainwater organic matter is considered chemically characterized. Precipitation samples collected in New Jersey, USA, were analyzed by negative ion ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Elemental compositions of 552 unique molecular species were determined in the mass range 50 500 Da in the rainwater. Three main groups of organic compounds were identified: compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO) only, sulfur (S) containing CHOS compounds, and S- and nitrogen containing CHONS compounds. Organic acids commonly identified in precipitation were detected, as well as linear alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are persistent pollutants commonly measured in river water, seawater, and sediments, but to our knowledge, not previously documented in atmospheric samples. Within the three main groups of compounds detected in the rainwater, oligomers, organosulfates, and nitroxy-organosulfates were identified. The majority of the compounds identified are products of atmospheric reactions and are known contributors to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from gas phase, aerosol phase, and in-cloud reactions in the atmosphere. It is suggested that the large uncharacterized component of SOA is the main contributor to the large uncharacterized component of rainwater organic matter.

Comparison of alternative spatial resolutions in the application of a spatially distributed biogeochemical model over complex terrain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Turner, D.P.; Dodson, R.; Marks, D.

1996-01-01

Spatially distributed biogeochemical models may be applied over grids at a range of spatial resolutions, however, evaluation of potential errors and loss of information at relatively coarse resolutions is rare. In this study, a georeferenced database at the 1-km spatial resolution was developed to initialize and drive a process-based model (Forest-BGC) of water and carbon balance over a gridded 54976 km2 area covering two river basins in mountainous western Oregon. Corresponding data sets were also prepared at 10-km and 50-km spatial resolutions using commonly employed aggregation schemes. Estimates were made at each grid cell for climate variables including daily solar radiation, air temperature, humidity, and precipitation. The topographic structure, water holding capacity, vegetation type and leaf area index were likewise estimated for initial conditions. The daily time series for the climatic drivers was developed from interpolations of meteorological station data for the water year 1990 (1 October 1989-30 September 1990). Model outputs at the 1-km resolution showed good agreement with observed patterns in runoff and productivity. The ranges for model inputs at the 10-km and 50-km resolutions tended to contract because of the smoothed topography. Estimates for mean evapotranspiration and runoff were relatively insensitive to changing the spatial resolution of the grid whereas estimates of mean annual net primary production varied by 11%. The designation of a vegetation type and leaf area at the 50-km resolution often subsumed significant heterogeneity in vegetation, and this factor accounted for much of the difference in the mean values for the carbon flux variables. Although area wide means for model outputs were generally similar across resolutions, difference maps often revealed large areas of disagreement. Relatively high spatial resolution analyses of biogeochemical cycling are desirable from several perspectives and may be particularly important in the study of the potential impacts of climate change.

The fusion of satellite and UAV data: simulation of high spatial resolution band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenerowicz, Agnieszka; Siok, Katarzyna; Woroszkiewicz, Malgorzata; Orych, Agata

2017-10-01

Remote sensing techniques used in the precision agriculture and farming that apply imagery data obtained with sensors mounted on UAV platforms became more popular in the last few years due to the availability of low- cost UAV platforms and low- cost sensors. Data obtained from low altitudes with low- cost sensors can be characterised by high spatial and radiometric resolution but quite low spectral resolution, therefore the application of imagery data obtained with such technology is quite limited and can be used only for the basic land cover classification. To enrich the spectral resolution of imagery data acquired with low- cost sensors from low altitudes, the authors proposed the fusion of RGB data obtained with UAV platform with multispectral satellite imagery. The fusion is based on the pansharpening process, that aims to integrate the spatial details of the high-resolution panchromatic image with the spectral information of lower resolution multispectral or hyperspectral imagery to obtain multispectral or hyperspectral images with high spatial resolution. The key of pansharpening is to properly estimate the missing spatial details of multispectral images while preserving their spectral properties. In the research, the authors presented the fusion of RGB images (with high spatial resolution) obtained with sensors mounted on low- cost UAV platforms and multispectral satellite imagery with satellite sensors, i.e. Landsat 8 OLI. To perform the fusion of UAV data with satellite imagery, the simulation of the panchromatic bands from RGB data based on the spectral channels linear combination, was conducted. Next, for simulated bands and multispectral satellite images, the Gram-Schmidt pansharpening method was applied. As a result of the fusion, the authors obtained several multispectral images with very high spatial resolution and then analysed the spatial and spectral accuracies of processed images.

Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting based on different-resolution distributed hydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.

2017-12-01

Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting is very important for a distributed hydrological model in the application. There are some challenges including the model's spatial resolution effect, model performance and accuracy and so on. To cope with the challenge of the model's spatial resolution effect, different model resolution including 1000m*1000m, 600m*600m, 500m*500m, 400m*400m, 200m*200m were used to build the distributed hydrological model—Liuxihe model respectively. The purpose is to find which one is the best resolution for Liuxihe model in Large-watershed flood simulation and forecasting. This study sets up a physically based distributed hydrological model for flood forecasting of the Liujiang River basin in south China. Terrain data digital elevation model (DEM), soil type and land use type are downloaded from the website freely. The model parameters are optimized by using an improved Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO) algorithm; And parameter optimization could reduce the parameter uncertainty that exists for physically deriving model parameters. The different model resolution (200m*200m—1000m*1000m ) are proposed for modeling the Liujiang River basin flood with the Liuxihe model in this study. The best model's spatial resolution effect for flood simulation and forecasting is 200m*200m.And with the model's spatial resolution reduction, the model performance and accuracy also become worse and worse. When the model resolution is 1000m*1000m, the flood simulation and forecasting result is the worst, also the river channel divided based on this resolution is differs from the actual one. To keep the model with an acceptable performance, minimum model spatial resolution is needed. The suggested threshold model spatial resolution for modeling the Liujiang River basin flood is a 500m*500m grid cell, but the model spatial resolution with a 200m*200m grid cell is recommended in this study to keep the model at a best performance.

Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications using high-resolution aerial imagery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enwright, Nicholas M.; Jones, William R.; Garber, Adrienne L.; Keller, Matthew J.

2014-01-01

Long-term monitoring efforts often use remote sensing to track trends in habitat or landscape conditions over time. To most appropriately compare observations over time, long-term monitoring efforts strive for consistency in methods. Thus, advances and changes in technology over time can present a challenge. For instance, modern camera technology has led to an increasing availability of very high-resolution imagery (i.e. submetre and metre) and a shift from analogue to digital photography. While numerous studies have shown that image resolution can impact the accuracy of classifications, most of these studies have focused on the impacts of comparing spatial resolution changes greater than 2 m. Thus, a knowledge gap exists on the impacts of minor changes in spatial resolution (i.e. submetre to about 1.5 m) in very high-resolution aerial imagery (i.e. 2 m resolution or less). This study compared the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications of an area dominated by coastal marsh vegetation in Louisiana, USA, using 1:12,000 scale colour-infrared analogue aerial photography (AAP) scanned at four different dot-per-inch resolutions simulating ground sample distances (GSDs) of 0.33, 0.54, 1, and 2 m. Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications was conducted by exploring various spatial aspects of the classifications including density of waterbodies and frequency distributions in waterbody sizes. This study found that a small-magnitude change (1–1.5 m) in spatial resolution had little to no impact on the amount of water classified (i.e. percentage mapped was less than 1.5%), but had a significant impact on the mapping of very small waterbodies (i.e. waterbodies ≤ 250 m2). These findings should interest those using temporal image classifications derived from very high-resolution aerial photography as a component of long-term monitoring programs.

Polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for mass spectrometry imaging using nano-thermal analysis with atomic force microscopy

DOE PAGES

Tai, Tamin; Kertesz, Vilmos; Lin, Ming -Wei; ...

2017-05-11

As the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry imaging technologies has begun to reach into the nanometer regime, finding readily available or easily made resolution reference materials has become particularly challenging for molecular imaging purposes. This study describes the fabrication, characterization and use of vertical line array polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for nano-thermal analysis/atomic force microscopy/mass spectrometry chemical imaging.

Polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for mass spectrometry imaging using nano-thermal analysis with atomic force microscopy

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

Tai, Tamin; Kertesz, Vilmos; Lin, Ming -Wei

As the spatial resolution of mass spectrometry imaging technologies has begun to reach into the nanometer regime, finding readily available or easily made resolution reference materials has become particularly challenging for molecular imaging purposes. This study describes the fabrication, characterization and use of vertical line array polymeric spatial resolution test patterns for nano-thermal analysis/atomic force microscopy/mass spectrometry chemical imaging.

New set of design rules for resonant refractive index sensors enabled by FFT based processing of the measurement data.

