Multimedia digital solutions from image and range based models for ancient landscapes communication

The paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary project which aimed at the dissemination of some archaeological remains producing multimedia contents from multisensor surveyed 3D data. The scope of this application pertained to the use of 3D detailed models as a base for some video-installations with the aim to arouse the visitors’ emotions and improve their museum experience. This work has been applied to the Arch of Augustus located in the archaeological site of Susa and to two ancient Roman marble statues, found in the city of Susa in 1802 and now displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Turin. The Arch of Augustus is in a remarkable state of conservation. Its decorated frieze tells about the peace between the Romans and the Celts but it is difficult to see for visitors at the ground level. A multisensor 3D survey, by means of laser scanning technique and photogrammetric method, made it possible to process a detailed 3D textured model, which provided the base for the creation of a life-size model to be placed in the Museum of Susa on which a designed didactic video map is projected, which explains the meaning of the frieze. The two statues, known as ‘busti loricati di Susa’ and representing two Roman emperors, were surveyed with a photogrammetric method with the aim of processing two 3D models representing the statues before the 19th century restoration, on the basis of archival sources. These models provided the base for a video installation for the museum which simulates a holographic projection and explains the different armour parts highlighting them in sequence. Nowadays modern metric survey technologies allow us to collect and process very detailed 3D models able to satisfy a wide variety of applications field, from specialized representation to didactic final uses in museums exhibitions

Developing a hierarchical Digital Core Analysis workflow for petro-physical characterisation of cross-laminated reservoir rocks at pore scales

The study presented in this thesis addresses a critical shortfall of Digital Core Analysis (DCA) in the petro-physical characterisation of natural rock samples that exhibit complex and spatially non-separable multi-scale arrangements of mineral grains of variable sizes and chemical compositions. Since those multi-scale arrangements define non-stationary (heterogeneous) grain-pore distributions, they must be characterised on sufficiently large sample volumes for sample reconstruction at pore and grain scales, to simulate the fluid flow processes for predicting petro-physical properties. Such characterisations can only be done in a multi-stage manner at multi-scales and multi-locations on a sample, due to the mutual constraints of the imaging field of view and resolution. Typical multi-scale approaches fuse images from various sources based on shared features (e.g. disproportionately large grains) as cross-scale references, but have limited application when the shared features are less obvious (non-separable) across multi-scale images. For common cross-lamination in sandstone rocks that exhibit hierarchical structures controlling grain-pore distribution and are demarcated by physical features such as inter/intra-lamina (set) bounding surfaces, a multi-scale DCA workflow would be ideally suited for the petro-physical characterisation but would be challenging to apply when the visibility of cross-scale shared features (bounding surfaces) is weak. This work argues that the workflow needs to have the following elements: 1) a multiscale spatial sampling/characterisation procedure; 2) a way to maintain correct cross-scale spatial correlation among individual sampled datasets through shared features, as reference to the same sample, and 3) a stochastic reconstruction procedure that honours the multiscale structures identified in 1) and correlated in 2), and reconstructs the poregrain-scale non-stationarity they expressed across the correlated datasets. The work presented in this thesis focuses on cross-lamination in sandstone rocks to identify challenges arising to multi-scale characterisation and to develop a suitable hierarchical DCA workflow. For this purpose, an outcrop tight Aeolian cross-laminated sandstone sample of 6x6x6 cm3 that includes representative hierarchical structures was chosen. The key achievements are: 1) a suitable imaging-based exploratory and recursive sampling and characterisation procedure to maximise correlation between datasets. Analysis on the resultant multi-scale datasets showed that sharp and gradual grain compositions change between adjacent laminasets (inter-laminaset) and laminae (intra-laminaset), respectively, to form thin but finite-thickness bounding surfaces, which are ideally suited as shared physical features. However, challenges are identified including a) the inter-laminaset bounding surfaces are obscured by “artefacts” and cannot be enhanced by existing techniques and b) intra-laminaset bounding surfaces are hard to be even observed because of gradual composition variation. 2) To identify the two types of bounding surfaces as shared features to help registration, two new techniques were developed by exploring geological knowledge on structural morphology and mineral compositions, respectively, and were shown to be able to successfully identify and extract shared inter- and intra-laminaset bounding surfaces. 3) For a pair of realisations of sampled inter- and intra-laminaset bounding surfaces and estimated grain-pore distribution information, a non-stationary index map of grain texture (size and orientation) on the whole sample domain can be constructed to define the mean of affinity transformations for stochastically populating stationary (homogeneous) grain and pore structures by a reconstruction method which is implemented based on Multiple Points Statistics (MPS). One reconstructed pore-grain model was obtained in this work and contains 11900x11900x11900 voxels at a voxel resolution of 4 µm. This model was verified to capture key pore-grain variations associated with the characterised lamination structures

