A Genetic algorithm for the detection of 2D geometric primitives in images

We investigate the use of genetic algorithms (GAs) in the framework of image primitives extraction (such as segments, circles, ellipses or quadrilaterals). This approach completes the well-known Hough transform, in the sense that GAs are efficient when the Hough approach becomes too expensive in memory, i.e. when we search for complex primitives having more than 3 or 4 parameters. Indeeda GA is a stochastic technique, relatively slow, but which provides with an efficient tool to search in a high dimensional space. The philosophy of the method is very similar to the Hough transform, which is to search an optimum in a parameter space. However, we will see that the implementation is different. The idea of using a GA for that purpose is not new, Roth and Levine have proposed a method for 2D and 3D primitives in 1992. For the detection of 2D primitives, we re-implement that method and improve it mainly in three ways : by using distance images instead of directly using contour images, which tends to smoothen the function to optimize, by using a GA-sharing technique, to detect several image primitives in the same step, by applying some recent theoretical results on GAs (about mutation probabilities) to reduce convergence time

Rapport final de la Collaboration CERN-CNRS pour la construction du LHC: Accord Technique d'Exécution No 2 Cryostats et assemblage des sections droites courtes (SSS) du LHC

Depuis 1995 et suite à la signature du protocole de Collaboration, le CERN, le CEA et le CNRS ont étroitement collaboré dans le cadre de la contribution exceptionnelle de la France à la construction du LHC. Pour le CNRS, l'Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay a pris en charge deux Accords Techniques d'Exécution. Le premier concerne la conception et l'assemblage des Sections Droites Courtes de la machine, et le deuxième, l'étalonnage des thermomètres cryogéniques du LHC. Dans le cadre de l'Accord Technique d'Exécution N°2, le Bureau d'Etudes de la Division Accélérateur de l'IPNO et le groupe AT-CRI du CERN ont travaillé de concert pour mener à bien la conception des SSS (Short Straight Section) et de tous les équipements nécessaires à l'assemblage. Ce rapport a donc pour objectif de dresser, en termes d'historique, d'organisation, de résultats quantitatifs et qualitatifs et de moyens mis en ?uvre, un tableau aussi complet que possible du déroulement de cette Collaboration entre le CERN et le CNRS

PET reconstruction using a cooperative coevolution strategy in LOR space

Abstract—This paper presents preliminary results of a novel method that takes advantage of artificial evolution for positron emission tomography (PET) reconstruction. Fully 3D tomo-graphic reconstruction in PET requires high computing power and leads to many challenges. To date, the use of such methods is still restricted due to the heavy computing power needed. Evolutionary algorithms have proven to be efficient optimisation techniques in various domains. However the use of evolutionary computation in tomographic reconstruction has been largely overlooked. We propose a computer-based algorithm for fully 3D reconstruction in PET based on artificial evolution and evaluate its relevance. Index Terms—Positron emission tomography, genetic algo-rithms, optimization methods. I. INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION

Disorder and Sorption Preferences in a Highly Stable Fluoride- Containing Rare-Earth fcu-Type Metal−Organic Framework

Rare-earth (RE) metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) synthesized in the presence of fluorine-donating modulators or linkers are an important new subset of functional MOFs. However, the exact nature of the REaXb core of the molecular building block (MBB) of the MOF, where X is a μ2 or 3-bridging group, remains unclear. Investigation of one of the archetypal members of this family with the stable fcu framework topology, Y-fum-fcu-MOF (1), using a combination of experimental techniques, including high-field (20 T) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, has determined two sources of framework disorder involving the μ3-X face-capping group of the MBB and the fumarate (fum) linker. The core of the MBB of 1 is shown to contain a mixture of μ3-F− and (OH)− groups with preferential occupation at the crystallographically different facecapping sites that result in different internally lined framework tetrahedral cages. The fum linker is also found to display a disordered arrangement involving bridging− or chelating−bridging bis-bidentate modes over the fum linker positions without influencing the MBB orientation. This linker disorder will, upon activation, result in the creation of Y3+ ions with potentially one or two additional uncoordinated sites possessing differing degrees of Lewis acidity. Crystallographically determined host−guest relationships for simple sorbates demonstrate the favored sorption sites for N2, CO2, and CS2 molecules that reflect the chemical nature of both the framework and the sorbate species with the structural partitioning of the μ3-groups apparent in determining the favored sorption site of CS2. The two types of disorder found within 1 demonstrate the complexity of fluoride-containing RE-MOFs and highlight the possibility to tune this and other frameworks to contain different proportions and segregations of μ3-face-capping groups and degrees of linker disorder for specifically tailored applications.EPSRC and the University of Manchester for the award of a DTG PhD studentship (EPSRC EP/R513131/1) and funding the dual source Rigaku FR-X diffractometer (EPSRC EP/P001386/1)Henry Royce Institute, funded through EPSRC grants EP/R00661X/1, EP/P025021/1, and EP/P025498/1EPSRC and BBSRC (EP/T015063/1)University of WarwickBirmingham Science City Advanced Materials Projects 1 and 2 supported by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF

