Portrait Quality Assessment using Multi-Scale CNN

In this paper, we propose a novel and standardized approach to the problem of camera-quality assessment on portrait scenes. Our goal is to evaluate the capacity of smartphone front cameras to preserve texture details on faces. We introduce a new portrait setup and an automated texture measurement. The setup includes two custom-built lifelike mannequin heads, shot in a controlled lab environment. The automated texture measurement includes a Region-of-interest (ROI) detection and a deep neural network. To this aim, we create a realistic mannequins database, which contains images from different cameras, shot in several lighting conditions. The ground-truth is based on a novel pairwise comparison technology where the scores are generated in terms of Just-Noticeable-differences (JND). In terms of methodology, we propose a Multi-Scale CNN architecture with random crop augmentation, to overcome overfitting and to get a low-level feature extraction. We validate our approach by comparing its performance with several baselines inspired by the Image Quality Assessment (IQA) literature.

Surface Texture Measurement with Profile Method Using Six-Axis Coordinate Measuring Machine

Currently the measurement of surface texture in mechanical engineering is traditionally carried out using profilometers. Modern profilometers do not allow measuring of surfaces with complex shapes. This is due to the different sensitivity of the sensor and the discreteness of the movements along the axes of the Cartesian coordinate system. Coordinate Measuring Machines are devoid of such a drawback. However, stylus of the coordinate measuring machine has a diameter many times larger than the diamond stylus of the profilometer. Therefore, there is a mechanical filtering effect, that affects the results of measuring the parameters of the surface texture. In this paper a mathematical model of the contact of the spherical stylus and a rough surface based on analytical geometry is proposed. Influence of the diameter of the spherical stylus on the maximum measurement errors of a amplitude parameters are investigated. Seven amplitude parameters Rp, Rv, Rz, Ra, Rq, Rsk, Rku of the surface texture are modeled. Coordinate measuring machine and profilometer with stylus diameter of 2 μm measurement results are compared. it was concluded that the stylus diameter of the coordinate measuring machine when measuring the surface texture should be no more than 20 μm.

Anisotropic Low Cycle Behavior of the Extruded 7075 Al Alloy

The quasi-static and low cycle fatigue tests of extruded 7075 Al alloy (Φ200 mm) were investigated in three directions: the extrusion direction (ED), the radial direction (RD), and 45° with ED (45°). Grain morphology analysis, texture measurement, and fatigue fracture characterization were conducted to discuss the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties. The experimental results showed that the ED specimen had higher ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties, which were mainly attributed to the following three causes. First, the grain boundaries (GBs) had an obvious effect on the crack growth. The number of GBs in the three directions was different due to the shape of the grains elongated along the ED. Second, the sharp <111> texture and the small Schmidt factor along the ED explained the higher ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the ED specimens. Third, fatigue fracture observation showed that the ED specimen had a narrow fatigue striation spacing, which indicated that the plastic deformation of the ED specimen was the smallest in each cycle. In addition, two fatigue prediction models were established to predict the LCF life of extruded 7075 Al alloy, based on the life response behavior of the three directions under different strains.

The Characteristics of Quark Cheese Made from Buttermilk during Refrigerated Storage

The dairy industry releases huge amounts of by-products. One of them is buttermilk, obtained during butter production. This by-product is characterized by high nutritional and technological value and is finding more and more applications in food production. This study aimed to produce and analyze the characteristics of quark cheese obtained entirely from buttermilk during 3-week refrigerated (4 ± 1 °C) storage. Four kinds of sour buttermilk were used: two from industrial butter production, and another two from butter production at laboratory scale. Laboratory buttermilk differs in the kind of starter culture used in the production. The evaluation of cheese quality properties included physicochemical analyses, texture measurement, and sensory assessment. The results showed that the kind of buttermilk used in production influences the acidity, total solids, textural characteristics, and fat content of the obtained quark cheeses. All obtained cheeses had very high sensory quality throughout the storage period. The study indicates that buttermilk may be successfully used as a substitution for milk in quark cheese production.

Quantitative texture analysis using the NOMAD time-of-flight neutron diffractometer

Strategies for efficient and reliable texture measurements have been explored using the Nanoscale Ordered Materials Diffractometer (NOMAD) at the Spallation Neutron Source located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). To test these strategies, the texture of an Al alloy was also investigated using another neutron diffraction instrument, a constant-wavelength neutron diffractometer (NRSF2) located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, also at ORNL. Reasonable agreement was found across the two experimental methods, but differences in overall texture strength and the symmetry of some components were noted, depending on the data reduction and analysis method selected. On the basis of these results, potential improvements are identified which would enhance the texture measurement capability on NOMAD.

BL-02: a versatile X-ray scattering and diffraction beamline for engineering applications at Indus-2 synchrotron source

A hard X-ray engineering applications beamline (BL-02) was commissioned recently and started operation in March 2019 at the Indian synchrotron source, Indus-2. This bending-magnet-based beamline is capable of operating in various beam modes, viz. white, pink and monochromatic beam. The beamline utilizes the X-ray diffraction technique in energy-dispersive and angle-dispersive modes to carry out experiments mainly focused on engineering problems, viz. stress measurement, texture measurement and determination of elastic constants in a variety of bulk as well as thin-film samples. An open-cradle six-circle diffractometer with ∼12 kg load capacity allows accommodation of a wide variety of engineering samples and qualifies the beamline as a unique facility at Indus-2. The high-resolution mode of this beamline is suitably designed so as to carry out line profile analysis for characterization of micro- and nano-structures. In the present article the beamline is described starting from the beamline design, layout, optics involved, various operational modes and experimental stations. Experiments executed to validate the beamline design parameters and to demonstrate the capabilities of the beamline are also described. The future facilities to be incorporated to enhance the capabilities of the beamline are also discussed.