A new method for the automated selection of the number of components for deconvolving overlapping chromatographic peaks

Mathematical deconvolution methods can separate co-eluting peaks in samples for which (chromatographic) separation fail. However, these methods often heavily rely on manual user-input and interpretation. This is not only time-consuming but also error-prone and automation is needed if such methods are to be applied in a routine manner.     

Maximum likelihood estimation for second level fMRI data analysis with expectation trust region algorithm

The trust region method which originated from the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm for mixed effect model estimation are considered in the context of second level functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis. We first present the mathematical and optimization details of the method for the mixed effect model analysis, then we compare the proposed methods with the conventional expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm based on a series of datasets (synthetic and real human fMRI datasets). From simulation studies, we found a higher damping factor for the LM algorithm is better than lower damping factor for the fMRI data analysis. More importantly, in most cases, the expectation trust region algorithm is superior to the EM algorithm in terms of accuracy if the random effect variance is large. We also compare these algorithms on real human datasets which comprise repeated measures of fMRI in phased-encoded and random block experiment designs. We observed that the proposed method is faster in computation and robust to Gaussian noise for the fMRI analysis. The advantages and limitations of the suggested methods are discussed.     

Vibrational spectroscopy in the development of surface hydrophilic elastomer latex (SHEL)

An illustrative example is given to show how various vibrational spectroscopy techniques coupled with two-dimensional (2D) correlation analysis can be effectively utilized in the development of a novel and functional material. Surface-hydrophilic elastomer latex (SHEL) is a material exhibiting rather unusual permanently water-wettable surface feature despite having a soft and rubbery bulk property, which can be successfully analyzed with vibrational spectroscopy. 2D photoacoustic (PAS) IR spectra of a SHEL film indicate the localized surface segregation of long-chain ethoxylate moiety of the oligomeric surfactant used in the preparation of this material. The accumulation of the hydrophilic long-chain ethoxylate produces the high energy polar surface over the hydrophobic bulk phase of SBR copolymer. The persistence of very low water contact angle, even after repeated washing of a SHEL film with an excess amount of water, indicates permanent covalent attachment of long-chain ethoxylate group to the SBR copolymer. 2D Raman spectra generated from the process monitoring of the emulsion copolymerization of SHEL reveal the mechanism of the covalent attachment of long-chain ethoxylate. The reaction involves a separate step of oleyl moiety of the block surfactant reacting with 1,3-butadiene prior to the onset of copolymerization to produce the SBR latex product.     

Influence of Control Parameters on the Competition Between Spiral Waves and Target Waves

In this paper we systematically investigate the influence of control parameters on the competition results between spiral waves and target waves. Driving frequency f , amplitude A and injection area n of the input signals are three important parameters and the competition results between spiral waves and target waves are influenced by these three parameters remarkably. Based on these understandings we can control spiral waves effectively by suitable combination these parameters to generate faster target waves. And the effective controllable parameter regions are also studied.     

Salient region detection using background priors

In this paper, we introduce a novel salient region detection algorithm by using background priors. Because of the fact that superpixel is perceptually more meaningful than pixel, and which can reduce the complexity of image processing, we use the superpixel algorithm to reprocess original images. In addition, we hold the point that the colors in the image boundary could mainly represent all background colors, hence we compute the color contrast between the intern colors and the boundary colors. Since the nearer the patches are close to center, the more they affect other patches, we propose a new distribution-based model. Finally, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.     

Bounded sets structure of CpX and quasi‐(DF)‐spaces

For wide classes of locally convex spaces, in particular, for the space $C_p(X)$ of continuous real‐valued functions on a Tychonoff space X equipped with the pointwise topology, we characterize the existence of a fundamental bounded resolution (i.e., an increasing family of bounded sets indexed by the irrationals which swallows the bounded sets). These facts together with some results from Grothendieck's theory of $(DF)$‐spaces have led us to introduce quasi‐ $(DF)$‐spaces, a class of locally convex spaces containing $(DF)$‐spaces that preserves subspaces, countable direct sums and countable products. Regular $(LM)$‐spaces as well as their strong duals are quasi‐ $(DF)$‐spaces. Hence the space of distributions $D^{\prime }(\mathrm{\Omega })$ provides a concrete example of a quasi‐ $(DF)$‐space not being a $(DF)$‐space. We show that $C_p(X)$ has a fundamental bounded resolution if and only if $C_p(X)$ is a quasi‐ $(DF)$‐space if and only if the strong dual of $C_p(X)$ is a quasi‐ $(DF)$‐space if and only if X is countable. If X is metrizable, then $C_k(X)$ is a quasi‐ $(DF)$‐space if and only if X is a σ‐compact Polish space.     