PubMed

Gounaridis, Lefteris; Groumas, Panos; Schreuder, Erik; Heideman, Rene; Avramopoulos, Hercules; Kouloumentas, Christos

2016-04-04

It is still a common belief that ultra-high quality-factors (Q-factors) are a prerequisite in optical resonant cavities for high refractive index resolution and low detection limit in biosensing applications. In combination with the ultra-short steps that are necessary when the measurement of the resonance shift relies on the wavelength scanning of a laser source and conventional methods for data processing, the high Q-factor requirement makes these biosensors extremely impractical. In this work we analyze an alternative processing method based on the fast-Fourier transform, and show through Monte-Carlo simulations that improvement by 2-3 orders of magnitude can be achieved in the resolution and the detection limit of the system in the presence of amplitude and spectral noise. More significantly, this improvement is maximum for low Q-factors around 10⁴ and is present also for high intra-cavity losses and large scanning steps making the designs compatible with the low-cost aspect of lab-on-a-chip technology. Using a micro-ring resonator as model cavity and a system design with low Q-factor (10⁴), low amplitude transmission (0.85) and relatively large scanning step (0.25 pm), we show that resolution close to 0.01 pm and detection limit close to 10^-7 RIU can be achieved improving the sensing performance by more than 2 orders of magnitude compared to the performance of systems relying on a simple peak search processing method. The improvement in the limit of detection is present even when the simple method is combined with ultra-high Q-factors and ultra-short scanning steps due to the trade-off between the system resolution and sensitivity. Early experimental results are in agreement with the trends of the numerical studies.

Ultrahigh speed 1050nm swept source / Fourier domain OCT retinal and anterior segment imaging at 100,000 to 400,000 axial scans per second

PubMed Central

Potsaid, Benjamin; Baumann, Bernhard; Huang, David; Barry, Scott; Cable, Alex E.; Schuman, Joel S.; Duker, Jay S.; Fujimoto, James G.

2011-01-01

We demonstrate ultrahigh speed swept source/Fourier domain ophthalmic OCT imaging using a short cavity swept laser at 100,000–400,000 axial scan rates. Several design configurations illustrate tradeoffs in imaging speed, sensitivity, axial resolution, and imaging depth. Variable rate A/D optical clocking is used to acquire linear-in-k OCT fringe data at 100kHz axial scan rate with 5.3um axial resolution in tissue. Fixed rate sampling at 1 GSPS achieves a 7.5mm imaging range in tissue with 6.0um axial resolution at 100kHz axial scan rate. A 200kHz axial scan rate with 5.3um axial resolution over 4mm imaging range is achieved by buffering the laser sweep. Dual spot OCT using two parallel interferometers achieves 400kHz axial scan rate, almost 2X faster than previous 1050nm ophthalmic results and 20X faster than current commercial instruments. Superior sensitivity roll-off performance is shown. Imaging is demonstrated in the human retina and anterior segment. Wide field 12×12mm data sets include the macula and optic nerve head. Small area, high density imaging shows individual cone photoreceptors. The 7.5mm imaging range configuration can show the cornea, iris, and anterior lens in a single image. These improvements in imaging speed and depth range provide important advantages for ophthalmic imaging. The ability to rapidly acquire 3D-OCT data over a wide field of view promises to simplify examination protocols. The ability to image fine structures can provide detailed information on focal pathologies. The large imaging range and improved image penetration at 1050nm wavelengths promises to improve performance for instrumentation which images both the retina and anterior eye. These advantages suggest that swept source OCT at 1050nm wavelengths will play an important role in future ophthalmic instrumentation. PMID:20940894

High density event-related potential data acquisition in cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Slotnick, Scott D

2010-04-16

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is currently the standard method of evaluating brain function in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience, in part because fMRI data acquisition and analysis techniques are readily available. Because fMRI has excellent spatial resolution but poor temporal resolution, this method can only be used to identify the spatial location of brain activity associated with a given cognitive process (and reveals virtually nothing about the time course of brain activity). By contrast, event-related potential (ERP) recording, a method that is used much less frequently than fMRI, has excellent temporal resolution and thus can track rapid temporal modulations in neural activity. Unfortunately, ERPs are under utilized in Cognitive Neuroscience because data acquisition techniques are not readily available and low density ERP recording has poor spatial resolution. In an effort to foster the increased use of ERPs in Cognitive Neuroscience, the present article details key techniques involved in high density ERP data acquisition. Critically, high density ERPs offer the promise of excellent temporal resolution and good spatial resolution (or excellent spatial resolution if coupled with fMRI), which is necessary to capture the spatial-temporal dynamics of human brain function.

Hyperspectral imagery super-resolution by compressive sensing inspired dictionary learning and spatial-spectral regularization.

PubMed

Huang, Wei; Xiao, Liang; Liu, Hongyi; Wei, Zhihui

2015-01-19

Due to the instrumental and imaging optics limitations, it is difficult to acquire high spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery (HSI). Super-resolution (SR) imagery aims at inferring high quality images of a given scene from degraded versions of the same scene. This paper proposes a novel hyperspectral imagery super-resolution (HSI-SR) method via dictionary learning and spatial-spectral regularization. The main contributions of this paper are twofold. First, inspired by the compressive sensing (CS) framework, for learning the high resolution dictionary, we encourage stronger sparsity on image patches and promote smaller coherence between the learned dictionary and sensing matrix. Thus, a sparsity and incoherence restricted dictionary learning method is proposed to achieve higher efficiency sparse representation. Second, a variational regularization model combing a spatial sparsity regularization term and a new local spectral similarity preserving term is proposed to integrate the spectral and spatial-contextual information of the HSI. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively recover spatial information and better preserve spectral information. The high spatial resolution HSI reconstructed by the proposed method outperforms reconstructed results by other well-known methods in terms of both objective measurements and visual evaluation.

Solution-Synthesized Chevron Graphene Nanoribbons Exfoliated onto H:Si(100).

PubMed

Radocea, Adrian; Sun, Tao; Vo, Timothy H; Sinitskii, Alexander; Aluru, Narayana R; Lyding, Joseph W

2017-01-11

There has been tremendous progress in designing and synthesizing graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). The ability to control the width, edge structure, and dopant level with atomic precision has created a large class of accessible electronic landscapes for use in logic applications. One of the major limitations preventing the realization of GNR devices is the difficulty of transferring GNRs onto nonmetallic substrates. In this work, we developed a new approach for clean deposition of solution-synthesized atomically precise chevron GNRs onto H:Si(100) under ultrahigh vacuum. A clean transfer allowed ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to provide high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy and reveal details of the electronic structure of chevron nanoribbons that have not been previously reported. We also demonstrate STM nanomanipulation of GNRs, characterization of multilayer GNR cross-junctions, and STM nanolithography for local depassivation of H:Si(100), which allowed us to probe GNR-Si interactions and revealed a semiconducting-to-metallic transition. The results of STM measurements were shown to be in good agreement with first-principles computational modeling.

Ultrahigh-density sub-10 nm nanowire array formation via surface-controlled phase separation.

PubMed

Tian, Yuan; Mukherjee, Pinaki; Jayaraman, Tanjore V; Xu, Zhanping; Yu, Yongsheng; Tan, Li; Sellmyer, David J; Shield, Jeffrey E

2014-08-13

We present simple, self-assembled, and robust fabrication of ultrahigh density cobalt nanowire arrays. The binary Co-Al and Co-Si systems phase-separate during physical vapor deposition, resulting in Co nanowire arrays with average diameter as small as 4.9 nm and nanowire density on the order of 10(16)/m(2). The nanowire diameters were controlled by moderating the surface diffusivity, which affected the lateral diffusion lengths. High resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that the Co nanowires formed in the face-centered cubic structure. Elemental mapping showed that in both systems the nanowires consisted of Co with undetectable Al or Si and that the matrix consisted of Al with no distinguishable Co in the Co-Al system and a mixture of Si and Co in the Co-Si system. Magnetic measurements clearly indicate anisotropic behavior consistent with shape anisotropy. The dynamics of nanowire growth, simulated using an Ising model, is consistent with the experimental phase and geometry of the nanowires.

Surface Nanocrystallization and Amorphization of Dual-Phase TC11 Titanium Alloys under Laser Induced Ultrahigh Strain-Rate Plastic Deformation

PubMed Central

Luo, Sihai; Zhou, Liucheng; Wang, Xuede; Cao, Xin; Nie, Xiangfan

2018-01-01

As an innovative surface technology for ultrahigh strain-rate plastic deformation, laser shock peening (LSP) was applied to the dual-phase TC11 titanium alloy to fabricate an amorphous and nanocrystalline surface layer at room temperature. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to investigate the microstructural evolution, and the deformation mechanism was discussed. The results showed that a surface nanostructured surface layer was synthesized after LSP treatment with adequate laser parameters. Simultaneously, the behavior of dislocations was also studied for different laser parameters. The rapid slipping, accumulation, annihilation, and rearrangement of dislocations under the laser-induced shock waves contributed greatly to the surface nanocrystallization. In addition, a 10 nm-thick amorphous structure layer was found through HRTEM in the top surface and the formation mechanism was attributed to the local temperature rising to the melting point, followed by its subsequent fast cooling. PMID:29642379

Molecular resolution friction microscopy of Cu phthalocyanine thin films on dolomite (104) in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nita, Paweł; Pimentel, Carlos; Luo, Feng; Milián-Medina, Begoña; Gierschner, Johannes; Pina, Carlos M.; Gnecco, Enrico

2014-06-01

The reliability of ultrathin organic layers as active components for molecular electronic devices depends ultimately on an accurate characterization of the layer morphology and ability to withstand mechanical stresses on the nanoscale. To this end, since the molecular layers need to be electrically decoupled using thick insulating substrates, the use of AFM becomes mandatory. Here, we show how friction force microscopy (FFM) in water allows us to identify the orientation of copper(ii)phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules previously self-assembled on a dolomite (104) mineral surface in ultra-high vacuum. The molecular features observed in the friction images show that the CuPc molecules are stacked in parallel rows with no preferential orientation with respect to the dolomite lattice, while the stacking features resemble well the single CuPc crystal structure. This proves that the substrate induction is low and makes friction force microscopy in water a suitable alternative to more demanding dynamic AFM techniques in ultra-high vacuum.

