Fusion of multifocus images by lattice structures

Image fusion methods based on multiscale transform (MST) suffer from high computational load due to the use of fast Fourier transforms (ffts) in the lowpass and highpass filtering steps. Lifting wavelet scheme which is based on second generation wavelets has been proposed as a solution to this issue. Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT) is composed of split, prediction and update operations all implemented in the spatial domain using multiplications and additions, thus computation time is highly reduced. Since image fusion performance benefits from undecimated transform, it has later been extended to Stationary Lifting Wavelet Transform (SLWT). In this paper, we propose to use the lattice filter for the MST analysis step. Lattice filter is composed of analysis and synthesis parts where simultaneous lowpass and highpass operations are performed in spatial domain with the help of additions/multiplications and delay operations, in a recursive structure which increases robustness to noise. Since the original filter is designed for the undecimated case, we have developed undecimated lattice structures, and applied them to the fusion of multifocus images. Fusion results and evaluation metrics show that the proposed method has better performance especially with noisy images while having similar computational load with LSWT based fusion method.     

Synthesis,crystal growth,thermal studies and scaled quantum chemical studies of structural and vibrational spectra of the highly efficient organic NLO crystal: 1-(4-Aminophenyl)-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one

A new chalcone derivative, 1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one (DMAC) was synthesized and single crystals were grown by slow evaporation technique. The FT-Raman and FT-IR spectra of the sample were recorded in the region 3700–100 cm⁻¹ and 4000–400 cm⁻¹, respectively. The spectra were interpreted with the aid of normal coordinate analysis following structure optimizations and force field calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. Normal coordinate calculations were performed using the DFT force field, corrected by a recommended set of scaling factors, yielding fairly good agreement between the observed and calculated wavenumbers. DMAC is thermally stable up to 220.0 °C and optically transparent in the visible region. Information about the size, shape, charge density distribution and site of chemical reactivity of the molecule has been obtained by mapping electron density isosurface with electrostatic potential surfaces (ESP). The SHG efficiency of DMAC is observed to be 10 times that of standard urea crystal of identical particle size.     

The effect of chelating/combustion agent on catalytic activity and magnetic properties of Dy doped Ni–Zn ferrite

The spinel ferrite Ni_0.8Zn_0.2Fe_1.98Dy_0.02O₄ was prepared by sol–gel low temperature autocombustion method using four different chelating/combustion agents: citric acid, tartaric acid, urea and cellulose. Infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area measurement, the catalytic H₂O₂ decomposition and the magnetic behavior were employed to investigate the influence of the combustion agents on structural characteristics, catalytic activity and magnetic properties. Spinel-type phase in the nano-scale domain was accomplished during sol–gel synthesis and was confirmed by XRD and IR. The best catalytic activity is belonging to the sample obtained using urea, which shows the smallest grain size (SEM), the highest specific surface area (BET measurements) and DyFeO₃ phase (XRD), while ferrimagnetic behavior prevails for all the samples independently of fuel agent.     

Relationship between physicochemical and functional properties of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) protein isolates

Protein isolates from six amaranth lines/cultivars (APIs) were evaluated to study their physicochemical (hunter colour, protein content and zeta potential), structural (thermal and conformational) and functional (emulsification, foaming, water and fat absorption) properties. APIs had protein content, whiteness index and gel temperature in range of 79.4–85.4%, 41.17–54.26 and 87.8–91.8 °C, respectively. The Fourier‐transform infrared spectra of APIs revealed α‐helix, β‐sheets and random coil conformations in the secondary structure. APIs with higher relative proportion of β‐sheets had higher Differential Scanning Calorimeter denaturation temperature and gel temperature. Minimum protein solubility (PS) was observed at pH 5.0, indicating isoelectric point (pI) of amaranth proteins. The PS, emulsifying activity index (EAI), emulsifying stability index (ESI), foaming capacity (FC) and foam stability (FS) of APIs at neutral pH were related to their zeta potential (ζ). The emulsifying and foaming properties were also determined at different pHs (between 2.0 and 9.0). The EAI‐pH profile of APIs confirmed close relationship between the emulsifying ability and PS.     

