10,780 research outputs found
Real Time Turbulent Video Perfecting by Image Stabilization and Super-Resolution
Image and video quality in Long Range Observation Systems (LOROS) suffer from
atmospheric turbulence that causes small neighbourhoods in image frames to
chaotically move in different directions and substantially hampers visual
analysis of such image and video sequences. The paper presents a real-time
algorithm for perfecting turbulence degraded videos by means of stabilization
and resolution enhancement. The latter is achieved by exploiting the turbulent
motion. The algorithm involves generation of a reference frame and estimation,
for each incoming video frame, of a local image displacement map with respect
to the reference frame; segmentation of the displacement map into two classes:
stationary and moving objects and resolution enhancement of stationary objects,
while preserving real motion. Experiments with synthetic and real-life
sequences have shown that the enhanced videos, generated in real time, exhibit
substantially better resolution and complete stabilization for stationary
objects while retaining real motion.Comment: Submitted to The Seventh IASTED International Conference on
Visualization, Imaging, and Image Processing (VIIP 2007) August, 2007 Palma
de Mallorca, Spai
Observation and Understanding of the Initial Unstable Electrical Contact Behaviors
Reliable and long-lifetime electrical contact is a very important issue in the field of radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and in energy transmission applications. In this paper, the initial unstable electrical contact phenomena under the conditions of micro-newton-scale contact force and nanometer-scale contact gap have been experimentally observed. The repetitive contact bounces at nanoscale are confirmed by the measured instantaneous waveforms of contact force and contact voltage. Moreover, the corresponding physical model for describing the competition between the electrostatic force and the restoring force of the mobile contact is present. Then, the dynamic process of contact closure is explicitly calculated with the numerical method. Finally, the effects of spring rigidness and open voltage on the unstable electrical contact behaviors are investigated experimentally and theoretically. This paper highlights that in MEMS systems switch, minimal actuation velocity is required to prevent mechanical bounce and excessive wear
Restoring Narrow Linewidth to a Gradient-Broadened Magnetic Resonance by Inhomogeneous Dressing
We study the possibility of counteracting the line-broadening of atomic
magnetic resonances due to inhomogeneities of the static magnetic field by
means of spatially dependent magnetic dressing, driven by an alternating field
that oscillates much faster than the Larmor precession frequency. We
demonstrate that an intrinsic resonance linewidth of 25~Hz that has been
broadened up to hundreds Hz by a magnetic field gradient, can be recovered by
the application of an appropriate inhomogeneous dressing field. The findings of
our experiments may have immediate and important implications, because they
facilitate the use of atomic magnetometers as robust, high sensitivity
detectors in ultra-low-field NMR imaging.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 33 refs. This is the unedited versio
Inferring Latent States and Refining Force Estimates via Hierarchical Dirichlet Process Modeling in Single Particle Tracking Experiments
Optical microscopy provides rich spatio-temporal information characterizing
in vivo molecular motion. However, effective forces and other parameters used
to summarize molecular motion change over time in live cells due to latent
state changes, e.g., changes induced by dynamic micro-environments,
photobleaching, and other heterogeneity inherent in biological processes. This
study focuses on techniques for analyzing Single Particle Tracking (SPT) data
experiencing abrupt state changes. We demonstrate the approach on GFP tagged
chromatids experiencing metaphase in yeast cells and probe the effective forces
resulting from dynamic interactions that reflect the sum of a number of
physical phenomena. State changes are induced by factors such as microtubule
dynamics exerting force through the centromere, thermal polymer fluctuations,
etc. Simulations are used to demonstrate the relevance of the approach in more
general SPT data analyses. Refined force estimates are obtained by adopting and
modifying a nonparametric Bayesian modeling technique, the Hierarchical
Dirichlet Process Switching Linear Dynamical System (HDP-SLDS), for SPT
applications. The HDP-SLDS method shows promise in systematically identifying
dynamical regime changes induced by unobserved state changes when the number of
underlying states is unknown in advance (a common problem in SPT applications).