Molecular resolution friction microscopy of Cu phthalocyanine thin films on dolomite (104) in water.

PubMed

Nita, Paweł; Pimentel, Carlos; Luo, Feng; Milián-Medina, Begoña; Gierschner, Johannes; Pina, Carlos M; Gnecco, Enrico

2014-07-21

The reliability of ultrathin organic layers as active components for molecular electronic devices depends ultimately on an accurate characterization of the layer morphology and ability to withstand mechanical stresses on the nanoscale. To this end, since the molecular layers need to be electrically decoupled using thick insulating substrates, the use of AFM becomes mandatory. Here, we show how friction force microscopy (FFM) in water allows us to identify the orientation of copper(ii)phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules previously self-assembled on a dolomite (104) mineral surface in ultra-high vacuum. The molecular features observed in the friction images show that the CuPc molecules are stacked in parallel rows with no preferential orientation with respect to the dolomite lattice, while the stacking features resemble well the single CuPc crystal structure. This proves that the substrate induction is low and makes friction force microscopy in water a suitable alternative to more demanding dynamic AFM techniques in ultra-high vacuum.

Surface Nanocrystallization and Amorphization of Dual-Phase TC11 Titanium Alloys under Laser Induced Ultrahigh Strain-Rate Plastic Deformation.

PubMed

Luo, Sihai; Zhou, Liucheng; Wang, Xuede; Cao, Xin; Nie, Xiangfan; He, Weifeng

2018-04-06

As an innovative surface technology for ultrahigh strain-rate plastic deformation, laser shock peening (LSP) was applied to the dual-phase TC11 titanium alloy to fabricate an amorphous and nanocrystalline surface layer at room temperature. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to investigate the microstructural evolution, and the deformation mechanism was discussed. The results showed that a surface nanostructured surface layer was synthesized after LSP treatment with adequate laser parameters. Simultaneously, the behavior of dislocations was also studied for different laser parameters. The rapid slipping, accumulation, annihilation, and rearrangement of dislocations under the laser-induced shock waves contributed greatly to the surface nanocrystallization. In addition, a 10 nm-thick amorphous structure layer was found through HRTEM in the top surface and the formation mechanism was attributed to the local temperature rising to the melting point, followed by its subsequent fast cooling.

Pico-Kelvin thermometry and temperature stabilization using a resonant optical cavity.

PubMed

Tan, Si; Wang, Suwen; Saraf, Shailendhar; Lipa, John A

2017-02-20

Ultra-high sensitivity temperature sensing and stable thermal control are crucial for many science experiments testing fundamental theories to high precision. Here we report the first pico-kevin scale thermometer operating at room temperature with an exceptionally low theoretical noise figure of ~70pK/Hz at 1 Hz and a high dynamic range of ~500 K. We have experimentally demonstrated a temperature sensitivity of <3.8nK/Hz at 1 Hz near room temperature, which is an order of magnitude improvement over the state of the art. We have also demonstrated an ultra-high stability thermal control system using this thermometer, achieving 3.7 nK stability at 1 s and ∼ 120 pK at 10⁴ s, which is 10-100 times more stable than the state of the art. With some upgrades to this proof-of-principle device, we can expect it to be used for very high resolution tests of special relativity and in critical point phenomena.

Long range surface plasmon resonance with ultra-high penetration depth for self-referenced sensing and ultra-low detection limit using diverging beam approach

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

Isaacs, Sivan, E-mail: sivan.isaacs@gmail.com; Abdulhalim, Ibrahim; NEW CREATE Programme, School of Materials Science and Engineering, 1 CREATE Way, Research Wing, #02-06/08, Singapore 138602

2015-05-11

Using an insulator-metal-insulator structure with dielectric having refractive index (RI) larger than the analyte, long range surface plasmon (SP) resonance exhibiting ultra-high penetration depth is demonstrated for sensing applications of large bioentities at wavelengths in the visible range. Based on the diverging beam approach in Kretschmann-Raether configuration, one of the SP resonances is shown to shift in response to changes in the analyte RI while the other is fixed; thus, it can be used as a built in reference. The combination of the high sensitivity, high penetration depth and self-reference using the diverging beam approach in which a dark linemore » is detected of the high sensitivity, high penetration depth, self-reference, and the diverging beam approach in which a dark line is detected using large number of camera pixels with a smart algorithm for sub-pixel resolution, a sensor with ultra-low detection limit is demonstrated suitable for large bioentities.« less

An ultrahigh vacuum fast-scanning and variable temperature scanning tunneling microscope for large scale imaging.

PubMed

Diaconescu, Bogdan; Nenchev, Georgi; de la Figuera, Juan; Pohl, Karsten

2007-10-01

We describe the design and performance of a fast-scanning, variable temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating from 80 to 700 K in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV), which routinely achieves large scale atomically resolved imaging of compact metallic surfaces. An efficient in-vacuum vibration isolation and cryogenic system allows for no external vibration isolation of the UHV chamber. The design of the sample holder and STM head permits imaging of the same nanometer-size area of the sample before and after sample preparation outside the STM base. Refractory metal samples are frequently annealed up to 2000 K and their cooldown time from room temperature to 80 K is 15 min. The vertical resolution of the instrument was found to be about 2 pm at room temperature. The coarse motor design allows both translation and rotation of the scanner tube. The total scanning area is about 8 x 8 microm(2). The sample temperature can be adjusted by a few tens of degrees while scanning over the same sample area.

Large-scale three-dimensional phase-field simulations for phase coarsening at ultrahigh volume fraction on high-performance architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Hui; Wang, K. G.; Jones, Jim E.

2016-06-01

A parallel algorithm for large-scale three-dimensional phase-field simulations of phase coarsening is developed and implemented on high-performance architectures. From the large-scale simulations, a new kinetics in phase coarsening in the region of ultrahigh volume fraction is found. The parallel implementation is capable of harnessing the greater computer power available from high-performance architectures. The parallelized code enables increase in three-dimensional simulation system size up to a 5123 grid cube. Through the parallelized code, practical runtime can be achieved for three-dimensional large-scale simulations, and the statistical significance of the results from these high resolution parallel simulations are greatly improved over those obtainable from serial simulations. A detailed performance analysis on speed-up and scalability is presented, showing good scalability which improves with increasing problem size. In addition, a model for prediction of runtime is developed, which shows a good agreement with actual run time from numerical tests.

Enhancing resolution and contrast in second-harmonic generation microscopy using an advanced maximum likelihood estimation restoration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivaguru, Mayandi; Kabir, Mohammad M.; Gartia, Manas Ranjan; Biggs, David S. C.; Sivaguru, Barghav S.; Sivaguru, Vignesh A.; Berent, Zachary T.; Wagoner Johnson, Amy J.; Fried, Glenn A.; Liu, Gang Logan; Sadayappan, Sakthivel; Toussaint, Kimani C.

2017-02-01

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy is a label-free imaging technique to study collagenous materials in extracellular matrix environment with high resolution and contrast. However, like many other microscopy techniques, the actual spatial resolution achievable by SHG microscopy is reduced by out-of-focus blur and optical aberrations that degrade particularly the amplitude of the detectable higher spatial frequencies. Being a two-photon scattering process, it is challenging to define a point spread function (PSF) for the SHG imaging modality. As a result, in comparison with other two-photon imaging systems like two-photon fluorescence, it is difficult to apply any PSF-engineering techniques to enhance the experimental spatial resolution closer to the diffraction limit. Here, we present a method to improve the spatial resolution in SHG microscopy using an advanced maximum likelihood estimation (AdvMLE) algorithm to recover the otherwise degraded higher spatial frequencies in an SHG image. Through adaptation and iteration, the AdvMLE algorithm calculates an improved PSF for an SHG image and enhances the spatial resolution by decreasing the full-width-at-halfmaximum (FWHM) by 20%. Similar results are consistently observed for biological tissues with varying SHG sources, such as gold nanoparticles and collagen in porcine feet tendons. By obtaining an experimental transverse spatial resolution of 400 nm, we show that the AdvMLE algorithm brings the practical spatial resolution closer to the theoretical diffraction limit. Our approach is suitable for adaptation in micro-nano CT and MRI imaging, which has the potential to impact diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.

