Deep learning in automated ultrasonic NDE -- developments, axioms and opportunities

The analysis of ultrasonic NDE data has traditionally been addressed by a trained operator manually interpreting data with the support of rudimentary automation tools. Recently, many demonstrations of deep learning (DL) techniques that address individual NDE tasks (data pre-processing, defect detection, defect characterisation, and property measurement) have started to emerge in the research community. These methods have the potential to offer high flexibility, efficiency, and accuracy subject to the availability of sufficient training data. Moreover, they enable the automation of complex processes that span one or more NDE steps (e.g. detection, characterisation, and sizing). There is, however, a lack of consensus on the direction and requirements that these new methods should follow. These elements are critical to help achieve automation of ultrasonic NDE driven by artificial intelligence such that the research community, industry, and regulatory bodies embrace it. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of autonomous ultrasonic NDE enabled by DL methodologies. The review is organised by the NDE tasks that are addressed by means of DL approaches. Key remaining challenges for each task are noted. Basic axiomatic principles for DL methods in NDE are identified based on the literature review, relevant international regulations, and current industrial needs. By placing DL methods in the context of general NDE automation levels, this paper aims to provide a roadmap for future research and development in the area.Comment: Accepted version to be published in NDT & E Internationa

The LHC Logging Service : Handling terabytes of on-line data

Based on previous experience with LEP, a long-term data logging service for the LHC was developed and put in place in 2003, several years before beam operation. The scope of the logging service covers the evolution over time of data acquisitions on accelerator equipment and beam related parameters. The intention is to keep all this time-series data on-line for the lifetime of LHC, allowing easy data comparisons with previous years. The LHC hardware commissioning has used this service extensively prior to the first beams in 2008 and even more so in 2009. Current data writing rates exceed 15TB/year and continue to increase. The high data volumes and throughput rates, in writing as well as in reading, require special arrangements on data organization and data access methods

The Patricia Zn–Pb–Ag epithermal ore deposit: An uncommon type of mineralization in northeastern Chile

The Patricia ore deposit represents an unusual example of economic Zn–Pb–Ag mineralization at the northernmost end of the Late Eocene–Oligocene metallogenic belt in Chile. It is hosted by volcano-sedimentary units, which are typically tuffaceous and andesitic breccias. The ore body consists of a set of subvertical E-W vein systems developed under a sinistral strike-slip regime that included transtensive domains with generalized extensional structures where the ores were deposited. The deposit is divided into two blocks by a set of NNW-ESE-trending reverse faults, which uplifted the eastern block and exhumed thicker and deeper parts of the deposit. At least 200 m of volcano-sedimentary pile hosting the mineralization has been eroded in this block. By contrast, the western block exposes a shallower part of the system where cherts, amorphous silica and jasperoids occur. Three main stages of mineralization have been defined: (1) pre-ore stage is characterized by early quartz, pyrite and arsenopyrite, (2) base-metal and silver stage; characterized by sphalerite (6 to 15 mol% FeS), galena, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and Ag-bearing minerals (freibergite, polybasite, stephanite, pyrargyrite, freieslebenite and acanthite) and (3) post-ore stage; characterized by late quartz, kutnohorite and minor sulfides (arsenopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, galena, Ag-bearing minerals and Pb-sulfosalts). Whole-ore geochemistry shows two groups of elements that are positively correlated; 1) Ag–Cd–Cu–Pb–Zn related to the base metal sulfides and 2) Au–As–Ge–Sb–W related to arsenopyrite and pyrite. Hydrothermal alteration is pervasive in the outcropping mineralized areas, including silicification and locally, vuggy silica textures. At depth, chloritic and sericitic alteration is developed along vein selvages and is superimposed to the regional propylitic alteration. Fluid inclusions indicate that the base-metal ores were deposited from 250 to 150 °C moderate salinity fluids (1–9 wt.% NaCl). The pre-ore stage is characterized by a saline fluid (6–22 wt.% NaCl) and between 210 and 250 °C whereas the post-ore stage has salinity of 4–8 wt.% and temperature from 175 to 215 °C. Cooling was the mechanism of ore mineral precipitation in the Patricia deposit, although mixing of fluids could have occurred in the pre-ore stage. Mineralogical, geochemical and fluid inclusion evidence is consistent with an intermediate sulfidation (IS) epithermal deposit type. This study highlights the high potential for hidden economic mineralization at depth in the western block and for extension of the ore body both to the south and to deeper levels in the eastern block of the Patricia ore deposit. To a larger extent, the implications of finding such polymetallic epithermal style of mineralization in the northern Chile Precordillera is relevant both to the regional metallogenic perspective and to the exploration potential of the region, where the late Eocene–early Oligocene metallogenic belt apparently disappears.This research was financially supported by the project CGL2010 – 17668 (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain) and the company Herencia Resources Plc.Peer reviewe

