text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Mar 2, 2010
|Filing date
|Jun 10, 2005
|Priority date
|Dec 4, 2002
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Edward J. Seppi
|Original Assignee
|Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (116), Non-Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (4), Classifications (10), Legal Events (4)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/310,060, which was filed on Dec. 4, 2002, is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is incorporated by reference, herein.
Radiation scanning of objects and, more particularly, radiation scanning of objects to reconstruct computed tomographic images.
Radiation is commonly used in the non-invasive inspection of objects such as luggage, bags, briefcases and the like, to identify hidden contraband at airports and public buildings. The contraband may include hidden guns, knives, explosive devices and illegal drugs, for example.
To obtain additional information about the contents of the luggage and other objects, detectors may be provided to detect scattered radiation, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,394, for example. Systems may combine detection of scattered radiation with the detection of transmitted radiation.
Another technique to enhance the information that may be derived about the composition of the contents of an object is to scan the object with radiation beams having two different energy distributions. A ratio of the attenuation detected at two energy levels is indicative of the atomic numbers of the material through which the radiation beam passes. Dual energy systems enable better detection of plastic materials and illegal drugs, for example.
One disadvantage of radiographic imaging is that all items within the object in the path of the radiation beam are superimposed on the image. If there are many items in the object, it may be difficult to distinguish among them. The identification of dangerous items is thereby hampered. In addition, the orientation and shape of the items within the object could affect whether they can be identified on a radiograph. Thin sheets of explosive materials may also be difficult to identify on a radiograph, particularly if they are oriented perpendicular to the scanning beam.
Computed tomography ("CT") enables the reconstruction of the cross-sectional images of the contents of an object, facilitating the identification of the items in the luggage. CT images also provide higher resolution, greater image contrast and greater sensitivity to characteristics of the object being scanned, than radiographs. However, reconstruction of CT images of an object requires a large number of scans of the object at a plurality of angles. Conducting a sufficient number of scans for CT reconstruction is time consuming. Depending on the system used, CT imaging of an entire piece of luggage may be too slow for practical use in screening luggage in airports, for example.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,552 ("the '552 patent"), a source of X-ray radiation is provided on one side of an inner surface of a rotating module and a detector array is provided on the opposite side. Luggage is moved through the module incrementally. The module rotates to scan the luggage at a plurality of angles, at each incremental position. The inspection speed may be increased by pre-screening with a line-scan. Then, only suspicious regions identified by the prescreening step are subjected to CT imaging. U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,642 ("the '642 patent") discloses a CT scanning system for luggage similar to the '552 patent, where data processing techniques are used to speed the inspection rate to scan the entire piece of luggage, without requiring pre-scanning. The module rotates as a piece of luggage is continuously moved through the module, providing helical volumetric CT scanning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,156 discloses an explosives detection system for scanning luggage in airports including a neutron radiation source on one side of an object and a two dimensional detector array on the opposite side of the object. The object is supported on a rotatable platform. Rotation of the platform during scanning enables optional tomographic imaging of an object on the platform, to create three dimensional distributions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen per a cubic volume through the sample. The ratios of these elements are determined for small volume increments of the sample. Neural net methods are used to determine whether a volume increment contains an explosive.
While the smuggling of contraband, such as guns and explosives, onto planes in carry-on bags and in luggage has been a well known, ongoing concern, a less publicized but also serious threat is the smuggling of contraband across borders and by boat in large cargo containers. Only a small proportion of the cargo containers brought to the United States by boat are inspected, for example. "Checkpoint terror", U.S. News and World Report, Feb. 11, 2002, p. 52.
Standard cargo containers are typically 20-50 feet long (6.1-15.2 meters), 8 feet high (2.4 meters) and 6-9 feet wide (1.8-2.7 meters). Air cargo containers, which are used to contain a plurality of pieces of luggage or other cargo to be stored in the body of an airplane, may range in size (length, height, width) from about 35�21�21 inches (0.89�0.53�0.53 meters) up to about 240�118�96 inches (6.1�3.0�2.4 meters). Large collections of objects, such as many pieces of luggage, may also be supported on a pallet. Pallets, which may have supporting sidewalls, may be of comparable sizes as cargo containers, at least when supporting objects. The term "cargo conveyance" is used to refer to all types of cargo containers and comparably sized pallets (and other such platforms) supporting objects.
