Wood species identification using feature-level fusion scheme

In this paper, we propose a robust wood species identification scheme by using a feature-level fusion scheme. First, a novel wood feature acquirement system is devised, which can get the curve of 1D wood spectral reflectance ratio and the 2D wood surface color image. Second, the 4 wood color features, the 4 principal texture features, the 4 secondary texture features and the 4 spectral features are established, respectively. Third, a fuzzy BP neural network is proposed to perform the classification work, which consists of 4 sub-networks based on the color feature, texture feature and spectral feature. We have experimentally proved that this scheme improves the mean recognition accuracy to approximately 90% for 5 wood species. Moreover, our feature-level fusion scheme is superior to the recognition schemes which use color feature and texture feature.     

Photosensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 film electrode with cadmium sulphoselenide

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films composed of densely packed nanometer-sized grains have been successfully deposited onto an indium-doped-tin oxide (ITO) substrate. Then cadmium sulphoselenide (CdSSe) thin film was deposited onto pre-deposited TiO₂ to form a TiO₂/CdSSe film, at low temperature using a simple and inexpensive chemical method. The X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and water contact angle techniques were used for film characterization. Purely rutile phase of TiO₂ with super-hydrophilic and densely packed nanometer-sized spherical grains of approximate diameter 30-40 (±2) nm was observed. The increase in optical absorption was observed after CdSSe film deposition. Nest like surface morphology of CdSSe on TiO₂ surface results in air trapping in the crevices which prevents water from adhering to the film with increase in water contact angle. Photosensitization of TiO₂ with CdSSe was confirmed with light illumination intensity of 80 mW/cm².     

Effect of UV lamp irradiation during oxidation of Zr/Pt/Si structure on electrical properties of Pt/ZrO2/Pt/Si structure

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors were fabricated using ZrO₂ films and the effects of structural and native defects of the ZrO₂ films on the electrical and dielectric properties were investigated. For preparing ZrO₂ films, Zr films were deposited on Pt/Si substrates by ion beam deposition (IBD) system with/without substrate bias voltages and oxidized at 200 °C for 60 min under 0.1 MPa O₂ atmosphere with/without UV light irradiation (λ = 193 nm, Deep UV lamp). The ZrO₂(∼12 nm) films on Pt(∼100 nm)/Si were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements were carried out on MIM structures. ZrO₂ films, fabricated by oxidizing the Zr film deposited with substrate bias voltage under UV light irradiation, show the highest capacitance (784 pF) and the lowest leakage current density. The active oxygen species formed by UV irradiation are considered to play an important role in the reduction of the leakage current density, because they can reduce the density of oxygen vacancies.     

The effect of PVA (Bi2O3-doped) interfacial layer and series resistance on electrical characteristics of Au/n-Si (110) Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs)

Two types of Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) with and without PVA (Bi₂O₃-doped) polymeric interfacial layer, were fabricated and measured at room temperature in order to investigate the effects of the PVA (Bi₂O₃-doped) interfacial layer on the main electrical parameters such as the ideality factor (n), zero-bias barrier height (Φ_B0), series resistance (R_s) and interface-state density (N_ss). Electrical parameters of these two diodes were calculated from the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and compared with each other. The values of Φ_B0, n and R_s for SBDs without polymeric interfacial layer are 0.71 eV, 1.44 and 4775 Ω, respectively. The values of Φ_B0, n and R_s for SBDs with PVA (Bi₂O₃-doped) polymeric interfacial layer are 0.74 eV, 3.49 and 10,030 Ω, respectively. For two SBDs, the energy density distribution profiles of interface states (N_ss) were obtained from forward-bias I-V measurements by taking the bias dependence of R_s of these devices into account. The values of N_ss obtained for the SBD with PVA (Bi₂O₃-doped) polymeric interfacial layer are smaller than those of the SBD without polymeric interfacial layer.     

