Determination of model airplane attitudes using dynamic holographic interferometry

We demonstrate how real-time holographic interferometry yielding two-dimensional fringes can be recorded and used to determine changes in three-dimensional attitude of a model airplane through digital image processing. A simple bench-top experiment with a model airplane as a test object is conducted to demonstrate interference fringes superposed on the image due to changes in attitudes (pitch, yaw, and roll) as well as distortion. A novel second-generation thermoplastic camera suitable for dynamic multiple reversible registration of thin-phase holograms using thermoplastic and semiconductor film on glass substrate is used for in situ recording and readout during real-time holographic interferometry. Thin-phase holograms also offer the advantage of exact image reconstruction from forward-phase conjugation.     

Heat treatment,microstructure and mechanical properties of a metastable β titanium alloy timetal® 21s

Microstructure and mechanical properties of a metastable β titanium alloy were investigated in different heat treatment conditions. The alloy was melted by consumable vacuum arc melting followed by conventional forging and rolling. Microstructure and mechanical property evaluation were carried out in solution treatment and three different aging conditions. While low temperature aging resulted in increase in strength and decrease in ductility as compared to solution treatment condition, a double aging cycle provided considerably higher elongation values with a marginal increase in strength. Maximum fracture toughness was obtained in the double aging condition.     

Neural network-based image reconstruction for positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the key molecular imaging modalities in medicine and biology. Penalized iterative image reconstruction algorithms frequently used in PET are based on maximum-likelihood (ML) and maximum a posterior (MAP) estimation techniques. The ML algorithm produces noisy artifacts whereas the MAP algorithm eliminates noisy artifacts by utilizing availableprior information in the reconstruction process. The MAP-based algorithms fail to determine the density class in the reconstructed image and hence penalize the pixels irrespective of the density class and irrespective of the strength of interaction between the nearest neighbors. A Hebbian neural learning scheme is proposed to model the nature of interpixel interaction to reconstruct artifact-free edge preserving reconstruction. A key motivation of the proposed approach is to avoid oversmoothing across edges that is often the case with MAP algorithms. It is assumed that local correlation plays a significant role in PET image reconstruction, and proper modeling of correlation weight (which defines the strength of interpixel interaction) is essential to generate artifact-free reconstruction. The Hebbian learning-based approach modifies the interaction weight by adding a small correction that is proportional to the product of the input signal (neighborhood pixels) and output signal. Quantitative analysis shows that the Hebbian learning-based adaptive weight adjustment approach is capable of producing better reconstructed images compared with those reconstructed by conventional ML and MAP-based algorithms in PET image reconstruction.     

In Vitro Apoptosis Induction in a Human Prostate Cancer Cell Line by Thermotolerant Glycolipid from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus licheniformis</Emphasis> SV1

A highly potent glycolipid was isolated from a crude oil‐contaminated soil bacterium Bacillus licheniformis SV1 (NCBI GenBank Acc. No. KX130852) when grown on a modified mineral salt medium supplemented with 2% oleic acid. The maximum reduction in surface tension of cell‐free broth from 71 ± 0.812 to 25.919 ± 0.984 mN/m with 89 ± 0.346% emulsification activity was recorded after 120 h of growth. Glycolipid was purified using chromatographic techniques and the presence of aliphatic chain (C–H stretch) and OH‐band was revealed by NMR, GC–MS and FTIR analysis. Stability of glycolipid up to 250 °C and its complete decomposition at 507 °C was recorded by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). MTT assay (IC₅₀ = 0.473 ± 0.048 mg/ml) along with 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole (DAPI) and acridine orange and ethidium bromide (AO/EtBr) staining validated that glycolipid induces cell apoptosis in human prostate cancer cell line (PC‐3). Furthermore, potent anti‐cancerous compounds such as 9‐octadecanoic acid (22.55%), linoleic acid methyl ester (2.2%) and palmitic acid (1.18%) were also detected in the GC–MS spectra of the purified glycolipid.     