The 1989 and 2015 outbursts of V404 Cygni: a global study of wind-related optical features

The black hole transient V404 Cygni exhibited a bright outburst in June 2015 that was intensively followed over a wide range of wavelengths. Our team obtained high time resolution optical spectroscopy (~90 s), which included a detailed coverage of the most active phase of the event. We present a database consisting of 651 optical spectra obtained during this event, that we combine with 58 spectra gathered during the fainter December 2015 sequel outburst, as well as with 57 spectra from the 1989 event. We previously reported the discovery of wind-related features (P-Cygni and broad-wing line profiles) during both 2015 outbursts. Here, we build diagnostic diagrams that enable us to study the evolution of typical emission line parameters, such as line fluxes and equivalent widths, and develop a technique to systematically detect outflow signatures. We find that these are present throughout the outburst, even at very low optical fluxes, and that both types of outflow features are observed simultaneously in some spectra, confirming the idea of a common origin. We also show that the nebular phases depict loop patterns in many diagnostic diagrams, while P-Cygni profiles are highly variable on time-scales of minutes. The comparison between the three outbursts reveals that the spectra obtained during June and December 2015 share many similarities, while those from 1989 exhibit narrower emission lines and lower wind terminal velocities. The diagnostic diagrams presented in this work have been produced using standard measurement techniques and thus may be applied to other active low-mass X-ray binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 23 pages paper, plus a 9 pages appendix with extra tables and figures. 18 figures are included in the paper and 8 in the appendi

Evaluación de variedades de soya (glycine max (l) merr) con diferente hábito de crecimiento según los niveles de riego

Se evaluaron 15 genotipos de soya Glycine max (L) Merr. de hábito de crecimiento determinado (CD), semideterminado (SO), indeterminado (CI) aplicando 5 niveles de riego suplementario y uno sin riego de efectos fijos en la época más seca del año. Las variables fisiológicas, el rendimiento y sus componentes se evaluaron en R2 (floración completa), R2 (inicio de llenado de grano) R7 (madurez fisiológica) y R8 (cosecha). Las variables fisiológicas de la soya presentan óptima expresión con riego alrededor de 400 mm y reducciones significativas aplicando menos de 324 mm de siembra a cosecha. La disminución del IAF en R5 con niveles de poca humedad puede ser el principal mecanismo de tolerancia a sequía. Principalmente por la senescencia y abscisión de hojas de la planta. Las variedades entre y dentro de hábito de crecimiento difieren en su capacidad para sostener el rendimiento final, permitiendo seleccionar genotipos tolerantes a sequía (línea – 121 (CD) ICA- Tunía (CS) y L-141 (CI).Fifteen genotypes of Glycine max (L) Merr. with determinate (CO) semideterminate (SO) and indeterminate (ID) growth habits were evaluate by applying five levels of suplementary irrigation and one without irrigation of permanent effects during the year dry season. The physiologic variables, yield, components were evaluated in R2 (total flowering), R5 (begining of grain replenishrnen), R7 (physiologic maturity) and R8 (harvest). The physiologic variables of soybean present and optimun expression applying about 400 mm of irrigation, and showed an significant reduction applying less than 324 mm between planting and harvest. The reduction of foliar area index (FAI) in R5 and low humidity levels can be the main mechanism of drowght tolerance by senescence absition of leaves. The varietys inside and among the growth habits showed different in their capacity to surtain the final yield allowing to select genotypes for their drought tolerance (line L-121 (CO),ICA-Tunía (CS), L-141 (CI)

