Two-Phase Image Segmentation by Nonconvex Nonsmooth Models with Convergent Alternating Minimization Algorithms

Two-phase image segmentation is a fundamental task to partition an image into foreground and background. In this paper, two types of nonconvex and nonsmooth regularization models are proposed for basic two-phase segmentation. They extend the convex regularization on the characteristic function on the image domain to the nonconvex case, which are able to better obtain piecewise constant regions with neat boundaries. By analyzing the proposed non-Lipschitz model, we combine the proximal alternating minimization framework with support shrinkage and linearization strategies to design our algorithm. This leads to two alternating strongly convex subproblems which can be easily solved. Similarly, we present an algorithm without support shrinkage operation for the nonconvex Lipschitz case. Using the Kurdyka-Łojasiewicz property of the objective function, we prove that the limit point of the generated sequence is a critical point of the original nonconvex nonsmooth problem. Numerical experiments and comparisons illustrate the effectiveness of our method in two-phase image segmentation.     

Dynamic stress of a circular cavity buried in a semi-infinite functionally graded piezoelectric material subjected to shear waves

The paper presents a theoretical method to investigate the multiple scattering of shear waves and dynamic stress around a circular cavity in a semi-infinite functionally graded piezoelectric material. The analytical solutions of wave fields are expressed by employing wave function expansion method and the expanded mode coefficients are determined by satisfying the boundary conditions of the cavity. Image method is used to satisfy the free boundary condition of the semi-infinite structure. According to the analytical expression of this problem, the numerical solutions of the dynamic stress concentration factor around the cavity are presented. The effects of the piezoelectric property, the buried depth of the cavity, the incident wave number and the nonhomogeneous parameter of materials on the dynamic stress around the cavity are analyzed. Analyses show that the piezoelectric property has great effect on the dynamic stress in the region of intermediate frequency and the effect increases with increasing wave number. When the nonhomogeneous parameter of materials is less than zero, it has less influence on the maximum dynamic stress around the cavity; however, it has greater influence on the distribution of the dynamic stress around the cavity. When the nonhomogeneous parameter of materials is greater than zero, it has greater influence on both the maximum dynamic stress and the distribution of dynamic stress around the cavity, especially in the case that the buried depth is comparatively small.     

Residual Stress Determination Using Hole Drilling and 3D Image Correlation

In recent years, the hole drilling method for determining residual stresses has been implemented with optical methods such as holographic interferometry and ESPI to overcome certain limitations of the strain rosette version of hole drilling. Although offering advantages, the interferometric methods require vibration isolation, a significant drawback to their use outside of the laboratory. In this study, a 3D image correlation approach was used to measure micron-sized surface displacements caused by the localized stress relief associated with hole drilling. Residual stresses were then found from the displacements using non-dimensional relations previously derived by finite element analysis. A major advantage of image correlation is that it does not require interferometric vibration isolation. Experiments were performed to check the ability of this new approach for uniaxial and equi-biaxial states of stress. Stresses determined by the approach were in good agreement with computed values and those determined by hole drilling using holographic interferometry.     

Interaction between a screw dislocation and an elastic elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks

The elastic interaction between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks is studied. The screw dislocation may be located outside or inside the inhomogeneity. An efficient complex variable method for the complex multiply connected region is developed, and the general solutions to the problem are derived. As illustrative examples, solutions in explicit series form for complex potentials are presented in the case of one or two interfacial cracks. Image forces on the dislocation are calculated by using the Peach-Koehler formula. The influence of crack geometries and material properties on the image forces is evaluated and discussed. It is shown that the interfacial crack has a significant effect on the equilibrium position of the dislocation near an elliptical-arc interface. The main results indicate, when the length of the crack goes up to a critical value, the presence of the interfacial crack can change the interaction mechanism between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inclusion. The present solutions can include a number of previously known results as special cases.The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(10272009 and 10472030) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(02JJY2014)     

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil causing convection-like shear investigated by group-theoretic image analysis

Diffuse mode bifurcation of soil under plane-strain compression test is shown, by means of an image analysis based on group-theoretic bifurcation theory, to trigger convection-like shear and to precede shear band formation. First digital photos of Toyoura sand specimens are processed by PIV (particle image velocimetry) to gather digitized images of deformation. Next bifurcation from a uniform state is detected by expanding these images into the double Fourier series and finding a predominant harmonic diffuse bifurcation mode based on that theory. This harmonic bifurcation mode, which is the mixture of a few harmonic functions, expresses complex convection-like shear. Last bifurcation from a non-uniform state is detected by decomposing each image into a few images with different symmetries to extract non-harmonic diffuse bifurcation modes. Diffuse modes of bifurcation, which hitherto were hidden behind predominant uniform compressive deformation, have thus been made transparent by virtue of the group-theoretic image analysis proposed. A possible course of deformation suggested herein is the evolution of diffuse mode bifurcation with a convection-like bifurcation mode breaking uniformity and symmetry, followed by the formation of shear bands through localization.     

