Measurement of Siberian Radioheliograph cable delays

To achieve the maximum dynamic range of solar radio images obtained using aperture synthesis in relatively wide frequency bands 0.1−0.5 % of the operating frequency, it is necessary to compensate the signal propagation delays in the antenna receive path before calculating visibility functions (hereinafter visibilities). When visibilities are corrected without delay compensation, the signal-to-noise ratio decreases due to residual phase slopes in the receiving system bandwidth. In addition to enhancing dynamic range, preliminary compensation for delays simplifies real-time imaging — no antenna gain calibration is required to get a first approximation image. The requirements for the accuracy of antenna placement are also reduced — in contrast to the measurement of the phase visibility error, the measurement of the delay is actually not so critical to the antenna position errors that are larger than the operating wavelength. The instantaneous frequency band of the Siberian Radioheliograph, which determines the minimum step for measuring the phase slope, and hence the accuracy of determining the delay, is 10 MHz. At the speed of light in an optical fiber of ~0.7c, a step of 10 MHz makes it possible to unambiguously measure the difference between electrical lengths of cables up to 20 m and to correct antenna positions by radio observations, even if the error in the position of the antennas exceeds the operating wavelength. Correction of the band phase slopes during the observation time adapts the radio telescope to the temperature drift of delays and decreases antenna gain phase spread. This, in turn, leads to more stable solutions to systems of equations containing antenna gains as unknowns.

Measurement of Siberian Radioheliograph cable delays

To achieve the maximum dynamic range of solar radio images obtained using aperture synthesis in relatively wide frequency bands 0.1−0.5 % of the operating frequency, it is necessary to compensate the signal propagation delays in the antenna receive path before calculating visibility functions (hereinafter visibilities). When visibilities are corrected without delay compensation, the signal-to-noise ratio decreases due to residual phase slopes in the receiving system bandwidth. In addition to enhancing dynamic range, preliminary compensation for delays simplifies real-time imaging — no antenna gain calibration is required to get a first approximation image. The requirements for the accuracy of antenna placement are also reduced — in contrast to the measurement of the phase visibility error, the measurement of the delay is actually not so critical to the antenna position errors that are larger than the operating wavelength. The instantaneous frequency band of the Siberian Radioheliograph, which determines the minimum step for measuring the phase slope, and hence the accuracy of determining the delay, is 10 MHz. At the speed of light in an optical fiber of ~0.7c, a step of 10 MHz makes it possible to unambiguously measure the difference between electrical lengths of cables up to 20 m and to correct antenna positions by radio observations, even if the error in the position of the antennas exceeds the operating wavelength. Correction of the band phase slopes during the observation time adapts the radio telescope to the temperature drift of delays and decreases antenna gain phase spread. This, in turn, leads to more stable solutions to systems of equations containing antenna gains as unknowns.

A Refined Phase Unwrapping Method for High Noisy Dense Fringe Interferogram Based on Adaptive Cubature Kalman Filter

Cubature Kalman filter phase unwrapping (CKFPU) is an effective algorithm in unwrapping the interferograms. The local phase slope estimation is a key factor that affects the unwrapped accuracy. However, the estimation accuracy of local phase slop is relatively low in high noisy and dense stripes areas, which usually leads to the unsatisfactory unwrapped results. In order to effectively solve this issue, the rewrapped map of the unwrapped phase (obtained by CKFPU algorithm), which is a filtered interferogram with clearer fringes and more detailed information, is proposed in this paper to improve the phase slope estimation. In order to solve the problem of imprecise error variance for the new phase slope estimation, an adaptive factor is introduced into the CKFPU algorithm to increase the stability and reliability of the phase unwrapping algorithm. The proposed method is compared with the standard CKFPU algorithm using both simulated and real data. The experimental results validate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed method for processing those high noise dense fringe interferograms.

Asteroid phase curves using sparse and dense photometry

<p align="justify">We present a phase-curve computation method capable of combining sparse survey data, like relative photometry with dense differential measurements. Combining those types of data allows to obtain phase-curves parameters for large number of asteroids for which using traditional approach would not be sufficient.</p> <p align="justify">Using traditional dense ground-based photometry collected at Astronomical Observatory Institute of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alongside with absolute Gaia measurements we were able to perform more accurate lightcurve amplitude correction and then derive the phase-slope parameter β of the phase-curve separately for each opposition which met our selection criteria. We show preliminary results for 31 oppositions of 24 asteroids.</p> <p align="justify">In the future we plan to create a large photometric database containing sparse and dense photometry from various publicly available data sources (Gaia, ATLAS, K2, LSST, TESS, VISTA and others) which will include absolute, relative and differential photometry.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Acknowledgments: </strong>This work has been supported by grant No. 2017/25/B/ST9/00740 from the National Science Centre, Poland.</p>

