Hole Repairing Algorithm for 3D Point Cloud Model of Symmetrical Objects Grasped by the Manipulator.

For the engineering application of manipulator grasping objects, mechanical arm occlusion and limited imaging angle produce various holes in the reconstructed 3D point clouds of objects. Acquiring a complete point cloud model of the grasped object plays a very important role in the subsequent task planning of the manipulator. This paper proposes a method with which to automatically detect and repair the holes in the 3D point cloud model of symmetrical objects grasped by the manipulator. With the established virtual camera coordinate system and boundary detection, repair and classification of holes, the closed boundaries for the nested holes were detected and classified into two kinds, which correspond to the mechanical claw holes caused by mechanical arm occlusion and the missing surface produced by limited imaging angle. These two kinds of holes were repaired based on surface reconstruction and object symmetry. Experiments on simulated and real point cloud models demonstrate that our approach outperforms the other state-of-the-art 3D point cloud hole repair algorithms.

Influence of anisotropy of marine turbulence on the variance of optical wave AOA fluctuations.

The optical wave angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations in marine turbulence severely degrade long-range imaging quality by introducing image distortion. Theoretical investigations of optical wave AOA fluctuations are critical to improve the performances of long-range imaging systems in marine turbulence conditions. In this work, analytic expressions for the variance of optical plane and spherical wave AOA fluctuations in anisotropic marine turbulence will be derived. Compared with the previous models that focus on the isotropic and Kolmogorov properties of marine turbulence, both the anisotropy and non-Kolmogorov features of marine turbulence are considered. The anisotropic factor, general spectral power law instead of constant value of 11/3, finite turbulence inner and outer scales, and variable wavelength are included in the models developed in this work. Also, comparative analyses are performed for the models derived separately in marine and terrestrial anisotropic turbulence conditions. It turns out the anisotropy of turbulence cells degrades the effects of marine turbulence on the optical wave AOA fluctuations. Also, the marine atmosphere humidity fluctuations increase the impacts of anisotropic marine turbulence on the final derived models.

Fluorometric nanoprobes for simultaneous aptamer-based detection of carcinoembryonic antigen and prostate specific antigen.

A "turn-on" fluorometric assay based on the combined effects of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and internal filter effect (IFE) is described for the rapid and ultrasensitive detection of both carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). Their unique porous structures and high specific surface enable mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) to load a large number of CdTe quantum dots (QDs). These amplify the fluorescence signal and provide a platform to fabricate more distinctly fluorescent MSNs (QD-MSNs). Two kinds of QD-MSNs with the maximum emission wavelengths at 590 nm (orange) and 731 nm (dark red) were fabricated and served as two types of fluorescent probes for the dual detection. Two aptamers were covalently connected to fluorescent MSNs as the recognition unit to warrant the selectivity of assay. The fluorescence of QD-MSNs can be quenched by molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (MoS2) due to FRET mechanism, IFE also contributed to the the reduction of fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence of QD-MSNs was further recovered in the presence of CEA and PSA attributing to the excellent specificity of aptamers. A "turn-on" fluorescent two-channel nanoprobe is introduced for simultaneous quantification of CEA and PSA. The respective limits of detection (at S/N = 3) are 0.7 fg•mL-1 for CEA and 0.9 fg•mL-1 for PSA. Graphical abstract Schematic presentation of the turn-on fluorescent nanoprobes for simultaneous detection of CEA and PSA.

Ag/CdO NP-Engineered Magnetic Electrochemical Aptasensor for Prostatic Specific Antigen Detection.

A simple magnetic electrochemical aptasensor was established for the detection of prostatic specific antigen (PSA). Ag/CdO nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated and exhibited strong electroreduction peaks at -1.07 V, attributing to the electron transfer from Cd2+ to Cd0 and the superior electron transportation of Ag. Aptamer-modified Ag/CdO NPs were assembled on the surface of superparamagnetic Fe3O4/graphene oxide nanosheets (GO/Fe3O4 NSs) through the hydrophobic and π-π stacking interaction of aptamers and GO NSs. These assemblies possessed superior electroactive properties, efficient electron transfer, and superparamagnetic response and could serve as sensing units for PSA detection with the aid of a magnetic electrode. With increasing concentrations of PSA, the high affinity of aptamers to PSA enabled the dissociation of Ag/CdO NPs from GO/Fe3O4 NSs, decreasing the intensity of electroreduction peaks. The Ag/CdO NP-engineered magnetic electrochemical aptasensor achieved sensitive and accurate detection of PSA in the range of 50 pg/mL to 50 ng/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 28 pg/mL. This developed protocol can be extended to a large set of strong electroactive labels for reliable tumor biomarker detection with high sensitivity and specificity.

