Real-time High Resolution Fusion of Depth Maps on GPU

A system for live high quality surface reconstruction using a single moving depth camera on a commodity hardware is presented. High accuracy and real-time frame rate is achieved by utilizing graphics hardware computing capabilities via OpenCL and by using sparse data structure for volumetric surface representation. Depth sensor pose is estimated by combining serial texture registration algorithm with iterative closest points algorithm (ICP) aligning obtained depth map to the estimated scene model. Aligned surface is then fused into the scene. Kalman filter is used to improve fusion quality. Truncated signed distance function (TSDF) stored as block-based sparse buffer is used to represent surface. Use of sparse data structure greatly increases accuracy of scanned surfaces and maximum scanning area. Traditional GPU implementation of volumetric rendering and fusion algorithms were modified to exploit sparsity to achieve desired performance. Incorporation of texture registration for sensor pose estimation and Kalman filter for measurement integration improved accuracy and robustness of scanning process

Global and Regional Aspects for Genesis of Catastrophic Floods: The Problems of Forecasting and Estimation for Mass and Water Balance (Surface Water and Groundwater Contribution)

Traditionally torrential rains are considered to be the main factor of flood emergence. But with some examples of disastrous floods in absolutely different parts of the world, the rough estimation of the water balance results in the necessity to suggest a correct alternative hypothesis. Our simplest model (taking into account precipitation, evaporation, and soil permeability) clearly points out the significant discrepancy in several events between potentially accumulated and observed water masses. This observation puts forward the idea that precipitation is necessary, but it is not often a sufficient factor for disastrous flood emergence and for the water flow budget. Thus, another available water source, i.e., groundwater, should not be ignored. We consider the reasons and conditions for such phenomena. In this chapter, we will focus only on the causes and forecast of dangerous dynamic phenomena in rock masses. Of particular interest here are water flows through various granite massifs and geological rocks of magmatic origin using nonlinear dynamics approaches

Difference in charge transport properties of Ni-Nb thin films with native and artificial oxide

Here, we report on the properties of native and artificial oxide amorphous thin film on a surface of an amorphous Ni-Nb sample. Careful measurements of local current-voltage characteristics of the system Ni-Nb / NiNb oxide/Pt, were carried out in contact mode of an atomic force microscope. Native oxide showed n-type conductivity, while in the artificial one exhibited p-type one. The shape of current-voltage characteristic curves is unique in both cases and no analogical behavior is found in the literature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were used to detect chemical composition of the oxide films and the oxidation state of the alloy components. Detailed analysis of the XPS data revealed that the structure of natural Ni-Nb oxide film consists of Ni-NbOx top layer and nickel enriched bottom layer which provides n-type conductivity. In contrast, in the artificial oxide film Nb is oxidized completely to Nb2O5, Ni atoms migrate into bulk Ni-Nb matrix. Electron depletion layer is formed at the Ni-Nb/Nb2O5 interface providing ptype conductivity

Preliminary screening for microplastic concentrations in the surface water of the Ob and Tom Rivers in Siberia, Russia

This study characterizes the abundance and morphology of microplastics in surface water of the Ob River and its large tributary, the Tom River, in western Siberia. The average number of particles for two rivers ranged from 44.2 to 51.2 items per m3 or from 79.4 to 87.5 μg per m3 in the Tom River and in the Ob River, correspondingly. 93.5% of recovered microplastics were less than 1 mm in their largest dimension, the largest group (45.5% of total counts) consisted of particles with sizes range 0.30-1.00 mm

Steric control in the metal-ligand electron transfer of iminopyridine-ytterbocene complexes

International audienceA systematic study of reactions between Cp*Yb-2(THF) (Cp* = eta(5)-C5Me5, 1) and iminopyridine ligands (IPy = 2,6-(Pr2C6H3N)-Pr-i=CH(C5H3N-R), R = H (2a), 6-C4H3O (2b), 6-C4H3S (2c), 6-C6H5 (2d)) featuring similar electron accepting properties but variable denticity and steric demand, has provided a new example of steric control on the redox chemistry of ytterbocenes. The reaction of the unsubstituted IPy 2a with 1, either in THF or toluene, gives rise to the paramagnetic species Cp*Yb-2(III)(IPy)(center dot-) (3a) as a result of a formal one-electron oxidation of the Yb-II ion along with IPy reduction to a radical-anionic state. The reactions of 1 with substituted iminopyridines 2b-d, bearing aryl or hetero-aryl dangling arms on the 6 position of the pyridine ring occur in a non-coordinating solvent (toluene) only and afford coordination compounds of a formally divalent ytterbium ion, coordinated by neutral IPy ligands Cp*Yb-2(II)(IPy)(0) (3b-d). The X-ray diffraction studies revealed that 2a-c act as bidentate ligands; while the radical-anionic IPy in 3a chelates the Yb-III ion with both nitrogens, neutral IPy ligands in 3b and 3c participate in the metal coordination sphere through the pyridine nitrogen and O or S atoms from the furan or thiophene moieties, respectively. Finally, in complex 3d the neutral IPy ligand formally adopts a monodentate coordination mode. However, an agostic interaction between the Yb-II ion and an ortho C-H bond of the phenyl ring has been detected. Imino-nitrogens in 3b-d are not involved in the metal coordination. Variable temperature magnetic measurements on 3a are consistent with a multiconfigurational ground state of the Yb ion and suggest that the largest contribution arises from the 4f(13)-radical configuration. For complexes 3b and 3c the data of magnetic measurements are indicative of a Yb-II-closed shell ligand electronic distribution. Complex 3d is characterized by a complex magnetic behavior which does not allow for an unambiguous estimation of its electronic structure. The results are rationalized using DFT and CSSCF calculations. Unlike diazabutadiene analogues, 3a does not undergo a solvent mediated metalligand electron transfer and remains paramagnetic in THF solution. On the other hand, complexes 3b-d readily react with THF to afford 1 and free IPy 2b-d

Complex Structure of Lasiopodomys mandarinus vinogradovi Sex Chromosomes, Sex Determination, and Intraspecific Autosomal Polymorphism.

