Production of electronics and photovoltaics using a reel-to-reel process

Reel to reel manufacturing is a mature technology that involves the passing of a flexible substrate or web continuously through one or more processes. The web is typically much longer than it is wide, and the width in turn is much greater than its thickness. It is a continuous process that results in high output at a low unit cost when compared with other production methods. Historically this has included newspaper printing and textile manufacture, but more recent research is being conducted in developing printed electronics, such as solar cells (Organic Photo-Voltaic or OPV), and wearable tech and flexible screens (Polymer LEDs or PLEDs). These devices consist of up to five layers, with a separate printing or coating process needed for each. Greater accuracy is necessary than for traditional industries and advances are required in three areas: control of the web; measurement and registration of the printed web; and flexible semi-conductor materials. In this paper we present a new methodology to improve printing accuracy by combining an advanced metrology system with an innovative process design

Optical flow estimation via steered-L1 norm

Global variational methods for estimating optical flow are among the best performing methods due to the subpixel accuracy and the ‘fill-in’ effect they provide. The fill-in effect allows optical flow displacements to be estimated even in low and untextured areas of the image. The estimation of such displacements are induced by the smoothness term. The L1 norm provides a robust regularisation term for the optical flow energy function with a very good performance for edge-preserving. However this norm suffers from several issues, among these is the isotropic nature of this norm which reduces the fill-in effect and eventually the accuracy of estimation in areas near motion boundaries. In this paper we propose an enhancement to the L1 norm that improves the fill-in effect for this smoothness term. In order to do this we analyse the structure tensor matrix and use its eigenvectors to steer the smoothness term into components that are ‘orthogonal to’ and ‘aligned with’ image structures. This is done in primal-dual formulation. Results show a reduced end-point error and improved accuracy compared to the conventional L1 norm

Introducing mobile home agents into the distributed authentication protocol to achieve location privacy in mobile IPv6

Mobile IPv6 will be the basis for the fourth generation 4G networks which will completely revolutionize the way telecommunication devices operate. This paradigm shift will occur due to the sole use of packed switching networks. Mobile IPv6 utilizes binding updates as a route optimization to reduced triangle routing between the mobile node, the home agent and the correspondent node, allowing direct communication between the mobile node and the correspondent. However, direct communication between the nodes produces a range of security vulnerabilities, which the home agent avoided. This paper attempts to provide the advantages of using the home agent as an intermediary whilst reducing the latency of triangle routing. This can be achieved with the proposed use of a mobile home agent which essentially follows the mobile node as it moves between points of attachment providing location privacy and pseudo-direct communication, which can be incorporated into the distributed authentication protocol or be used as a stand alone solution

Optical flow estimation via steered-L1 norm

Global variational methods for estimating optical flow are among the best performing methods due to the subpixel accuracy and the ‘fill-in’ effect they provide. The fill-in effect allows optical flow displacements to be estimated even in low and untextured areas of the image. The estimation of such displacements are induced by the smoothness term. The L1 norm provides a robust regularisation term for the optical flow energy function with a very good performance for edge-preserving. However this norm suffers from several issues, among these is the isotropic nature of this norm which reduces the fill-in effect and eventually the accuracy of estimation in areas near motion boundaries. In this paper we propose an enhancement to the L1 norm that improves the fill-in effect for this smoothness term. In order to do this we analyse the structure tensor matrix and use its eigenvectors to steer the smoothness term into components that are ‘orthogonal to’ and ‘aligned with’ image structures. This is done in primal-dual formulation. Results show a reduced end-point error and improved accuracy compared to the conventional L1 norm

Empirical Questionnaire Methods for Fund-Raising Campaign Preparedness in Extension

Amid waning public financial support for Extension program offerings, highly strategic and professional fund-raising practices are necessary for gaining momentum among private philanthropists and closing the fiscal gap. University of Missouri Extension conducted a precampaign survey that invited feedback from stakeholders to inform Extension leadership on how to execute fund-raising initiatives tailored to the audience. As a result, University of Missouri Extension is better positioned to serve the needs of its constituents by recruiting significant private financial support according to donors\u27 unique interests