Theoretical investigations of infrared optical wave modulation transfer function models in anisotropic marine turbulence.

The previously derived marine turbulence modulation transfer function (MTF) adopts the classical assumption of isotropic and Kolmogorov turbulence. However, more theoretical research shows that marine turbulence demonstrates anisotropic non-Kolmogorov properties. In this study, new long-exposure plane and spherical wave MTF models under anisotropic non-Kolmogorov marine turbulence will be investigated. Comparative analyses are performed for the new models and the existing ones that have been developed under the isotropic marine turbulence and the anisotropic terrestrial turbulence cases. It turns out that the anisotropic marine turbulence influences the electro-optical imaging system less than the isotropic marine turbulence does. Also, under the same turbulence strength condition, due to the humidity fluctuations of marine atmosphere, the anisotropic marine turbulence will reduce more severely the quality of electro-optical imaging systems than the anisotropic terrestrial turbulence. Investigations conducted in this paper are beneficial to understand better the electro-optical imaging mechanism in marine atmospheric turbulence media.

Electroactive Au@Ag nanoparticles driven electrochemical sensor for endogenous H2S detection.

In this work, a novel and facile electrochemical sensor is reported for the highly selective and sensitive detection of dissolved hydrogen sulfide (H2S), attributing to the redox reaction between Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs) and H2S. Electroactive Au@Ag NPs not only possess excellent conductivity, but exhibit great electrochemical reactivity at 0.26 V due to the electrochemical oxidation from Ag° to Ag+. In the presence of H2S, the Ag shell of Au@Ag NPs can be oxidized to Ag2S, resulting in the decrease of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) peak at 0.26 V. The electrochemical sensor exhibits a wide linear response range from 0.1 nM to 500 nM. The limit of detection (LOD) for H2S is as low as 0.04 nM. The developed sensor shows significant prospects in the study of pathological processes related to the mechanism of H2S production.

Shell-encoded Au nanoparticles with tunable electroactivity for specific dual disease biomarkers detection.

The exploration of electroactive labelling with tailorable and strong differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) responses is of great importance in accurate and sensitive screening of a panel of biomarkers related to cancer. Herein, shell-encoded gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are fabricated and give rise to shell species-dominated DPV peak potentials. Two independent DPV peaks appear at -0.08V for Au@Cu2O core-shell NPs and 0.26V for Au@Ag core-shell NPs. Shell-encoded Au NPs drastically exhibit shell thickness-tunable amplified peak currents. The non-interfering and amplified DPV responses enable shell-encoded Au NPs to be an alternative electrochemical signal amplifier for dual screening of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The limits of detection (LODs) are calculated to be 1.8pg/mL for CEA and 0.3pg/mL for AFP. In comparison to the parallel single-analyte assays, shell-encoded Au NPs engineered electrochemical aptasensors offer multiplexing capability and show significant prospects in biomedical research and early diagnosis of diseases.

Video stabilization in atmosphere turbulent conditions based on the Laplacian-Riesz pyramid.

Video stabilization in atmosphere turbulent conditions is aimed at removing spatiotemporally varying distortions from video recordings. Conventional shaky video stabilization approaches do not perform effectively under turbulent circumstances due to the erratic motion common to those conditions. Using complex-valued image pyramids, we propose a method to mitigate this erratic motion in videos. First, each frame of a video is decomposed into different spatial frequencies using the Laplacian pyramid. Second, a Riesz transform is adopted to extract the local amplitude and the local phase of each sub-band. Next, low-pass filters are designed to attenuate the local amplitude and phase variations to remove turbulence-induced distortions. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is efficient and provides stabilizing video in atmosphere turbulent conditions.

Modified anisotropic turbulence refractive-index fluctuations spectral model and its application in moderate-to-strong anisotropic turbulence.

In this study, the modified anisotropic turbulence refractive-index fluctuations spectral model is derived based on the extended Rytov approximation theory for the theoretical investigations of optical plane and spherical waves propagating through moderate-to-strong anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence. The anisotropic factor which parameterizes the asymmetry of turbulence cells or eddies in the horizontal and vertical directions is introduced. The general spectral power law in the range of 3-4 is also considered compared with the conventional classic value of 11/3 for Kolmogorov turbulence. Based on the modified anisotropic turbulence refractive-index fluctuations spectrum, the analytic expressions of the irradiance scintillation index are also derived for optical plane and spherical waves propagating through moderate-to-strong anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence. They are applicable in a wide range of turbulence strengths and can reduce correctly to the previously published results in the special cases of weak anisotropic turbulence and moderate-to-strong isotropic turbulence. Calculations are performed to analyze the derived models.