Ultra-High Aggregate Bandwidth Two-Dimensional Multiple-Wavelength Diode Laser Arrays

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-12-09

during the growth of the cavity spacer region using the fact that the molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaAs is highly sensitive to the substrate... molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) crystal growth, the GaAs growth rate is highly sensitive to the substrate temperature above 650"C (2], a GaAs/AIGaAs... epitaxial growth technique to make reproducible and repeatable multi-wavelength VCSEL arrays. Our approach to fabricate the spatially graded layer

Self-transcendence trait and its relationship with in vivo serotonin transporter availability in brainstem raphe nuclei: An ultra-high resolution PET-MRI study.

PubMed

Kim, Jong-Hoon; Son, Young-Don; Kim, Jeong-Hee; Choi, Eun-Jung; Lee, Sang-Yoon; Joo, Yo-Han; Kim, Young-Bo; Cho, Zang-Hee

2015-12-10

Self-transcendence is an inherent human personality trait relating to the experience of spiritual aspects of the self. We examined the relationship between self-transcendence and serotonin transporter (SERT) availability in brainstem raphe nuclei, which are collections of five different serotonergic nuclei with rostro-caudal extension, using ultra-high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) with (11)C-3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethylphenylthio)benzonitrile ([(11)C]DASB) to elucidate potential roles of serotonergic neuronal activities in this personality trait. Sixteen healthy subjects completed 7.0T MRI and High Resolution Research Tomograph (HRRT) PET. The regions of interest (ROIs) included the dorsal raphe nucleus (R1), median raphe nucleus (R2), raphe pontis (R3), and the caudal raphe nuclei (R4 and R5). For the estimation of SERT availability, the binding potential (BPND) was derived using the simplified reference tissue model (SRTM2). The Temperament and Character Inventory was used to measure self-transcendence. The analysis revealed that the self-transcendence total score had a significant negative correlation with the [(11)C]DASB BPND in the caudal raphe (R5). The subscale score for spiritual acceptance was significantly negatively correlated with the [(11)C]DASB BPND in the median raphe nucleus (R2). The results indicate that the self-transcendence trait is associated with SERT availability in specific raphe subnuclei, suggesting that the serotonin system may serve as an important biological basis for human self-transcendence. Based on the connections of these nuclei with cortico-limbic and visceral autonomic structures, the functional activity of these nuclei and their related neural circuitry may play a crucial role in the manifestation of self-transcendence. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A compact sub-Kelvin ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope with high energy resolution and high stability.

PubMed

Zhang, L; Miyamachi, T; Tomanić, T; Dehm, R; Wulfhekel, W

2011-10-01

We designed a scanning tunneling microscope working at sub-Kelvin temperatures in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) in order to study the magnetic properties on the nanoscale. An entirely homebuilt three-stage cryostat is used to cool down the microscope head. The first stage is cooled with liquid nitrogen, the second stage with liquid (4)He. The third stage uses a closed-cycle Joule-Thomson refrigerator of a cooling power of 1 mW. A base temperature of 930 mK at the microscope head was achieved using expansion of (4)He, which can be reduced to ≈400 mK when using (3)He. The cryostat has a low liquid helium consumption of only 38 ml/h and standing times of up to 280 h. The fast cooling down of the samples (3 h) guarantees high sample throughput. Test experiments with a superconducting tip show a high energy resolution of 0.3 meV when performing scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The vertical stability of the tunnel junction is well below 1 pm (peak to peak) and the electric noise floor of tunneling current is about 6fA/√Hz. Atomic resolution with a tunneling current of 1 pA and 1 mV was achieved on Au(111). The lateral drift of the microscope at stable temperature is below 20 pm/h. A superconducting spilt-coil magnet allows to apply an out-of-plane magnetic field of up to 3 T at the sample surface. The flux vortices of a Nb(110) sample were clearly resolved in a map of differential conductance at 1.1 K and a magnetic field of 0.21 T. The setup is designed for in situ preparation of tip and samples under UHV condition.

Demonstration of Airborne Wide Area Assessment Technologies at Pueblo Precision Bombing Ranges, Colorado. Hyperspectral Imaging, Version 2.0

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-27

the spatial and spectral resolution ...variety of geological and vegetation mapping efforts, the Hymap sensor offered the best available combination of spectral and spatial resolution , signal... The limitations of the technology currently relate to spatial and spectral resolution and geo- correction accuracy. Secondly, HSI datasets

The effect of spatial resolution upon cloud optical property retrievals. I - Optical thickness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feind, Rand E.; Christopher, Sundar A.; Welch, Ronald M.

1992-01-01

High spectral and spatial resolution Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) imagery is used to study the effects of spatial resolution upon fair weather cumulus cloud optical thickness retrievals. As a preprocessing step, a variation of the Gao and Goetz three-band ratio technique is used to discriminate clouds from the background. The combination of the elimination of cloud shadow pixels and using the first derivative of the histogram allows for accurate cloud edge discrimination. The data are progressively degraded from 20 m to 960 m spatial resolution. The results show that retrieved cloud area increases with decreasing spatial resolution. The results also show that there is a monotonic decrease in retrieved cloud optical thickness with decreasing spatial resolution. It is also demonstrated that the use of a single, monospectral reflectance threshold is inadequate for identifying cloud pixels in fair weather cumulus scenes and presumably in any inhomogeneous cloud field. Cloud edges have a distribution of reflectance thresholds. The incorrect identification of cloud edges significantly impacts the accurate retrieval of cloud optical thickness values.

Spatial resolution of a spherical x-ray crystal spectrometer at various magnifications

DOE PAGES

Gao, Lan; Hill, K. W.; Bitter, M.; ...

2016-08-23

Here, a high spatial resolution of a few μm is often required for probing small-scale high-energy-density plasmas using high resolution x-ray imaging spectroscopy. This resolution can be achieved by adjusting system magnification to overcome the inherent limitation of the detector pixel size. Laboratory experiments on investigating the relation between spatial resolution and system magnification for a spherical crystal spectrometer are presented. Tungsten Lβ 2 rays from a tungsten-target micro-focus x-ray tube were diffracted by a Ge 440 crystal, which was spherically bent to a radius of 223 mm, and imaged onto an x-ray CCD with 13-μm pixel size. The source-to-crystalmore » (p) and crystal-to-detector (q) distances were varied to produce spatial magnifications ( M = q/p) ranging from 2 to 10. The inferred instrumental spatial width reduces with increasing system magnification M. However, the experimental measurement at each M is larger than the theoretical value of pixel size divided by M. Future work will focus on investigating possible broadening mechanisms that limit the spatial resolution.« less

Emotional cues enhance the attentional effects on spatial and temporal resolution.

PubMed

Bocanegra, Bruno R; Zeelenberg, René

2011-12-01

In the present study, we demonstrated that the emotional significance of a spatial cue enhances the effect of covert attention on spatial and temporal resolution (i.e., our ability to discriminate small spatial details and fast temporal flicker). Our results indicated that fearful face cues, as compared with neutral face cues, enhanced the attentional benefits in spatial resolution but also enhanced the attentional deficits in temporal resolution. Furthermore, we observed that the overall magnitudes of individuals' attentional effects correlated strongly with the magnitude of the emotion × attention interaction effect. Combined, these findings provide strong support for the idea that emotion enhances the strength of a cue's attentional response.

HESS Opinions: The need for process-based evaluation of large-domain hyper-resolution models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melsen, Lieke A.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Torfs, Paul J. J. F.; Uijlenhoet, Remko; Mizukami, Naoki; Clark, Martyn P.

2016-03-01

A meta-analysis on 192 peer-reviewed articles reporting on applications of the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model in a distributed way reveals that the spatial resolution at which the model is applied has increased over the years, while the calibration and validation time interval has remained unchanged. We argue that the calibration and validation time interval should keep pace with the increase in spatial resolution in order to resolve the processes that are relevant at the applied spatial resolution. We identified six time concepts in hydrological models, which all impact the model results and conclusions. Process-based model evaluation is particularly relevant when models are applied at hyper-resolution, where stakeholders expect credible results both at a high spatial and temporal resolution.

HESS Opinions: The need for process-based evaluation of large-domain hyper-resolution models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melsen, L. A.; Teuling, A. J.; Torfs, P. J. J. F.; Uijlenhoet, R.; Mizukami, N.; Clark, M. P.

2015-12-01

A meta-analysis on 192 peer-reviewed articles reporting applications of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model in a distributed way reveals that the spatial resolution at which the model is applied has increased over the years, while the calibration and validation time interval has remained unchanged. We argue that the calibration and validation time interval should keep pace with the increase in spatial resolution in order to resolve the processes that are relevant at the applied spatial resolution. We identified six time concepts in hydrological models, which all impact the model results and conclusions. Process-based model evaluation is particularly relevant when models are applied at hyper-resolution, where stakeholders expect credible results both at a high spatial and temporal resolution.

