Visual system for punched card reading in textile industry

In this paper we present a novel design and implementation of a vision-based system for reading punched cards. The new system is designed to visually retrieve information stored in punched cards and store them in digital format. The system is dedicated to types of cards used in mechanical Jacquard looms widely spread in different textile industries. Image processing techniques like searching for edges using gradient, normalized cross correlation, and image registration are efficiently utilized to face several challenges. The existence of different types of disturbances makes gradient-based search for the pattern holes insufficient to obtain zero error ratio. As expected image registration can cope with such a problem after efficiently solving the feature extraction and matching problem resulted from the fact that the card image does not contain any kind of information except the pattern holes which are not discriminating features. Experiments have been carried out using the built real system. Experiments show results with 0.041% error ratio. This ratio is highly satisfying the textile industry

Activation Energy of Surface Diffusion and Terrace Width Dynamics During the Growth of in (4×3) on Si (100) - (2×1) by Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition

The nucleation and growth of indium on a vicinal Si (100) - (2×1) surface at high temperature by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition was investigated by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). RHEED intensity relaxation was observed for the first ∼2 ML during the growth of In (4×3) by step flow. From the temperature dependence of the rate of relaxation, an activation energy of 1.4±0.2 eV of surface diffusion was determined. The results indicate that indium small clusters diffused to terrace step edges with a diffusion frequency constant of (1.0±0.1) × 1011 s-1. The RHEED specular beam split peak spacing, which is characteristic of a vicinal surface, was analyzed with the growth temperature to obtain the average terrace width. Gradual reduction in the terrace width during growth of In (4×3) was observed with In coverage and is attributed to the detachment of In atoms from terrace edges. At a substrate temperature of 405 °C, the average terrace width decreased from 61±10 Å, which corresponds to the vicinal Si(100) surface, to an equilibrium value of 45±7 Å after deposition of ∼23 ML. Further In coverage showed a transition of the RHEED pattern from (4×3) to (1×1) and the growth of rounded In islands (average height of ∼1 nm and width of ∼25 nm), as examined by ex situ atomic force microscopy. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2909923

Atomic Hydrogen Cleaning of InP(100): Electron Yield and Surface Morphology of Negative Electron Affinity Activated Surfaces

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of the InP(100) surface has been investigated using quantitative reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The quantum efficiency of the surface when activated to negative electron affinity was correlated with surface morphology. The electron diffraction patterns showed that hydrogen cleaning is effective in removing surface contaminants, leaving a clean, ordered, and (2×4)-reconstructed surface. After activation to negative electron affinity, a quantum efficiency of ∼6% was produced in response to photoactivation at 632 nm. Secondary electron emission from the hydrogen-cleaned InP(100)-(2×4) surface was measured and correlated to the quantum efficiency. The morphology of the vicinal InP(100) surface was investigated using electron diffraction. The average terrace width and adatom-vacancy density were measured from the (00) specular beam at the out-of-phase condition. With hydrogen cleaning time, there was some reduction in the average terrace width. The surface quality was improved with hydrogen cleaning, as indicated by the increased (00) spot intensity-to-background ratio at the out-of-phase condition, and improved quantum efficiency after activation to negative electron affinity. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1429796

A Radio Determination of the Time of the New Moon

The detection of the New Moon at sunset is of importance to communities based on the lunar calendar. This is traditionally undertaken with visual observations. We propose a radio method which allows a higher visibility of the Moon relative to the Sun and consequently gives us the ability to detect the Moon much closer to the Sun than is the case of visual observation. We first compare the relative brightness of the Moon and Sun over a range of possible frequencies and find the range 5--100\,GHz to be suitable. The next consideration is the atmospheric absorption/emission due to water vapour and oxygen as a function of frequency. This is particularly important since the relevant observations are near the horizon. We show that a frequency of $\sim 10$ GHz is optimal for this programme. We have designed and constructed a telescope with a FWHM resolution of 0$^\circ{}\!\!$.6 and low sidelobes to demonstrate the potential of this approach. At the time of the 21 May 2012 New Moon the Sun/Moon brightness temperature ratio was $72.7 \pm 2.2$ in agreement with predictions from the literature when combined with the observed sunspot numbers for the day. The Moon would have been readily detectable at $\sim 2^{\circ}$ from the Sun. Our observations at 16\,hr\,36\,min UT indicated that the Moon would have been at closest approach to the Sun 16\,hr\,25\,min earlier; this was the annular solar eclipse of 00\,hr\,00\,min\,UT on 21 May 2012.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Heart ventricular histology and microvasculature together with aortic histology and elastic lamellar structure: A comparison of a novel dual-purpose to a broiler chicken line