Generalized anisotropic turbulence spectra and applications in the optical waves' propagation through anisotropic turbulence.

Theoretical and experimental investigations have shown that the atmospheric turbulence exhibits both anisotropic and non-Kolmogorov properties. In this work, two theoretical atmosphere refractive-index fluctuations spectral models are derived for optical waves propagating through anisotropic non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence. They consider simultaneously the finite turbulence inner and outer scales and the asymmetric property of turbulence eddies in the orthogonal xy-plane throughout the path. Two anisotropy factors which parameterize the asymmetry of turbulence eddies in both horizontal and vertical directions are introduced in the orthogonal xy-plane, so that the circular symmetry assumption of turbulence eddies in the xy-plane is no longer required. Deviations from the classic 11/3 power law behavior in the spectrum model are also allowed by assuming power law value variations between 3 and 4. Based on the derived anisotropic spectral model and the Rytov approximation theory, expressions for the variance of angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations are derived for optical plane and spherical waves propagating through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence. Calculations are performed to analyze the derived spectral models and the variance of AOA fluctuations.

Analysis of temporal power spectra for optical waves propagating through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Analytic expressions for the temporal power spectra of irradiance fluctuations and angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations are derived for optical waves propagating through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence. In the derivation, the anisotropic non-Kolmogorov spectrum is adopted, which adopts the assumption of circular symmetry in the orthogonal plane throughout the path and the same degree of anisotropy along the propagation direction for all the turbulence cells. The final expressions consider simultaneously the anisotropic factor and general spectral power law values. When the anisotropic factor equals one (corresponding to the isotropic turbulence), the derived temporal power spectral models have good consistency with the known results for the isotropic turbulence. Numerical calculations show that the increased anisotropic factor alleviates the atmospheric turbulence's influence on the final expressions.

Influence of asymmetry turbulence cells on the angle of arrival fluctuations of optical waves in anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Theoretical and experimental investigations have shown that the atmospheric turbulence exhibits both anisotropic and non-Kolmogorov properties. Very recent analyses of angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations of an optical wave in anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence have adopted the assumption that the propagation path was in the z-direction with circular symmetry of turbulence cells maintained in the orthogonal xy-plane throughout the path, and one single anisotropy factor was adopted in the orthogonal xy-plane to parameterize the asymmetry of turbulence cells or eddies in both horizontal and vertical directions. In this work, the circular symmetry assumption of turbulence cells or eddies in the orthogonal xy-plane is no longer required, and two anisotropy parameters are introduced in the orthogonal xy-plane to investigate the AOA fluctuations. In addition, deviations from the classic 11/3 spectral power law behavior for Kolmogorov turbulence are allowed by assuming spectral power law value variations between 3 and 4. With the Rytov approximation theory, new theoretical models for the variance of AOA fluctuations are developed for optical plane and spherical waves propagating through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence. When the two anisotropic parameters are equal to each other, they reduce correctly to the recently published results (the circular symmetry assumption of turbulence cells or eddies in the orthogonal xy-plane was adopted). Furthermore, when these two anisotropic parameters equal one, they reduce correctly to the previously published analytic expressions for the cases of optical wave propagation through weak isotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Analysis of angle of arrival fluctuations for optical waves' propagation through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Analytical expressions for the variance of angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations based on the Rytov approximation theory are derived for plane and spherical waves' propagation through weak anisotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence atmosphere. The anisotropic spectrum model based on the assumption of circular symmetry in the orthogonal plane throughout the path is adopted and it includes the same degree of anisotropy along the direction of propagation for all the turbulence cells size in the inertial sub-range. The derived expressions consider a single anisotropic coefficient describing the turbulence anisotropic property and a general spectral power law value in the range 3 to 4. They reduce correctly to the previously published analytic expressions for the cases of plane and spherical waves' propagation through weak isotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence for the special case of anisotropic factor equaling one. To reduce the complexity of the analytical results, the asymptotic-fit expressions are also derived and they fit well with the close-form ones. These results are useful for understanding the potential impact of deviations from the standard isotropic non-Kolmogorov turbulence atmosphere.

Temporal power spectra of irradiance scintillation for infrared optical waves' propagation through marine atmospheric turbulence.

