6,868 research outputs found
Dose, exposure time, and resolution in Serial X-ray Crystallography
The resolution of X-ray diffraction microscopy is limited by the maximum dose
that can be delivered prior to sample damage. In the proposed Serial
Crystallography method, the damage problem is addressed by distributing the
total dose over many identical hydrated macromolecules running continuously in
a single-file train across a continuous X-ray beam, and resolution is then
limited only by the available molecular and X-ray fluxes and molecular
alignment. Orientation of the diffracting molecules is achieved by laser
alignment. We evaluate the incident X-ray fluence (energy/area) required to
obtain a given resolution from (1) an analytical model, giving the count rate
at the maximum scattering angle for a model protein, (2) explicit simulation of
diffraction patterns for a GroEL-GroES protein complex, and (3) the frequency
cut off of the transfer function following iterative solution of the phase
problem, and reconstruction of an electron density map in the projection
approximation. These calculations include counting shot noise and multiple
starts of the phasing algorithm. The results indicate counting time and the
number of proteins needed within the beam at any instant for a given resolution
and X-ray flux. We confirm an inverse fourth power dependence of exposure time
on resolution, with important implications for all coherent X-ray imaging. We
find that multiple single-file protein beams will be needed for sub-nanometer
resolution on current third generation synchrotrons, but not on fourth
generation designs, where reconstruction of secondary protein structure at a
resolution of 0.7 nm should be possible with short exposures.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Evaluating and combining digital video shot boundary detection algorithms
The development of standards for video encoding coupled with the increased power of computing mean that content-based manipulation of digital video information is now feasible. Shots are a basic structural building block of digital video and the boundaries between shots need to be determined automatically to allow for content-based manipulation. A shot can be thought of as continuous images from one camera at a time. In this paper we examine a variety of automatic techniques for shot boundary detection that we have implemented and evaluated on a baseline of 720,000 frames (8 hours) of broadcast television. This extends our previous work on evaluating a single technique based on comparing colour histograms. A description of each of our three methods currently working is given along with how they
are evaluated. It is found that although the different methods have about the same order of magnitude in terms of effectiveness, different shot boundaries are detected by the different methods. We then look at combining the three shot boundary detection methods to produce one output result and the benefits in accuracy and performance that this brought to our system. Each of the methods were changed from using
a static threshold value for three unconnected methods to one using three dynamic threshold values for one connected method. In a final summing up we look at the future directions for this work
Horizontal accuracy assessment of very high resolution Google Earth images in the city of Rome, Italy
Google Earth (GE) has recently become the focus of increasing interest and popularity
among available online virtual globes used in scientific research projects, due to the
free and easily accessed satellite imagery provided with global coverage. Nevertheless,
the uses of this service raises several research questions on the quality and uncertainty
of spatial data (e.g. positional accuracy, precision, consistency), with implications for
potential uses like data collection and validation. This paper aims to analyze the
horizontal accuracy of very high resolution (VHR) GE images in the city of Rome
(Italy) for the years 2007, 2011, and 2013. The evaluation was conducted by using
both Global Positioning System ground truth data and cadastral photogrammetric
vertex as independent check points. The validation process includes the comparison of
histograms, graph plots, tests of normality, azimuthal direction errors, and the
calculation of standard statistical parameters. The results show that GE VHR imageries
of Rome have an overall positional accuracy close to 1 m, sufficient for deriving
ground truth samples, measurements, and large-scale planimetric maps
GENFIRE: A generalized Fourier iterative reconstruction algorithm for high-resolution 3D imaging
Tomography has made a radical impact on diverse fields ranging from the study
of 3D atomic arrangements in matter to the study of human health in medicine.
Despite its very diverse applications, the core of tomography remains the same,
that is, a mathematical method must be implemented to reconstruct the 3D
structure of an object from a number of 2D projections. In many scientific
applications, however, the number of projections that can be measured is
limited due to geometric constraints, tolerable radiation dose and/or
acquisition speed. Thus it becomes an important problem to obtain the
best-possible reconstruction from a limited number of projections. Here, we
present the mathematical implementation of a tomographic algorithm, termed
GENeralized Fourier Iterative REconstruction (GENFIRE). By iterating between
real and reciprocal space, GENFIRE searches for a global solution that is
concurrently consistent with the measured data and general physical
constraints. The algorithm requires minimal human intervention and also
incorporates angular refinement to reduce the tilt angle error. We demonstrate
that GENFIRE can produce superior results relative to several other popular
tomographic reconstruction techniques by numerical simulations, and by
experimentally by reconstructing the 3D structure of a porous material and a
frozen-hydrated marine cyanobacterium. Equipped with a graphical user
interface, GENFIRE is freely available from our website and is expected to find
broad applications across different disciplines.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
The IPAC Image Subtraction and Discovery Pipeline for the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory
We describe the near real-time transient-source discovery engine for the
intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), currently in operations at the
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), Caltech. We coin this system
the IPAC/iPTF Discovery Engine (or IDE). We review the algorithms used for
PSF-matching, image subtraction, detection, photometry, and machine-learned
(ML) vetting of extracted transient candidates. We also review the performance
of our ML classifier. For a limiting signal-to-noise ratio of 4 in relatively
unconfused regions, "bogus" candidates from processing artifacts and imperfect
image subtractions outnumber real transients by ~ 10:1. This can be
considerably higher for image data with inaccurate astrometric and/or
PSF-matching solutions. Despite this occasionally high contamination rate, the
ML classifier is able to identify real transients with an efficiency (or
completeness) of ~ 97% for a maximum tolerable false-positive rate of 1% when
classifying raw candidates. All subtraction-image metrics, source features, ML
probability-based real-bogus scores, contextual metadata from other surveys,
and possible associations with known Solar System objects are stored in a
relational database for retrieval by the various science working groups. We
review our efforts in mitigating false-positives and our experience in
optimizing the overall system in response to the multitude of science projects
underway with iPTF.Comment: 66 pages, 21 figures, 7 tables, accepted by PAS
A numerical procedure for recovering true scattering coefficients from measurements with wide-beam antennas
A numerical procedure for estimating the true scattering coefficient, sigma(sup 0), from measurements made using wide-beam antennas. The use of wide-beam antennas results in an inaccurate estimate of sigma(sup 0) if the narrow-beam approximation is used in the retrieval process for sigma(sup 0). To reduce this error, a correction procedure was proposed that estimates the error resulting from the narrow-beam approximation and uses the error to obtain a more accurate estimate of sigma(sup 0). An exponential model was assumed to take into account the variation of sigma(sup 0) with incidence angles, and the model parameters are estimated from measured data. Based on the model and knowledge of the antenna pattern, the procedure calculates the error due to the narrow-beam approximation. The procedure is shown to provide a significant improvement in estimation of sigma(sup 0) obtained with wide-beam antennas. The proposed procedure is also shown insensitive to the assumed sigma(sup 0) model
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