Microfluidic Systems for Cancer Diagnostics

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in noncommunicable diseases coming right after cardiovascular diseases. Early diagnosis is a key for improving survival expectancy and treatment outcomes as cancer in early stage is more responsive to treatment. Currently, center of diseases control and prevention (CDC) recommend regular screening for cervical, breast and colorectal cancers. Although other screening procedures are available for prostate, pancreatic, thyroid and ovarian cancer, they did not prove to be effective in reducing mortality rates of these cancers. Adaption of prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening test for prostate cancer has not been related to improved survival rates instead it resulted in what has been known as “prostate cancer epidemic” due to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of prostate cancer. The dilemma of current cancer diagnostic techniques results from the trade-off between specificity and sensitivity of the cancer screening. Specific cancer screening strategies that depend on either imaging or histopathological examination are not sensitive enough and miss latent or asymptomatic cancers. While sensitive techniques that depend on biomarker screening in biofluids like PSA test are not specific enough for accurate decision. In addition, most of these techniques are time consuming, expensive and require centralized laboratories with highly trained technicians. These criteria limit the availability of cancer screening technique to developed countries with well-established healthcare systems and limit their application in areas with limited resources. The goal of this thesis is to develop and test techniques with promising specificity and sensitivity for screening and staging of different types of cancers. Several approaches have been studied to develop point-of-care (POC) sensors for prostate, head and neck cancers that are of low cost, utilizes low sample volumes, automated or semiautomated and can be utilized in remote areas with limited resources. 3D printing was used to prototype and mass produce microfluidic chips and adaptors with better fluid handling characteristics and much lower cost than traditional microfluidic systems. Panels of selected biomarker proteins were multiplexed on the same microfluidic chip to improve assay septicity while maintaining ultralow sensitivities

Ion Beam Techniques and Applications

A wide variety of ion beam techniques are being used in several versatile applications ranging from environmental science, nuclear physics, microdevice fabrication to materials science. In addition, new applications of ion beam techniques across a broad range of disciplines and fields are also being discovered frequently. In this book, the latest research and development on progress in ion beam techniques has been compiled and an overview of ion beam irradiation-induced applications in nanomaterial-focused ion beam applications, ion beam analysis techniques, as well as ion implantation application in cells is provided. Moreover, simulations of ion beam-induced damage to structural materials of nuclear fusion reactors are also presented in this book