Quantification of slow flow using FAIR

Phase contrast (PC)-based MRI methods are considered to be the most accurate approach for spatially resolved flow quantification, but the measurement of very slow velocities requires signal detection at long echo times and the application of strong field gradients. On the other hand, measurements based on time-of-flight or inflow effects can be conducted at short echo times and without flow-encoding gradients. A method for imaging flow at velocities of the order of 0.1 mm/s is presented and validated here. It consists of measuring the apparent spin-lattice relation rate (R₁*) of the flowing fluid using magnetization preparation by alternating slice-selective and nonselective inversion pulses (FAIR or flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery) and a fast gradient-echo detection sequence. This method is appropriate for the quantitative imaging of slow flow at low Reynolds numbers in fluids where the T₂ values are too short to allow sensitive flow measurements by phase contrast-based methods.     

Fabrication and characterization of Fe-doped titania semiconductor electrodes with p-n homojunction devices

The nano-TiO₂ electrode with a p-n homojunction device was designed and fabricated by coating of the Fe³⁺-doped TiO₂ (p-type) film on top of the nano-TiO₂ (n-type) film. These films were prepared from synthesized sol-gel TiO₂ samples which were verified as anatase with nano-size particles. The semiconductor characteristics of the p-type and n-type films were demonstrated by current-voltage (I-V) measurements. Results show that the rectifying curves of undoped TiO₂ and Fe³⁺-doped TiO₂ sample films were observed from the I-V data illustration for both the n-type and p-type films. In addition, the shapes of the rectifying curves were influenced by the fabrication conditions of the sample films, such as the doping concentration of the metal ions, and thermal treatments. Moreover, the p-n homojunction films heating at different temperatures were produced and analyzed by the I-V measurements. From the I-V data analysis, the rectifying current of this p-n junction diode has a 10 mA order higher than the current of the n-type film. The p-n homojunction TiO₂ electrode demonstrated greater performance of electronic properties than the n-type TiO₂ electrode.     

Theoretical modeling of photocatalytic active species on illuminated TiO2

A theoretical study of the H₂O and O₂ adsorption on an illuminated TiO₂ anatase surface is presented. The electronic structure and the spin distribution were examined by employing the DFT formalism and the BHandHLYP functional. The adsorbates geometries were fully optimized, including the cluster relaxation. Our results show the dissociative adsorption of the H₂O molecule on the photoactivated TiO₂ (0 0 1) surface. This reaction produces one hydroxyl group with radical character (OH) and an unpaired electron localized in the 5c-Ti atom. In case of the O₂ molecule, the non-dissociative chemisorption was obtained. This molecule shows one unpaired electron and a negative charge. In these sense, the adsorbed O₂ acts as a superoxide species (O₂⁻).     

Effects of V2O5 addition on NiZn ferrite synthesized using two-step sintering process

The combined influence of a two-step sintering (TSS) process and addition of V₂O₅ on the microstructure and magnetic properties of NiZn ferrite was investigated. As comparison, samples prepared by the conventional single-step sintering (SSS) procedure were also studied. It was found that with 0.3 wt% V₂O₅ additive, the sample sintered by the two-step sintering process at a high temperature of 1250 °C for 30 min and a lower temperature of 1180 °C for 3 h exhibited more homogeneous microstructure and higher permeability with a high Q-factor. The results showed that the TSS method with suitable additive brought positive improvement of the microstructure and magnetic properties of NiZn ferrite.     

Depth profiling of organic materials using improved ion beam conditions

We used the so-called dual beam mode of depth profiling to start a systematic investigation of organic depth profiling with a time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) instrument. Similar to inorganic profiling, we found the dual beam mode beneficial because sample erosion and sample analysis are decoupled and can be optimised independently. We applied different primary projectiles such as C₆₀, O₂ and Cs for sputtering to a variety of organic specimens, using a wide range of impact energies. Results are discussed with respect to the feasibility of the different approaches to organic depth profiling in SIMS.     