In contrast to the size ranges of cargo conveyances, typical airport scanning systems for carry-on bags have tunnel entrances up to about 0.40�0.60 meters. Scanning systems for checked luggage have travel openings that are only slightly larger. Since only bags that fit through the tunnel may be inspected, such systems cannot be used to inspect cargo containers. The low energies used in typical X-ray luggage and bag scanners, described above, are also too low to penetrate through the much larger cargo containers. In addition, many such systems are too slow to economically inspect larger objects, such as cargo containers.
It is known to inspect cargo containers supported by vehicles, such as trucks, by mobile systems. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,420, large containers are inspected by a system on a movable frame. A source of a fan beam, a cone beam or a pencil beam of X-ray radiation, such as a linear accelerator with an accelerating potential in the MeV range, is mounted on one side of the frame. A detector array is mounted on an opposing side of the frame. The frame may be self-propelled and advances across the length of the container. Radiographic images are generated for analysis by an operator. Other mobile systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,292,553 and 5,917,883, for example.
The high resolution, improved image contrast and the ability to distinguish small differences in characteristics of items within an object that are provided by CT scanning would be advantageous in the inspection of cargo conveyances. The CT scanning units used in airports for luggage and the like discussed above are not readily scaleable to the large sizes required to scan cargo containers. For example, to accommodate most cargo conveyances, the rotating modules of the '552 patent or the '642 patent would need to be greatly enlarged. Such large rotating units, carrying both the sources and the detectors, would be very expensive and would be difficult to operate and maintain.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,745 B1 discloses a CT system for cargo containers comprising a rotating and vertically displaceable platform to support the container. An electron beam is magnetically deflected along a linear target, as the container is rotated, to generate a radiation beam that moves along the target to scan a slice of the container. CT images may be generated from the detected radiation. An elevator then moves the platform vertically and the container is scanned again to form CT images of other slices.
Despite the various designs for the inspection of large objects such as cargo containers disclosed in the patents discussed above and in other references, much of the inspection of cargo conveyances is done manually, if at all. "Checkpoint terror", U.S. News and World Report, Feb. 11, 2002, p. 52. Practical, efficient, non-intrusive CT radiation scanners for the inspection of large objects, such as cargo conveyances, are still needed. Improved radiation scanners for the inspection of smaller objects, such as luggage, including improved CT imaging of smaller objects, are also needed.
Cost may be one factor precluding the use of CT imaging of cargo conveyances and luggage. Detectors, which are expensive components of a CT scanning system, contribute to the high cost of the system. Deterioration of detector electronics due to exposure to the high radiation energies required to penetrate cargo conveyances, despite shielding, contributes to the maintenance costs of the system.
In accordance with one embodiment, a scanning unit for inspecting cargo conveyances is disclosed comprising a radiation source to emit a beam of radiation and a rotatable platform adapted to support a cargo conveyance for inspection by the beam of radiation. The rotatable platform is rotatable about an axis. A detector is positioned to collect at least certain of the radiation transmitted through the cargo conveyance. At least one of the platform, the source, and the detector is movable along a direction of the axis. The detector is configured to collect a sufficient data set of radiation to reconstruct computed tomographic images. At least some line integrals through the cargo conveyance are measured only once. A processor may be coupled to the detector to reconstruct computed tomography images from data received from the detector. The source and the detector may be stationary and the platform may be movable along the axis, for example.
In one related embodiment, the source is configured to emit a beam of radiation having a first boundary extending beyond an edge of the cargo conveyance and a second boundary intercepting the cargo conveyance during rotation of the object, during scanning. The detector has a reduced length as compared to a system where both boundaries of the radiation beam extend beyond the boundary of the cargo conveyance.
In another related embodiment, the detector may have an expanse and at least one gap across the expanse. The gap may be defined by a separation between at least two adjacent detector modules in a detector array. The at least one gap may comprise a plurality of gaps and the modules may be positioned with respect to a ray from the source through an axis of rotation of the platform during rotation by the platform such that a mirror image of first detector modules on one side of the ray, projected onto the other side of the ray, at least coincides with the gaps between second detector modules on the other side of the ray. The projection of the mirror image of the first detector modules preferably coincides with the gaps and overlaps portions of the second modules. The processor may be configured to apply at least one first weighting value to data collected by overlapping portions of the detector modules and apply at least one second weighting value to data collected from detector elements in non-overlapping portions of the detector modules. The first weighting value is less than the second weighting value.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a scanning unit for inspecting objects is disclosed comprising a radiation source to emit a beam of radiation and a rotatable platform to support an object for inspection by the beam of radiation. The rotatable platform is rotatable about an axis. At least one of the radiation source, the platform and the detector is movable along a direction of the axis. The source and the detector may be stationary and the platform may be movable along the axis, for example.
