A digital image analysis technique for quantitative characterisation of high-speed sprays

A digital image analysis technique developed as a particle or droplet sizing tool and capable of measuring non-spherical objects has been examined in terms of its suitability for quantitative measurements in moderately dense sprays and in particular the potential capability for the characterisation of small diameter, high-speed two-phase flows by employing high-intensity pulsed lasers for illumination. In order to evaluate robustness of the image analysis technique (PDIA), measurement certainty and also to assess whether measurement performance is sensitive to the optical set-up, the technique was applied to data obtained from a hollow cone spray via two independent optical configurations which employed firstly a diode laser and secondly an Nd:YAG laser. The calibration response of the two optical set-ups revealed significant differences in terms of the depth-of-field characteristics and thus effective measurement volume dimensions. Despite these differences, a comparison of PDIA spray data revealed excellent agreement between the two datasets for measured diameters in the range 10–90 μm in the number distributions which not only confirmed robustness of the technique but also the potential of PDIA for the measurement of fast, small diameter objects. Subsequent comparisons of the PDIA data were made with PDA data obtained within the same spray in space and time and showed excellent agreement between the two techniques for droplets larger than approximately 25 μm in diameter. Discrepancies between PDIA and PDA were observed in the volume size distributions for the larger droplets measured whose diameters were greater than approximately 40 μm. This discrepancy is due to the ability of PDIA to measure the diameter of non-spherical droplets which were shown to exist in significant numbers at this measurement location within the spray. In contrast, the well-established technique PDA, which relies on the assumption of droplet sphericity clearly does not detect the presence of these larger deformed droplets.     

Performance analysis of quantitative phase retrieval method in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy

Since the invention of Zernike phase contrast method in 1930,it has been widely used in optical microscopy and more recently in X-ray microscopy.Considering the image contrast is a mixture of absorption and phase information,we recently have proposed and demonstrated a method for quantitative phase retrieval in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy.In this contribution,we analyze the performance of this method at different photon energies.Intensity images of PMMA samples are simulated at 2.5 keV and 6.2 keV,respectively,and phase retrieval is performed using the proposed method.The results demonstrate that the proposed phase retrieval method is applicable over a wide energy range.For weakly absorbing features,the optimal photon energy is 2.5 keV,from the point of view of image contrast and accuracy of phase retrieval.On the other hand,in the case of strong absorption objects,a higher photon energy is preferred to reduce the error of phase retrieval.These results can be used as guidelines to perform quantitative phase retrieval in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy with the proposed method.     

A two-stage method to correct aberrations induced by slide slant in bright-field microscopy

To achieve optimal image quality in bright field microscopy, the slide surface should be perpendicular to the optical axis of the microscope. However, in the recently proposed “slanted scan” slide acquisition technique, scan speed is increased by purposely slanting the slide by a small angle (of 3–5°) so that multiple focal depths can be imaged simultaneously. In this case, the slanted slide introduces a bend in the point spread function (PSF), resulting in a coma and other aberrations that degrade image quality. In this paper, we propose a two-stage deconvolution method specifically designed to correct the aberrations induced by a slanted scan, but with general applicability to high-resolution bright-field microscopy. Specifically, we initially apply phase deconvolution to correct the dominating coma aberration, before applying a conventional semi-blind deconvolution method to further improve image resolution and contrast. We also propose a novel method to estimate the degree of coma aberration and the PSF of the optics utilising actual cytology specimens. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated quantitatively on simulated data, against a ground-truth (object) image, and qualitatively on cervical cytology specimens. Results demonstrate both improved convergence speed of the two-stage approach, especially when correcting the bend in the PSF, and a resultant image quality that is comparable to a conventionally (flat) scanned specimen.     

近红外光谱烷烃类气体定量分析系统的研究

介绍了一种近红外光谱烷烃类气体在线定量分析测量方法.该方法以单片闪耀光栅为核心构成分光系统,分析计算了分光系统的关键参数,设计构建了硬件系统平台,完成了窄带光束实验测试和烷烃类七种单组分气体光谱探测实验.实验表明,入射狭缝为2 mm时,分光系统在中心波长1 200～1 800 nm波段内能够分离谱宽为10 nm的窄带光...     

