Automated detection and analysis of Ca(2+) sparks in x-y image stacks using a thresholding algorithm implemented within the open-source image analysis platform ImageJ.

Previous studies have used analysis of Ca(2+) sparks extensively to investigate both normal and pathological Ca(2+) regulation in cardiac myocytes. The great majority of these studies used line-scan confocal imaging. In part, this is because the development of open-source software for automatic detection of Ca(2+) sparks in line-scan images has greatly simplified data analysis. A disadvantage of line-scan imaging is that data are collected from a single row of pixels, representing only a small fraction of the cell, and in many instances x-y confocal imaging is preferable. However, the limited availability of software for Ca(2+) spark analysis in two-dimensional x-y image stacks presents an obstacle to its wider application. This study describes the development and characterization of software to enable automatic detection and analysis of Ca(2+) sparks within x-y image stacks, implemented as a plugin within the open-source image analysis platform ImageJ. The program includes methods to enable precise identification of cells within confocal fluorescence images, compensation for changes in background fluorescence, and options that allow exclusion of events based on spatial characteristics

Approaching the Problem of Time with a Combined Semiclassical-Records-Histories Scheme

I approach the Problem of Time and other foundations of Quantum Cosmology using a combined histories, timeless and semiclassical approach. This approach is along the lines pursued by Halliwell. It involves the timeless probabilities for dynamical trajectories entering regions of configuration space, which are computed within the semiclassical regime. Moreover, the objects that Halliwell uses in this approach commute with the Hamiltonian constraint, H. This approach has not hitherto been considered for models that also possess nontrivial linear constraints, Lin. This paper carries this out for some concrete relational particle models (RPM's). If there is also commutation with Lin - the Kuchar observables condition - the constructed objects are Dirac observables. Moreover, this paper shows that the problem of Kuchar observables is explicitly resolved for 1- and 2-d RPM's. Then as a first route to Halliwell's approach for nontrivial linear constraints that is also a construction of Dirac observables, I consider theories for which Kuchar observables are formally known, giving the relational triangle as an example. As a second route, I apply an indirect method that generalizes both group-averaging and Barbour's best matching. For conceptual clarity, my study involves the simpler case of Halliwell 2003 sharp-edged window function. I leave the elsewise-improved softened case of Halliwell 2009 for a subsequent Paper II. Finally, I provide comments on Halliwell's approach and how well it fares as regards the various facets of the Problem of Time and as an implementation of QM propositions.Comment: An improved version of the text, and with various further references. 25 pages, 4 figure

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design of Railway Stations as a Specific Soft Target

Currently, we observe an increasing number of terrorist attacks and violent crime, resulting in a noticeable increase in nervousness and tension in society. Not only on the territory of Europe, but also throughout the world, terrorist attacks and violent crime are mainly concentrated near objects that are accessible to the public, characterized by a relatively low level of security and a high concentration of people, so-called soft targets. The tendency to control and influence human behaviors by reshaping the environment dates back to ancient times, with the crime prevention through environmental design strategy being a later product that arose as a result of the impact of urbanization and industrialization on the rise of crime in Chicago. The aim of the article is the contribution of new knowledge to society, which is presented through graphic designs of technical measures on the sustainability of the development of public spaces and communities, as well as the reduction of crime. The acquired knowledge is based on a holistic and integrated theory of crime prevention called the concept of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design), which is dedicated to the identification of the conditions of the physical and social environment that allow the possibility of committing crimes and their subsequent modification intended to limit it. At the end of the article, a use case is presented on the object of the railway station, which is a public space and at the same time falls into the category of soft targets. Human choices shape the built environment, as well as tools that can be used to create sustainable urban and village development, which are also dependent on an acceptable crime rate. We are not testing environmental design as a way of thinking and a field of practices, but we are testing a particular method of environmental design (CPTED concept), which is focused on crime prevention, for a particular set of targets

X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of a mechanosynthesized Fe75B25 alloy

In this work, the process of formation of metastable phases was investigated for the Fe75B25 composition. Mechanical synthesis was performed in a MAPF-2M high-energy planetary ball mill under an argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) were applied to recognize the phases. After 6 h of milling, the material consisted of two phases, that is, metastable tetragonal t-Fe2B and amorphous phases. During further thermal processing, the metastable phase was transformed into the stable Fe2B phase

X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of a mechanosynthesized Fe75B25 alloy

In this work, the process of formation of metastable phases was investigated for the Fe75B25 composition. Mechanical synthesis was performed in a MAPF-2M high-energy planetary ball mill under an argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) were applied to recognize the phases. After 6 h of milling, the material consisted of two phases, that is, metastable tetragonal t-Fe2B and amorphous phases. During further thermal processing, the metastable phase was transformed into the stable Fe2B phase

X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of a mechanosynthesized Fe75B25 alloy

In this work, the process of formation of metastable phases was investigated for the Fe75B25 composition. Mechanical synthesis was performed in a MAPF-2M high-energy planetary ball mill under an argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) were applied to recognize the phases. After 6 h of milling, the material consisted of two phases, that is, metastable tetragonal t-Fe2B and amorphous phases. During further thermal processing, the metastable phase was transformed into the stable Fe2B phase