High-speed target tracking by fuzzy hostility-induced segmentation of optical flow field

A time efficient technique for real-time tracking of high-speed objects in a video sequence is presented in this article. The technique is primarily based on the segmentation of the optical flow field computed between the successive image frames of a video sequence, followed by the tracking of a detected point of interest (POI) within the segmented flow field. In the initial phase of the technique, the optical flow field between the first two successive image frames acquired from a video sequence, is computed. A fuzzy hostility index indicative of the degree of coherence of the moving objects in the image frames, is used to segment the optical flow field. This yields different coherent regions of interest (ROIs) in the segmented flow field. A POI is then detected in the different ROIs obtained. Tracking of the moving object is then carried out by computing the flow fields between predefined ROIs in the neighborhood of the detected POI in the subsequent image frames.Since the selected ROIs are smaller than the image frames, a fair amount of reduction in the time required for the computation of the optical flow field is achieved, thereby facilitating real-time operation. An application of the proposed technique is demonstrated on three video sequences of high-speed flying fighter aircrafts.     

Metallographic observations during the sintering of BM2 type of high speed steels

Metallographic changes during the sintering of BM2 type of high speed steels have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, in the range of optimum sintering to oversintering. The primary carbides observed are M₆C and a small quantity of MC; in the oversintered structure an additional carbide with eutectic morphology was seen. It is a chromium and molybdenum rich phase in BM2+ 0 to 4% cobalt (0.9 to 1.2% carbon) alloy, whereas in BM2+ 8% cobalt (0.9% carbon) the eutectic phase is MC. Under certain conditions M₃C was also detected in the post-sintered alloy.     

Detection of oxidative stress in heart by estimating the dinitrophenylhydrazine derivative of malonaldehyde

Accurate estimation of the oxidative stress in heart is necessary because the pathogenesis of many heart diseases are believed to be mediated at least in part from the development of oxidative stress resulting from the generation of oxygen free radicals and reduced antioxidant defense system. The most widely used method for this purpose has been the estimation of malonaldehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation product, by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reaction method. However, because of the nonspecificity of this method, the results are often erroneous. The present report describes a method using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to estimate MDA. To develop the oxidative stress, two different models were used: ischaemic-reperfused heart and perfusing the heart with a hydroxyl radical (OH+) generating system. The coronary effluents obtained from the isolated rat heart before ischaemia and during the reperfusion of ischaemic heart, as well as during the perfusion of the heart with the OH+ generating system were collected, derivatized with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) and extracted with pentane. Aliquots of 25 microliters in acetonitrile were injected onto a Beckman Ultrasphere C18 (3 microns) column. The products were eluted isocratically with a mobile phase containing acetonitrile-water-acetic acid (40:60:0.1, v/v/v), measured at 307 nm using a Waters M-490 multichannel UV detector and collected for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The peaks were identified by co-chromatography with DNPH derivatives of authentic standards, peak addition, and by GC-MS. The retention time for MDA-DNPH was 5.3 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

SAFE: An Efficient Feature Extraction Technique

This paper proposes an efficient window-based semi-automatic feature extraction technique which uses simulated annealing for minimizing the energy of an active contour within a specified image region. The energy is computed based on a chamfer image, in which pixel values are a function of distance to image edges. A user places a number of control points close to the feature of interest. B-spline fitted to these points provides an initial approximation of the contour. A window containing both the initial contour and the feature of interest is considered. The contour with minimum energy inside the window provides the final delineation. Comparison of the performance of the proposed algorithm with traditional snake, a popular feature extraction technique based on energy minimization, demonstrates the superiority of the SAFE technique. Received 18 August 1999 / Revised 25 October 2000 / Accepted in revised form 8 December 2000     

A 12-bit integrated analog front end for broadband wirelinenetworks

An integrated transceiver for broadband wireline networks is presented. The transceiver includes a receive data path, a transmit data path, and auxiliary functions including serial port interface, clock and reference generation blocks, and voltage regulator control circuitry. The receive data path provides constant input impedance and is composed of two variable gain amplifier (VGA) blocks, a tuned analog 4-pole filter, a 12-b analog-to-digital converter (ADC) sampling at 32 MHz, and a digital high-pass filter. Filter tuning using switched-capacitor arrays occurs in the background, with no effect on signal reception. The transmit data path contains digital interpolation filters and a 12-b digital-to-analog converter (DAC) sampling at 128 MHz. The chip was implemented in double-poly triple-metal 0.35-μm CMOS technology. Measured performance for both receive and transmit data paths meets target specifications with no noticeable crosstalk     