Identification and super-resolution imaging of ligand-activated receptor dimers in live cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winckler, Pascale; Lartigue, Lydia; Giannone, Gregory; de Giorgi, Francesca; Ichas, François; Sibarita, Jean-Baptiste; Lounis, Brahim; Cognet, Laurent

2013-08-01

Molecular interactions are key to many chemical and biological processes like protein function. In many signaling processes they occur in sub-cellular areas displaying nanoscale organizations and involving molecular assemblies. The nanometric dimensions and the dynamic nature of the interactions make their investigations complex in live cells. While super-resolution fluorescence microscopies offer live-cell molecular imaging with sub-wavelength resolutions, they lack specificity for distinguishing interacting molecule populations. Here we combine super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) to identify dimers of receptors induced by ligand binding and provide super-resolved images of their membrane distribution in live cells. By developing a two-color universal-Point-Accumulation-In-the-Nanoscale-Topography (uPAINT) method, dimers of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) activated by EGF are studied at ultra-high densities, revealing preferential cell-edge sub-localization. This methodology which is specifically devoted to the study of molecules in interaction, may find other applications in biological systems where understanding of molecular organization is crucial.

Effect of spatial resolution on remote sensing estimation of total evaporation in the uMngeni catchment, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shoko, Cletah; Clark, David; Mengistu, Michael; Dube, Timothy; Bulcock, Hartley

2015-01-01

This study evaluated the effect of two readily available multispectral sensors: the newly launched 30 m spatial resolution Landsat 8 and the long-serving 1000 m moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets in the spatial representation of total evaporation in the heterogeneous uMngeni catchment, South Africa, using the surface energy balance system model. The results showed that sensor spatial resolution plays a critical role in the accurate estimation of energy fluxes and total evaporation across a heterogeneous catchment. Landsat 8 estimates showed better spatial representation of the biophysical parameters and total evaporation for different land cover types, due to the relatively higher spatial resolution compared to the coarse spatial resolution MODIS sensor. Moreover, MODIS failed to capture the spatial variations of total evaporation estimates across the catchment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that MODIS-based total evaporation estimates did not show any significant differences across different land cover types (one-way ANOVA; F1.924=1.412, p=0.186). However, Landsat 8 images yielded significantly different estimates between different land cover types (one-way ANOVA; F1.993=5.185, p<0.001). The validation results showed that Landsat 8 estimates were more comparable to eddy covariance (EC) measurements than the MODIS-based total evaporation estimates. EC measurement on May 23, 2013, was 3.8 mm/day, whereas the Landsat 8 estimate on the same day was 3.6 mm/day, with MODIS showing significantly lower estimates of 2.3 mm/day. The findings of this study underscore the importance of spatial resolution in estimating spatial variations of total evaporation at the catchment scale, thus, they provide critical information on the relevance of the readily available remote sensing products in water resources management in data-scarce environments.

Spatial resolution limits for the isotropic-3D PET detector X’tal cube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Eiji; Tashima, Hideaki; Hirano, Yoshiyuki; Inadama, Naoko; Nishikido, Fumihiko; Murayama, Hideo; Yamaya, Taiga

2013-11-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) has become a popular imaging method in metabolism, neuroscience, and molecular imaging. For dedicated human brain and small animal PET scanners, high spatial resolution is needed to visualize small objects. To improve the spatial resolution, we are developing the X’tal cube, which is our new PET detector to achieve isotropic 3D positioning detectability. We have shown that the X’tal cube can achieve 1 mm3 uniform crystal identification performance with the Anger-type calculation even at the block edges. We plan to develop the X’tal cube with even smaller 3D grids for sub-millimeter crystal identification. In this work, we investigate spatial resolution of a PET scanner based on the X’tal cube using Monte Carlo simulations for predicting resolution performance in smaller 3D grids. For spatial resolution evaluation, a point source emitting 511 keV photons was simulated by GATE for all physical processes involved in emission and interaction of positrons. We simulated two types of animal PET scanners. The first PET scanner had a detector ring 14.6 cm in diameter composed of 18 detectors. The second PET scanner had a detector ring 7.8 cm in diameter composed of 12 detectors. After the GATE simulations, we converted the interacting 3D position information to digitalized positions for realistic segmented crystals. We simulated several X’tal cubes with cubic crystals from (0.5 mm)3 to (2 mm)3 in size. Also, for evaluating the effect of DOI resolution, we simulated several X’tal cubes with crystal thickness from (0.5 mm)3 to (9 mm)3. We showed that sub-millimeter spatial resolution was possible using cubic crystals smaller than (1.0 mm)3 even with the assumed physical processes. Also, the weighted average spatial resolutions of both PET scanners with (0.5 mm)3 cubic crystals were 0.53 mm (14.6 cm ring diameter) and 0.48 mm (7.8 cm ring diameter). For the 7.8 cm ring diameter, spatial resolution with 0.5×0.5×1.0 mm3 crystals was improved 39% relative to the (1 mm)3 cubic crystals. On the other hand, spatial resolution with (0.5 mm)3 cubic crystals was improved 47% relative to the (1 mm)3 cubic crystals. The X’tal cube promises better spatial resolution for the 3D crystal block with isotropic resolution.

Evaluating the Impact of Spatial Resolution of Landsat Predictors on the Accuracy of Biomass Models for Large-area Estimation Across the Eastern USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deo, R. K.; Domke, G. M.; Russell, M.; Woodall, C. W.

2017-12-01

Landsat data have been widely used to support strategic forest inventory and management decisions despite the limited success of passive optical remote sensing for accurate estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB). The archive of publicly available Landsat data, available at 30-m spatial resolutions since 1984, has been a valuable resource for cost-effective large-area estimation of AGB to inform national requirements such as for the US national greenhouse gas inventory (NGHGI). In addition, other optical satellite data such as MODIS imagery of wider spatial coverage and higher temporal resolution are enriching the domain of spatial predictors for regional scale mapping of AGB. Because NGHGIs require national scale AGB information and there are tradeoffs in the prediction accuracy versus operational efficiency of Landsat, this study evaluated the impact of various resolutions of Landsat predictors on the accuracy of regional AGB models across three different sites in the eastern USA: Maine, Pennsylvania-New Jersey, and South Carolina. We used recent national forest inventory (NFI) data with numerous Landsat-derived predictors at ten different spatial resolutions ranging from 30 to 1000 m to understand the optimal spatial resolution of the optical data for enhanced spatial inventory of AGB for NGHGI reporting. Ten generic spatial models at different spatial resolutions were developed for all sites and large-area estimates were evaluated (i) at the county-level against the independent designed-based estimates via the US NFI Evalidator tool and (ii) within a large number of strips ( 1 km wide) predicted via LiDAR metrics at a high spatial resolution. The county-level estimates by the Evalidator and Landsat models were statistically equivalent and produced coefficients of determination (R2) above 0.85 that varied with sites and resolution of predictors. The mean and standard deviation of county-level estimates followed increasing and decreasing trends, respectively, with models of decreasing resolutions. The Landsat-based total AGB estimates within the strips against the total AGB obtained using LiDAR metrics did not differ significantly and were within ±15 Mg/ha for each of the sites. We conclude that the optical satellite data at resolutions up to 1000 m provide acceptable accuracy for the US' NGHGI.

Spatial resolution limitation of liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xinghua; Wang, Bin; McManamon, Paul F., III; Pouch, John J.; Miranda, Felix A.; Anderson, James E.; Bos, Philip J.

2004-10-01

The effect of fringing electric fields in a liquid crystal (LC) Optical Phased Array (OPA), also referred to as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is a governing factor that determines the diffraction efficiency (DE) of the LC OPA for high resolution spatial phase modulation. In this article, the fringing field effect in a high resolution LC OPA is studied by accurate modeling the DE of the LC blazed gratings by LC director simulation and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation. Influence factors that contribute significantly to the DE are discussed. Such results provide fundamental understanding for high resolution LC devices.

Impacts of spatial resolution and representation of flow connectivity on large-scale simulation of floods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mateo, Cherry May R.; Yamazaki, Dai; Kim, Hyungjun; Champathong, Adisorn; Vaze, Jai; Oki, Taikan

2017-10-01

Global-scale river models (GRMs) are core tools for providing consistent estimates of global flood hazard, especially in data-scarce regions. Due to former limitations in computational power and input datasets, most GRMs have been developed to use simplified representations of flow physics and run at coarse spatial resolutions. With increasing computational power and improved datasets, the application of GRMs to finer resolutions is becoming a reality. To support development in this direction, the suitability of GRMs for application to finer resolutions needs to be assessed. This study investigates the impacts of spatial resolution and flow connectivity representation on the predictive capability of a GRM, CaMa-Flood, in simulating the 2011 extreme flood in Thailand. Analyses show that when single downstream connectivity (SDC) is assumed, simulation results deteriorate with finer spatial resolution; Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients decreased by more than 50 % between simulation results at 10 km resolution and 1 km resolution. When multiple downstream connectivity (MDC) is represented, simulation results slightly improve with finer spatial resolution. The SDC simulations result in excessive backflows on very flat floodplains due to the restrictive flow directions at finer resolutions. MDC channels attenuated these effects by maintaining flow connectivity and flow capacity between floodplains in varying spatial resolutions. While a regional-scale flood was chosen as a test case, these findings should be universal and may have significant impacts on large- to global-scale simulations, especially in regions where mega deltas exist.These results demonstrate that a GRM can be used for higher resolution simulations of large-scale floods, provided that MDC in rivers and floodplains is adequately represented in the model structure.