Current theoretical temporal power spectra models of an optical wave have been developed for terrestrial environments. The interactions between humidity and temperature fluctuations in the marine atmospheric environments make the marine atmospheric turbulence particularly challenging, and the optical waves' propagation through marine turbulence exhibits a different behavior with respect to terrestrial propagation. In this paper, the temporal power spectra of irradiance scintillation under weak marine atmospheric turbulence, which is one of the key temporal statistics to describe the correlation of irradiance fluctuations at different time instances, is investigated in detail both analytically and numerically. Closed-form expressions for the temporal power spectra of irradiance scintillation are derived for infrared plane and spherical waves under weak marine atmospheric turbulence, and they consider physically the influences of finite turbulence inner and outer scales. The final results indicate that the marine atmospheric turbulence brings more effects on the irradiance scintillation than the terrestrial atmospheric turbulence.

Angle of arrival fluctuations considering turbulence outer scale for optical waves' propagation through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Based on the generalized von Kármán spectrum and the extended Rytov theory, new analytic expressions for the variance of angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations are derived for optical plane and spherical waves propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence with horizontal path. They consider finite turbulence outer scale and general spectral power law value, and cover a wide range of non-Kolmogorov turbulence strength. When the turbulence outer scale is set to infinite, the new expressions can reduce correctly to previously published analytic expressions [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, 302188 (2013]. The final results show that the increased turbulence outer scale value enlarges the variance of AOA fluctuations greatly under moderate-to-strong (or strong) non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Analytical expressions for the angle of arrival fluctuations for optical waves' propagation through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov refractive turbulence.

The effects of moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence on the angle of arrival (AOA) fluctuations for plane and spherical waves are investigated in detail both analytically and numerically. New analytical expressions for the variance of AOA fluctuations are derived for moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence. The new expressions cover a wider range of non-Kolmogorov turbulence strength and reduce correctly to previously published analytic expressions for the cases of plane and spherical wave propagation through both weak non-Kolmogorov turbulence and moderate-to-strong Kolmogorov turbulence cases. The final results indicate that, as turbulence strength becomes greater, the expressions developed with the Rytov theory deviate from those given in this work. This deviation becomes greater with stronger turbulence, up to moderate-to-strong turbulence strengths. Furthermore, general spectral power law has significant influence on the variance of AOA fluctuations in non-Kolmogorov turbulence. These results are useful for understanding the potential impact of deviations from the standard Kolmogorv spectrum.

Analysis of optical waves propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

The turbulence effect models derived with the Rytov theory method cannot be applied in the analysis of moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence. In this work, new expressions of the temporal power spectra of irradiance fluctuations are derived theoretically for optical waves propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence. They are developed under Andrews' assumption that small-scale irradiance fluctuations are modulated by large-scale irradiance fluctuations of the optical wave. A wide range of turbulence strength is considered instead of a limited range for weak non-Kolmogorov turbulence. These expressions have general spectral power law values in the range 3 to 4 instead of the standard power law value of 11/3 for Kolmogorov turbulence. Calculations are performed to analyze turbulence strength and turbulence spectral power law's variations on the final expressions.

Atmospheric spectral model and theoretical expressions of irradiance scintillation index for optical wave propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

A new atmospheric spectral model and expressions of irradiance scintillation index are derived theoretically for optical wave propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence. They are developed under Andrews' assumption that small-scale irradiance fluctuations are modulated by large-scale irradiance fluctuations of the wave, and the geometrical optics approximation is adopted for mathematical development. A wide range of turbulence strength is considered instead of a limited range for weak turbulence. The atmospheric spectral model has a spectral power law value in the range of 3 to 4 instead of the standard power law value of 11/3. Numerical calculations are conducted to analyze the influences of spectral power law and turbulence strength.

Transport of intensity phase imaging from multiple intensities measured in unequally-spaced planes.

A method based on the transport of intensity equation (TIE) for phase retrieval is presented, which can retrieve the optical phase from intensity measurements in multiple unequally-spaced planes in the near-field region. In this method, the intensity derivative in the TIE is represented by a linear combination of intensity measurements, and the coefficient of the combination can be expressed by explicitly analytical form related to the defocused distances. The proposed formula is a generalization of the TIE with high order intensity derivatives. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can improve the accuracy of phase retrieval with higher-order intensity derivatives and is more convenient for practical application.

Irradiance scintillation for Gaussian-beam wave propagating through weak non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Kolmogorov turbulence theory based models cannot be directly applied in non-Kolmogorov turbulence case, which has been reported recently by increasing experimental evidence and theoretical investigation. In this study, based on the generalized von Karman spectral model, the theoretical expression of the irradiance scintillation index is derived for Gaussian-beam wave propagating through weak non-Kolmogorov turbulence with horizontal path. In the derivation, the expression is divided into two parts for physical analysis purpose and mathematical analysis convenience. This expression considers the influences of finite turbulence inner and outer scales and has a general spectral power law value in the range 3 to 4 instead of standard power law value of 11/3 (for Kolmogorov turbulence). Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the influences.