电缆连接器滑轨自动化光学检测设备开发

针对传统电缆连接器的品质控管中人眼目视判定存在人为误判的缺点,开发整合尺寸测量与瑕疵检测为一体的自动化检测机台。利用NI运动控制模组将待测物移动至光学取像模组正下方,通过CCD获取工件表面状态影像,利用傅里叶变换与小波变换算法对影像进行分析比较,实现牙孔特征检测;利用二值化与膨胀算法实现断差检测;利用二值化与腐蚀算法实现柱脚检测,从而判定该待测物是否符合设计规范。实验结果表明,该自动化光学检测设备能够正确辨识良品与不良品,满足厂商对品质控管的需求。     

Study on multi-frequency weak signal detection method based on stochastic resonance tuning by multi-scale noise

In practical engineering applications, useful information is often submerged in strong noise and the feature information is difficult to be extracted. Aimed at the detection problem of multi-frequency signal under colored noise background, a novel weak signal detection method based on stochastic resonance (SR) tuning by multi-scale noise is proposed. Firstly, noisy signal is processed by orthogonal wavelet transform to decompose the signal into multi-scale ingredients. According to the orthogonal wavelet transform coefficients characteristics of 1/f distribution, multi-scale noise is constructed so as to make the frequency-band containing the driving frequency be enhanced through SR system. Thus multi-frequency weak signal is detected. The method is effective to detect multi-frequency weak signal under colored noise background. Experiment signal analysis results show that the proposed method is simple for multi-frequency weak signal detection, and has good prospects for engineering applications.     

Design and application of discrete wavelet packet transform based multiresolution controller for liquid level system

A new controller based on discrete wavelet packet transform (DWPT) for liquid level system (LLS) has been presented here. This controller generates control signal using node coefficients of the error signal which interprets many implicit phenomena such as process dynamics, measurement noise and effect of external disturbances. Through simulation results on LLS problem, this controller is shown to perform faster than both the discrete wavelet transform based controller and conventional proportional integral controller. Also, it is more efficient in terms of its ability to provide better noise rejection. To overcome the wind up phenomenon by considering the saturation due to presence of actuator, anti-wind up technique is applied to the conventional PI controller and compared to the wavelet packet transform based controller. In this case also, packet controller is found better than the other ones. This similar work has been extended for analogous first order RC plant as well as second order plant also.     

Time–frequency interpretation of multi-frequency signal from rotating machinery using an improved Hilbert–Huang transform

The Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) has proven to be a promising tool for the analysis of non-stationary signals commonly occurred in industrial machines. However, in practice, multi-frequency intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and pseudo IMFs are likely generated and lead to grossly erroneous or even completely meaningless instantaneous frequencies, which raise difficulties in interpreting signal features by the HHT spectrum. To enhance the time–frequency resolution of the traditional HHT, an improved HHT is proposed in this study. By constructing a bank of partially overlapping bandpass filters, a series of filtered signals are obtained at first. Then a subset of filtered signals, each associated with certain energy-dominated components, are selected based on the maximal-spectral kurtosis–minimal-redundancy criterion and the information-related coefficient, and further decomposed by empirical mode decomposition to extract sets of IMFs. Furthermore, IMF selection scheme is applied to select the relevant IMFs on which the HHT spectrum is constructed. The novelty of this method is that the HHT spectrum is just constructed with the relevant, almost monochromatic IMFs rather than with the IMFs possibly with multiple frequency components or with pseudo components. The results on the simulated data, test rig data, and industrial gearbox data show that the proposed method is superior to the traditional HHT in feature extraction and can produce a more accurate time–frequency distribution for the inspected signal.     

Growth mechanism and gas-sensing characteristics of organic-additive-free zinc oxide of various shapes

Zinc oxide is widely used in gas sensors, solar cells, and photocatalysts because of its wide bandgap and exciton binding energy of 60 meV in various metal oxides. To use ZnO as a gas sensor, it is necessary to synthesize it with surface defects and a large specific surface area. In this study, hydrothermal synthesis without surfactants was employed to obtain organic-additive-free ZnO. For morphology control, we varied the ratio of the hydroxide ion concentration to the zinc ion concentration. To confirm the growth mechanism of ZnO, we performed X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analyses. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements were performed to analyze the surface properties. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and probe stations were used to measure the specific surface area and sensitivity of the gas sensor, respectively. The results confirmed that flower-shaped ZnO is the most suitable gas-sensing material.