A review of hough transform and line segment detection approaches

In a wide range of image processing and computer vision problems, line segment detection is one of the most critical challenges. For more than three decades researchers have contributed to build more robust and accurate algorithms with faster performance. In this paper we review the main approaches and in particular the Hough transform and its extensions, which are among the most well-known techniques for the detection of straight lines in a digital image. This paper is based on extensive practical research and is organised into two main parts. In the first part, the HT and its major research directions and limitations are discussed. In the second part of the paper, state-of-the-art line segmentation techniques are reviewed and categorized into three main groups with fundamentally distinctive characteristics. Their relative advantages and disadvantages are compared and summarised in a table

Short Communication Measurements and models of the toughness of adipose tissue

Abstract The measured toughness J C of adipose and dermal porcine tissues are 4.1 kJ m -2 and 17 kJ m -2 , respectively, via a trouser tear test. A simplified micromechanical model for toughness is developed for adipose tissue. The analysis shows that the toughness of adipose tissue is determined by the collagen network that surrounds the adipocytes. The volume fraction of the interlobular septa is sufficiently low for it to make a negligible contribution to the macroscopic toughness

Characterization of 3 PET tracers for Quantification of Mitochondrial and Synaptic function in Healthy Human Brain: 18F-BCPP-EF, 11C-SA-4503, 11C-UCB-J

Mitochondrial complex 1 (MC1) is involved in maintaining brain bioenergetics, the sigma 1 receptor (σ1R) responds to neuronal stress and synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) reflects synaptic integrity. Expression of each of these proteins is altered in neurodegenerative diseases. Here we characterise the kinetic behaviour of three positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands 18F-BCPP-EF, 11C-SA-4503 and 11CUCB- J, for the measurement of MC1, σ1R and SV2A, respectively, and determine appropriate analysis workflows for their application in future studies of the in vivo molecular pathology of these diseases. Methods: Twelve human subjects underwent dynamic PET scans including associated arterial blood sampling with each radioligand. A range of kinetic models were investigated to identify an optimal kinetic analysis method for each radioligand and a suitable acquisition duration. Results: All three radioligands readily entered the brain and yielded heterogeneous uptake consistent with the known distribution of the targets. The optimal models determined for the regional estimates of volume of distribution (VT) were multilinear analysis 1 (MA1) and the 2-tissue compartment (2TC) model for 18F-BCPP-EF, MA1 for 11C-SA- 4503, and both MA1 and the 1-tissue compartment (1TC) model for 11C-UCB-J. Acquisition times of 70, 80 and 60 minutes for 18F-BCPP-EF, 11C-SA-4503, 11C-UCB-J, respectively, provided good estimates of regional VT values. An effect of age was observed on 18F-BCPP-EF and 11C-UCB-J signal in the caudate. Conclusion: These ligands can be assessed for their potential to stratify patients or monitor the progression of molecular neuropathology in neurodegenerative diseases

The angiogenic factor platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor/thymidine phosphorylase is up-regulated in breast cancer epithelium and endothelium.

Tumour angiogenesis is a complex multistep process regulated by a number of angiogenic factors. One such factor, platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor has recently been shown to be thymidine phosphorylase (TP). TP catalyses the reversible phosphorylation of thymidine to deoxyribose-1-phosphate and thymine. Although known to be generally elevated in tumours, the expression of this enzyme in breast carcinomas is unknown. Therefore, we used ribonuclease protection assays and immunohistochemistry to examine the expression of TP in 240 primary breast carcinomas. Nuclear and/or cytoplasmic TP expression was observed in the neoplastic tumour epithelium in 53% of tumours. Immunoreactivity was also often present in the stromal, inflammatory and endothelial cell elements. Although endothelial cell staining was usually focal, immunoreactivity was observed in 61% of tumours and was prominent at the tumour periphery, an area where tumour angiogenesis is most active. Tumour cell TP expression was significantly inversely correlated with grade (P = 0.05) and size (P = 0.003) but no association was observed with other tumour variables. These findings suggest that TP is important for remodelling the existing vasculature early in tumour development, consistent with its chemotactic non-mitogenic properties, and that additional angiogenic factors are more important for other angiogenic processes like endothelial cell proliferation. Relapse-free survival was higher in node-positive patients with elevated TP (P = 0.05) but not in other patient groups. This might be due to the potentiation of chemotherapeutic agents like methotrexate by TP. Therefore, this enzyme might be a prediction marker for response to chemotherapy