Nitric oxide signaling in ischemic heart

OBJECTIVE: Several recent studies have implicated a role of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury. However, the mechanism by which NO exerts its beneficial/detrimental effects remains unknown. This study examined the intracellular signaling of NO by studying the role of the NO-cGMP signaling pathway on the phospho-diesteratic breakdown and turnover of phosphoinositides during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. METHODS: Isolated working rat hearts were made ischemic for 30 min followed by 30 min of reperfusion. A separate group of hearts were pre-perfused with 3 mM L-arginine for 10 min prior to ischemia. The release of NO was monitored using an on-line amperometric sensor. The aortic flow and developed pressure were examined to determine the effects of L-arginine on ischemic/reperfusion injury. For signal transduction experiments, sarcolemmal membranes were radiolabeled by perfusing the isolated hearts with [3H]myoinositol and [14C]arachidonic acid. Hearts were then perfused for 10 min in the presence or absence of L-arginine via the Langendorff mode. Ischemia was induced for 30 min followed by 30 min of reperfusion. Experiments were terminated before L-arginine and after L-arginine treatment, after ischemia, and during reperfusion. Biopsies were processed to determine the isotopic incorporation into various phosphoinositols as well as phosphatidic acid and diacylglycerol. cGMP was assayed by radioimmunoassay and SOD content was determined by enzymatic analysis. RESULTS: The release of NO was diminished following ischemia and reperfusion and was augmented by L-arginine. L-Arginine reduced ischemic/reperfusion injury as evidenced by the enhanced myocardial functional recovery. cGMP, which remained unaffected by ischemia and reperfusion, was stimulated significantly after L-arginine treatment. The cGMP level persisted up to 10 min of reperfusion and then dropped slightly. Reperfusion of ischemic myocardium resulted in significant accumulation of radiolabeled inositol phosphate, inositol bisphosphate, and inositol triphosphate. Isotopic incorporation of [3H]inositol into phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate was increased significantly during reperfusion. Reperfusion of the ischemic heart prelabeled with [14C]-arachidonic acid resulted in modest increases in [14C]diacylglycerol and [14C]phosphatidic acid. Pretreatment of the heart with L-arginine significantly reversed this enhanced phosphodiesteratic breakdown during ischemia and early reperfusion. However, at the end of the reperfusion the inhibitory effect of L-arginine on the phosphodiesterases seems to be reduced. In L-arginine-treated hearts, SOD activity was progressively decreased with the duration of reperfusion time. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest for the first time that NO plays a significant role in transmembrane signaling in the ischemic myocardium. The signaling seems to be transmitted via cGMP and opposes the effects of phosphodiesterases by inhibiting the ischemia/reperfusion-induced phosphodiesteratic breakdown. This signaling effect appears to be reduced as reperfusion progresses. These results, when viewed in the light of free radical chemistry of NO, suggest that such on- and off-signaling of NO may be linked to its interaction with the superoxide radical generated during the reperfusion of ischemic myocardium.     

Elimination of truncation and round off error and enhancement of stability using a new split loop DPLL

In contrast with the conventional split loop digital phase lock loop, a new loop is presented in this paper that differs from the earlier version principally by design aspects. It incorporates an additional phase modulation input along with its frequency modulation input in the digital controlled oscillator. It is capable of eliminating the deleterious effects of rounding and truncation error with faster signal accusation. Higher loop stability is also achievable using the new split loop digital phase lock loop. Furthermore, radio frequency filtering is done using an In phase and Quadrature phase (IQ) voltage controlled oscillator to avoid interaction between the loop filter and the radio frequency filter. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulated annealing based automatic fuzzy clustering combined with ANN classification for analyzing microarray data

Microarray technology has made it possible to monitor the expression levels of many genes simultaneously across a number of experimental conditions. Fuzzy clustering is an important tool for analyzing microarray gene expression data. In this article, a real-coded Simulated Annealing (VSA) based fuzzy clustering method with variable length configuration is developed and combined with popular Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based classifier. The idea is to refine the clustering produced by VSA using ANN classifier to obtain improved clustering performance. The proposed technique is used to cluster three publicly available real life microarray data sets. The superior performance of the proposed technique has been demonstrated by comparing with some widely used existing clustering algorithms. Also statistical significance test has been conducted to establish the statistical significance of the superior performance of the proposed clustering algorithm. Finally biological relevance of the clustering solutions are established.     

The role of protein kinase in C ischemic/reperfused preconditioned isolated rat hearts

Protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in the preconditioning-induced cardiac protection in ischemic/reperfused myocardium. We studied the effect of PKC inhibition with calphostin C (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 nM), a potent and specific inhibitor of PKC, in isolated working nonpreconditioned and preconditioned ischemic/reperfused hearts. In the nonpreconditioned groups, all hearts underwent 30 min of normothermic global ischemia followed by 30 min of reperfusion. In the preconditioned groups, hearts were subjected to four cycles of ischemic preconditioning by using 5 min of ischemia followed by 10 min reperfusion, before the induction of 30 min ischemia and reperfusion. At low concentrations of calphostin C (25, 50, and 100 nM), the PKC inhibitor had no effect on the incidence or arrhythmias or postischemic cardiac function in the nonpreconditioned ischemic/reperfused groups. With 200 and 400 nM of calphostin C, a significant increase in postischemic function and a reduction in the incidence of arrhythmias were observed in the nonpreconditioned ischemic/reperfused groups. Increasing the concentration of calphostin C to 800 NM, the recovery of postischemic cardiac function was similar to that of the drug-free control group. In preconditioned hearts, lower concentrations (< 100 nM) of calphostin C did not change the response of the myocardium to ischemia and reperfusion in comparison to the preconditioned drug-free myocardium. Two hundred and 400 nM of the PKC inhibitor further reduced the incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) from the preconditioned drug-free value of 50% to 0 (p < 0.05) and 0 (p < 0.05), respectively, indicating that the combination of the two, preconditioning and calphostin C, affords significant additional protection. Increasing the concentration of calphostin C to 800 nM blocked the cardioprotective effect of preconditioning (100% incidence of VF). The recovery of cardiac function was similarly improved at calphostin C doses of 200 and 400 nM and was reduced at 800 nM (p < 0.05). With 200 and 400 nM of calphostin C, both cytosolic and particulate PKC activity were reduced by approximately 40 and 60%, respectively, in both preconditioned and preconditioned/ischemic/reperfused hearts. The highest concentration of calphostin C (800 nM) resulted in almost a complete inhibition of cytosolic (100%) and particulate (85%) PKC activity correlated with the abolition of preconditioning-induced cardiac protection. In conclusion, calphostin C protects the ischemic myocardium obtained from intact animals, provides significant additional protection to preconditioning at moderate doses, and blocks the protective effect of preconditioning at high concentrations. The dual effects of calphostin C appear to be strictly dose and "enzyme inhibition" related.