The use of dual-purpose chickens is a strategy to avoid killing one-day-old male chicks of egg laying lines. Lohmann Dual (LD) is a novel dual-purpose chicken line created by the crossbreeding of layer and broiler lines. However, many of the cardiovascular diseases of broilers are likely to be associated with intensive genetic selection for growth and feed conversion efficiency. This study aimed to compare the macroscopic and microscopic structure of the heart and the aorta of the LD chicken line with that of the broiler chicken line, Ross 308 (Ross) under typical husbandry conditions for meat production. Eighty, one-day-old male chicks of each line were housed for 5 weeks (Ross) and 9 weeks (LD). Six birds of each line were sampled weekly. Heart mass, thickness of ventricular walls, cardiomyocyte size and blood capillary density as well as aortic diameter and thickness, number of elastic lamellae and elastic fiber percentage in the aortic wall were determined. The growth patterns of the heart were the same in the two lines. Although LD chickens had a lower absolute heart mass than that of Ross chickens, the relative heart mass in both lines was similar. The cardiomyocytes of LD chickens were larger than those of Ross’s of the same body weight (BW), nevertheless both lines had similar thicknesses of their ventricular walls. The blood capillary density was greater in the LD heart than in that of the Ross heart. The aorta of LD chickens had proportionally; a greater aortic lumen radius, larger numbers of elastic lamellae and more elastic fibers than in Ross chickens. Our results suggest that the heart and aorta of the LD chickens have not been disadvantaged by their intensive genetic selection; furthermore, LD chickens have a better myocardial capillary supply and better aortic mechanical properties than those of Ross chickens

Real-time GP-based wheelchair corridor following

In this paper, we present a novel GP-based visual controller. The HOG features are used as a global representation of the observed image. The Gaussian Processes (GP) algorithm is trained to learn the mapping from the HOG feature vector onto the velocity variables. The GP training is achieved using corridor images collected from different places, these images are labeled using velocity values generated by a geometric-based control law and robust features. A hand-based verification of the features is done to ensure the accuracy of the ground truth labels. Experiments were conducted to explore the capabilities of the developed approach. Results have shown R Squared metric with more than ninety percent on the trained GP model in noisy conditions. © 2021 IEEE

Atomic Hydrogen Cleaning of InP(100) for Preparation of a Negative Electron Affinity Photocathode

Atomic hydrogen cleaning is used to clean InP(100) negative electron affinity photocathodes. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns of reconstructed, phosphorus-stabilized, InP(100) surfaces are obtained after cleaning at ∼400 °C. These surfaces produce high quantum efficiency photocathodes (∼8.5%), in response to 632.8 nm light. Without atomic hydrogen cleaning, activation of InP to negative electron affinity requires heating to ∼530 °C. At this high temperature, phosphorus evaporates preferentially and a rough surface is obtained. These surfaces produce low quantum efficiency photocathodes (∼0.1%). The use of reflection high-energy electron diffraction to measure the thickness of the deposited cesium layer during activation by correlating diffraction intensity with photoemission is demonstrated. © 1998 American Institute of Physics

Lafora Disease Masquerading as Hepatic Dysfunction

Lafora disease is fatal intractable progressive myoclonic epilepsy. It is frequently characterized by epileptic seizures, difficulty walking, muscle spasms, and dementia in late childhood or adolescence. We chronicle here an unusual case of an asymptomatic young male soccer player who presented with elevated liver enzymes. Neurological examination was unremarkable. The diagnostic workup for hepatitis, infectious etiologies, autoimmune disorders, hemochromatosis, Wilson\u27s disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and other related diseases was inconclusive. He subsequently underwent an uneventful percutaneous liver biopsy. Based on the pathognomonic histopathological findings, Lafora disease was considered the likely etiology. The present study is a unique illustration of this rare disorder initially manifesting with abnormal liver enzymes. It underscores the importance of clinical suspicion of Lafora disease in cases with unexplained hepatic dysfunction. Prompt liver biopsy and genetic testing should be performed to antedate the onset of symptoms in these patients