In gas laser ionization and spectroscopy experiments at the Superconducting Separator Spectrometer (S3): Conceptual studies and preliminary design

International audienceThe results of preparatory experiments and the preliminary designs of a new in-gas laser ionization and spectroscopy setup, to be coupled to the Super Separator Spectrometer S3 of SPIRAL2-GANIL, are reported. Special attention is given to the development and tests to carry out a full implementation of the in-gas jet laser spectroscopy technique. Application of this novel technique to radioactive species will allow highsensitivity and enhanced-resolution laser spectroscopy studies of ground- and excited-state properties of exotic nuclei

High-resolution laser system for the S3-Low Energy Branch

In this paper we present the first high-resolution laser spectroscopy results obtained at the GISELE laser laboratory of the GANIL-SPIRAL2 facility, in preparation for the first experiments with the S$^3$-Low Energy Branch. Studies of neutron-deficient radioactive isotopes of erbium and tin represent the first physics cases to be studied at S$^3$. The measured isotope-shift and hyperfine structure data are presented for stable isotopes of these elements. The erbium isotopes were studied using the $4f^{12}6s^2$ $^3H_6 \rightarrow 4f^{12}(^3 H)6s6p$ $J = 5$ atomic transition (415 nm) and the tin isotopes were studied by the $5s^25p^2 (^3P_0) \rightarrow 5s^25p6s (^3P_1)$ atomic transition (286.4 nm), and are used as a benchmark of the laser setup. Additionally, the tin isotopes were studied by the $5s^25p6s (^3P_1) \rightarrow 5s^25p6p (^3P_2)$ atomic transition (811.6 nm), for which new isotope-shift data was obtained and the corresponding field-shift $F_{812}$ and mass-shift $M_{812}$ factors are presented

Calcium Triggered Lα-H2 Phase Transition Monitored by Combined Rapid Mixing and Time-Resolved Synchrotron SAXS

BACKGROUND: Awad et al. reported on the Ca(2+)-induced transitions of dioleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (DOPG)/monoolein (MO) vesicles to bicontinuous cubic phases at equilibrium conditions. In the present study, the combination of rapid mixing and time-resolved synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was applied for the in-situ investigations of fast structural transitions of diluted DOPG/MO vesicles into well-ordered nanostructures by the addition of low concentrated Ca(2+) solutions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Under static conditions and the in absence of the divalent cations, the DOPG/MO system forms large vesicles composed of weakly correlated bilayers with a d-spacing of approximately 140 A (L(alpha)-phase). The utilization of a stopped-flow apparatus allowed mixing these DOPG/MO vesicles with a solution of Ca(2+) ions within 10 milliseconds (ms). In such a way the dynamics of negatively charged PG to divalent cation interactions, and the kinetics of the induced structural transitions were studied. Ca(2+) ions have a very strong impact on the lipidic nanostructures. Intriguingly, already at low salt concentrations (DOPG/Ca(2+)>2), Ca(2+) ions trigger the transformation from bilayers to monolayer nanotubes (inverted hexagonal phase, H(2)). Our results reveal that a binding ratio of 1 Ca(2+) per 8 DOPG is sufficient for the formation of the H(2) phase. At 50 degrees C a direct transition from the vesicles to the H(2) phase was observed, whereas at ambient temperature (20 degrees C) a short lived intermediate phase (possibly the cubic Pn3m phase) coexisting with the H(2) phase was detected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The strong binding of the divalent cations to the negatively charged DOPG molecules enhances the negative spontaneous curvature of the monolayers and causes a rapid collapsing of the vesicles. The rapid loss of the bilayer stability and the reorganization of the lipid molecules within ms support the argument that the transition mechanism is based on a leaky fusion of the vesicles

Reproductive Strategy of the Giant Electric Ray in the Southern Gulf of California

The objective of the present study was to describe and characterize macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the reproductive biology of the Giant Electric Ray Narcine entemedor, a viviparous elasmobranch targeted by commercial fishers in Mexico. A total of 305 individual rays were captured (260 females, 45 males); all males were sexually mature. The median size at maturity for females was estimated to be 58.5 cm TL, the median size at pregnancy was 63.7 cm TL, and the median size at maternity was 66.2 cm TL. The range of ovarian follicles recorded per female was 1–69; the maximum ovarian fecundity of fully grown vitellogenic oocytes was 17, and uterine fecundity ranged from 1 to 24 embryos per female. The lengths of the oblong ovarian follicles varied significantly among months, and the largest ovarian follicles were found in July, August, and September. Median embryo size was largest in August, and the size at birth was between 12.4 and 14.5 cm TL. Histological evidence of secretions from the glandular tissue of the uterine villi indicate that this species probably has limited histotrophy as a reproductive mode. Vitellogenesis in the ovary occurred synchronously with gestation in the uterus. The Giant Electric Ray has a continuous annual reproductive cycle; a period of ovulation occurs between May and September and two peaks of parturition, one in January and one in August, occur, suggesting that embryonic diapause occurs in some individuals. These results provide useful information for the management of this important commercial species in Bahía de La Paz, Mexico, and will allow possible modification of the current Mexican regulations to enable better protection of this species