Speeding Up Image Reconstruction Methods in Coded Mask γ Cameras Using Neural Networks: Application to the EM Algorithm

When using γ-ray coded-mask cameras, one does not get a direct image as in classical optical cameras but the correlation of the mask response with the source. Therefore the data must be mathematically treated in order to reconstruct the original sky sources. Generally this reconstruction is based on linear methods, such as correlating the detector plane with a reconstruction array, or non-linear ones such as iterative or maximization methods (i.e. the EM algorithm). The latter have a better performance but they increase the computational complexity by taking a lot of time to reconstruct an image. Here we present a method for speeding up such kind of algorithms by making use of a neural network with a back-propagation learning rule. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

40Ar/39Ar Geochronology and stable isotope geochemistry of Late-Hercynian intrusions from north-eastern Iberia with implications for argon loss in K-feldspar

The cooling history of Hercynian calc-alkalic, post-kinematic plutonic intrusions of the Montnegre massif (NE Spain) has been determined by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analysis of two hornblendes, four biotites and eight K-feldspars (Kfs). The hornblendes have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar total fusion ages of 291Dž Ma and define the magmatic cooling of the basic and oldest structural intrusions. The biotites from the acid and intermediate rocks have ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar plateau ages of 285Dž Ma, which date cooling of the intrusions through argon closure in biotite. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the K-feldspars vary widely, ranging from 276-191 Ma. A correlation between K-feldspar ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar total fusion age and several other features such as structural state, microstructures indicated by obliquity and, to some degree, optically visible perthites, is consistent with post-crystallisation partial argon loss in the K-feldspars. The 'D values of the biotites also correlate with age and chlorite contents, but this is not so for the '¹⁸O values of either feldspar or quartz. We infer that most microtextural changes occurred during cooling of the batholith, but a possibly Mesozoic, late disturbing hydrothermal event of weak intensity and with only minor fluid circulation must have occurred. This event provoked significant argon loss in the most structurally complex K-feldspars and is recorded in the hydrogen, but not oxygen, isotope data.     

Internal consistency of a water analysis and uncertainty of the calculated distribution of aqueous species at 25°C

Many water analyses contain more than the minimum number of analytical determinations needed to calculate the distribution of species at ~ 25°C. The speciation of a water that contains $\text{n}$ cations and ligands other than H⁺ and OH^? can be calculated if just $\text{n}$ analytical determinations are available. In the frequent case where $\text{n + 1}$ (or more) determinations are available, one can calculate from the speciation a value for the ($\text{n + 1}$)th variable. The comparison between this computed value and its analytical counterpart (not used in calculating the speciation) constitutes a test for internal consistency among the $\text{n + 1}$ determinations that make up the whole analysis.Application of this test requires knowing the uncertainties of the calculated speciation and of the value computed for the ($\text{n + 1}$)th variable from the speciation. Such uncertainties have been ignored in previous algorithms, but have been determined herein by a Monte Carlo method of error propagation which is very well suited to systems of nonlinear algebraic equations.By comparing the titration alkalinity against the alkalinity calculated from the speciation, several published analyses for which the cation/anion balance is < 3% can be shown to be internally inconsistent. Such analyses may be unsuitable for geochemical calculations (water/rock interaction, estimation of reservoir temperatures, etc.).Several existing speciation algorithms disregard the possibility that the analytical data used as input are internally inconsistent.     

Temporal development of fabric in uniaxially stressed polycrystalline media—A theory

We present a kinetic theory for the development of lattice-preferred orientation in a uniaxiallystressed aggregate consisting of elastically uniaxial crystals. The fabric is brought about by grain-boundary migration alone; other fabric-producing mechanisms, such as plastic deformation, syntectonic recrystallization, and dissolution/reprecipitation, are specifically excluded from the theory. The formulation statistically averages the mass transfer between a typical crystal and its adjacent neighbors over all the possible crystallographic orientations of these neighbors and over all the possible orientations of the interfaces between the neighbors and the crystal of interest. The rate of mass exchange between two adjacent crystals is proportional (1) to the difference between chemical potentials and (2) to the surface area common to them. With these assumptions we find an equation for the massfraction density of crystals that have a given orientation (with respect to the stress) at any given time. The theory predicts that beyond a certain time a gap develops in the distribution of crystal orientations allowed: the only crystals that continue to exist are those for which the c-axis is within a certain, timedependent range about the stress.     

Soil-structure interaction effects on the seismic response of tall chimneys

The effects of soil-structure interaction on the seismic response of tall (>100m) steel and reinforced concrete chimneys are described. Detailed models of a 130m high steel chimney and a 150m high reinforced concrete chimney are used as structural models. The foundations are represented as rigid blocks resting on a uniform viscoelastic soil model. Perfect bonding between the foundation and the soil is assumed. Parametric studies of the interaction effects on the magnitude and distribution of bending moments and shear forces include four soil rigidities and two seismic excitations characterized by very different frequency contents. The results obtained indicate strong interaction effects for intermediate and soft soils (V_s500 m/sec). The extent of the interaction effects are highly dependent on the characteristics of the seismic excitation.     