水胁迫下典型盐生植被梭梭光谱特征分析

荒漠地区由于气候干燥，降水稀少，水分常成为制约植被生长的因素之一，水分胁迫对植物长势和产量的影响比任何其他胁迫都要大。随着高光谱技术的发展，国内外已有众多学者利用高光谱数据研究植被遭受胁迫作用，然而这些研究对象多集中于甜菜、棉花、玉米、水稻等作物，针对干旱区盐生植被遭受胁迫作用的研究较少。梭梭作为荒漠、半荒漠地区的典型盐生植被之一，具有极高的经济和生态效益。选择梭梭作为研究对象，培育一年生梭梭，并设置三个水分梯度，形成受不同水分量胁迫的梭梭。使用原始光谱、红边位置参数，结合植被指数及二维相关光谱研究其叶片光谱特征，为干旱区利用高光谱遥感监测盐生植被提供借鉴。结果表明：(1)分析梭梭叶片反射光谱曲线发现，在可见光至中红外各波段范围内，受不同水分量胁迫作用的梭梭叶片光谱反射率有显著差异。在可见光(350～610 nm)波段，各水分处理的梭梭叶片反射率依次为100 mL>500 mL>200 mL，这是由于100和200 mL水分促进梭梭内部叶绿素合成，使该波段反射率降低，而过多的水分(500 mL)对梭梭内部的叶绿素合成没有更大的促进作用。在红光区(611～738 nm)，随着水分量的增多，受不同水分量胁迫的梭梭叶片光谱反射率依次减小。在738～1 181和1 228～1 296 nm波段，受不同水分量胁迫作用的梭梭叶片光谱反射率为：200 mL>100 mL>500 mL；在1 182～1 227 nm波段，受不同水分量胁迫作用的梭梭叶片光谱反射率为：100 mL>200 mL>500 mL。这是由于植被细胞结构对近红外区域的反射率影响较大，因而受不同水分胁迫作用的梭梭叶片光谱反射率有显著差异。在1 300～1 365和1 392～1 800 nm波段，受各水分胁迫作用的梭梭叶片反射率为：100 mL>200 mL>500 mL。这表明在500 mL水分胁迫量范围内，水分越多，叶子的细胞液、细胞膜对水分的吸收能力越强，使得反射率下降。通过对原始光谱求取一阶导数并提取红边位置参数发现，各水分处理下的梭梭叶片一阶微分光谱曲线中红边位置未发生移动。这是由于梭梭在长期的干旱环境影响下，形成了特殊的适应机制，水分对其红边位置影响不敏感。(2)选取若干植被指数分析各水分处理下的梭梭光谱指数变化。当水分胁迫量由100 mL增至200 mL时，WI/NDWI，MSI和NDII指数值变化显著，可用于研究水分胁迫下梭梭的光谱特征。(3)使用二维相关光谱技术分析受各水分胁迫作用的梭梭光谱特征，得出在100 mL水分胁迫下，在536，643，1 219和1 653 nm波段处，吸收峰对水分的微扰敏感；在200 mL水分胁迫下，在846和1 083 nm波段处，吸收峰对水分的微扰敏感；在500 mL水分胁迫下，在835和1 067 nm波段处，吸收峰对水分的微扰敏感。总之，在近红外波段，与100 mL水分量相比，梭梭受200和500 mL水分量胁迫时，吸收峰对水分的微扰敏感度上升。由100 mL水分胁迫下梭梭的二维同步相关谱图可知，1 044和1 665 nm，1 072和903 nm，903和1 264 nm，1 230和1 061 nm波段处形成正交叉峰，表明这些波段处光谱强度随水分的干扰同时变化。     

Phase segregation of metastable quenched liquid mixtures and the effect of the quenching rate

The effect of the quenching rate on the phase separation of partially miscible liquid mixtures is studied, showing that it may influence the growth rate of single-phase domains. In particular, the phase separation of metastable binary mixtures in the presence of strong emulsifiers appears to be heavily retarded. These effects constitute an important limitation to the phase transition extraction process introduced by the authors in previous works, which is based on the fact that phase separation of unstable mixtures is rapid, even in the presence of surface active compounds.