Solar Energetic Particles Produced by a Slow Coronal Mass Ejection at ∼0.25 au

We present an analysis of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) IS⊙IS observations of ~30–300 keV n⁻¹ ions on 2018 November 11 when PSP was about 0.25 au from the Sun. Five hours before the onset of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed by STEREO-A/COR2, which crossed PSP about a day later. No shock was observed locally at PSP, but the CME may have driven a weak shock earlier. The SEP event was dispersive, with higher energy ions arriving before the lower energy ones. Timing suggests the particles originated at the CME when it was at ~7.4R_⊙. SEP intensities increased gradually from their onset over a few hours, reaching a peak, and then decreased gradually before the CME arrived at PSP. The event was weak, having a very soft energy spectrum (−4 to −5 spectral index). The earliest arriving particles were anisotropic, moving outward from the Sun, but later, the distribution was observed to be more isotropic. We present numerical solutions of the Parker transport equation for the transport of 30–300 keV n⁻¹ ions assuming a source comoving with the CME. Our model agrees well with the observations. The SEP event is consistent with ion acceleration at a weak shock driven briefly by the CME close to the Sun, which later dissipated before arriving at PSP, followed by the transport of ions in the interplanetary magnetic field

Transgenic expression of the dicotyledonous pattern recognition receptor EFR in rice leads to ligand-dependent activation of defense responses

Plant plasma membrane localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) detect extracellular pathogen-associated molecules. PRRs such as Arabidopsis EFR and rice XA21 are taxonomically restricted and are absent from most plant genomes. Here we show that rice plants expressing EFR or the chimeric receptor EFR::XA21, containing the EFR ectodomain and the XA21 intracellular domain, sense both Escherichia coli- and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo)-derived elf18 peptides at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Treatment of EFR and EFR::XA21 rice leaf tissue with elf18 leads to MAP kinase activation, reactive oxygen production and defense gene expression. Although expression of EFR does not lead to robust enhanced resistance to fully virulent Xoo isolates, it does lead to quantitatively enhanced resistance to weakly virulent Xoo isolates. EFR interacts with OsSERK2 and the XA21 binding protein 24 (XB24), two key components of the rice XA21-mediated immune response. Rice-EFR plants silenced for OsSERK2, or overexpressing rice XB24 are compromised in elf18-induced reactive oxygen production and defense gene expression indicating that these proteins are also important for EFR-mediated signaling in transgenic rice. Taken together, our results demonstrate the potential feasibility of enhancing disease resistance in rice and possibly other monocotyledonous crop species by expression of dicotyledonous PRRs. Our results also suggest that Arabidopsis EFR utilizes at least a subset of the known endogenous rice XA21 signaling components

Tolerancia de la soya Glycine max (L) Merr a la sequía.