Investigation of diode parameters using I-V and C-V characteristics of In/SiO2/p-Si (MIS) Schottky diodes

A study on interface states density distribution and characteristic parameters of the In/SiO₂/p-Si (MIS) capacitor has been made. The thickness of the SiO₂ film obtained from the measurement of the corrected capacitance in the strong accumulation region for MIS Schottky diodes was 220 Å. The diode parameters from the forward bias I-V characteristics such as ideality factor, series resistance and barrier heights were found to be 1.75, 106-112 Ω and 0.592 eV, respectively. The energy distribution of the interface state density D_it was determined from the forward bias I-V characteristics by taking into account the bias dependence of the effective barrier height. The interface state density obtained using the I-V characteristics had an exponential growth, with bias towards the top of the valance band, from 9.44×10¹³ eV⁻¹ cm⁻² in 0.329-E_v eV to 1.11×10¹³ eV⁻¹ cm⁻² in 0.527-E_v eV at room temperature. Furthermore, the values of interface state density D_it obtained by the Hill-Coleman method from the C-V characteristics range from 52.9×10¹³ to 1.11×10¹³ eV⁻¹ cm⁻² at a frequency range of 30kHz-1 MHz. These values of D_it and R_s were responsible for the non-ideal behaviour of I-V and C-V characteristics.     

Observation of large magnetic resistance in weak magnetic fields using CuPt/SiO2/Si/SiO2/CuPt structure

The magnetoresistive effect of CuPt(8 nm)/SiO₂(5 nm)/Si(50,000 nm)/SiO₂(5 nm)/CuPt(8 nm) structure made by e-beam evaporation technique is studied in this work. Variation in magnetoresistance obtained by I-V measurements at 77 K and in the presence of less than 5 mT magnetic field applied in parallel to the surface is investigated. We have found that this structure exhibit large magnetoresistance in low magnetic fields (i.e. <5 mT). Our results also indicate that the variation in magnetoresistance in the presence of external magnetic field has oscillatory behavior and has the maximum value of 3295%. This structure due to its high sensitivity to low magnetic fields can also be used as an active element in magnetic field sensor devices.     

Highly active Ce1−xCuxO2 nanocomposite catalysts for the low temperature oxidation of CO

A series of Ce_1−xCu_xO₂ nanocomposite catalysts with various copper contents were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method at low temperature without any surfactants, using mixed solutions of Cu(II) and Ce(III) nitrates as metal sources. These bimetal oxide nanocomposites were characterized by means of XRD, TEM, HRTEM, EDS, N₂ adsorption, H₂-TPR and XPS. The influence of Cu loading (5-25 mol%) and calcination temperature on the surface area, particle size and catalytic behavior of the nanocomposites have been discussed. The catalytic activity of Ce_1−xCu_xO₂ nanocomposites was investigated using the test of CO oxidation reaction. The optimized performance was achieved for the Ce_0.80Cu_0.20O₂ nanocomposite catalyst, which exhibited superior reaction rate of 11.2 × 10⁻⁴ mmol g⁻¹ s⁻¹ and high turnover frequency of 7.53 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ (1% CO balanced with air at a rate of 40 mL min⁻¹, at 90 °C). No obvious deactivation was observed after six times of catalytic reactions for Ce_0.80Cu_0.20O₂ nanocomposite catalyst.     

Fluctuation kinetics of the hopping fluorescence quenching in disordered solid solutions: A theoretical model and experimental evidence

Fluctuation kinetics of the hopping fluorescence quenching in disordered solid solutions is investigated for the first time. Measurements were made in the chelated complexes of rare-earth ions [Y_1−xTb_x(pyca)₃(H₂O)₂]nH₂O used as chromophore. The Tb³⁺ ions and the OH^--ions of unbounded water molecules appear as fluorescent donors and randomly distributed acceptors, respectively, with the dipole-dipole interaction between them. The measured fluctuation kinetics is the kinetics of the Förster type but with larger decay amplitude. It begins almost immediately after the initial static stage of quenching, and lasts for the entire interval of measurements leaving no room at all for the well-known exponential kinetics with constant rate. Proposed theoretical explanation of the phenomenon is based on the solution of the closed many-particle integral equation for the observable kinetics of hopping fluorescence quenching. The methods for determination of the energy transfer microparameters by the measured fluorescence quenching kinetics are discussed.     

