12,711 research outputs found
Accurate and automatic NOAA-AVHRR image navigation using a global contour matching approach
The problem of precise and automatic AVHRR image navigation is tractable in theory, but has proved to be somewhat difficult in practice. The authors' work has been motivated by the need for a fully automatic and operational navigation system capable of geo-referencing NOAA-AVHRR images with high accuracy and without operator supervision. The proposed method is based on the simultaneous use of an orbital model and a contour matching approach. This last process, relying on an affine transformation model, is used to correct the errors caused by inaccuracies in orbit modeling, nonzero value for the spacecraft's roll, pitch and yaw, errors due to inaccuracies in the satellite positioning and failures in the satellite internal clock. The automatic global contour matching process is summarized as follows: i) Estimation of the gradient energy map (edges) in the sensed image and detection of the cloudless (reliable) areas in this map. ii) Initialization of the affine model parameters by minimizing the Euclidean distance between the reference and sensed images objects. iii) Simultaneous optimization of all reference image contours on the sensed image by energy minimization in the domain of the global transformation parameters. The process is iterated in a hierarchical way, reducing the parameter searching space at each iteration. The proposed image navigation algorithm has proved to be capable of geo-referencing a satellite image within 1 pixel.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
Temperature dependence of the nitrogen-vacancy magnetic resonance in diamond
The temperature dependence of the magnetic resonance spectra of
nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) ensembles in the range of 280-330 K was studied. Four
samples prepared under different conditions were studied with NV-
concentrations ranging from 10 ppb to 15 ppm. For all of these samples, the
axial zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameter, D, was found to vary significantly
with temperature, T, as dD/dT = -74.2(7) kHz/K. The transverse ZFS parameter,
E, was non-zero (between 4 and 11 MHz) in all samples, and exhibited a
temperature dependence of dE/(EdT) = -1.4(3) x 10^(-4) K^(-1). The results
might be accounted for by considering local thermal expansion. The observation
of the temperature dependence of the ZFS parameters presents a significant
challenge for room-temperature diamond magnetometers and may ultimately limit
their bandwidth and sensitivity.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
On the linearized dynamics of two-dimensional bubbly flows over wave-shaped surfaces
In the last decades the technological importance or bubbly
flows has generated considerable efforts to achieve a
better understanding of their properties, [1],[2]. However,
the presence or two interacting phases so much increases
the complexity or the problem that a satisfactory
mathematical model of these flows has been possible only in
special cases under fairly restrictive simplifying assumptions.
The main purpose of the present note is to investigate
the effects due to the inclusion or bubble dynamic response
in two-dimensional flows over wave-shaped surfaces.
The earlier studies of bubbly flows based on space averaged
equations for the mixture in the absence or relative
motion between the two phases, [5], [6], do not consider
bubble dynamic effects. This approach simply leads to an
equivalent compressible homogeneous medium and has
been used to analyze the behaviour or one-dimensional bubbly
flows through converging-diverging nozzles.
In order to account for bubble dynamic response, in a
classical paper by Foldy, [7], each individual bubble is
described as a randomly distributed point scatterer. Assuming
that the system is ergodic, the collective effect of bubble
dynamic response on the flow is then obtained by taking the
ensemble average over all possible configurations. An alternative
way to account for bubble dynamic effects would be
to include the Rayleigh-Plesset equation in the space averaged
equations. Both methods have been successfully
applied to describe the propagation or one-dimensional perturbances
through liquids containing small gas bubbles, [8],
[9], [10], [11].
However, because of their complexity, there are not many
reported examples of the application to specific flow
geometries of the space averaged equations which include
the effects of bubble response, [12]. In an earlier note, [13],
we considered the one-dimensional time dependent linearized
dynamics or a spherical cloud of bubbles. The results
clearly show that the motion of the cloud is critically controlled
by bubble dynamic effects. Specifically, the dominating
phenomenon consists of the combined response of the
bubbles to the pressure in the surrounding liquid, which
results in volume changes leading to a global accelerating
velocity field. Associated with this velocity field is a pressure
gradient which in turn determines the pressure encountered
by each individual bubble in the mixture.
Furthermore, it can be shown that such global interactions
usually dominate any pressure perturbations experienced
by one bubble due to the growth or collapse or a neighbor
(see section 5).