激光诱导荧光水体污染遥测数据定量分析方法

在紫外光的激发下,污染水体中的溶解有机物(DOM)会产生特定的荧光光谱,因此利用激光诱导荧光(LIF)可对水体中的溶解有机物的含量进行定量分析,从而可估计出水体富营养化的程度。提出了一种用于对水质遥测数据进行定量分析的方法,这是一种基于遗传算法(GA)的光谱分离算法。首先确定拉曼散射信号和溶解有机物的荧光在404nm波段的信号强度,然后再利用拉曼散射信号对DOM荧光光谱进行归一化处理。根据浓度校准曲线可得到水体中的溶解有机物的浓度。     

A method of correlative light and electron microscopy for yeast cells

Correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) is a method of imaging in which the same specimen is observed by both light microscopy and electron microscopy. Specifically, CLEM compares images obtained by light and electron microscopy and makes a correlation between them. After the advent of fluorescent proteins, CLEM was extended by combining electron microscopy with fluorescence microscopy to enable molecular-specific imaging of subcellular structures with a resolution at the nanometer level. This method is a powerful tool that is used to determine the localization of specific molecules of interest in the context of subcellular structures. Knowledge of the localization of target proteins coupled with the functions of the structures to which they are localized yields valuable information about the molecular functions of these proteins. However, this method has been mostly applied to adherent cells due to technical difficulties in immobilizing non-adherent target cells, such as yeasts, during sample preparation. We have developed a method of CLEM applicable to yeast cells. In this report, we detail this method and present its extension to Live CLEM. The Live CLEM method enabled us to link the dynamic properties of molecules of interest to cellular ultrastructures in the yeast cell. Since yeasts are premier organisms in molecular genetics, combining CLEM with yeast genetics promises to provide important new findings for understanding the molecular basis of the function of cellular structures.     

变厚度圆板、环板振动分析的传递矩阵法*

变厚度圆板和环板是在工程设计中经常遇到的一类构件,与等厚度板相比,通过适当的沿径向厚度的变化,这种变厚度板在振动、失稳、弯曲等方面能起到更好的效果。将沿径向任意变厚度圆板、环板划分为一系列等厚度环板单元,基于Mindlin中厚板理论采用逆向推导的方式推导了其传递矩阵,建立起变厚度圆板、环板的频率方程。通过计算线性变厚度环板自由振动时的频率,并与ANSYS模态分析结果相比较,验证了计算模型的精确性。逆向推导法避免了高阶数传递矩阵推导复杂的问题,是对传递矩阵法的很好推广。     

Strobophotoglottographic transillumination as a method for the analysis of vocal fold vibration patterns

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if laryngeal transillumination in combination with stroboscopy (strobophotoglottography; SPGG) is useful for (1) the visualization of vocal fold vibration (VFV) opening patterns, (2) the localization of initial vocal fold opening in horizontal glottal thirds (anterior, midmembranous, and posterior), (3) determination of the temporal correspondence of the so-called electroglottography (EGG)-knee and initial vocal fold separation, and, finally, (4) automatized quantitative measurements of glottal area function within endoscopic images. With stroboscopic transillumination, initial inferior vocal fold separation was detectable during the "closed" phase, where the vocal folds were still closed in the upper portion and therefore initial inferior vocal fold separation could not be visualized with usual laryngoscopy techniques. In the horizontal plane within similar fundamental frequencies in modal voice registers in two male subjects, localization of initial glottal opening depended on the voice types used (soft, normal, or pressed phonation). We found zipperlike posterior-to-anterior openings, initial midmembranous openings, initial anterior openings, as well as simultaneous initial opening of all three portions in the two healthy male adults examined. This technique proved to add temporal and spatial information to vocal fold opening patterns and extends our examination techniques to the very beginning of vocal fold opening at the inferior portion. Simultaneous electroglottogram tracking and comparison with bidirectionally illuminated stroboscopic images revealed a time-locked correspondence of the EGG-knee with the aforementioned initial inferior vocal fold separation. Bidirectional illumination combined with digital color extraction techniques allowed for image separation of subglottally and supraglottally illuminated structures. This facilitated vocal fold contour detection and automatized image processing, for example, for determination of glottal area function, and is considered to be a further step to objective automatized quantitative measurements within endoscopic images.     