In vivo multiecho T2 relaxation measurements using variable TR to decrease scan time

Multiecho T2 relaxation measurements to determine geometric mean T2 (GMT2) and myelin water fraction (MWF) are lengthy, resulting in increased motion artefacts from patient discomfort and reduced patient compliance. The goal of this study was to shorten the acquisition time for multiecho T2 measurements without affecting T1 weighting by varying TR across k-space. Six phantoms and 10 healthy volunteers were imaged with both a constant TR and a variable TR multiecho T2 sequence. T1 weighting was determined by TR at the center of k-space; for variable TR measurement, TR was shortened linearly from the center to the edges of k-space. Phantoms showed excellent agreement for proton density and GMT2 between constant and variable TR measurements. No significant differences were found in proton density or MWF for any of the brain structures between the two measurements. The average GMT2 over all structures between the two experiments was not significantly different. In summary, with the variable TR approach, scan time was reduced by >20%, with minimal loss of image resolution and no significant affect on proton density, MWF or GMT2.     

Epitaxial MoOx nanostructures on TiO2(1 1 0) obtained using thermal decomposition of Mo(CO)6

Stoichiometric and highly-defective TiO₂(1 1 0) surfaces (called as yellow and blue, respectively) were exposed to Mo(CO)₆ vapours in UHV and in a reactive O₂ atmosphere. In the case of yellow-TiO₂, an O₂ reactive atmosphere was necessary to obtain the Mo(CO)₆ decomposition at 450 °C with deposition of MoO_x nanostructures where, according to core level photoemission data, the Mo⁺⁴ state is predominant. In the case of blue-TiO₂ it was possible to obtain Mo deposition both in UHV and in an O₂ atmosphere. A high dose of Mo(CO)₆ in UHV on blue-TiO₂ allowed the deposition of a thick metallic Mo layer. An air treatment of this sample at 580 °C led to the elimination of Mo as MoO₃ and to the formation of a transformed layer of stoichiometry of Ti_(1−x)Mo_xO₂ (where x is close to 0.1) which, according to photoelectron diffraction data, can be described as a substitutional near-surface alloy, where Mo⁺⁴ ions are embedded into the titania lattice. This embedding procedure results in a stabilization of the Mo⁺⁴ ions, which are capable to survive to air exposure for a rather long period of time. After exposure of the blue-TiO₂(1 1 0) substrate to Mo(CO)₆ vapours at 450 °C in an O₂ atmosphere it was possible to obtain a MoO₂ epitaxial ultrathin layer, whose photoelectron diffraction data demonstrate that is pseudomorphic to the substrate.     

An automatic cerebellum extraction method in T1-weighted brain MR images using an active contour model with a shape prior

Purpose

The objective of this paper was to automatically segment the cerebellum from T1-weighted human brain magnetic resonance (MR) images.

Materials and Methods

The proposed method constructs a cerebellum template using five sets of 3-T MR imaging (MRI) data, which are used to determine the initial position and the shape prior of the cerebellum for the active contour model. Our formulation includes the active contour model with shape prior, which thereby maintains the shape of the template. The proposed active contour model is sequentially applied to sagittal-, coronal- and transverse-view images. To evaluate the proposed method, it is applied to BrainWeb data and a 3-T MRI data set and compared with FreeSurfer with respect to performance assessment metrics.

Results

The segmented cerebellum was compared with the results from FreeSurfer. Using the manually segmented cerebellum as reference, we measured the average Jaccard coefficients of the proposed method, which were 0.882 and 0.885 for the BrainWeb data and 3-T MRI data set, respectively.

Conclusion

We presented the active contour model with shape prior for extracting the cerebellum from T1-weighted brain MR images. The proposed method yielded a robust and accurate segmentation result.     