A detector array is positioned to receive radiation transmitted through the object, comprising a first plurality of modules separated by a second plurality of gaps. The plurality of modules are positioned with respect to a ray from the source through a center of rotation of the object during rotation by the platform such that a mirror image of first detector modules on one side of the ray, projected onto the other side of the ray, at least coincides with the gaps between second detector modules on the other side of the array. Preferably, in the projection, the first detector modules coincide with the gaps and overlap portions of the first detector modules.
The radiation beam may be a fan beam or a cone beam, for example. If the beam is a cone beam, the detector array comprises a plurality of rows and columns of detector modules separated by respective first gaps between detector modules in adjacent rows and by respective second gaps between detector modules in adjacent columns. The rows of detector modules are positioned so that a first projection of the detector modules on one side of a first axis perpendicular to the first ray and perpendicular to a direction of the rows, onto the other side of the first axis, at least coincides with the plurality of gaps on the other side. The columns are positioned so that a projection of the detector modules on one side of a second axis perpendicular to the first ray and perpendicular to a direction of the columns onto the other side of the axis at least coincides with the plurality of gaps on the other side.
A processor may be programmed to reconstruct computed tomographic images based, at least in part, on radiation collected by the detector array. If the projection of the mirror image of the first detector modules coincides with the gaps and overlaps portions of the second modules, the processor may be configured to apply at least one first weighting value to data collected by overlapping portions of the detector modules and at least one second weighting value to data collected from detector elements in non-overlapping portions of the detector modules. The first weighting value is less than the second weighting value.
In accordance with another embodiment, a radiation scanning system comprises a radiation source and a detector comprising an expanse of detector modules and defining at least one gap between adjacent detector modules along the expanse. A movable platform is provided to support the object. A processor is provided to reconstruct computed tomographic images based, at least in part, on data provided by the detector. The at least one gap is positioned such that at least some line integrals through the object are measured only once. The at least one gap may be positioned such that a mirror image of the expanse of first detector modules on one side of a ray from the source through the object, projected onto the other side of the ray, at least coincides with the at least one gap between second detector modules on the other side of the ray.
In the projection, the first detector modules may overlap respective portions of the second detector modules. The processor may then be configured to apply at least one first weighting value to data collected by overlapping portions of the detector modules and apply at least one second weighting value to data collected from detector elements in non-overlapping portions of the detector modules, wherein the first weighting value is less than the second weighting value.
The radiation source may be movable around the object and the detector array may be movable with movement of the source. In this case, the detector array may extend only partially around the object. Alternatively, the radiation source may be movable around the object and the detector array is stationary. In this case, detector array may extend completely around the object.
In accordance with another embodiment, a method of examining contents of a cargo conveyance is disclosed comprising rotating the cargo conveyance about an axis of rotation and scanning the cargo conveyance with a radiation beam. The method further comprises measuring at least some line integrals though the cargo conveyance only once and reconstructing computed tomographic images based on the detected radiation.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method of examining contents of an object is disclosed comprising scanning the object with a radiation beam, detecting radiation in at least one first location on one side of the ray passing through the object and not in at least one second other location, and detecting radiation in at least one third location on the other side of a ray and not in at least one fourth location. In a projection of a mirror image of the one side of the ray onto the other side of the ray, the at least one first location on the one side at least coincides with the at least one fourth location on the other side. The radiation may be detected by a first plurality of detector modules separated by a second plurality of gaps. The source may be moved around the object while scanning. Radiation may be detected by a stationary detector array extending around the object or by a detector array that moves with movement of the source.
As used herein, the term "at least one of" means any one or more of the following.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the length of a detector array is reduced by using a partial radiation beam to scan the object. In another embodiment, the number of detector modules in a detector array is reduced by providing gaps along the length of the detector array and compensating for the lack of data collected in the gaps.
The source 12 and the detector 14 are preferably stationary and the platform 16 is preferably movable vertically. It is advantageous to use a stationary source and a stationary detector because the characteristics of those devices may be optimized without being concerned or as concerned about the weight and size of a moving source and/or detector, particularly when the source and/or detector need to be moved around a large object, such as a cargo conveyance. While preferred, it is not required that the source 12 and the detector 14 be stationary. Examples of movable sources and detectors are described in other examples, below.