A technique for enhancing and matching the resolution of microwave measurements from the SSM/I instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Wayne D.; Kummerrow, Christian; Olson, William S.

1992-01-01

A correction technique is presented for matching the resolution of all the frequencies of the satelliteborne Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) to the about-25-km spatial resolution of the 37-GHz channel. This entails, on the one hand, the enhancement of the spatial resolution of the 19- and 22-GHz channels, and on the other, the degrading of that of the 85-GHz channel. The Backus and Gilbert (1970) approach is found to yield sufficient spatial resolution to render such a correction worthwhile.

High spatial resolution distributed optical fiber dynamic strain sensor with enhanced frequency and strain resolution.

PubMed

Masoudi, Ali; Newson, Trevor P

2017-01-15

A distributed optical fiber dynamic strain sensor with high spatial and frequency resolution is demonstrated. The sensor, which uses the ϕ-OTDR interrogation technique, exhibited a higher sensitivity thanks to an improved optical arrangement and a new signal processing procedure. The proposed sensing system is capable of fully quantifying multiple dynamic perturbations along a 5 km long sensing fiber with a frequency and spatial resolution of 5 Hz and 50 cm, respectively. The strain resolution of the sensor was measured to be 40 nε.

Magnetic Microcalorimeters with Ultra-High Energy Resolution (FY17 Q2 report)

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

Friedrich, S.; Ramos, Chris

We will continue to characterize the Ag:Er MMC in detail to compare it with existing models and understand its limiting performance, both in New Mexico and at LLNL. For best resolution, it will be important to reduce external electromagnetic interference and ensure good thermal coupling to the cryostat. Improved resolution will be important for our presentations at the LTD-17 conference in Japan in Q3. We have also hired Cameron Flynn, a junior in physics at the university of New Hampshire, as a summer student to work on the MMC detector project. If he turns out to be as smart andmore » as strong in the lab as his letters of recommendation and his interview performance suggests, we will try to attract him into one of the bay area universities for his Ph.D. and recruit him to LLNL for his thesis research.« less

SI: The Stellar Imager

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, Kenneth G.; Schrijver, Carolus J.; Karovska, Margarita

2006-01-01

The ultra-sharp images of the Stellar Imager (SI) will revolutionize our view of many dynamic astrophysical processes: The 0.1 milliarcsec resolution of this deep-space telescope will transform point sources into extended sources, and simple snapshots into spellbinding evolving views. SI s science focuses on the role of magnetism in the Universe, particularly on magnetic activity on the surfaces of stars like the Sun. SI s prime goal is to enable long-term forecasting of solar activity and the space weather that it drives in support of the Living With a Star program in the Exploration Era by imaging a sample of magnetically active stars with enough resolution to map their evolving dynamo patterns and their internal flows. By exploring the Universe at ultra-high resolution, SI will also revolutionize our understanding of the formation of planetary systems, of the habitability and climatology of distant planets, and of many magnetohydrodynamically controlled structures and processes in the Universe.

High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission study of electronic structure and charge-density wave formation in HoTe3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Guodong; Wang, Chenlu; Zhang, Yan; Hu, Bingfeng; Mou, Daixiang; Yu, Li; Zhao, Lin; Zhou, Xingjiang; Wang, Nanlin; Chen, Chuangtian; Xu, Zuyan

We performed high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurement on high quality crystal of HoTe3, an intriguing quasi-two-dimensional rare-earth-element tritelluride charge-density-wave (CDW) compound. The main features of the electronic structure in this compound are established by employing a quasi-CW laser (7eV) and a helium discharging lamp (21.22 eV) as excitation light sources. It reveals many bands back folded according to the CDW periodicity and two incommensurate CDW gaps created by perpendicular Fermi surface (FS) nesting vectors. A large gap is found to open in well nested regions of the Fermi surface sheets, whereas other Fermi surface sections with poor nesting remain ungapped. In particular, some peculiar features are identified by using our ultra-high resolution and bulk sensitive laser-ARPES.

Study of satellite retrieved aerosol optical depth spatial resolution effect on particulate matter concentration prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strandgren, J.; Mei, L.; Vountas, M.; Burrows, J. P.; Lyapustin, A.; Wang, Y.

2014-10-01

The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) spatial resolution effect is investigated for the linear correlation between satellite retrieved AOD and ground level particulate matter concentrations (PM2.5). The Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm was developed for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for obtaining AOD with a high spatial resolution of 1 km and provides a good dataset for the study of the AOD spatial resolution effect on the particulate matter concentration prediction. 946 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground monitoring stations across the contiguous US have been used to investigate the linear correlation between AOD and PM2.5 using AOD at different spatial resolutions (1, 3 and 10 km) and for different spatial scales (urban scale, meso-scale and continental scale). The main conclusions are: (1) for both urban, meso- and continental scale the correlation between PM2.5 and AOD increased significantly with increasing spatial resolution of the AOD, (2) the correlation between AOD and PM2.5 decreased significantly as the scale of study region increased for the eastern part of the US while vice versa for the western part of the US, (3) the correlation between PM2.5 and AOD is much more stable and better over the eastern part of the US compared to western part due to the surface characteristics and atmospheric conditions like the fine mode fraction.

Employing temporal self-similarity across the entire time domain in computed tomography reconstruction

PubMed Central

Kazantsev, D.; Van Eyndhoven, G.; Lionheart, W. R. B.; Withers, P. J.; Dobson, K. J.; McDonald, S. A.; Atwood, R.; Lee, P. D.

2015-01-01

There are many cases where one needs to limit the X-ray dose, or the number of projections, or both, for high frame rate (fast) imaging. Normally, it improves temporal resolution but reduces the spatial resolution of the reconstructed data. Fortunately, the redundancy of information in the temporal domain can be employed to improve spatial resolution. In this paper, we propose a novel regularizer for iterative reconstruction of time-lapse computed tomography. The non-local penalty term is driven by the available prior information and employs all available temporal data to improve the spatial resolution of each individual time frame. A high-resolution prior image from the same or a different imaging modality is used to enhance edges which remain stationary throughout the acquisition time while dynamic features tend to be regularized spatially. Effective computational performance together with robust improvement in spatial and temporal resolution makes the proposed method a competitive tool to state-of-the-art techniques. PMID:25939621

New ultra-high resolution dye laser spectrometer utilizing a non-tunable reference resonator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helmcke, J.; Snyder, J. J.; Morinaga, A.; Mensing, F.; Gläser, M.

1987-06-01

A new dye laser spectrometer utilizing a non-tunable reference resonator is described. The resonator consists of two Zerodur mirrors optically contacted to a Zerodur spacer. Frequency scanning of the laser is provided by acoustooptic modulation. Residual drifts of the resonator frequency — measured on line — are compensated automatically by corresponding corrections of the modulation frequency. The stability during several hours and the resettability of the dye laser frequency are±2.5 kHz and±10 kHz, respectively.

Comb-referenced ultra-high sensitivity spectroscopic molecular detection by compact non-linear sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cancio, P.; Gagliardi, G.; Galli, I.; Giusfredi, G.; Maddaloni, P.; Malara, P.; Mazzotti, D.; De Natale, P.

2017-11-01

We present a new generation of compact and rugged mid-infrared (MIR) difference-frequency coherent radiation sources referenced to fiber-based optical frequency comb synthesizers (OFCSs). By coupling the MIR radiation to high-finesse optical cavities, high-resolution and high-sensitivity spectroscopy is demonstrated for CH4 and CO2 around 3.3 and 4.5 μm respectively. Finally, the most effective detection schemes for space-craft trace-gas monitoring applications are singled out.

Jammed-array wideband sawtooth filter.

PubMed

Tan, Zhongwei; Wang, Chao; Goda, Keisuke; Malik, Omer; Jalali, Bahram

2011-11-21

We present an all-optical passive low-cost spectral filter that exhibits a high-resolution periodic sawtooth spectral pattern without the need for active optoelectronic components. The principle of the filter is the partial masking of a phased array of virtual light sources with multiply jammed diffraction orders. We utilize the filter's periodic linear map between frequency and intensity to demonstrate fast sensitive interrogation of fiber Bragg grating sensor arrays and ultrahigh-frequency electrical sawtooth waveform generation. © 2011 Optical Society of America

A time-of-flight system for the external target facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xue-Heng; Yu, Yu-Hong; Sun, Zhi-Yu; Mao, Rui-Shi; Wang, Shi-Tao; Zhou, Yong; Yan, Duo; Liu, Long-Xiang

2013-05-01

A time-of-flight system with a plastic scintillator coupled to photomultipliers is developed for the external target facility (ETF). This system can satisfy the requirement of an ultrahigh vacuum (~10-9 mbar), a high counting rate (~106 particles per second) and a magnetic field environment. In the beam test experiment, a total time resolution of 580 ps FWHM was obtained for the whole system, and nuclei with a mass of up to 80 could be identified using this system.