Sensitive and automated detection of iron-oxide-labeled cells using phase image cross-correlation analysis

Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles are increasingly being used to noninvasively track cells, target specific molecules and monitor gene expression in vivo. Contrast changes that are subtle relative to intrinsic sources of contrast present a significant detection challenge. Here, we describe a postprocessing algorithm, called Phase map cross-correlation Detection and Quantification (PDQ), with the purpose of automating identification and quantification of localized accumulations of SPIO agents. The method is designed to sacrifice little flexibility - it works on previously acquired data and allows the use of conventional high-SNR pulse sequences with no extra scan time. We first investigated the theoretical detection limits of PDQ using a simulated dipole field. This method was then applied to three-dimensional (3D) MRI data sets of agarose gel containing isolated dipoles and ex vivo transplanted allogenic rat hearts infiltrated by numerous iron-oxide-labeled macrophages as a result of organ rejection. A simulated dipole field showed this method to be robust in very low signal-to-noise ratio images. Analysis of agarose gel and allogenic rat heart shows that this method can automatically identify and count dipoles while visualizing their biodistribution in 3D renderings. In the heart, this information was used to calculate a quantitative index that may indicate its degree of cellular infiltration.     

Sparse hyperspectral unmixing using an approximate L0 norm

Sparse unmixing aims at finding an optimal subset of spectral signatures in a large spectral library to effectively model each pixel in the hyperspectral image and compute their fractional abundances. In most previous work concerned with the sparse unmixing, L₂ norm is used to measure the error tolerance and the L₁ norm is added as the sparsity regularization. However, in some applications, using L₁ norm to measure the error tolerance has significant robustness advantages over the L₂ norm. Besides, in some cases, using a smooth function to approximate the L₀ norm can obtain more accurate results than the L₁ norm in the field of sparse regression. Thus, in this paper, we consider the two alternative choices for sparse unmixing. A reweighted iteration algorithm is also proposed so that the unconvex regularizer (smoothed L₀ norm) can be efficiently solved through transforming it into a series of weighted L₁ regularizer problems. Experimental results on both synthetic and real hyperspectral data demonstrate the efficacy of the new models.     

Al Kα and Cu Kα1 excited XPS of vanadium oxide and VF3 powders: Measurement of the V 1s – KLL Auger parameters

Al Kα (hν = 1486.6 eV) excited XPS shows that powder samples of V₂O₃, V₂O₅ and VF₃ are surface contaminated and that the V₂O₃ can be cleaned by heating in vacuum at 400 °C. The greater sampling depth of Cu Kα₁ (hν = 8047.8 eV) excited XPS allows measurement of the bulk V 1s – KL₂L₃ Auger parameters (APs) for these materials. The APs of VF₃ and V₂O₅, relative to V metal, fall into the range of values expected for metal fluorides and oxides with non-local final state core-hole screening, whereas the AP of V₂O₃ is significantly closer to that of V metal. We ascribe this to a greater final state valence orbital occupation following photionisation in V₂O₃, part of which results from metal-like screening.     

Feasibility of using limited-population-based average R10 for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging data

Retrospective analyses of clinical dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI studies may be limited by failure to measure the longitudinal relaxation rate constant (R₁) initially, which is necessary for quantitative analysis. In addition, errors in R₁ estimation in each individual experiment can cause inconsistent results in derivations of pharmacokinetic parameters, K^trans and v_e, by kinetic modeling of the DCE-MRI time course data. A total of 18 patients with lower extremity osteosarcomas underwent multislice DCE-MRI prior to surgery. For the individual R₁ measurement approach, the R₁ time course was obtained using the two-point R₁ determination method. For the average R₁₀ (precontrast R₁) approach, the R₁ time course was derived using the DCE-MRI pulse sequence signal intensity equation and the average R₁₀ value of this population. The whole tumor and histogram median K^trans (0.57±0.37 and 0.45±0.32 min⁻¹) and v_e (0.59±0.20 and 0.56±0.17) obtained with the individual R₁ measurement approach are not significantly different (paired t test) from those (K^trans: 0.61±0.46 and 0.44±0.33 min⁻¹; v_e: 0.61±0.19 and 0.55±0.14) obtained with the average R₁₀ approach. The results suggest that it is feasible, as well as practical, to use a limited-population-based average R₁₀ for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma DCE-MRI data.