Luna 20 pyroxenes: exsolution and phase transformation as indicators of petrologic history

Pyroxenes from our sample of Luna 20 soil are predominantly orthopyroxene with subordinate pigeonite. The orthopyroxenes are chromium-rich bronzites and contain submicroscopic lamellae of augite in a twinned orientation exsolved on (100). These lamellae have a composition close to the diopside-hedenbergite join. Asymmetric diffuse streaks parallel to $\text{a}{}^1$ indicate stacking faults parallel to (100) and possibly very thin (10–20 Å) lamellae of clinobronzite parallel to (100). Pigeonite crystals are very complex crystallographically and chemically, with optically visible (001) augite exsolution lamellae and two sets of chromite exsolution lamellae. In addition, there are submicroscopic (100) augite lamellae and a second generation of clinohypersthene lamellae which appear to have exsolved from the (001) augite lamellae. The clinohypersthene host, which has a large number of stacking faults parallel to (100), has partially inverted to hypersthene of the same composition. The hypersthene occurs as very fine lamellae (less than 1000 Å) parallel to the (100) plane of the clinohypersthene. X_D^Fe-Mg values for five host-lamellae pairs in pigeonite K-4 indicate a significant amount of subsolidus readjustment. We tentatively conclude that many of the bronzite and pigeonite crystals were derived from rocks crystallized from a high level magma chamber in the lunar highland crust.     

Microstructure Investigation in Unsaturated Soils: A Review with Special Attention to Contribution of Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

With the advent of modern microstructural testing techniques and microstructure based constitutive models the microstructural characterisation of soils is gaining prominence. This paper reviews the history of microstructure investigation in unsaturated soils and discusses the engineering significance of this research to date. After a brief overview of the main microstructural techniques, the paper focuses on the evaluation of the current state of use and the development of two widely used techniques to study the microstructure of partially saturated soils, namely mercury intrusion porosimetry and the environmental scanning electron microscopy. The details of these techniques, their advantages and limitations, are first covered, followed by the presentation of selected test results. These results highlight the use of these techniques for understanding different hydro-mechanical behavioural features observed at macroscopic scale. Specifically, the paper shows the use of these techniques to explore the fundamental properties of water retention characteristics, water permeability, and micro and macrostructural interactions along different hydro-mechanical paths.     

Resource partitioning among air‐breathing marine predators: are body size and mouth diameter the major determinants?

Although the body size of consumers may be a determinant factor in structuring food webs, recent evidence indicates that body size may fail to fully explain differences in the resource use patterns of predators in some situations. Here we compared the trophic niche of three sympatric and sexually dimorphic air‐breathing marine predators (the South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens, the South American fur seal, Arctocephalus australis, and the Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus) in three areas of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (Río de la Plata and adjoining areas, Northern Patagonia and Southern Patagonia), in order to assess the importance of body size and mouth diameter in determining resource partitioning. Body weight and palate/bill breadth were used to characterize the morphology of each sex and species, whereas the trophic niche was assessed through the use of stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen. The quantitative method Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses in R (SIBER) was used to compute the area of the Bayesian ellipses and the overlap of the isotopic niches. The results showed that morphological similarity was significantly correlated with isotopic distance between groups within the δ¹³C–δ¹⁵N bi‐plot space in the Río de la Plata area, but not in Northern and Southern Patagonia. Furthermore, resource partitioning between groups changed regionally, and some morphologically distinct groups exhibited a large trophic overlap in certain areas, such as the case of male penguins and male sea lions in Southern Patagonia. Conversely, female sea lions always overlapped with the much larger males of the same species, but never overlapped with the morphologically similar male fur seals. These results indicate that body size and mouth diameter are just two of the factors involved in resource partitioning within the guild of air‐breathing predators considered here, and for whom – under certain environmental conditions – other factors are more important than morphology.     

Talus Instability in a Recent Deglaciation Area and Its Relationship to Buried Ice and Snow Cover Evolution (Picacho Del Veleta, Sierra Nevada, Spain)

The southernmost glacier in Europe formed during the Little Ice Age at the foot of the north wall of Picacho del Veleta (3 398 m) in Sierra Nevada, in the southeast region of the Iberian Peninsula (lat. 37δ03‘N, long. 3δ22‘W). The glacier gradually retreated during the last century, leaving a large talus slope at the base of the wall. The unconsolidated material covering the ice masses acted as a thermal insulator. Recent bottom temperature of snow (BTS) analyses and drillings indicate that the ice still exists within the talus. Evidence from field observations made during the period 1995–2001, revealed that large mass movements occurred during the driest summers (1998 and especially, 1999 and 2000) when the talus was snow free. These conditions suggest a direct relationship between talus stability and thermal insulation from the snow cover in areas where buried ice or decaying marginal permafrost exists.