Change of spatial information under rescaling: A case study using multi-resolution image series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weirong; Henebry, Geoffrey M.

Spatial structure in imagery depends on a complicated interaction between the observational regime and the types and arrangements of entities within the scene that the image portrays. Although block averaging of pixels has commonly been used to simulate coarser resolution imagery, relatively little attention has been focused on the effects of simple rescaling on spatial structure and the explanation and a possible solution to the problem. Yet, if there are significant differences in spatial variance between rescaled and observed images, it may affect the reliability of retrieved biogeophysical quantities. To investigate these issues, a nested series of high spatial resolution digital imagery was collected at a research site in eastern Nebraska in 2001. An airborne Kodak DCS420IR camera acquired imagery at three altitudes, yielding nominal spatial resolutions ranging from 0.187 m to 1 m. The red and near infrared (NIR) bands of the co-registered image series were normalized using pseudo-invariant features, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated. Plots of grain sorghum planted in orthogonal crop row orientations were extracted from the image series. The finest spatial resolution data were then rescaled by averaging blocks of pixels to produce a rescaled image series that closely matched the spatial resolution of the observed image series. Spatial structures of the observed and rescaled image series were characterized using semivariogram analysis. Results for NDVI and its component bands show, as expected, that decreasing spatial resolution leads to decreasing spatial variability and increasing spatial dependence. However, compared to the observed data, the rescaled images contain more persistent spatial structure that exhibits limited variation in both spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity. Rescaling via simple block averaging fails to consider the effect of scene object shape and extent on spatial information. As the features portrayed by pixels are equally weighted regardless of the shape and extent of the underlying scene objects, the rescaled image retains more of the original spatial information than would occur through direct observation at a coarser sensor spatial resolution. In contrast, for the observed images, due to the effect of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the imaging system, high frequency features like edges are blurred or lost as the pixel size increases, resulting in greater variation in spatial structure. Successive applications of a low-pass spatial convolution filter are shown to mimic a MTF. Accordingly, it is recommended that such a procedure be applied prior to rescaling by simple block averaging, if insufficient image metadata exist to replicate the net MTF of the imaging system, as might be expected in land cover change analysis studies using historical imagery.

“Ultra-high resolution optical trap with single fluorophore sensitivity”

PubMed Central

Comstock, Matthew J; Ha, Taekjip; Chemla, Yann R

2013-01-01

We present a single-molecule instrument that combines a timeshared ultra-high resolution dual optical trap interlaced with a confocal fluorescence microscope. In a demonstration experiment, individual single-fluorophore labeled DNA oligonucleotides were observed to bind and unbind to complementary DNA suspended between two trapped beads. Simultaneous with the single-fluorophore detection, coincident angstrom-scale changes in tether extension could be clearly observed. Fluorescence readout allowed us to determine the duplex melting rate as a function of force. The new instrument will enable the simultaneous measurement of angstrom-scale mechanical motion of individual DNA-binding proteins (e.g., single base pair stepping of DNA translocases) along with the detection of fluorescently labeled protein properties (e.g., internal configuration). PMID:21336286

Precision mechanical structure of an ultra-high-resolution spectrometer for inelastic X-ray scattering instrument

DOEpatents

Shu, Deming; Shvydko, Yuri; Stoupin, Stanislav A.; Khachatryan, Ruben; Goetze, Kurt A.; Roberts, Timothy

2015-04-14

A method and an ultrahigh-resolution spectrometer including a precision mechanical structure for positioning inelastic X-ray scattering optics are provided. The spectrometer includes an X-ray monochromator and an X-ray analyzer, each including X-ray optics of a collimating (C) crystal, a pair of dispersing (D) element crystals, anomalous transmission filter (F) and a wavelength (W) selector crystal. A respective precision mechanical structure is provided with the X-ray monochromator and the X-ray analyzer. The precision mechanical structure includes a base plate, such as an aluminum base plate; positioning stages for D-crystal alignment; positioning stages with an incline sensor for C/F/W-crystal alignment, and the positioning stages including flexure-based high-stiffness structure.

Satellite image fusion based on principal component analysis and high-pass filtering.

PubMed

Metwalli, Mohamed R; Nasr, Ayman H; Allah, Osama S Farag; El-Rabaie, S; Abd El-Samie, Fathi E

2010-06-01

This paper presents an integrated method for the fusion of satellite images. Several commercial earth observation satellites carry dual-resolution sensors, which provide high spatial resolution or simply high-resolution (HR) panchromatic (pan) images and low-resolution (LR) multi-spectral (MS) images. Image fusion methods are therefore required to integrate a high-spectral-resolution MS image with a high-spatial-resolution pan image to produce a pan-sharpened image with high spectral and spatial resolutions. Some image fusion methods such as the intensity, hue, and saturation (IHS) method, the principal component analysis (PCA) method, and the Brovey transform (BT) method provide HR MS images, but with low spectral quality. Another family of image fusion methods, such as the high-pass-filtering (HPF) method, operates on the basis of the injection of high frequency components from the HR pan image into the MS image. This family of methods provides less spectral distortion. In this paper, we propose the integration of the PCA method and the HPF method to provide a pan-sharpened MS image with superior spatial resolution and less spectral distortion. The experimental results show that the proposed fusion method retains the spectral characteristics of the MS image and, at the same time, improves the spatial resolution of the pan-sharpened image.

High-Spatial and High-Mass Resolution Imaging of Surface Metabolites of Arabidopsis thaliana by Laser Desorption-Ionization Mass Spectrometry Using Colloidal Silver

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

Jun, Ji Hyun; Song, Zhihong; Liu, Zhenjiu

High-spatial resolution and high-mass resolution techniques are developed and adopted for the mass spectrometric imaging of epicuticular lipids on the surface of Arabidopsis thaliana. Single cell level spatial resolution of {approx}12 {micro}m was achieved by reducing the laser beam size by using an optical fiber with 25 {micro}m core diameter in a vacuum matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-linear ion trap (vMALDI-LTQ) mass spectrometer and improved matrix application using an oscillating capillary nebulizer. Fine chemical images of a whole flower were visualized in this high spatial resolution showing substructure of an anther and single pollen grains at the stigma and anthers. Themore » LTQ-Orbitrap with a MALDI ion source was adopted to achieve MS imaging in high mass resolution. Specifically, isobaric silver ion adducts of C29 alkane (m/z 515.3741) and C28 aldehyde (m/z 515.3377), indistinguishable in low-resolution LTQ, can now be clearly distinguished and their chemical images could be separately constructed. In the application to roots, the high spatial resolution allowed molecular MS imaging of secondary roots and the high mass resolution allowed direct identification of lipid metabolites on root surfaces.« less

The spatial resolution of a rotating gamma camera tomographic facility.

PubMed

Webb, S; Flower, M A; Ott, R J; Leach, M O; Inamdar, R

1983-12-01

An important feature determining the spatial resolution in transverse sections reconstructed by convolution and back-projection is the frequency filter corresponding to the convolution kernel. Equations have been derived giving the theoretical spatial resolution, for a perfect detector and noise-free data, using four filter functions. Experiments have shown that physical constraints will always limit the resolution that can be achieved with a given system. The experiments indicate that the region of the frequency spectrum between KN/2 and KN where KN is the Nyquist frequency does not contribute significantly to resolution. In order to investigate the physical effect of these filter functions, the spatial resolution of reconstructed images obtained with a GE 400T rotating gamma camera has been measured. The results obtained serve as an aid to choosing appropriate reconstruction filters for use with a rotating gamma camera system.

A high time and spatial resolution MRPC designed for muon tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, L.; Wang, Y.; Huang, X.; Wang, X.; Zhu, W.; Li, Y.; Cheng, J.

2014-12-01

A prototype of cosmic muon scattering tomography system has been set up in Tsinghua University in Beijing. Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) is used in the system to get the muon tracks. Compared with other detectors, MRPC can not only provide the track but also the Time of Flight (ToF) between two detectors which can estimate the energy of particles. To get a more accurate track and higher efficiency of the tomography system, a new type of high time and two-dimensional spatial resolution MRPC has been developed. A series of experiments have been done to measure the efficiency, time resolution and spatial resolution. The results show that the efficiency can reach 95% and its time resolution is around 65 ps. The cluster size is around 4 and the spatial resolution can reach 200 μ m.

150-μm Spatial Resolution Using Photon-Counting Detector Computed Tomography Technology: Technical Performance and First Patient Images.

