序列图像中运动目标的自动提取方法

针对目标检测与跟踪领域中的运动目标自动提取问题,提出了一种新的运动目标自动提取方法.利用已有的图像帧滤波后初始化背景,并在运动目标检测过程中,利用检测结果,不断地自动更新背景.使用背景差法检测运动区域,并对差分图像进行动态阈值分割,以及边缘链接,使其边缘处于基本连续状态.在得到的二值图上,提取轮廓,并根据目标大小选择面积阈值,剔除由于噪音或者背景提取不干净造成的虚假轮廓,将得到的轮廓掩模图像与原图像做逻辑与运算,提取出目标.实验结果表明,该方法可以有效地提取出刚体或非刚体运动目标.     

Advances in Infrared Photodetectors,edited by Sarath D. Gunapala,David R. Rhiger and Chennupatti Jagadish

The changes which its own speed causes in the properties of air in the neighbourhood of a very high-speed aircraft can alter the aerodynamics of tho flow around the vehicle. This paper outlines the nature of these changes in air properties, mentions the techniques by which they can be studied in the laboratory, and also indicates their significance for flight at very high speeds.     

Ultrasonic wave propagation in concentrated slurries – The modelling problem

The suspended particle size distribution in slurries can, in principle, be estimated from measured ultrasonic wave attenuation across a frequency band in the 10s of MHz range. The procedure requires a computational model of wave propagation which incorporates scattering phenomena. These models fail at high particle concentrations due to hydrodynamic effects which they do not incorporate. This work seeks an effective viscosity and density for the medium surrounding the particles, which would enable the scattering model predictions to match experimental data for high solids loading. It is found that the required viscosity model has unphysical characteristics leading to the conclusion that a simple effective medium modification to the ECAH/LB is not possible. The paper confirms the successful results which can be obtained using core–shell scattering models, for smaller particles than had previously been studied, and outlines modifications to these which would permit rapid computation of sufficient stability to support fast particle sizing procedures.     

Periodic forcing of ion channel gating: An experimental approach

To get information about the gating process of single ion channels it is important to carry out the periodic modulation of a physical parameter affecting the channels while they are recorded by the patch clamp technique. This paper outlines a possible experimental approach in the case that the membrane potential is the modulated parameter.     

Damping lateral vibrations in rotary machinery using motor speed modulation

This paper outlines a new principle for damping lateral vibrations of rotary systems. According to this principle, no changes in the visco-elastic properties of the system to be damped are required. The method is based on the generation of a harmonic additive to the constant speed of rotation that provides significant damping of lateral vibrations at critical speeds of rotation. This concept is validated analytically using the method of averaging and additionally with the help of direct numerical integration. The solution is shown to represent Fourier series containing Bessel functions. Consequently, proper choice of the parameters of the additional harmonic component ensuring that the Bessel functions have minimum values results from a minimization of the solution itself. Thus, the analytical solution and numerical results prove this concept by showing an essential decrease of the amplitudes of lateral vibrations of the damped system compared with those of the undamped system. The physical explanation of this effect is presented.     

Light with a twist in its tail

Polarized light is a phenomenon familiar to anyone with a pair of polaroid sunglasses. Optical components that change the nature of the polarization from linear to circular are common in any undergraduate laboratory. Probably only physicists know that circularly polarized light carries with it an angular momentum that results from the spin of individual photons. Few physicists realize, however, that a light beam can also carry orbital angular momentum associated not with photon spin but with helical wavefronts. Beams of this type have been studied only over the last decade. In many instances orbital angular momentum behaves in a similar way to spin. But this is not always so: orbital angular momentum has its own distinctive properties and its own distinctive optical components. This article outlines the general behaviour of such beams; how they can be used to rotate microscopic particles; how they interact with nonlinear materials; the role they play in atom-light interactions and how the rotation of such beams results in a measurable frequency shift.     

Strategies for single particle manipulation using acoustic and flow fields

Acoustic radiation forces have often been used for the manipulation of large amounts of micrometer sized suspended particles. The nature of acoustic standing wave fields is such that they are present throughout the whole fluidic volume; this means they are well suited to such operations, with all suspended particles reacting at the same time upon exposure. Here, this simultaneous positioning capability is exploited to pre-align particles along the centerline of channels, so that they can successively be removed by means of an external tool for further analysis. This permits a certain degree of automation in single particle manipulation processes to be achieved as initial identification of particles’ location is no longer necessary, rather predetermined. Two research fields in which applications are found have been identified. First, the manipulation of copolymer beads and cells using a microgripper is presented. Then, sample preparation for crystallographic analysis by positioning crystals into a loop using acoustic manipulation and a laminar flow will be presented.     

The superconducting transition temperature of niobium carbide single crystals after implantation of light elements

This overview outlines some basic properties of defects in insulators and describes experimental techniques by which these defects may be characterized. Then the production of defects by various types of particle irradiation is discussed. Finally some discussion is presented of the potential device application of defective crystals, including tunable colour centre lasers, miniaturised optical circuitry and neutron dosimetry.     