Full-field speckle pattern image correlation with B-Spline deformation function

A full-field speckle pattern image correlation method is presented that will determine directly the complete, two-dimensional deformation field during the image correlation process on digital images obtained using computer vision systems. In this work, a B-Spline function is used to represent the object deformation field throughout the entire image area. This is an improvement over subset-based image correlation methods by implicitly maintaining position and derivative continuity constraints among subsets up to a specified order. The control point variables within the B-Spline deformation function are optimized iteratively with the Levenberg-Marquardt method to achieve minimum disparity between the predicted and actual deformed images. Results have shown that the proposed method is computationally efficient, accurate and robust. The general framework of this method can be applied ton-dimensional image correlation systems that solve for multi-dimension vector fields.     

Interaction of a screw dislocation with a notch in a piezoelectric bi-material

Summary The electro-elastic interaction of a screw dislocation and a notch in a piezoelectric bi-material is analyzed. The electro-elastic fields induced by the dislocation are derived using the conformal mapping and the image-dislocation approach, where the solution for a piezoelectric bi-material without a notch is used as a base. The stress and the electric displacement intensity factors of the notch and the image force on the dislocation are given explicitly. We find that intensity factors are expressed in terms of the effective material constants, while the radial component of the image force is independent of the notch angle and the angular position of the dislocation in the polar coordinate system. Numerical results for the image force are provided for the use when one of the two media is purely elastic. They illustrate the behavior of the dislocation in the neighborhood of the notch.     

一种改进的无人机航空影像配准方法

针对目前无人机航空影像非同源、畸变大、处理量多的问题,提出一种改进的无人机航空影像配准方法。首先利用传统SIFT方法得到特征点,其次利用C均值聚类方法可实现准确的非监督分类的特点,对传统SIFT方法得到的特征点进行筛选,从而得出同名点。最后根据得到的同名点完成待匹配图像的投影变换完成配准。通过实验仿真证明该方法精度有较大提高,且可自适应处理不同图像,是一种有效的无人机航空影像匹配改良方法。     

Environmental monitoring using a conventional photographic digital camera for multianalyte disposable optical sensors

The primary interest of this study concerns the use of an inexpensive photographic digital camera as the detection system, using its own flash as the source of light to present a new analytical procedure to measure disposable multianalyte optical sensors for potassium, magnesium, hardness and conventional pH test strips. The camera arrangement was designed in a fixed position over an optical board with controllable ambient conditions. After acquiring the digital image, the analytical information contained in each test zone is analyzed using theRGB colour space. Reflectance measurements were developed to study the colourimetric and spectral characteristics of the test zones. We obtained the following application ranges and precision in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD %): for potassium from 3.2 × 10⁻⁷ to 0.1 M with a precision between 3.3 and 4.0%, for magnesium from 2.7 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.5 M showing a precision between 4.7 and 7.8% and finally for hardness from 4.3 × 10⁻² to 200,000 mg L⁻¹ CaCO₃ and between 5.1 and 7.0%. Moreover, the analytical characteristics of several optical procedures were compared with the results presented here. The proposed method was statistically validated against a reference procedure using samples of water from different sources and beverages, indicating that there are no significant statistical differences at a 95% confidence level.     

Ultra-thin-layer chromatography mass spectrometry and thin-layer chromatography mass spectrometry of single peptides of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors

The separation of structurally related angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors lisinopril, cilazapril, ramipril and quinapril and their corresponding active diacid forms (prilates) by conventional TLC silica gel 60 plates was contrasted with that afforded by monolithic ultra-thin-layer chromatographic (UTLC) plates. For the use of UTLC plates technical modifications of the commercially available equipments for the sample application, development and detection were made. Plates were developed in modified horizontal developing chamber using ethyl acetate-acetone-acetic acid-water (4:1:0.25:0.5, v/v). Detection of the separated compounds was performed densitometrically in absorption/reflectance mode at 220 nm and after exposure to iodine also by image analysis. The obtained results showed that monolithic layer is more efficient for the separation of structurally similar polar compounds, such as prilates than conventional silica layers. Identification of the compounds was confirmed by ESI-MS after their on-line extraction from the UTLC and TLC plates by means of Camag TLC-MS interface.