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Department of Energy Engineering (Energy Engineering)With the demand to overcome the issues concerning environmental pollution of fossil fuel in large-scale system and various fields, numerous efforts have been devoted toward a design of rational energy storage system (ESS) in order to substitute present energy source. While lots of systems are suggested, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been attracted as one of the promising ESS among various storage devices. Existing one which consists of a graphite anode unfortunately have the trouble to fulfilling required condition such as high power and energy density. Thus, new type of anode materials has been developed to achieve mentioned specifications. As possible candidates, silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) have been emerged owing to their high gravimetric/volumetric capacity and low operating voltage. Nevertheless, those materials remain under challenge level because inferior electronic properties have the limit to catch high power density and unexpected volume expansion on a lithiation process into materials, resulting in the electrode failure and capacity decay where factors influence safety and stability issues in LIBs system. Here, we introduce approaches through dimensional manipulation to proceed. Overall synthetic processes are focused on versatile method, a possibility of mass production and evaluation methods obviously demonstrate intrinsic/extrinsic characteristic ways. With in situ microscopic/electrochemical techniques, specific properties and electrochemical reaction mechanism of synthesized materials are clearly unveiled to facilitate power density enhancement and volume change suppression. In Chapter II, we present zero-dimensional (0D) carbon wrapped-hollow Si microparticles which possess porous shell structure from various silica source regardless of their shape. Sequent top-down and bottom-up processes fabricate uniform 0D Si and a key factor for unique formation mechanism is verified through ex situ characterization and simulation results. In electrochemical view, creating cavities in a core and pores in the shell alleviate volume expansion and enable short ion-diffusion length. Surface carbon layer additionally provide fast electron movement to guarantee stable and considerable power density. Besides, in situ transmission electron microscopic (TEM) demonstrate the stability of morphological structure on charge/discharging cycle. In Chapter III, we design one-dimensional (1D) Ge/zinc (Zn)-based nanofibers. Homogeneous Ge/Zn nanofibers via electrospinning method and solid-gas reduction reaction own atomic-level distribution of each element. Well-dispersive metallic Zn in Ge nanofiber could effectively improve electronic conductivity/volumetric stability and nanosized structure also features facile ion transport and stress release by volume expansion on electrochemical cycles. In situ TEM/electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) deeply investigate the critical role of ionic bond of Zn element in Ge nanofibers. In Chapter IV, we introduce additional 1D Ge nanofibers, which feature numerous sizes of pores in whole morphological structure. Intrinsic metal oxide characters based on Ellingham diagram enable to carve heterogenous pore in and out of nanofibers. This structure shows stable electrochemical cyclability without a large volume expansion. Further, we confirm the unique behavior of Ge, called memory effect in LIBs. In situ TEM characterization supports that numerous pores work as volume buffer sites and keep spatial reversibility on charge/discharge cycles. In Chapter V, we finally suggest synthetic method of three-dimensional (3D) porous Ge clusters from zeotype-borogermanate microcubes, artificial Ge-rich zeolite. This starting material is prepared in a large quantity through a simple hydrothermal process as followed by sequential thermal and etching treatment to produce 3D porous Ge. As-fabricated product interestingly behaves like a pseudocapacitance exhibiting fast electrochemical kinetics. Further, the as-formed pores build up stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the surface for prolonged cycles, improving cycle stability. In Chapter VI, we briefly provide the insight for the correlation of the dimensions and electrochemical properties toward advanced lithium storage system. To handle unsettled issues in large-scale lithium batteries, it is essential to look around the overall circumstances to match the specific purpose.clos