In the present note the same approach is applied to the
two-dimensional case or steady flows over wave-shaped surfaces
(for which there exist well established solutions for
compressible and incompressible flow), With the aim, as previously
stated, of assessing the effects due to the introduction
or bubble dynamic response. Despite its intrinsic limitations,
the following linear analysis indicates some of the
fundamental phenomena involved in such flows and provides
a useful basis for the study of the same flows with
non-linear bubble dynamics, which we intend to discuss in a
later publication. The present extention to the case of bubbly
flows over arbitrarily shaped surfaces also constitutes
the starting point for the investigation or such flows, a problem
of considerable technical interest, for example in cavitating
flows past lifting surfaces
Top quark physics in hadron collisions
The top quark is the heaviest elementary particle observed to date. Its large
mass makes the top quark an ideal laboratory to test predictions of
perturbation theory concerning heavy quark production at hadron colliders. The
top quark is also a powerful probe for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model
of particle physics. In addition, the top quark mass is a crucial parameter for
scrutinizing the Standard Model in electroweak precision tests and for
predicting the mass of the yet unobserved Higgs boson. Ten years after the
discovery of the top quark at the Fermilab Tevatron top quark physics has
entered an era where detailed measurements of top quark properties are
undertaken. In this review article an introduction to the phenomenology of top
quark production in hadron collisions is given, the lessons learned in Tevatron
Run I are summarized, and first Run II results are discussed. A brief outlook
to the possibilities of top quark research a the Large Hadron Collider,
currently under construction at CERN, is included.Comment: 84 pages, 32 figures, accepted for publication by Reports on Progress
in Physic
Periodic Chaotic Billiards: Quantum-Classical Correspondence in Energy Space
We investigate the properties of eigenstates and local density of states
(LDOS) for a periodic 2D rippled billiard, focusing on their quantum-classical
correspondence in energy representation. To construct the classical
counterparts of LDOS and the structure of eigenstates (SES), the effects of the
boundary are first incorporated (via a canonical transformation) into an
effective potential, rendering the one-particle motion in the 2D rippled
billiard equivalent to that of two-interacting particles in 1D geometry. We
show that classical counterparts of SES and LDOS in the case of strong chaotic
motion reveal quite a good correspondence with the quantum quantities. We also
show that the main features of the SES and LDOS can be explained in terms of
the underlying classical dynamics, in particular of certain periodic orbits. On
the other hand, statistical properties of eigenstates and LDOS turn out to be
different from those prescribed by random matrix theory. We discuss the quantum
effects responsible for the non-ergodic character of the eigenstates and
individual LDOS that seem to be generic for this type of billiards with a large
number of transverse channels.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figure
SUITABILITY OF PUMPKIN GENOTYPES AS HOSTS OF MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA
SUITABILITY OF PUMPKIN GENOTYPES AS HOSTS OF MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNIT
Infrared Study of Fullerene Planetary Nebulae
We present a study of 16 PNe where fullerenes have been detected in their
Spitzer spectra. This large sample of objects offers an unique opportunity to
test conditions of fullerene formation and survival under different metallicity
environments as we are analyzing five sources in our own Galaxy, four in the
LMC, and seven in the SMC. Among the 16 PNe under study, we present the first
detection of C60 (possibly also C70) fullerenes in the PN M 1-60 as well as of
the unusual 6.6, 9.8, and 20 um features (possible planar C24) in the PN K
3-54. Although selection effects in the original samples of PNe observed with
Spitzer may play a potentially significant role in the statistics, we find that
the detection rate of fullerenes in C-rich PNe increases with decreasing
metallicity (5% in the Galaxy, 20% in the LMC, and 44% in the SMC). CLOUDY
photoionization modeling matches the observed IR fluxes with central stars that
display a rather narrow range in effective temperature (30,000-45,000 K),
suggesting a common evolutionary status of the objects and similar fullerene
formation conditions. The observed C60 intensity ratios in the Galactic sources
confirm our previous finding in the MCs that the fullerene emission is not
excited by the UV radiation from the central star. CLOUDY models also show that
line- and wind-blanketed model atmospheres can explain many of the observed
[NeIII]/[NeII] ratios by photoionization suggesting that possibly the UV
radiation from the central star, and not shocks, are triggering the
decomposition of the circumstellar dust grains. With the data at hand, we
suggest that the most likely explanation for the formation of fullerenes and
graphene precursors in PNe is that these molecular species are built from the
photo-chemical processing of a carbonaceous compound with a mixture of aromatic
and aliphatic structures similar to that of HAC dust.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (43 pages, 11 figures, and 4 tables).
Small changes to fit the proof-corrected article to be published in Ap
Chaotic Waveguide-Based Resonators for Microlasers
We propose the construction of highly directional emission microlasers using
two-dimensional high-index semiconductor waveguides as {\it open} resonators.
The prototype waveguide is formed by two collinear leads connected to a cavity
of certain shape. The proposed lasing mechanism requires that the shape of the
cavity yield mixed chaotic ray dynamics so as to have the appropiate (phase
space) resonance islands. These islands allow, via Heisenberg's uncertainty
principle, the appearance of quasi bound states (QBS) which, in turn,
propitiate the lasing mechanism. The energy values of the QBS are found through
the solution of the Helmholtz equation. We use classical ray dynamics to
predict the direction and intensity of the lasing produced by such open
resonators for typical values of the index of refraction.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Histochemical analyses of muscle injury induced by venom from Argentine Bothrops alternatus (vĂbora de la cruz)
Histochemical methods were used to study necrosis of skeletal muscle fibers induced by Bothrops alternatus snake venom from Argentina. Rats with a body weight between 220–270 g, were used. Animals received an i.m. venom injection (800 μg) in the gastrocnemius. To determine creatinphosphokinase activity (CPK), blood samples were taken from the tail 60 min, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h after the envenoming. About 24 h later, rats received chloral hydrate anesthesia for histological analysis with Hematoxilin–Eosin (H–E) stain, and histochemical studies such as lipid peroxidation (Schiff’s reaction), and calcium precipitation (alizarin red stain). Results showed an increment in plasma CPK level, with its major peak at 3 h. Histochemical analyses revealed an intense destruction of muscular fibers as a consequence of a significant lipid peroxidation and calcium precipitation as well. Histochemical methods can be considered as a valuable tool in applied research regarding toxicological problems such as snake venom intoxication. It can be concluded that B. alternatus snake venom leads to a lipid peroxidation accompanied by citoplasmatic calcium precipitation. In addition, it was demonstrated that H–E stain made on frozen cuts (histochemical technique) is effective to evidence a panoramic tissular view of muscular lesion caused by B. alternatus venom, with the advantage of demanding a shorter execution lapse (few hours) in relationship to classic H–E histological technique, which requires several days of procesing
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