Quantum Computing from the Ground Up,by Riley Tipton Perry

Radar Astronomy is a new and growing branch of Astronomy. Although it seems that radio echo studies must be confined to the solar system, they can play an important part in developing our understanding of the Sun and the planets. At the present time these objects are barely detectable by radar techniques and much of the work has been concerned only with the moon. However it seems likely that within a decade we shall be able to measure the distances of the nearer planets and study their surfaces by this astronomical technique. This paper outlines what has already been achieved in the study of the moon and indicates some of the possible future results.     

The Four Lives of a Nuclear Accelerator

Electrostatic accelerators have emerged as a major tool in research and industry in the second half of the twentieth century. In particular in low energy nuclear physics they have been essential for addressing a number of critical research questions from nuclear structure to nuclear astrophysics. This article describes this development on the example of a single machine which has been used for nearly sixty years at the forefront of scientific research in nuclear physics. The article summarizes the concept of electrostatic accelerators and outlines how this accelerator developed from a bare support function to an independent research tool that has been utilized in different research environments and institutions and now looks forward to a new life as part of the experiment CASPAR at the 4,850” level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility.     

Toward a rigorous quantum field theory

This paper outlines a framework that may provide a mathematically rigorous quantum field theory. The framework relies upon the methods of nonstandard analysis. A theory of nonstandard inner product spaces and operators on these spaces is first developed. This theory is then applied to construct nonstandard Fock spaces which extend the standard Fock spaces. Then a rigorous framework for the field operators of quantum field theory is presented. The results are illustrated for the case of Klein-Gordon fields.     

There and back again: Two views on the protein folding puzzle

The ability of protein chains to spontaneously form their spatial structures is a long-standing puzzle in molecular biology. Experimentally measured folding times of single-domain globular proteins range from microseconds to hours: the difference (10–11 orders of magnitude) is the same as that between the life span of a mosquito and the age of the universe. This review describes physical theories of rates of overcoming the free-energy barrier separating the natively folded (N) and unfolded (U) states of protein chains in both directions: “U-to-N” and “N-to-U”. In the theory of protein folding rates a special role is played by the point of thermodynamic (and kinetic) equilibrium between the native and unfolded state of the chain; here, the theory obtains the simplest form. Paradoxically, a theoretical estimate of the folding time is easier to get from consideration of protein unfolding (the “N-to-U” transition) rather than folding, because it is easier to outline a good unfolding pathway of any structure than a good folding pathway that leads to the stable fold, which is yet unknown to the folding protein chain. And since the rates of direct and reverse reactions are equal at the equilibrium point (as follows from the physical “detailed balance” principle), the estimated folding time can be derived from the estimated unfolding time. Theoretical analysis of the “N-to-U” transition outlines the range of protein folding rates in a good agreement with experiment. Theoretical analysis of folding (the “U-to-N” transition), performed at the level of formation and assembly of protein secondary structures, outlines the upper limit of protein folding times (i.e., of the time of search for the most stable fold). Both theories come to essentially the same results; this is not a surprise, because they describe overcoming one and the same free-energy barrier, although the way to the top of this barrier from the side of the unfolded state is very different from the way from the side of the native state; and both theories agree with experiment. In addition, they predict the maximal size of protein domains that fold under solely thermodynamic (rather than kinetic) control and explain the observed maximal size of the “foldable” protein domains.     

UV-LED Photo-activated Chemical Gas Sensors: A Review

Metal oxide semiconductor gas sensors operating under UV irradiation have been validated for detection of variety of chemicals in wide ranges of concentrations at room temperature. This article reviews recent advances in UV-activated metal oxide gas sensors in general and outlines the operating principles and sensing performance of UV-LED based sensors in particular. The sensing properties of several metal oxide semiconductors such as ZnO, TiO₂, SnO₂, In₂O₃, and metal oxide composites under UV-LED irradiation are individually presented and their advantages and shortcomings toward various gases are compared. Moreover, it is demonstrated that for the UV-LED based gas sensors, the performance can be improved by optimizing the sensor platform design and UV source parameters such as wavelength and power intensity. Further, it is illustrated that the gas sensing selectivity can be tuned by modifying the semiconductor layer structure or adjusting appropriate wavelength to an optimal value.     

Critical area computation for real defects and arbitrary conductor shapes

In current critical area models, it is generally assumed the defect outlines are circular and the conductors to be rectangle or the merger of rectangles. However, real defects and conductors associated with optimal layout design exhibit a great variety of shapes. Based on mathematical morphology, a new critical area model is presented, which can be used to estimate the critical area of short circuit, open circuit and pinhole. Based on the new model, the efficient validity check algorithms are explored to extract critical areas of short circuit, open circuit and pinhole from layouts. The results of experiment on an approximate layout of ${4\times 4}$ shifts register show that the new model predicts the critical areas accurately. These results suggest that the proposed model and algorithm could provide new approaches for yield prediction.     