PubMed

Leng, Shuai; Rajendran, Kishore; Gong, Hao; Zhou, Wei; Halaweish, Ahmed F; Henning, Andre; Kappler, Steffen; Baer, Matthias; Fletcher, Joel G; McCollough, Cynthia H

2018-05-28

The aims of this study were to quantitatively assess two new scan modes on a photon-counting detector computed tomography system, each designed to maximize spatial resolution, and to qualitatively demonstrate potential clinical impact using patient data. This Health Insurance Portability Act-compliant study was approved by our institutional review board. Two high-spatial-resolution scan modes (Sharp and UHR) were evaluated using phantoms to quantify spatial resolution and image noise, and results were compared with the standard mode (Macro). Patients were scanned using a conventional energy-integrating detector scanner and the photon-counting detector scanner using the same radiation dose. In first patient images, anatomic details were qualitatively evaluated to demonstrate potential clinical impact. Sharp and UHR modes had a 69% and 87% improvement in in-plane spatial resolution, respectively, compared with Macro mode (10% modulation-translation-function values of 16.05, 17.69, and 9.48 lp/cm, respectively). The cutoff spatial frequency of the UHR mode (32.4 lp/cm) corresponded to a limiting spatial resolution of 150 μm. The full-width-at-half-maximum values of the section sensitivity profiles were 0.41, 0.44, and 0.67 mm for the thinnest image thickness for each mode (0.25, 0.25, and 0.5 mm, respectively). At the same in-plane spatial resolution, Sharp and UHR images had up to 15% lower noise than Macro images. Patient images acquired in Sharp mode demonstrated better delineation of fine anatomic structures compared with Macro mode images. Phantom studies demonstrated superior resolution and noise properties for the Sharp and UHR modes relative to the standard Macro mode and patient images demonstrated the potential benefit of these scan modes for clinical practice.

The Analytical Limits of Modeling Short Diffusion Timescales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradshaw, R. W.; Kent, A. J.

2016-12-01

Chemical and isotopic zoning in minerals is widely used to constrain the timescales of magmatic processes such as magma mixing and crystal residence, etc. via diffusion modeling. Forward modeling of diffusion relies on fitting diffusion profiles to measured compositional gradients. However, an individual measurement is essentially an average composition for a segment of the gradient defined by the spatial resolution of the analysis. Thus there is the potential for the analytical spatial resolution to limit the timescales that can be determined for an element of given diffusivity, particularly where the scale of the gradient approaches that of the measurement. Here we use a probabilistic modeling approach to investigate the effect of analytical spatial resolution on estimated timescales from diffusion modeling. Our method investigates how accurately the age of a synthetic diffusion profile can be obtained by modeling an "unknown" profile derived from discrete sampling of the synthetic compositional gradient at a given spatial resolution. We also include the effects of analytical uncertainty and the position of measurements relative to the diffusion gradient. We apply this method to the spatial resolutions of common microanalytical techniques (LA-ICP-MS, SIMS, EMP, NanoSIMS). Our results confirm that for a given diffusivity, higher spatial resolution gives access to shorter timescales, and that each analytical spacing has a minimum timescale, below which it overestimates the timescale. For example, for Ba diffusion in plagioclase at 750 °C timescales are accurate (within 20%) above 10, 100, 2,600, and 71,000 years at 0.3, 1, 5, and 25 mm spatial resolution, respectively. For Sr diffusion in plagioclase at 750 °C, timescales are accurate above 0.02, 0.2, 4, and 120 years at the same spatial resolutions. Our results highlight the importance of selecting appropriate analytical techniques to estimate accurate diffusion-based timescales.

High-resolution extremity cone-beam CT with a CMOS detector: Task-based optimization of scintillator thickness.

PubMed

Cao, Q; Brehler, M; Sisniega, A; Stayman, J W; Yorkston, J; Siewerdsen, J H; Zbijewski, W

2017-03-01

CMOS x-ray detectors offer small pixel sizes and low electronic noise that may support the development of novel high-resolution imaging applications of cone-beam CT (CBCT). We investigate the effects of CsI scintillator thickness on the performance of CMOS detectors in high resolution imaging tasks, in particular in quantitative imaging of bone microstructure in extremity CBCT. A scintillator thickness-dependent cascaded systems model of CMOS x-ray detectors was developed. Detectability in low-, high- and ultra-high resolution imaging tasks (Gaussian with FWHM of ~250 μ m, ~80 μ m and ~40 μ m, respectively) was studied as a function of scintillator thickness using the theoretical model. Experimental studies were performed on a CBCT test bench equipped with DALSA Xineos3030 CMOS detectors (99 μ m pixels) with CsI scintillator thicknesses of 400 μ m and 700 μ m, and a 0.3 FS compact rotating anode x-ray source. The evaluation involved a radiographic resolution gauge (0.6-5.0 lp/mm), a 127 μm tungsten wire for assessment of 3D resolution, a contrast phantom with tissue-mimicking inserts, and an excised fragment of human tibia for visual assessment of fine trabecular detail. Experimental studies show ~35% improvement in the frequency of 50% MTF modulation when using the 400 μ m scintillator compared to the standard nominal CsI thickness of 700 μ m. Even though the high-frequency DQE of the two detectors is comparable, theoretical studies show a 14% to 28% increase in detectability index ( d' 2 ) of high- and ultrahigh resolution tasks, respectively, for the detector with 400 μ m CsI compared to 700 μ m CsI. Experiments confirm the theoretical findings, showing improvements with the adoption of 400 μ m panel in the visibility of the radiographic pattern (2× improvement in peak-to-through distance at 4.6 lp/mm) and a 12.5% decrease in the FWHM of the tungsten wire. Reconstructions of the tibial plateau reveal enhanced visibility of trabecular structures with the CMOS detector with 400 μ m scinitllator. Applications on CMOS detectors in high resolution CBCT imaging of trabecular bone will benefit from using a thinner scintillator than the current standard in general radiography. The results support the translation of the CMOS sensor with 400 μ m CsI onto the clinical prototype of CMOS-based extremity CBCT.

High-resolution extremity cone-beam CT with a CMOS detector: Task-based optimization of scintillator thickness

PubMed Central

Cao, Q.; Brehler, M.; Sisniega, A.; Stayman, J. W.; Yorkston, J.; Siewerdsen, J. H.; Zbijewski, W.

2017-01-01

Purpose CMOS x-ray detectors offer small pixel sizes and low electronic noise that may support the development of novel high-resolution imaging applications of cone-beam CT (CBCT). We investigate the effects of CsI scintillator thickness on the performance of CMOS detectors in high resolution imaging tasks, in particular in quantitative imaging of bone microstructure in extremity CBCT. Methods A scintillator thickness-dependent cascaded systems model of CMOS x-ray detectors was developed. Detectability in low-, high- and ultra-high resolution imaging tasks (Gaussian with FWHM of ~250 μm, ~80 μm and ~40 μm, respectively) was studied as a function of scintillator thickness using the theoretical model. Experimental studies were performed on a CBCT test bench equipped with DALSA Xineos3030 CMOS detectors (99 μm pixels) with CsI scintillator thicknesses of 400 μm and 700 μm, and a 0.3 FS compact rotating anode x-ray source. The evaluation involved a radiographic resolution gauge (0.6–5.0 lp/mm), a 127 μm tungsten wire for assessment of 3D resolution, a contrast phantom with tissue-mimicking inserts, and an excised fragment of human tibia for visual assessment of fine trabecular detail. Results Experimental studies show ~35% improvement in the frequency of 50% MTF modulation when using the 400 μm scintillator compared to the standard nominal CsI thickness of 700 μm. Even though the high-frequency DQE of the two detectors is comparable, theoretical studies show a 14% to 28% increase in detectability index (d′2) of high- and ultrahigh resolution tasks, respectively, for the detector with 400 μm CsI compared to 700 μm CsI. Experiments confirm the theoretical findings, showing improvements with the adoption of 400 μm panel in the visibility of the radiographic pattern (2× improvement in peak-to-through distance at 4.6 lp/mm) and a 12.5% decrease in the FWHM of the tungsten wire. Reconstructions of the tibial plateau reveal enhanced visibility of trabecular structures with the CMOS detector with 400 μm scinitllator. Conclusion Applications on CMOS detectors in high resolution CBCT imaging of trabecular bone will benefit from using a thinner scintillator than the current standard in general radiography. The results support the translation of the CMOS sensor with 400 μm CsI onto the clinical prototype of CMOS-based extremity CBCT. PMID:28989220

Spatial and Angular Resolution Enhancement of Light Fields Using Convolutional Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gul, M. Shahzeb Khan; Gunturk, Bahadir K.

2018-05-01

Light field imaging extends the traditional photography by capturing both spatial and angular distribution of light, which enables new capabilities, including post-capture refocusing, post-capture aperture control, and depth estimation from a single shot. Micro-lens array (MLA) based light field cameras offer a cost-effective approach to capture light field. A major drawback of MLA based light field cameras is low spatial resolution, which is due to the fact that a single image sensor is shared to capture both spatial and angular information. In this paper, we present a learning based light field enhancement approach. Both spatial and angular resolution of captured light field is enhanced using convolutional neural networks. The proposed method is tested with real light field data captured with a Lytro light field camera, clearly demonstrating spatial and angular resolution improvement.