Scanning electron microscope electron detector with a radial type discrete dynode electron multiplier

A discrete dynode electron multiplier with radial flux of electrons was built and tested in the range of low‐voltage scanning electron microscopy as a backscattered electron detector of topographic contrast. The multiplier collects backscattered electron emitted in a specific range of take‐off angles and over the whole azimuth angular range enabling large solid collection angle. Multipliers with different dynode shapes were studied theoretically with the use of the software for particle optics and three assemblies were built and tested experimentally. The gain estimation, assessment of the type of detected electrons (secondary electron or backscattered electron), imaging the spatial collection efficiency and signal‐to‐noise measurements were performed.     

Effects of luminance,wavelength and purity on the color attributes: Brief review with new data and perspectives

A color stimulus may be characterized by three psychophysical dimensions (luminance, dominant wavelength, and purity), whose corresponding color attributes are lightness, hue, and chroma/colorfulness. The 3 × 3 matrix gives nine basic effects of the psychophysical dimensions on the color attributes (e.g. the effect of luminance on hue), but there are 49 possible combinations as more complex effects (e.g. the effect of luminance on hue and chroma, i.e. on chromaticity). Researching and quantifying such effects enables modelling of the underlying neural mechanisms and of color appearance. Using a simple nomenclature to identify the effects (e.g. Ph denotes the effect of Purity on hue), this paper briefly reviews and interrelates 15 of the commonest effects, giving new data or new graphical perspectives to clarify or fill gaps in the literature. Contrast and no‐contrast effects (stimuli viewed simultaneously or singly, respectively) are differentiated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 208–222, 2007     

榆林气田低产低效井开发分析评价

榆林气田自1999年投入开发以来,产能建设大幅提高,生产规模成倍增长。随着气田开发规模的扩大,气井数量成倍增加,低产低效井的数量随之增加,对低产低效期间加强研究意义重大。以理论知识为指导,利用开发生产资料对榆林气田低产低效气井的地质特征,开发现状,管理制度,下步开发措施等方面予以分析与研究,提出具体建议或措施;寻找榆林气田低产低效井合理的开发方式及生产模式。     

Age effects in coding tasks: Componential analysis and test of the sensory deficit hypothesis.

Multiple forms of a symbol-digit substitution task were used to provide a componential analysis of age differences in coding task performance. The results demonstrated age differences in feature encoding, memory, and visual search. A 2nd experiment was conducted with young adults to investigate a sensory deficit as a locus of age differences. The spatial contrast sensitivity deficit of older adults was simulated on forms by applying a digital filter. Persons in the age-simulated contrast condition performed worse than those in the normal contrast condition. The stimulus degradation effect was linked to visual search speed. The study illustrates the utility of componential analysis and offers direct support for the hypothesis that sensory deficits affect performance on tasks used to assess intelligence (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of lightness contrast effects in CRT and surface colours

The simultaneous contrast effect is investigated in this article. A total of 174 and 154 test/induction combinations were studied for CRT and surface colours respectively. Each combination was assessed by nine observers using a matching technique. The test and induction colours used for CRT colours were similar to surface colours using fabric samples. The results indicated a strong lightness contrast effect for both CRT and surface media; that is, the lightness of a test colour surrounded by a lighter induction colour was reduced for both CRT and surface colours. However, the effect in CRT medium was more pronounced than in the surface medium. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 30, 13–20, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20074     

Performance of the polymer- and oxide-supported triphase catalysts and effect of ultrasound on their stabilities

In this study, several trialkylamines were immobilized on chloromethylated polystyrene (CMPS), silica gel, and alumina to prepare triphase catalysts for catalyzing the etherification reaction of allyl bromide (the organic reactant) and sodium phenolate (the aqueous reactant). The reactor was agitated mechanically or with the aid of ultrasonic vibration. Performances of the prepared catalysts were compared, and the effect of imposing ultrasound was investigated based on the activity, selectivity, and stability of the catalyst. Experimental results show that tri-n-propylamine is the best active species when CMPS is used as the support, while tri-n-butylamine is the best when SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ are employed as the supports. The CMPS-supported catalyst is far better than the SiO₂- and Al₂O₃-supported catalysts in activity and selectivity but not in stability. Imposing the ultrasound can effectively increase the reaction rate. Mechanical agitation at a low speed with the imposition of ultrasonic vibration not only results in a conversion slightly higher than the case with a high mechanical agitation speed without ultrasonic vibration, but also gives a constant stability for the CMPS-supported catalyst.     

Influence of zero-loss filtering on electron optical phase contrast

Complex scattering amplitudes are used to calculate the phase contrast of colloidal gold particles. Comparison of measurements of the phase contrast intensity at the centre of the gold particle as a function of defocus for unfiltered and zero-loss filtered images demonstrates the increase in phase contrast achieved by zero-loss filtering even for a thick carbon substrate film. The granulation of amorphous germanium films is measured by the spatial rms (root mean square) values of image intensity in a defocus series.     

Performance characteristics of a therapeutic ultrasound wire waveguide apparatus

Therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty has been investigated, clinically, by a number of researchers and represents a potentially promising therapy for the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. To date, there has been no detailed analysis of the effect of mechanical design parameters, such as wire geometry or damping characteristics, on wire waveguide performance. An apparatus capable of delivering therapeutic ultrasound down small diameter nickel–titanium (NiTi) wire waveguides is described. The output peak-to-peak (p–p) displacements at the distal tip of a 1.0 mm diameter waveguide were measured experimentally, by means of an optical microscope and image analysis software. The output was measured for a range of waveguide lengths from 118 to 303 mm. Wire waveguide distal tip displacements as high as 98 μm (p–p) at 23.5 kHz were measured. For the range of lengths tested, the experimental measurements show the critical relationship between the length of the waveguide and the output distal tip displacements. A finite element model that can predict the resonant frequencies and distal tip displacements of various wire waveguide geometries and configurations, including the effect of damping, is presented. This numerical model has been validated against the experimental displacement data obtained. This will be a valuable design tool for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty procedures.     

A method for quantifying cell size from differential interference contrast images: validation and application to osmotically stressed chondrocytes

An automatic image analysis method was developed to determine the shape and size of spheroidal cells from a time series of differential interference contrast (DIC) images. The program incorporates an edge detection algorithm and dynamic programming for edge linking. To assess the accuracy and working range of the method, results from DIC images of different focal planes and resolutions were compared to confocal images in which the cell membrane was fluorescently labelled. The results indicate that a 1‐µm focal drift from the in‐focus plane can lead to an overestimation of cell volume up to 14.1%, mostly due to shadowing effects of DIC microscopy. DIC images allow for accurate measurements when the focal plane lies in a zone slightly above the centre of a spherical cell. In this range the method performs with 1.9% overall volume error without taking into account the error introduced by the representation of the cell as a sphere. As a test case, the method was applied to quantify volume changes due to acute changes of osmotic stress.     

Proposed modification to the CIECAM02 colour appearance model to include the simultaneous contrast effects

A modified CIECAM02 colour appearance model, named CIECAM02‐m2, is proposed to enable CIECAM02 to predict the simultaneous contrast effect. The structure of the CIECAM02‐m2 is a development from CIECAM02, and contains two different procedures for modifying the reference white; one is for lightness and the other is for hue. The model was tested using a data set accumulated in this study and the LUTCHI data. The CV values for three colour attributes between predictions and experimental data were used to evaluate the accuracy of the model. The low CV values obtained show the performance of the CIECAM02‐m2 model to predict the simultaneous contrast effect satisfactorily. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 121 – 129, 2007