Structure and Solidification Process Observation of Fe-C-Cr Alloy Using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

In this study, we investigated the growth process of M7C3 carbide by a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope. Fe-C-Cr alloy was prepared using an arc furnace. The composition was determined to be Fe:C:Cr=55:5:40(wt%). From the results of XRD and EPMA, the Fe-C-Cr alloy contained M7C3 carbide in the internal structure. In condition of two cooling rates 60°C/min and 30°C/min observed with a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope. Corners of the Hexagonal structure grew in the preferred orientation direction of M7C3 carbide at 60°C/min. After the growth of preferred orientation direction, the M7C3 carbide formed to connect between the corners. At a cooling rate of 30°C/min, M7C3 carbides grew in oblique direction to the observation area. At the beginning, the structures were hidden in the fluid. But the structures started to grow, the shape of the hexagon became eventually. After the melting experiment, the samples were observed by Optical Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope. As a result, since hexagonal structure arose a difference in height between the outside and the inside. M7C3 carbides grew from the outside in the solidification process.

Enhanced, parallel liquid crystal alignment based on polystyrene substituted with phthalimidoyl groups

Polystyrene substituted with phthalimide can enhance liquid crystal alignment behavior and stability and switch orientation direction from perpendicular to parallel.

Orientation direction dependency of cavitation in pre-oriented isotactic polypropylene at large strains

Failure of inter-fibrillar tie chains in oriented amorphous networks is the main factor controlling the cavitation initiated at large strains.

Neurons in the mouse deep superior colliculus encode orientation/direction through suppression and extract selective visual features

The superior colliculus (SC) is an integrative sensorimotor structure that contributes to multiple visiondependent behaviors. It is a laminated structure; the superficial SC layers (sSC) contain cells that respond to visual stimuli, while the deep SC layers (dSC) contain cells that also respond to auditory and somatosensory stimuli. Despite the increasing interest in mice for visual system study, the differences in the visual response properties between the sSC and the dSC are largely unknown. Here we used a large-scale silicon probe recording system to examine the visual response properties of neurons within the SC of head-fixed, awake and behaving mice. We find that both the sSC and dSC cells respond to visual stimuli, but dSC cells have three key differences. (1) The majority of the dSC orientation/direction selective (OS/DS) cells have their firing rate suppressed by drifting sinusoidal gratings (negative OS/DS cells) rather than being stimulated like the sSC cells (positive OS/DS cells). (2) Almost all the dSC cells have complex-cell-like spatial summation nonlinearity, and a significantly smaller fraction of the positive OS/DS cells in the dSC respond to flashing spots than those in the sSC. (3) The dSC cells lack Y-like spatial summation nonlinearity unlike the sSC cells. These results provide the first description of cells that are suppressed by a visual stimulus with a specific orientation or direction, show that neurons in the dSC have properties analogous to cortical complex cells, and show the presence of Y-like nonlinearity in the sSC but their absence in the dSC.Significance statementThe superior colliculus receives visual input from the retina in its superficial layers (sSC) and induces eye/head orientating movements and innate defensive responses in its deeper layers (dSC). Despite their importance, very little is known about the visual response properties of dSC neurons. Using highdensity electrode recordings and novel model-based analysis, we find that the dSC contains cells with a novel property; they are suppressed by the orientation or direction of specific stimuli. We also show that dSC cells have properties similar to cortical “complex” cells. Conversely, cells with Y-like nonlinear spatial summation properties are located only in the sSC. These findings contribute to our understanding of how the SC processes visual inputs, a critical step in comprehending visually-guided behaviors.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Brain Research Seed Funding provided by UCSC and from the National Institutes of Health Grant NEI R21EYO26758 to D. A. F. and A. M. L. We thank Michael Stryker for training on the electrophysiology experiments and his very helpful comments on the manuscript, Sotiris Masmanidis for providing us with the silicon probes, Forest Martinez-McKinney and Serguei Kachiguin for their technical contributions to the silicon probe system, Jeremiah Tsyporin for taking an image of neural tissues and the training of mice, Jena Yamada, Anahit Hovhannisyan, Corinne Beier, and Sydney Weiser, for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

An Unsupervised Classification Technique for Detection of Flipped Orientations in Document Images

<table width="593" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="387"><p>Detection of text orientation in document images is of preliminary concern prior to processing of documents by Optical Character Reader. The text direction in document images should exist generally in a specific orientation, i.e., text direction for any automated document reading system. The flipped text orientation leads to an unambiguous result in such fully automated systems. In this paper, we focus on development of text orientation direction detection module which can be incorporated as the perquisite process in automatic reading system. Orientation direction detection of text is performed through employing directional gradient features of document image and adapts an unsupervised learning approach for detection of flipped text orientation at which the document has been originally fed into scanning device. The unsupervised learning is built on the directional gradient features of text of document based on four possible different orientations. The algorithm is experimented on document samples of printed plain English text as well as filled in pre-printed forms of Telugu script. The outcome attained by algorithm proves to be consistent and adequate with an average accuracy around 94%.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

An Unsupervised Classification Technique for Detection of Flipped Orientations in Document Images

<table width="593" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="387"><p>Detection of text orientation in document images is of preliminary concern prior to processing of documents by Optical Character Reader. The text direction in document images should exist generally in a specific orientation, i.e., text direction for any automated document reading system. The flipped text orientation leads to an unambiguous result in such fully automated systems. In this paper, we focus on development of text orientation direction detection module which can be incorporated as the perquisite process in automatic reading system. Orientation direction detection of text is performed through employing directional gradient features of document image and adapts an unsupervised learning approach for detection of flipped text orientation at which the document has been originally fed into scanning device. The unsupervised learning is built on the directional gradient features of text of document based on four possible different orientations. The algorithm is experimented on document samples of printed plain English text as well as filled in pre-printed forms of Telugu script. The outcome attained by algorithm proves to be consistent and adequate with an average accuracy around 94%.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

Effects of Fiber Orientation Direction on Tool-Wear Processes in Down-Milling of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Laminates

This paper discusses tool-wear processes in the milling of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. Plane down-milling tests with unidirectional and cross-directional CFRP laminates were performed using two types of cutting tools made of tungsten carbide and polycrystalline diamond. Measurements of the changes in the cutting forces and tool-wear widths over the cutting distance revealed that the fiber orientation direction in the CFRP laminates relative to the tool-traveling direction is an important parameter to determine the tool-wear processes. Additionally, based on obtained experimental results, a wear parameter to characterize cutting tool wear is introduced. This parameter can accurately explain the relationship between the worn tool-edge profiles and the processed-surface quality.