We expand on the relevance of the HDP-SLDS approach, review the relevant
background of Hierarchical Dirichlet Processes, show how to map discrete time
HDP-SLDS models to classic SPT models, and discuss limitations of the approach.
In addition, we demonstrate new computational techniques for tuning
hyperparameters and for checking the statistical consistency of model
assumptions directly against individual experimental trajectories; the
techniques circumvent the need for "ground-truth" and subjective information.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Differs only typographically from PLoS One
publication available freely as an open-access article at
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.013763
Flow conveying and diagnosis with carbon nanotube arrays
Dense arrays of aligned carbon nanotubes are designed into strips, nanowicks, as a miniature wicking element for liquid delivery and potential microfluidic chemical analysis devices. Liquid wicks away along the nanowicks spontaneously. This delivery function of nanowicks enables novel fluid transport devices to run without any power input, moving parts or external pump. Flow around the opaque nanotubes can be detected either directly or indirectly. Direct signals of the flow come out of dyed liquid or from the liquid–air interface; indirect signals are detected through observing surface-tension-induced deformation and dislocation of the nanotubes. Here we show that flow progression around and inside nanowicks is sensitive to liquid properties. Different flow progression leaves different traces of liquid. These traces not only allow liquid diagnosis any time after sampling, but also enable analysis of flow at a nanoscale resolution with scanning electron microscopy
Nanoscopy of bacterial cells immobilized by holographic optical tweezers
Diekmann R, Wolfson D, Spahn C, Heilemann M, Schüttpelz M, Huser T. Nanoscopy of bacterial cells immobilized by holographic optical tweezers. Nature Communications. 2016;7(1): 13711
Mixing and transport by ciliary carpets: a numerical study
We use a 3D computational model to study the fluid transport and mixing due
to the beating of an infinite array of cilia. In accord with recent
experiments, we observe two distinct regions: a fluid transport region above
the cilia and a fluid mixing region below the cilia tip. The metachronal wave
due to phase differences between neighboring cilia is known to enhance the
fluid transport above the ciliary tip. In this work, we show that the
metachronal wave also enhances the mixing rates in the sub-ciliary region,
often simultaneously with the flow rate enhancement. Our results suggest that
this simultaneous enhancement in transport and mixing is due to an enhancement
in shear flow. As the flow above the cilia increases, shear rate in the fluid
increases and such shear enhances stretching, which is an essential ingredient
for mixing. Estimates of the mixing time scale indicate that, compared to
diffusion, the mixing due to the cilia beat may be significant and sometimes
dominates chemical diffusion.Comment: submitted to Journal of Fluid Mechanic
Modelling the degradation of vibration characteristics of reinforced concrete beams due to flexural damage
This paper presents an improved crack model incorporating non-linearity of flexural damage in concrete to reproduce changes in vibration properties of cracked reinforced concrete beams. A reinforced concrete beam model with multiple-distributed flexural cracks is developed, in which the cracked regions are modelled using the fictitious crack approach and the undamaged parts are treated in a linear-elastic manner. The model is subject to incremental static four-point bending, and its dynamic behaviour is examined using different sinusoidal excitations including swept sine and harmonic signals. From the swept sine excitations, the model simulates changes in resonant frequency with increasing damage. The harmonic excitations are utilised to investigate changes in modal stiffness extracted from the restoring force surfaces, and changes in the level of non-linearity are deduced from the appearance of super-harmonics in the frequency domain. The simulation results are compared with experimental data of reinforced concrete beams subject to incremental static four-point bending. The comparisons revealed that the proposed crack model is able to quantitatively predict changes in vibration characteristics of cracked reinforced concrete beams. Changes are sensitive to support stiffness, where the sensitivity increases with stiffer support conditions. Changes in the level of non-linearity with damage are not suitable for damage detection in reinforced concrete structures because they do not follow a monotonic trend
- …