Binding characteristics of [18F]PI-2620 distinguish the clinically predicted tau isoform in different tauopathies by PET

The novel tau-PET tracer [18F]PI-2620 detects the 3/4-repeat-(R)-tauopathy Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the 4R-tauopathies corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). We determined whether [18F]PI-2620 binding characteristics deriving from non-invasive reference tissue modelling differentiate 3/4R- and 4R-tauopathies. Ten patients with a 3/4R tauopathy (AD continuum) and 29 patients with a 4R tauopathy (CBS, PSP) were evaluated. [18F]PI-2620 PET scans were acquired 0-60 min p.i. and the distribution volume ratio (DVR) was calculated. [18F]PI-2620-positive clusters (DVR ≥ 2.5 SD vs. 11 healthy controls) were evaluated by non-invasive kinetic modelling. R1 (delivery), k2 & k2a (efflux), DVR, 30-60 min standardized-uptake-value-ratios (SUVR30-60) and the linear slope of post-perfusion phase SUVR (9-60 min p.i.) were compared between 3/4R- and 4R-tauopathies. Cortical clusters of 4R-tau cases indicated higher delivery (R1SRTM: 0.92 ± 0.21 vs. 0.83 ± 0.10, p = 0.0007), higher efflux (k2SRTM: 0.17/min ±0.21/min vs. 0.06/min ± 0.07/min, p < 0.0001), lower DVR (1.1 ± 0.1 vs. 1.4 ± 0.2, p < 0.0001), lower SUVR30-60 (1.3 ± 0.2 vs. 1.8 ± 0.3, p < 0.0001) and flatter slopes of the post-perfusion phase (slope9-60: 0.006/min ± 0.007/min vs. 0.016/min ± 0.008/min, p < 0.0001) when compared to 3/4R-tau cases. [18F]PI-2620 binding characteristics in cortical regions differentiate 3/4R- and 4R-tauopathies. Higher tracer clearance indicates less stable binding in 4R tauopathies when compared to 3/4R-tauopathies.

Graph theoretical analysis based on EEG effective connectivity in ADHD children

This paper reports a new method to identify the ADHD children using EEG signals and effective connectivity techniques. In this study, the original EEG data is pre-filtered and divided into Delta, Theta, Alpha and Beta bands. And then, the effective connectivity graphs are constructed by applying independent component analysis, multivariate regression model and phase slope index. The measures of clustering coefficient, nodal efficiency and degree centrality in graph theory are used to extract features from these graphs. Statistical analysis based on the standard error of the mean are employed to evaluate the graph theory measures in each frequency band. The results show a decreased average clustering coefficient in delta band for ADHD subjects. Also, in delta band, the ADHD subjects have increased nodal efficiency and degree centrality in left forehead part and decreased in forehead middle.

New Evidence of Megaclasts from the Russian South: The First Report of Three Localities

Megaclast research has intensified recently, and its further development needs new factual information from various places of the world. Three new megaclast localities are reported from the Russian South, namely, Shum, Merzhanovo, and the Red Stones. These localities host blocks of all grades, sometimes with certain flatness and angle roundness. Megaclasts from Shum and Merzhanovo result from poly-phase slope processes. At the Red Stones locality, a group of residual megaclasts will appear in the future due to weathering processes. This evidence together with the examples brought by the virtual journeys and the literature interpretations prove the genetic diversity of megaclasts and stress the urgency of their further investigations in various depositional environments.

Fast 3D Shape Measurement of Complex Objects Combining S-transform Profilometry and Sub-Pixel Refinement

In the fast 3D shape measurement of complex objects, the process of phase unwrapping affects the measurement accuracy and measurement speed. To omit phase unwrapping, a fast 3D shape measurement method is proposed based on S-transform profilometry and sub-pixel refinement. In this work, Deformed fringe pattern is analyzed based on S-transform to get wrapped phase. To reduce the effect of phase unwrapping, a stereo vision system is employed. Firstly, a deformed fringe pattern is directly used and a hybrid function is proposed to get an initial parallax. Secondly, a phase slope algorithm is proposed to confirm edge point. At last, sub-pixel parallax is refined fromIcoordinate. Experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility and advantage of the proposed method. Results verify that the proposed method can provide fast and accurate 3D shape measurement of complex objects, especially for discontinuous objects and shiny objects.