The platform 16 may be a flat plate. In this example, the platform 16 the drive system 20 both rotates the platform about a vertical axis "A" through a center of the plate and moves the platform 16 vertically along the axis. The direction of rotation may be clockwise or counter clockwise when moving vertically in both directions. The direction of rotation may also be clockwise when moving vertically in one direction and counter clockwise when moving vertically in the opposite direction. The drive system 20 may be one in which the vertical travel of the platform 16, and hence the vertical travel of the object 13 supported by the plate, is a function of the rotation of the platform 16, but that is not required. The speed of movement of the platform 16 is preferably such that the object 13 is stationary with respect to the platform and the contents of the object are stationary with respect to the object as the object is moved. A suitable rate of rotation and vertical movement of the platform 16 may be readily determined by one of skill in the art of radiation and computed tomographic imaging, taking into consideration the packing of the contents of the object 13. All or a portion of the platform 16, and any other components of the scanning unit 10, may be made of material transparent to X-ray or other radiation, if necessary.
The drive system 20 may comprise a screw jack, for example, comprising a threaded post 22 supporting the platform 16, as shown in
In addition, the configuration of the conveyor system may be varied such that the source, detector, entrance and exit are at different levels, as is also described and illustrated in the '060 Application, which is incorporated by reference herein. Instead of providing one or two exit paths and associated conveyor belts, the first conveyor belt 64 may be used to both convey the object 13 to the platform 16 and to convey the object 13 from the platform 16. Other devices for conveying objects, such as rotating rollers, may be used instead of conveying belts.
The X-ray source 12 may be a source of Bremsstrahlung radiation, for example. The source 12 should generate X-ray radiation with high enough energy to penetrate through the thickness of the object 13 while the object is in any rotational orientation on the platform 16. For example, for X-ray radiation to penetrate through a rectangular cargo conveyance, such as a cargo container or other rectangular object 13 whose largest thickness "T" along the radiation beam 17 during rotation is greater than about 5 feet (1.5 meters), radiation beams with average or median energies over 1 MeV may be used. In a rectangular object 13, the largest thickness T is between opposing corners of the object, as shown in
To scan long objects, such as a standard cargo container 13 a, which is about 20 feet long (about 6.1 meters) and about 6-9 feet wide (1.8-2.7 meters), the container may be placed in an upright position on the platform 16, as shown in
If X-ray radiation greater than about 1 MeV is needed to penetrate through the object 13, the X-ray source 12 may be a linear accelerator, such as a Linatron� Linear Accelerator ("Linatron�"), having an accelerating potential in a range of about 2 MeV or more, available from Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif. ("Varian"), for example. The source may or may not be pulsed. In the Varian Linatron�, 360 pulses are output per second, for example. Other high energy X-ray sources may be used as well, such as electrostatic accelerators, microtrons and betatrons, for example. The X-ray source may also be a radioisotope, such as Cobalt-60, which emits nearly monoenergetic radiation beams. Other sources of monoenergetic radiation may be used, as well. If lower energy X-ray radiation may be used, the source 12 may be an X-ray tube, for example.
As mentioned above, one or more collimators 12 a may be provided between the X-ray source 12 and the object 13 to collimate the X-ray beam from each source 12 into a desired shape. The X-ray beam may be collimated into a horizontally diverging beam, such as a cone beam or a fan beam, for example. Here, the term "cone beam" refers to a two dimensional, diverging radiation beam, such as a radiation beam that diverges horizontally and vertically. The cone beam need not be a mathematical cone; it may be an arbitrarily shaped cone with a cross-section having an outer edge with a rectangular, square, circular or elliptical shape, for example.
Here, the term "fan beam" refers to a diverging radiation beam having essentially only one dimension, such as a horizontally diverging radiation beam. Since a cone beam covers more volume of the cargo container per unit time than a fan beam, use of a cone beam enables faster scanning than a fan beam. While a fan beam diverges somewhat in a second dimension, the divergence is very small as compared to the divergence in the first dimension, as is known in the art.
Collimators (not shown) may also be provided between the object and the detector array 15 to block scattered radiation from reaching the detectors of the detector array.
