Imaging of single infrared, optical, and ultraviolet photons using distributed tunnel junction readout on superconducting absorbers

Single-photon imaging spectrometers of high quantum efficiency in the infrared to ultraviolet wavelength range, with good timing resolution and with a vanishing dark count rate are on top of the wish list in earth-bound astronomy, material and medical sciences, or quantum information technologies. We review and present improved operation of a cryogenic detector system potentially offering all these qualities. It is based on a superconducting absorber strip read out with superconducting tunnel junctions. The detector performance is discussed in terms of responsivity, noise properties, energy and position resolution. Dynamic processes involved in the signal creation and detection are investigated for a basic understanding of the physics, and for possible application-specific modifications of device characteristics.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Self-cooling cryogenic microcalorimeters made of SINIS junctions

High quality low leakage SINIS devices made of Al-AlMn-Al layers were fabricated for energy dispersive single photon detection. Information on different heat flow channels was extracted from the measured dynamics of detector signals due to X-ray events. At the optimum operation point, the extracted effective electron temperature decreased from 88 mK down to 43 mK due to self-cooling, roughly doubling the detector sensitivity.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Efficiency evaluation of leaded glasses and visors for eye lens dose reduction during fluoroscopy guided interventional procedures

PURPOSE Fluoroscopy guided interventional procedures guarantee high benefits for patients, but are associated with high levels of radiation exposure for the medical staff. Their increasing use and complexity results in even higher radiation exposures, with a risk to exceed the annual dose limit of 20 mSv for the eye lens. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential dose reduction of eye lens exposure for lead glasses and for two types of visors (half and full), used by physicians performing interventional procedures. METHODS Eye lens dose measurements were carried out on an anthropomorphic phantom simulating a physician performing a fluoroscopy guided interventional procedure. Dose reduction factors were calculated using high sensitivity thermoluminescent dosimeters. Moreover, a spatial dose distribution was generated for the two visors. RESULTS The dose reduction coefficient was found to be 1.6 for the glasses, 1.2 for the half visor and 4.5 for the full visor. CONCLUSIONS Optimal radiation protection requires a combination of different radiation protection equipment. Full visors that cover all the face of the operator are recommended, as they absorb scattered radiation reaching the eyes from all directions. Full visors should be prioritized over radiation protection glasses for cases where other protective equipment such as ceiling shielding cannot be used

EMPLOYMENT IN PHARMACY - EXAMPLE OF PHARMACY AJDOVŠČINA

Diplomska naloga vsebuje predstavitev zaposlovanja novih delavcev v lekarništvu, med zaposlenimi v tej dejavnosti, pa je celovito opisan farmacevtski poklic in njegov položaj na trgu dela. Pri tem smo orisali organizacijo (Lekarna Ajdovščina), zgodovino lekarništva, položaj javnih zavodov in javnih uslužbencev, sistemizacijo dela, pripravništvo, študij, obravnavali pa smo tudi probleme, težave in nevarnosti, s katerimi se srečujejo pri svojem delu. Za opravljanje poklica lekarniški farmacevt je zahtevana univerzitetna izobrazba iz področja farmacije, poleg strokovnega znanja je pomembno tudi delo s strankami in sposobnost dobre komunikacije. Izvedena je bila anketa, s katero smo merili stopnjo zadovoljstvo med zaposlenimi in pogoji za delo v organizaciji. Na osnovi rezultatov ankete smo preverili tri hipoteze. Rezultati so pokazali, da sta zadovoljstvo z delom in organizacijska kultura med zaposlenimi na visoki ravni, presenetljiv je tudi podatek o zadovoljstvu s plačami, ki običajno ne dosega tako visokih ocen.The diploma paper includes representation of employment of new workers in the pharmaceutical industry, among the employees in this field, we have comprehensively described the pharmaceutical profession and it\u27s position on the labor market. Here we outlined the organization (Pharmacy Ajdovščina), pharmaceutical history, the position of public institutions and public servants, systematization of work, apprenticeship, studies, and we also discussed the problems, difficulties and dangers they face by their work. To practice dispensing pharmacist one requires a college degree in the field of pharmacy, in addition to expertise, work with customers and good communication abilities are important. The questionnaire which helped us measure the level of contentment among the employees and the state of working conditions has been carried out. On the basis of the questionnaire results, we tried to verify three theses. The achieved results have shown that the work contentment and organizational culture among the employees are on a high level, the surprising part is contentment with wages category, which usually doesn\u27t achieve so high scores

DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION ALGORITHM FOR GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNITS WITH OPENCL

V magistrskem delu predstavljamo implementacijo algoritma diferencialne evolucije in njegove različice jDE, ki se izvajata na grafični procesni enoti. Za razvoj smo uporabili ogrodje OpenCL. Algoritma smo uporabili za optimizacijo izbranih funkcij iz tekmovanja CEC 2013. Z uporabo grafične procesne enote smo dosegli občutno pohitritev v primerjavi z implementacijo na centralni procesni enoti. Algoritem DE smo uporabili tudi za optimizacijo parametrov različnih jezikovnih modelov, ki se uporabljajo za modeliranje naravnega jezika.In this master\u27s thesis, we present an implementation of differential evolution algorithm and its version jDE, both running on graphics processing unit. For development we used OpenCL framework. Algorithms were used for function optimization of selected functions from CEC 2013 competition. Objective is to achieve significant speedup in comparison with implementation on central processing unit. CPU implementation was additionally used for optimization of parameters of multiple language model algorithms, which are used for natural language modelling

OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION BY USING NEURAL NETWORKS ON GRAPHICAL PROCESSING UNIT

Cilj diplomske naloge je izdelava sistema za optično prepoznavanje znakov z uporabo nevronske mreže. Računsko zahtevne dele sistema smo pohitrili z uporabo grafične procesne enote (GPU). Naš sistem za OCR opišemo v treh glavnih sklopih: razbitje dokumenta na znake (segmentacija), prepoznavanje posamičnih znakov ter paralelizacija izvajanja na GPU. Zatem predstavimo aplikacijo, v katero smo integrirali našo rešitev. Rezultati testiranj so pokazali, da je natančnost prepoznavanja znakov OCR-A in OCR-B okrog 98%, Courier New pa 92%, medtem ko je pohitritev izvajanja kode na GPU bila minimalno petkratna napram izvajanju na CPU.The goal of this diploma work is to develop a system for optical character recognition (OCR) by using neural network. Computationally intensive parts of the system are going to be implemented on the graphics processing unit (GPU). We present our OCR system in three main parts: segmentation of document on characters, recognition of individual characters, and parallelization of execution on the GPU. Afterwards, we present an application with integrated our solution. Results of testing pointed out that the accuracy of OCR-A and OCR-B characters recognition was around 98%, while at Courier New characters this rate was 92%. A code execution on GPU was at least five times faster than on CPU