A New Parallel Differential Method for Optical Flow Estimation

Optical flow estimation is a recurrent problem in several disciplines and assumes a primary importance in a number of applicative fields such as medical imaging [12], computer vision [6], productive process control [4], etc. In this paper, a differential method for optical flow evaluation is being presented. It employs a new error formulation that ensures a more than satisfactory image reconstruction in those points which are free of motion discontinuity. A dynamic scheme of brightness-sample processing has been used to regularise the motion field. A technique based on the concurrent processing of sequences with multiple pairs of images has also been developed for improving detection and resolution of mobile objects on the scene, if they exist. This approach permits to detect motions ranging from a fraction of a pixel to a few pixels per frame. Good results, even on noisy sequences and without the need of a filtering pre-processing stage, can be achieved. The intrinsic method structure can be exploited for favourable implementation on multi-processor systems with a scalable degree of parallelism. Several sequences, some with noise and presenting various types of motions, have been used for evaluating the performances and the effectiveness of the method. Carmelo Lodato received his Dr. Ing. Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy, in 1987. He is Researcher at the High Performance Computing and Networking Institute (ICAR) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). His current research interests include computer vision, image processing, motion analysis, optimization and stochastic algorithms. Salvatore Lopes received his Dr. Ing. Degree (summa com laude) in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy, in 1988. He is Researcher at the High Performance Computing and Networking Institute (ICAR) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). His current research interests include computer vision, image processing, motion analysis, optimization and stochastic algorithms.     

The Role of Mechanochemistry in the Pulmonary Toxicity Caused by Particulate Minerals

The release of free radicals from mechanically ground mineral dusts in aqueous suspensions has been employed to predict the possible pathogenic potential of the dusts when inhaled. Two separate free radical-generating reactions have been considered: formation of the OH radical from hydrogen peroxide via a "Fentonlike" reaction and of a carbon centered radical, following cleavage of a carbon–hydrogen bond. The particulate examined were: variously contaminated quartz dusts, whose well-documented pathogenicity varies from one to the other source; iron- and titanium-doped alumina pigments, prepared via a mechanochemical reaction, whose pathogenic potential is unknown, and hard metal mixtures, obtained from tungsten carbide (WC) and one metal dust, namely Fe, Co, or Ni, the cobalt mixture only being a renown hazardous material. Quartz obtained by grinding coarse particles in grinding chambers composed of steel, widia, corundum, and agate, retain some characteristics of the wall chamber material, which deeply affects its capability to generate radicals and may explain the variability of quartz hazard. Insertion of ions in the mechanochemically prepared pigments imparts to the particle suspected free radical-generating properties. Among the hard metal mixtures examined, the most active is the cobalt one.     

Comparative investigation of ultrafast thermal shock of Ti3AlC2 ceramic in water and air

In this work, ultrafast thermal shock of Ti₃AlC₂ ceramic was evaluated in water and air by utilizing the induction heating method. First, the annealed samples were heated to the set temperature in tens of seconds and dropped into the cooling water within 0.1 s which is rather short not to degrade the sample temperature. Compared to the traditional thermal shock method when quenching in water, the abnormal thermal shock phenomenon did not occur, which is owing to that no dense oxide layers were formed on the samples’ surface to act as the thermal barrier. The continuous decrease in residual flexural strength when quenched in water is associated with water infiltration, chemical reaction, and large surface tensile stress. The residual strength has 27.25 MPa upon 1250°C. Second, at the same testing temperature, the residual flexural strength when quenched in air maintains a high value of 388 MPa up to 1400°C. Dense oxide scales existed on the quenched surface of Ti₃AlC₂ samples. The results exhibit that Ti₃AlC₂ ceramic possesses excellent thermal shock resistance in water and air, suitable to be applied in extreme environments.     