A comparison of different discrimination parameters for the DFT-based PSD method in fast scintillators

Although the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) based pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method, realized by transforming the digitized scintillation pulses into frequency coefficients by using DFT, has been proven to effectively discriminate neutrons and γ rays, its discrimination performance depends strongly on the selection of the discrimination parameter obtained by the combination of these frequency coefficients. In order to thoroughly understand and apply the DFT-based PSD in organic scintillation detectors, a comparison of three different discrimination parameters, i.e. the amplitude of zero-frequency component, the amplitude difference between the amplitude of zero-frequency component and the amplitude of base-frequency component, and the ratio of the amplitude of base-frequency component to the amplitude of zero-frequency component, is described in this paper. An experimental setup consisting of an Americium–Beryllium (Am–Be) source, a BC501A liquid scintillator detector, and a 5Gsample/s 8-bit oscilloscope was built to assess the performance of the DFT-based PSD with each of these discrimination parameters in terms of the figure-of-merit (based on the separation of the event distributions). The third technique, which uses the ratio of the amplitude of base-frequency component to the amplitude of zero-frequency component as the discrimination parameter, is observed to provide the best discrimination performance in this research.     

A method of background determination in quantitative auger spectroscopy

A method for automatically determining a structureless background in a measured line spectrum is presented. The model assumptions for the background are given by the sign of the first three derivatives only, and the whole procedure is based on a smoothing spline algorithm. The method is especially designed for background determination in quantitative Auger spectroscopy, but may be modified to cover other topics. Application to measured Auger spectra is demonstrated and the validity of the method discussed.     

A quantitative method for a priori evaluation of combustion reaction models

In recent years, direct numerical simulations have been used increasingly to evaluate the validity and performance of combustion reaction models. This study presents a new, quantitative method to determine the ideal model performance attainable by a given parameterization of the state variables. Data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of unsteady CO/H₂–air jet flames is analysed to determine how well various parameterizations represent the data, and how well specific models based on those parameterizations perform. Results show that the equilibrium model performs poorly relative to an ideal model parameterized by the mixture fraction. The steady laminar flamelet model performs quite well relative to an ideal model parameterized by mixture fraction and dissipation rate in some cases. However, at low dissipation rates or at dissipation rates exceeding the steady extinction limit, the steady flamelet model performs poorly. Interestingly, even in many cases where the steady flamelet model fails (particularly at low dissipation rate), the DNS data suggests that the state may be parameterized well by the mixture fraction and dissipation rate. A progress variable based on the CO₂ mass fraction is proposed, together with a new model based on the CO₂ progress variable. This model performs nearly ideally, and demonstrates the ability to capture extinction with remarkable accuracy for the CO/H₂ flames considered.     

Characterisation of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for application in digital holographic microscopy for inspection of micro and nanostructured surfaces

Partial coherent light sources open up prospects for phase noise reduction in digital holographically reconstructed phase distributions by suppressing multiple reflections in the experimental setup. Thus, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are investigated for application in digital holographic microscopy. First, the spectral properties and the resulting coherence length of an LED are characterised. In addition, an analysis of dispersion effects and their influence on the hologram formation is carried out. The coherence length of LEDs in the range of a few micrometers restricts the maximum interference fringe number in off-axis holography for spatial phase shifting. Thus, the application of temporal phase-shifting-based digital holographic reconstruction techniques is compared to spatial phase-shifting-based methods. It is demonstrated that LEDs are applicable for digital holographic microscopy in connection with both spatial and temporal phase-shifting-based techniques for reduction of noise in comparison to a laser-light-based experimental setup.     

复杂地层声波测井时差处理方法研究

在复杂地层(如砂-泥岩薄互层)的声波测井中,由于地层声速变化及界面反射波叠加干扰,导致不同接收器的地层纵波波形幅度差异明显,且相关性很差,使得提取的时差误差较大。这一声场特征可从薄互层声波测井的有限差分数值模拟中看到。针对这一现象,本文利用频率-波数域相关滤波处理技术来消除薄互层声波测井的界面反射干扰,以改善地层纵波波形的相关性。本文给出了砂-泥岩薄互层数字声波测井的现场资料处理实例,处理结果证明了该方法有效地消除了界面反射波的干扰,明显改善了地层纵波的相关性,提高了地层纵波时差曲线的分辨率,清晰地刻画出了薄互层特征。     

一个经典静电学问题的定量分析

从定量的角度分析了一个经典静电学问题即水珠在静电场中的运动轨迹.运用牛顿定律建立了水珠的运动学方程,并在MATLAB环境下得出方程的数值解,最后通过设计模拟实验系统验证了结果.     