Simultaneous multiplane imaging‐based localization encoded (SMILE) microscopy for super‐resolution volume imaging

We propose a widefield‐based rapid super‐resolution volume imaging technique. This technique requires encoding single molecules to their respective planes and subsequent identification of the locus of individual molecule (both in the focal plane and off‐focal planes). Experimentally, this is achieved by precise calibration of system PSF size and its natural spread in the off‐focal planes using sub‐diffraction fluorescent beads. The specimen plane touching the coverslip is chosen as the focal plane whereas planes far from coverslip (situated at large penetration depths) represent off‐focal planes. The identification and sorting of single molecules are carried out by setting multiple cut‐offs to the respective PSFs and a 3D super‐resolved volume image is reconstructed. SMILE microscopy technique eliminates the need for multiple z‐plane scanning, minimizes radiation‐dose and enables rapid super‐resolution volume imaging.     

<Emphasis FontCategory="NonProportional">RELSPEC</Emphasis>: a framework for reliability aware design of component based embedded systems

With the increase in the complexity of safety-critical embedded applications, the reliability analysis of such systems have also become increasingly difficult. For such complex system specifications, if the reliability provisions are declared upfront in the design flow then the overall system level reliability can be easily inferred given that the system components satisfy their individual reliability requirements. Moreover, such an early-stage specification and analysis paves newer and scalable ways for synthesis of reliable systems. This paper develops a reliability specification and analysis framework, RELSPEC, which enables system level reliability analysis at an early-stage of design by leveraging automatically constructed intermediate probabilistic models of the system. In addition to this, we provide a mechanized method of system synthesis with the objective of satisfying a target reliability value for the overall system. To this end, we explore the application of existing optimization methods and also provide domain specific techniques which outperform such existing methods. Experiments over a few automotive case-studies show the efficacy of this methodology.     

ZnO1-xTex and ZnO1-xSx semiconductor alloys as competent materials for opto-electronic and solar cell applications:a comparative analysis

ZnO_1-xTe_x ternary alloys have great potential to work as a photovoltaic (PV) absorber in solar cells. ZnO_1-xS_x is also a ZnO based alloy that have uses in solar cells. In this paper we report the comparative study of various parameters of ZnO_1-xTe_x and ZnO_1-xS_x for selecting it to be a competent material for solar cell applications. The parameters are mainly being calculated using the well-known VCA (virtual crystal approximation) and VBAC (Valence Band Anti-Crossing) model. It was certainly being analysed that the incorporation of Te atoms produces a high band gap lower than S atoms in the host ZnO material. The spin-orbit splitting energy value of ZnO_1-xTe_x was found to be higher than that of ZnO_1-xS_x. Beside this, the strain effects are also higher in ZnO_1-xTe_x than ZnO_1-xS_x. The remarkable notifying result which the paper is reporting is that at a higher percentage of Te atoms in ZnO_1-xTe_x, the spin-orbit splitting energy value rises above the band gap value, which signifies a very less internal carrier recombination that decreases the leakage current and increases the efficiency of the solar cell. Moreover, it also covers a wide wavelength range compared to ZnO_1-xS_x.     

3D text segmentation and recognition using leap motion

In this paper, we present a method of Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) through 3D air-writing. Our proposed method includes a natural way of interaction without pen and paper. The online texts are drawn on air by 3D gestures using fingertip within the field of view of a Leap motion sensor. The texts consist of single stroke only. Hence gaps between adjacent words are usually absent. This makes the system different as compared to the conventional 2D writing using pen and paper. We have collected a dataset that comprises with 320 Latin sentences. We have used a heuristic to segment 3D words from sentences. Subsequently, we present a methodology to segment continuous 3D strokes into lines of texts by finding large gaps between the end and start of the lines. This is followed by segmentation of the text lines into words. In the next phase, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based classifier is used to recognize 3D sequences of segmented words. We have used dynamic as well as simple features for classification. We have recorded an overall accuracy of 80.3 % in word segmentation. Recognition accuracies of 92.73 % and 90.24 % have been recorded when tested with dynamic and simple features, respectively. The results show that the Leap motion device can be a low-cost but useful solution for inputting text naturally as compared to conventional systems. In future, this may be extended such that the system can successfully work on cluttered gestures.