Self-assembly and co-assembly of block polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions. Dissipative particle dynamics with explicit electrostatics

This topical review outlines the principles of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) and discusses its use for studying electrically charged systems – particularly its application for investigation of the self-assembly of polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions. Special emphasis is placed on DPD with incorporation of explicit electrostatic forces (DPD-E). At present, this empowered method is being used by only a few research groups and most studies of polyelectrolyte self-assembly are based on the ‘implicit solvent ionic strength’ approach which completely ignores electrostatics. The inclusion of electrostatics in the DPD machinery not only complicates the calculations and considerably slows down the simulation run, but it also generates some problems of primary importance that have to be solved prior to employing DPD-E to study practically important systems. In the introductory parts, we describe the principles of DPD-E, analyse all the problematic issues and show how they can be resolved or overcome. The later parts demonstrate the successful application of DPD-E. We discuss papers that study the self-assembling behaviour of two different practically important systems and show that they not only closely reproduce all the decisive features of the behaviour, but also reveal new details that are difficult to access for experimentalists. The topical review shows that the tedious calculations are worthwhile: (1) DPD-E simulations are concerned with the true principles of the behaviour of polyelectrolyte systems and therefore provide reliable data and (2) the practically important advantage of computer simulations, i.e. their predictive power (at the level of the employed coarse-graining), which is a questionable aspect in simulations that use physically impoverished models, is not endangered in the case of DPD-E.     

Transformation Properties of Dynamical Systems at the Quantum Level

Based on the generating functional of Green function for a dynamical system, the general equations of transformation properties at the quantum level are derived. In some cases they can be reduced to the quantum Noether theorem. In some other cases they can be reduced to momentum theorem or angular momentum theorem etc. at the quantum level. An example is presented and it shows that the classical conservation laws don’t always preserve in quantum theories. PACS: 11.10.E     

Innovative and responsible governance of nanotechnology for societal development

Governance of nanotechnology is essential for realizing economic growth and other societal benefits of the new technology, protecting public health and environment, and supporting global collaboration and progress. The article outlines governance principles and methods specific for this emerging field. Advances in the last 10 years, the current status and a vision for the next decade are presented based on an international study with input from over 35 countries.     

Light scattering theories and computer codes

In aerosol science today light scattering simulations are regarded as an indispensable tool to develop new particle characterization techniques or in solving inverse light scattering problems. Light scattering theories and related computational methods have evolved rapidly during the past decade such that scattering computations for wavelength sized nonspherical scatterers can be easily performed. This significant progress has resulted from rapid advances in computational algorithms developed in this field and from improved computer hardware.In this paper a review of the recent progress of light scattering theories and available computational programs is presented. We will focus on exact theories and will not cover approximate methods such as geometrical optics. Short outlines of the various theories are given alongside with informations on their capabilities and restrictions.     

Monitoring radiation induced alterations in biological systems,from molecules to tissues,through infrared spectroscopy

Humans can be exposed to non-ionizing and ionizing radiation for diagnostic, therapeutic, accidental, and occupational reasons. Consequently, the effect of radiation on biological systems has attracted the attention of researchers for a rather long time. This review is about the mid-infrared Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic characterization of non-ionizing and ionizing radiation-induced changes in DNA, lipids, and proteins, as isolated or synthetic macromolecules, and in biological membranes, cells, and tissues. Here, the context of radiation was limited with electromagnetic radiation including gamma rays. The review first outlines introductory information about non-ionizing and ionizing radiation and their interaction with biological systems. Afterwards, FTIR spectroscopy and spectroscopic analysis are briefly discussed. Finally, FTIR spectroscopic analysis of DNA, lipids, proteins, membranes, cells, and tissues that were exposed to radiation are presented. The findings show that FTIR spectroscopy can be successfully used as a novel method to monitor radiation-induced alteratios in biological systems.     

Searching for better plasmonic materials

Plasmonics is a research area merging the fields of optics and nanoelectronics by confining light with relatively large free‐space wavelength to the nanometer scale ‐ thereby enabling a family of novel devices. Current plasmonic devices at telecommunication and optical frequencies face significant challenges due to losses encountered in the constituent plasmonic materials. These large losses seriously limit the practicality of these metals for many novel applications. This paper provides an overview of alternative plasmonic materials along with motivation for each material choice and important aspects of fabrication. A comparative study of various materials including metals, metal alloys and heavily doped semiconductors is presented. The performance of each material is evaluated based on quality factors defined for each class of plasmonic devices. Most importantly, this paper outlines an approach for realizing optimal plasmonic material properties for specific frequencies and applications, thereby providing a reference for those searching for better plasmonic materials.