A simple method of contrast enhancement and extremum extraction for interference fringes

A method of interference fringe processing by finding the average and the extremum gray levels of image points within a fixed or varying window and then computing the modified image intensity with a simple algorithm is proposed. This method can yield a uniform brightness and high (1 or near to 1) contrast at the same time over the whole image area for an input pattern with low contrast and considerable luminance variation, when a relatively large window is used. It can also perform extremum extraction if a small window is employed. This technique is simple, effective and convenient for use, as has been verified by a series of examples of simulated and experimental fringe processing.     

A simple method for quantitative analysis of elements by WD‐XRF using variable dilution factors in fusion bead technique for geologic specimens

A common approach in the quantitative analysis of geological samples by X‐ray fluorescence is to establish calibration lines for elements of interest by using several reference materials (RMs) and/or the combination of RMs and pure chemicals. Herein, we introduce an alternative to use only two RMs, to establish a calibration application. Variation of the dilution factor is employed to generate a dynamic range of concentrations for each RM and to evenly furnish the calibration lines to analyze certain matrices. A wide range of dilution factors were employed from 2–54 times dilution (with respect to the flux to sample ratios). Calibration lines for the major elements including: Si, Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, Mn, and Ti show an extremely high level of linearity with all elements. R² values greater than 0.9990 were obtained for each analyzed element. The calibration application was validated by checking against a variety of geological RMs including petroleum and carbonate rich shale (SGR‐1), Muscovite rich marine shale (SBC‐1), metamorphic rock (SDC‐1), carbonatite (COQ‐1), and types of igneous rocks (GSP‐2, BCR‐2, AGV‐2, QLO‐1, and W‐2). Mixtures of Alumina and Silica (ARG‐1 and ARG‐2) and pure SiO₂ beads were also analyzed to further check the application. Rigorous statistical analysis on the RMs confirms the reliability of the calibration application for the employed matrices. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A general method for automated analysis of caustics

In most published work on the optical method of caustics, experimental results were obtained by manually measuring some characteristic dimensions of the shadow pattern and, therefore, used only a limited amount of data from the caustic. However, some previous work has been done using digital image processing and light intensity plots combined with least-squares techniques to analyse the shape of a caustic obtained from a particular problem. All of these methods have been developed to solve only one specific problem. This paper highlights the essential guidelines of an automated method, which has the novelty of generalising the whole analysis, such that only the parametric equations of a particular problem are required to solve it. In the proposed method the image is digitised, the central line of the caustic pattern is identified, and the parameters in the mapping equation of the caustic are determined. The method has been validated, and the aim of this paper is to describe the key features of the method, i.e. the optical arrangement, digital image processing, and numerical analysis.     

Local zone wise elastic and plastic properties of electron beam welded Ti–6Al–4V alloy using digital image correlation technique: A comparative study between uniform stress and virtual fields method

Joining of materials using welding results in the formation of material zones with varying microstructure across the weld. Extraction of the mechanical properties of those individual heterogeneous zones are important in designing components and structures comprised of welds. In this study, the zone wise local extraction of the elastic and plastic properties of an electron beam welded Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy has been carried out using both the uniform stress method (USM) and the virtual fields method (VFM) involving digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The surface strain field obtained using DIC technique from a transverse weld specimen tensile testing is used for extracting the zone wise strain evolution. Initially, using uniform stress assumption, zone wise full range stress–strain curves are extracted. In USM methodology, the elastic and plastic material models are fitted to the zone wise stress–strain curves and required parameters are extracted from it. But inherent disadvantage is lot of images need to be processed for the parameter extraction. Recently, VFM is gaining lot of popularity in characterization domain as it is robust, accurate and faster. VFM is based on the principle of virtual work where, the weak form of local equilibrium equations and kinematically admissible virtual displacement fields are utilized for parameter extraction. Hollomon׳s power law is used here as the hardening rule. Young׳s modulus, Poisson׳s ratio, yield stress, strength coefficient and strain hardening exponent are the parameters extracted zone wise using both USM and VFM. A Vicker׳s microhardness measurement is also conducted across the weld zone towards mapping the strength behavior. Fusion zone has reported higher yield strength, strength coefficient and Poisson׳s ratio. Young׳s modulus value is found decreasing from base metal towards the fusion zone. The trend observed in parameter variation across the weld zone obtained by both USM and VFM compares very well. Due to various advantages associated with VFM technique it is generally recommended for parameter extraction.