The detector 14 may be a spatial detector. In one example, the detector 14 comprises a detector array 15 comprising a plurality of adjacent detector modules, as shown in
The longitudinal or axial width (vertical dimension in
If a fan beam is used, a single row of one dimensional detectors (comprising a single row of detector), may be used. Multiple, closely spaced, parallel fan beams may also be defined by one or more collimators. In that case, a row of one dimensional detectors may be provided for each fan beam.
The detector modules may be an amorphous silicon detector module available from Varian (identified further above), under the tradename Paxscan� 4030HE, for example. Additional details concerning the spatial detector 14 and the Paxscan� 4030HE may be found in the '060 Application, which is incorporated by reference herein and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,808 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,115 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,858, which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are also incorporated by reference herein.
The detector 14 (or the detector array 15) detects X-ray radiation transmitted through the object 13. Returning to
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the radiation beam 17 is a "partial" radiation beam that does not completely encompass the object 13.
In the system 10, no radiation is provided through or detected from the left portion 13A of the object 13, which is not intercepted by the radiation beam 17 in the orientation of
The radiation detected by each detector element of the partial detector 14 is indicative of the attenuation of the radiation by a plurality of infinitesimal three dimensional volume elements surrounding respective points in the cargo conveyance 13 along a ray from the source 12 to the detector element. Each three dimensional volume element is referred to as a voxel. A function of the radiation measured along each of a plurality of rays through an object under examination, which is referred to as measurement line integrals or line integrals, is used in reconstruction algorithms to generate an image.
As mentioned above, a ray R0 passes through the center of rotation of the object 13 and intercepts the detector array 14. There are "overlap angles" +/−OA about the ray R0, between the rays R0R2 and R0R3, respectively, within which detector elements defining a region 14A of the detector array 14 measure twice as many line integrals through the cargo conveyance 13 as detector elements 14B outside of the overlap angle +/−OA, because the detector elements within the overlap angle +/−OA receive two nearly identical projections resulting in measurement of line integrals at nearly exactly opposite directions through the cargo conveyance 13, as the conveyance is rotated about 360�. The first line integral is obtained when the cargo conveyance 13 is in a first orientation and the second line integral is obtained when the cargo conveyance is in a second orientation rotated about 180� with respect to the first orientation. The detectors within the region 14B, which are outside of the overlap angle +/−OA, only receive projections along line integrals through section 13A, when the cargo conveyance 13 is in one orientation.
To compensate for the different number of projections through the object 13 measured by the detector elements 14A within the overlap angle +/−OA and the detector elements 14A outside of the overlap angle, different weighting values may be applied to the measured line integrals during processing. An example of a Weighting Function graph is also shown in
The radiation beam 17 may have any arc β less than the arc α1 of a full beam. The relationship between the extent of the partial beam 17 (R1R2) and the corresponding full beam 17′ (R1R3), or the Fan Fraction (Arc of Actual Beam (R1R2)/Arc of full beam (R1R3)) may be expressed as follows:
Fan Fraction=�+(R0R2)/2(R0R1),
where R0R2 is the overlap angle.
For a full beam 17′, the Fan Fraction equals 1. R2 is aligned with R3, and the overlap angle R0R2 is half of the arc R0R1, which is the same as the arc R0R3.
For a three-quarter beam, for example, the Fan Fraction=�. The overlap angle R0R2 is equal to (R0R1)/2. The detector array 14 may be three-quarters of the length of the detector array 14, and the arc of the beam 17 may be three-quarters of the arc of the beam 17. This configuration is shown in
For a half beam, the Fan Fraction=� and there is no overlap angle. In this case, the ray R3 passes through the first detector Det1.
The greater the overlap angle OA, the less the error but the more expensive the detector array. In designing a partial beam/partial detector system in accordance with this embodiment, the expected error may be balanced with the cost of providing a longer detector array.
As mentioned above, the beam 17 may be a fan beam or a cone beam. If the beam 17 is a fan beam, the detector 14 may be one-dimensional. The line integrals will be along the one dimension of the fan beam, as will the Weighting Function W(n), as shown in
Fan beam image reconstruction may be used for any Fan Fraction between � and 1. Partial fan beam data may be reconstructed using techniques similar to those used for the extension of partial fan data in well-known single slice fan beam CT, as is known in medical CT by use of suitable weighting functions, as discussed above. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,507, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated by reference herein. For partial cone beam reconstruction of partial cone beam fractions between � and 1, the partial cone beam data is extended to full cone beam image data and is then reconstructed using a full cone beam reconstruction algorithm well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, such as the Feldkamp cone beam reconstruction technique, for example. Known reconstruction algorithms compensate for the divergence of the fan or cone radiation beam through the object.