Electronics for the pulsed rubidium clock: design and characterization

Pulsing the different operation phases of a vapor-cell clock (optical pumping, interrogation, and detection) has been recognized as one of the most effective techniques to reduce light shift and then to improve the stability perspectives of vapor cell clocks. However, in order to take full advantage of the pulsed scheme, a fast-gated electronics is required, the times involved being of the order of milliseconds. In this paper we describe the design and the implementation of the electronics that synchronizes the different phases of the clock operation, as well as of the electronics that is mainly devoted to the thermal stabilization of the clock physics package. We also report some characterization measurements, including a measurement of the clock frequency stability. In particular, in terms of Allan deviation, we measured a frequency stability of 1.2 x 10(-12) tao(-1/2) for averaging times up to tao = 10(5) s, a very interesting result by itself and also for a possible space application of such a clock.     

Simple and clear evidence for positive feedback limitation by bipolar behavior during scanning electrochemical microscopy of unbiased conductors

On the basis of an experimentally validated simple theoretical model, it is demonstrated unambiguously that when an unbiased conductor is probed by a scanning electrochemical tip (scanning electrochemical microscopy, SECM), it performs as a bipolar electrode. Though already envisioned in most recent SECM theories, this phenomenon is generally overlooked in SECM experimental investigations. However, as is shown here, this may alter significantly positive feedback measurements when the probed conductor is not much larger than the tip.     

Enhanced domain disjoint backward recursive TE path computation for PCE-based multi-domain networks

The ability of computing optimal routes poses new challenges when extending it to larger multi-domain network scenarios, as the quality of these computed end-to-end inter-domain routes depends on the selection of the domain sequence to be traversed. In the scope of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Path Computation Element (PCE) Working Group has not provided definitive solutions to address the domain sequence selection problem, being still a work in progress. To this goal, the Path Computation Flooding (PCF) approach appears as a possible extension to Backward Recursive PCE-based Computation (BRPC) to calculate optimal end-to-end inter-domain paths without requiring a pre-configured domain sequence. Nonetheless, PCF presents major scalability issues in terms of network control overhead and path computation complexity, thus pleading for more accurate domain sequence selection techniques. This paper describes two novel mechanisms to establish inter-domain paths calculating the sequence of domains to be crossed when it is not known in advance. Both procedures make a good trade-off between the control overhead introduced and the accuracy of the computed end-to-end route. The obtained simulation results show the benefits of the proposed contributions, drastically reducing the control overhead while keeping the connection blocking probability close to the optimal values.     

Fractional visco‐elastic Timoshenko beam deflection via single equation

This paper deals with the response determination of a visco‐elastic Timoshenko beam under static loading condition and taking into account fractional calculus. In particular, the fractional derivative terms arise from representing constitutive behavior of the visco‐elastic material. Further, taking advantages of the Mellin transform method recently developed for the solution of fractional differential equation, the problem of fractional Timoshenko beam model is assessed in time domain without invoking the Laplace‐transforms as usual. Further, solution provided by the Mellin transform procedure will be compared with classical Central Difference scheme one, based on the Grunwald–Letnikov approximation of the fractional derivative. Moreover, Timoshenko beam response is generally evaluated by solving a couple of differential equations. In this paper, expressing the equation of the elastic curve just through a single relation, a more general procedure, which allows the determination of the beam response for any load condition and type of constraints, is developed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

VoIP traffic in wireless mesh networks: a MOS‐based routing scheme

Support of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services in wireless mesh networks requires implementation of efficient policies to support low‐delay data delivery. Multipath routing is typically supported in wireless mesh networks at the network level to provide high fault tolerance and load balancing because links in the proximity of the wireless mesh gateways can be very stressed and overloaded, thus causing scarce performance. As a consequence of using multipath solutions, lower delay and higher throughput can be supported also when a given path is broken because of mobility or bad channel conditions, and alternative routes are available. This can be a relevant improvement especially when assuming that real‐time traffic, such as VoIP, travels into the network. In this paper, we address the problem of Quality of Service (QoS) support in wireless mesh networks and propose a multipath routing strategy that exploits the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) metric to select the most suitable paths for supporting VoIP applications and performing adaptive load balancing among the available paths to equalize network traffic. Performance results assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared with other existing methodologies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.