The mandarin vole, Lasiopodomys mandarinus, is one of the most intriguing species among mammals with non-XX/XY sex chromosome system. It combines polymorphism in diploid chromosome numbers, variation in the morphology of autosomes, heteromorphism of X chromosomes, and several sex chromosome systems the origin of which remains unexplained. Here we elucidate the sex determination system in Lasiopodomys mandarinus vinogradovi using extensive karyotyping, crossbreeding experiments, molecular cytogenetic methods, and single chromosome DNA sequencing. Among 205 karyotyped voles, one male and three female combinations of sex chromosomes were revealed. The chromosome segregation pattern and karyomorph-related reproductive performances suggested an aberrant sex determination with almost half of the females carrying neo-X/neo-Y combination. The comparative chromosome painting strongly supported this proposition and revealed the mandarin vole sex chromosome systems originated due to at least two de novo autosomal translocations onto the ancestral X chromosome. The polymorphism in autosome 2 was not related to sex chromosome variability and was proved to result from pericentric inversions. Sequencing of microdissection derived of sex chromosomes allowed the determination of the coordinates for syntenic regions but did not reveal any Y-specific sequences. Several possible sex determination mechanisms as well as interpopulation karyological differences are discussed

Genotyping of Capreolus pygargus Fossil DNA from Denisova Cave Reveals Phylogenetic Relationships between Ancient and Modern Populations

BACKGROUND: The extant roe deer (Capreolus Gray, 1821) includes two species: the European roe deer (C. capreolus) and the Siberian roe deer (C. pygargus) that are distinguished by morphological and karyotypical differences. The Siberian roe deer occupies a vast area of Asia and is considerably less studied than the European roe deer. Modern systematics of the Siberian roe deer remain controversial with 4 morphological subspecies. Roe deer fossilized bones are quite abundant in Denisova cave (Altai Mountains, South Siberia), where dozens of both extant and extinct mammalian species from modern Holocene to Middle Pleistocene have been retrieved. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analyzed a 629 bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region from ancient bones of 10 Holocene and four Pleistocene Siberian roe deer from Denisova cave as well as 37 modern specimen belonging to populations from Altai, Tian Shan (Kyrgyzstan), Yakutia, Novosibirsk region and the Russian Far East. Genealogical reconstructions indicated that most Holocene haplotypes were probably ancestral for modern roe deer populations of Western Siberia and Tian Shan. One of the Pleistocene haplotypes was possibly ancestral for modern Yakutian populations, and two extinct Pleistocene haplotypes were close to modern roe deer from Tian Shan and Yakutia. Most modern geographical populations (except for West Siberian Plains) are heterogeneous and there is some tentative evidence for structure. However, we did not find any distinct phylogenetic signal characterizing particular subspecies in either modern or ancient samples. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from both ancient and modern samples of Siberian roe deer shed new light on understanding the evolutionary history of roe deer. Our data indicate that during the last 50,000 years multiple replacements of populations of the Siberian roe deer took place in the Altai Mountains correlating with climatic changes. The Siberian roe deer represent a complex and heterogeneous species with high migration rates and without evident subspecies structure. Low genetic diversity of the West Siberian Plain population indicates a recent bottleneck or founder effect

Nightfire method to track volcanic eruptions from multispectral satellite images

This work presents the first results of an application of the Nightfire hotspot algorithm towards volcano activity detection. Nightfire algorithm have been developed to play along with a Suomi-NPP polar satellite launched in 2011, which has a new generation multispectral VIIRS thermal sensor on board, to detect gas flares related to the upstream and downstream production of oil and natural gas. Simultaneously using of nighttime data in SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR sensor bands the algorithm is able to estimate the hotspot temperature, size and radiant heat. Four years of non-filtered observations have been accumulated in a spatio-temporal detection database, which currently totals 125 GB in size. The first part of this work presents results of retrospective cross-match of the detection database with the publicly available observed eruptions databases. The second part discusses how an approximate 3D shape of a lava lake could be modeled based on the apparent source size and satellite zenith angle. The third part presents the results of fusion Landsat-8 and Himawari-8 satellites data with the VIIRS Nightfire for several active volcanoes

VIIRS Nightfire Remote Sensing Volcanoes

Satellite based remote sensing of active volcanoes has been performed in various forms since 1965. Compared to “on the ground” observations it lets data to be gathered globally at regular pace for long periods of time without the need for local maintenance. Currently existing publicly available volcanoes thermal activity monitoring systems rely on the detection algorithms narrowly specified for volcanoes temperature ranges and operate using the data from previous generation of sensors, which is supported with non-reserved constellation of two satellites. The presented work proposes pipeline (the sequence of actions) based on the clustering of the data received from the Nightfire thermal anomalies detection algorithm, which is not focused on the specific type of infrared sources. Pipeline has been tested on Kamchatka’s region 2016 year dataset and proved to produce sound results corresponding to manual observations