Design of decorative 3D models: from geodesic ornaments to tangible assemblies

L'obiettivo di questa tesi è sviluppare strumenti utili per creare opere d'arte decorative digitali in 3D. Uno dei processi decorativi più comunemente usati prevede la creazione di pattern decorativi, al fine di abbellire gli oggetti. Questi pattern possono essere dipinti sull'oggetto di base o realizzati con l'applicazione di piccoli elementi decorativi. Tuttavia, la loro realizzazione nei media digitali non è banale. Da un lato, gli utenti esperti possono eseguire manualmente la pittura delle texture o scolpire ogni decorazione, ma questo processo può richiedere ore per produrre un singolo pezzo e deve essere ripetuto da zero per ogni modello da decorare. D'altra parte, gli approcci automatici allo stato dell'arte si basano sull'approssimazione di questi processi con texturing basato su esempi o texturing procedurale, o con sistemi di riproiezione 3D. Tuttavia, questi approcci possono introdurre importanti limiti nei modelli utilizzabili e nella qualità dei risultati. Il nostro lavoro sfrutta invece i recenti progressi e miglioramenti delle prestazioni nel campo dell'elaborazione geometrica per creare modelli decorativi direttamente sulle superfici. Presentiamo una pipeline per i pattern 2D e una per quelli 3D, e dimostriamo come ognuna di esse possa ricreare una vasta gamma di risultati con minime modifiche dei parametri. Inoltre, studiamo la possibilità di creare modelli decorativi tangibili. I pattern 3D generati possono essere stampati in 3D e applicati a oggetti realmente esistenti precedentemente scansionati. Discutiamo anche la creazione di modelli con mattoncini da costruzione, e la possibilità di mescolare mattoncini standard e mattoncini custom stampati in 3D. Ciò consente una rappresentazione precisa indipendentemente da quanto la voxelizzazione sia approssimativa. I principali contributi di questa tesi sono l'implementazione di due diverse pipeline decorative, un approccio euristico alla costruzione con mattoncini e un dataset per testare quest'ultimo.The aim of this thesis is to develop effective tools to create digital decorative 3D artworks. Real-world art often involves the use of decorative patterns to enrich objects. These patterns can be painted on the base or might be realized with the application of small decorative elements. However, their creation in digital media is not trivial. On the one hand, users can manually perform texture paint or sculpt each decoration, in a process that can take hours to produce a single piece and needs to be repeated from the ground up for every model that needs to be decorated. On the other hand, automatic approaches in state of the art rely on approximating these processes with procedural or by-example texturing or with 3D reprojection. However, these approaches can introduce significant limitations in the models that can be used and in the quality of the results. Instead, our work exploits the recent advances and performance improvements in the geometry processing field to create decorative patterns directly on surfaces. We present a pipeline for 2D and one for 3D patterns and demonstrate how each of them can recreate a variety of results with minimal tweaking of the parameters. Furthermore, we investigate the possibility of creating decorative tangible models. The 3D patterns we generate can be 3D printed and applied to previously scanned real-world objects. We also discuss the creation of models with standard building bricks and the possibility of mixing standard and custom 3D-printed bricks. This allows for a precise representation regardless of the coarseness of the voxelization. The main contributions of this thesis are the implementation of two different decorative pipelines, a heuristic approach to brick construction, and a dataset to test the latter

TECHNART 2017. Non-destructive and microanalytical techniques in art and cultural heritage. Book of abstracts

440 p.TECHNART2017 is the international biannual congress on the application of Analytical Techniques in Art and Cultural Heritage. The aim of this European conference is to provide a scientific forum to present and promote the use of analytical spectroscopic techniques in cultural heritage on a worldwide scale to stimulate contacts and exchange experiences, making a bridge between science and art. This conference builds on the momentum of the previous TECHNART editions of Lisbon, Athens, Berlin, Amsterdam and Catania, offering an outstanding and unique opportunity for exchanging knowledge on leading edge developments. Cultural heritage studies are interpreted in a broad sense, including pigments, stones, metal, glass, ceramics, chemometrics on artwork studies, resins, fibers, forensic applications in art, history, archaeology and conservation science. The meeting is focused in different aspects: - X-ray analysis (XRF, PIXE, XRD, SEM-EDX). - Confocal X-ray microscopy (3D Micro-XRF, 3D Micro-PIXE). - Synchrotron, ion beam and neutron based techniques/instrumentation. - FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. - UV-Vis and NIR absorption/reflectance and fluorescence. - Laser-based analytical techniques (LIBS, etc.). - Magnetic resonance techniques. - Chromatography (GC, HPLC) and mass spectrometry. - Optical imaging and coherence techniques. - Mobile spectrometry and remote sensing

Tracing back the source of contamination

From the time a contaminant is detected in an observation well, the question of where and when the contaminant was introduced in the aquifer needs an answer. Many techniques have been proposed to answer this question, but virtually all of them assume that the aquifer and its dynamics are perfectly known. This work discusses a new approach for the simultaneous identification of the contaminant source location and the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in an aquifer which has been validated on synthetic and laboratory experiments and which is in the process of being validated on a real aquifer