Durante 1985, en el primer semestre (época seca, Diciembre-Enero-Febrero), en un lote del Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias de Palmira, se evaluó la tolerancia a la sequía de 15 genotipos de soya pertenecientes a los hábitos: determinado, semideterminado e indeterminado. El centro está localizado a 1000 m.s.n.m., temperatura promedia de 23°C, durante la época de ensayo la precipitación fue de 198 mm y una humedad relativa de 74 por ciento. 6 niveles de riego generados por una línea de aspersión a lo largo del surco fueron aplicados a los genotipos, los cuales estaban sembrados a 60 cm entre surcos y 8 cm entre plantas, en surcos de 18 m de largo. El nivel 1 estuvo adyacente a la línea de aspersión y fue el de mayor cantidad de agua aplicada como riego suplementario, los otros niveles recibieron cantidades decrecientes de agua hasta el final del radio húmedo. Se consideraron variables fisiológicas y de rendimiento en los estados R2 (floración completa), R5 (llenado de grano) y R8 (cosecha). Un análisis multivariado fue efectuado para comparar los efectos de los tratamientos; para evaluar la tolerancia a sequía se siguió el método de Fisher y Wood. El estrés por déficit de agua no causó diferencias significativas en las variables fisiológicas entre los nivels de beuna y poca humedad en el estado R2. En el estado R5 se observó el mayor efecto y decreció para R7 que también fue significativo. El índice de área foliar (IAF), la materia seca total y la altura de planta fueron los más sensibles a la falta de agua. Durante el estado R5 los hábitos determinado, semideterminado e indeterminado arrojaron un porcentaje de reducción en el IAF de 49, 45.5 y 54.5 por ciento, comparando los niveles de agua 1 y 6. En cambio la materia seca exhibida fue de 45, 49 y 42 por ciento respectivamente menor para los 3 hábitos en el nivel 6 comparado con el nivel 1 de adecuada agua. Dentro de las variables de rendimiento, el número de vainas y número de granos por planta fueron los componentes más afectados por el estrés de agua, al reducirse su producción en 75 por ciento para las determinadas, 70 por ciento para las semideterminadas y 55 por ciento para las indeterminadas. El rendimiento por planta para los mismo hábitos fue de 80, 77 y 66 por ciento respectivamente menor al comparar el nivel 6 (baja humedad) con el nivel 1 (adecuada humedad). Las variedades dentro de cada hábito difirieron en la capacidad de mantener el rendimiento final bajo condiciones de limitada humedad, pudiendo ser seleccionadas por su tolerancia a sequíaDuring the dryest season of 1985 in the Cauca Valley, 15 genotypes of soybean "(Glycine max (L) Merr)" with growth habits determine, semideterminate and indeterminate were evaluated for drought tolerance. The region is located in the southwest of Colombia, 1080 mosl, having a precipitation of 198 mm during the study, a mean temperature of 230C and a relative humidity of 74%. Six levels of artificial irrigation were applyed in strips as permanent effect no aleatory along the row. Three rows of 18 m long separte 0.60 m between then were planted with each cultivar. The row received and adequate water sprinkling at the beginning of the source and a gradient of water alongside of the row. The five genotipes per growth habit in the irrigation levels were initiated after the establishment and pruning of the crop. Physiological and morphological variables were evaluated in R2 (total flowering), R5 (beginning seed) R7 (beginning maturity) and R8 (harvest). A multivariate analysis was done to compare the effects of treatment and the method of Fisher and Wood mentioned by Pandey and et al (15), was followed in order to evaluate the drought tolerance. The water stress was not significant for physiological traits in R2 when compared the lines between and within growth habits. In R5, ocurred great difference between the growth habits for LAI, total dry matter accumulation and plant height, which were reduced significantly across of the gradient. A reduction in R7 was similar to R5, but in less amount. The pods per plant and grain per plant were the yield components more affected by stress as showed by production. The reduction had a value of 75% for determinate, 70% for semideterminate and 55% for indeterminate growth habit. The yield per plant was decreased in 80%, 77% and 66% for the growth habits mentioned. The varieties withim and between growth habits showed differences in the final yield under limited conditions of humiduty with great variability and suggesting the gradient method as a good tool to select varieties in soybean for drought tolerance. The Soyica P-33 indeterminate, ICA TUNIA semideterminate and line 121 determinate growth habit, showed drought tolerance and high yield potential and low susceptibility index to drought.Soya-Soja- Glycine ma