Single image example-based super-resolution using cross-scale patch matching and Markov random field modelling

Example-based super-resolution has become increasingly popular over the last few years for its ability to overcome the limitations of classical multi-frame approach. In this paper we present a new example-based method that uses the input low-resolution image itself as a search space for high-resolution patches by exploiting self-similarity across different resolution scales. Found examples are combined in a high-resolution image by the means of Markov Random Field modelling that forces their global agreement. Additionally, we apply back-projection and steering kernel regression as post-processing techniques. In this way, we are able to produce sharp and artefact-free results that are comparable or better than standard interpolation and state-of-the-art super-resolution techniques

Using metadynamics to obtain the free energy landscape for cation diffusion in functional ceramics : dopant distribution control in rare earth-doped BaTiO3

Barium titanate is the dielectric material of choice in most multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and thus in the production of ≈3 trillion devices every year, with an estimated global market of ≈$8330 million per year. Rare earth dopants are regularly used to reduce leakage currents and improve the MLCC lifetime. Simulations are used to investigate the ability of yttrium, dysprosium, and gadolinium to reduce leakage currents by trapping mobile oxygen defects. All the rare earths investigated trap oxygen vacancies, however, dopant pairs are more effective traps than isolated dopants. The number of trapping sites increases with the ion size of the dopant, suggesting that gadolinium should be more effective than dysprosium, which contradicts experimental data. Additional simulations on diffusion of rare earths through the lattice during sintering show that dysprosium diffuses significantly faster than the other rare earths considered. As a consequence, its greater ability to reduce oxygen migration is a combination of thermodynamics (a strong ability to trap oxygen vacancies) and kinetics (sufficient distribution of the rare earth in the lattice to intercept the migrating defects)

Elements in biological AMS

AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) provides high detection sensitivity for isotopes whose half-lives are between 10 years and 100 million years. {sup 14}C is the most developed of such isotopes and is used in tracing natural and anthropogenic organic compounds in the Earth`s biosphere. Thirty-three elements in the main periodic table and 17 lanthanides or actinides have long lived isotopes, providing potential tracers for research in elemental biochemistry. Overlap of biologically interesting heavy elements and possible AMS tracers is discussed

Complexities of atomic structure at CdO/MgO and CdO/Al2O3 interfaces

We report the interface structures of CdO thin films on (001)-MgO and (0001)-Al2O3 substrates. Using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we show that epitaxial growth of (001)-CdO∥(001)-MgO occurs with a lattice misfit greater than 10%. A high density of interface misfit dislocations is found to form. In combination with molecular dynamics simulations, we show that dislocation strain fields form and overlap in very thin heterostructures of CdO and MgO (<3 nm). On the c-Al2O3 substrate, we find that CdO grows with a surface normal of [025]. We show that three rotation variants form due to the symmetry of the sapphire surface. These results contribute insights into the epitaxial growth of these rock-salt oxides

Valence nucleon populations in the Ni isotopes

Measurements of neutron-adding, neutron-removing, and proton-adding reactions were carried out for the four stable even Ni isotopes. Particular attention was paid to obtaining precise values of the cross sections at the peaks of the angular distributions. Tests with sum rules for the neutron data indicate that the results are self-consistent at the level of a few tenths of a nucleon. Data on proton-adding reactions were also obtained and analyzed with a slightly different method—while these data are also consistent, the ambiguities are larger. The occupancies of the neutron orbits derived from the data, the proton vacancies, and the energy centroids of the neutron, neutron-hole, and proton single-particle excitations are obtained. The data also provide some estimate about the closure of the 0f7/2 shell. The results are compared to shell-model calculations and may serve as a reference point for future exploration

Accuracy of Achenbach Scales in the Screening of ADHD in a Community Mental Health Clinic

Objective To use receiver-operating characteristics analysis to identify multilevel diagnostic likelihood ratios and provide a framework for the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children (5–10 years old) and adolescents (11–18 years old) in an outpatient setting. Method Caregiver, teacher, and youth reports from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) were obtained for 299 children and 321 adolescents with multiple imputation of missing data. The reference standard was diagnosis of ADHD based on case history and a semistructured diagnostic interview masked to the ASEBA measurements. Results In children, caregiver-reported Attention Problems (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.74) outperformed all other subscales of the caregiver and teacher measures (AUCs ≤ 0.72). In the older sample, caregiver- and teacher-reported Attention Problems (caregiver AUC = 0.73; teacher AUC = 0.61) were best at identifying ADHD. Inclusion of caregiver and teacher reports significantly (p < .001 for all comparisons) increased prediction of ADHD diagnosis, whereas youth self-report did not. Conclusion Caregiver-reported Attention Problems were more useful than teacher-reports and self-report in identifying ADHD. Combining caregiver and teacher reports improved identification. Multilevel likelihood ratios are provided to facilitate routine clinical use

A lattice model for the kinetics of rupture of fluid bilayer membranes

We have constructed a model for the kinetics of rupture of membranes under tension, applying physical principles relevant to lipid bilayers held together by hydrophobic interactions. The membrane is characterized by the bulk compressibility (for expansion), the thickness of the hydrophobic part of the bilayer, the hydrophobicity and a parameter characterizing the tail rigidity of the lipids. The model is a lattice model which incorporates strain relaxation, and considers the nucleation of pores at constant area, constant temperature, and constant particle number. The particle number is conserved by allowing multiple occupancy of the sites. An equilibrium ``phase diagram'' is constructed as a function of temperature and strain with the total pore surface and distribution as the order parameters. A first order rupture line is found with increasing tension, and a continuous increase in proto-pore concentration with rising temperature till instability. The model explains current results on saturated and unsaturated PC lipid bilayers and thicker artificial bilayers made of diblock copolymers. Pore size distributions are presented for various values of area expansion and temperature, and the fractal dimension of the pore edge is evaluated.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Therapeutic jurisprudence and procedural justice in Scottish drug courts

Scotland, like other Western jurisdictions, has recently witnessed the development of problem-solving courts aimed at responding more effectively to issues that underlie certain types of offending behaviour. The first to be established were two pilot Drug Courts which drew upon experience of Scottish Drug Treatment and Testing Orders. In common with Drug Courts elsewhere, the Scottish pilots combined treatment, drug testing, supervision and judicial oversight. This article focuses upon the role of judicial involvement in the ongoing review of Drug Court participants’ progress, drawing upon court observation and interviews with offenders and Drug Court professionals. Drug Court dialogues were typically encouraging on the part of sheriffs, aimed at recognising and reinforcing the progress made by participants and motivating then to maintain and build upon their achievements to date, while participants were generally responsive to the positive feedback they received from the sheriffs as their orders progressed. Interactions within the Scottish Drug Courts reflect key features of procedural justice (Tyler, 1990), including ethicality, efforts to be fair and representation. By contributing to enhanced perceptions of procedural justice, Drug Court dialogues may, it is argued, increase the perceived legitimacy of the court and by so doing encourage increased compliance with treatment and desistance from crime

Quantum Cryptography Using Single Particle Entanglement

A quantum cryptography scheme based on entanglement between a single particle state and a vacuum state is proposed. The scheme utilizes linear optics devices to detect the superposition of the vacuum and single particle states. Existence of an eavesdropper can be detected by using a variant of Bell's inequality.Comment: 4 pages, 3figures, revte

A New Upper Limit for the Tau-Neutrino Magnetic Moment

Using a prompt neutrino beam in which a nu_tau component was identified for the first time, the nu_tau magnetic moment was measured based on a search for an anomalous increase in the number of neutrino-electron interactions. One such event was observed when 2.3 were expected from background processes, giving an upper 90% confidence limit of 3.9x10^-7 Bohr magnetons.Comment: 9 pages; 1 figur