Two detector modules V, W are to the left of the ray R6 and two detector modules Y, Z are to the right of the ray R6. The detector module X is positioned such that the ray R6 intercepts the module X between the center and a left end of the module. No data is collected within the gaps G, as indicated by the line integrals in the Line Integral graph shown on
Preferably, the widths of the gaps G are less than the widths of the detector modules so that in the projection of the mirror image, V′, W′ also overlap portions of the detector modules X, Y, Z, as shown. In particular, the regions W1′, W2′, V1′, V2′, overlap respective regions X1, Y1, Y2, Z1 of the detector modules Y and Z. Corresponding regions V1, V2, W1, W2 of the actual detector modules V, W are also indicated. The regions W1′, W2′, V1′, V2′ measure the same line integrals as are measured by the regions X1, Y1, Y2, Z1 of the detector modules X, Y, and Z, respectively. Twice as many line integrals are therefore measured through the corresponding portions of the object 13 by the overlapping portions of the detector modules.
A Weighting Function W(n) is therefore used to compensate for this extra data and produce images with less error, as in the embodiment of
The detector modules V, W, X, Y, Z, are preferably positioned so that the width of the overlap on each side of each module (except for the module Z on the end of the array, which is only overlapped on one side) by a projected mirror image is equal to � (m-g), where m is the width of the section of the module including the detector elements in that dimension and g is the selected width of the gap along that dimension. The width m of the detector module V and the width g of the adjacent gap G is shown in
The larger the selected gaps G, the fewer detector modules are required. However, multiple measurements of line integrals reduces error. In designing a detector array in accordance with this and the related embodiments discussed below, the expected error may be balanced with the cost of providing additional modules.
While equal overlap on each side of a module is preferred, it is not required. For example, instead of overlapping regions of 5 mm on each side of a module, as above, the overlapping regions Y1 and W1′ may have a width of 6 mm and the overlapping regions Y2 and V1′ may have a width of 4 mm, for example.
The positions of the detector modules and the widths of the gaps G1 across each row may be determined as discussed above with respect to
A two dimensional Weighting Function W(n) may be used, similar to that described above with respect to the one dimensional detector array 19 with gaps of
During operation of the scanning unit 10 of
In one implementation, the distance between the source 12 and the object 13 and the object and the detector 14 may be from about 1.5 to about 2 times the maximum radius of the object. The radiation beam 17 is a cone beam extending longitudinally over an arc θ of about 2 to about 30 degrees, and preferably about 15 degrees. The cone beam 17 may extend laterally over an arc α of about 45 to about 80 degrees, for example. (See
After the object 13 has been raised and/or lowered a desired amount while being scanned, rotation and vertical motion of the platform 16 is stopped and the source 12 is turned off. The data received by the detector 14, along with the angular and vertical coordinates (cylindrical coordinates) of the platform 16, are provided to the computer 94 and used to reconstruct volumetric computed tomography ("CT") images. As mentioned above, reconstruction algorithms for reconstructing volumetric images based on scanning with a partial cone beam or a partial fan beam are known in the art.
Reconstructed images may be analyzed by computer 94 and/or visually by an operator of the system. If desired, the object 13 may be scanned again. When scanning is completed, the object 13 is conveyed from the platform 16. If the object 13 passed inspection, the platform 16 may be aligned with the first exit path along the second conveyor belt 68, as shown in
If the object 13 did not pass inspection, it may be scanned again on the platform 16. The rotational and vertical movement of the platform 16 is resumed and the source 12 is turned on. The object 13 may be readily scanned as many times as required. Subsequent tests can be conducted at slower rotational and/or vertical movement speeds of the platform 16 or higher dose rates of the X-ray beam 80, than in the initial scan, for the entire object or just while scanning suspicious portions of the object. If the object 13 has been removed from the platform 16 before it is determined that additional scanning is necessary, the second and third conveyor belts 68, 72 may be reversed to return the object 13 to the platform 16.
Additional information useful in identifying contraband may also be obtained by selectively detecting transmitted energy in different energy ranges. Filters (not shown) may be selectively provided in front of the detector 14 of
As is known in the art, the interaction of X-ray radiation with different materials, including contraband such as explosives, is dependent in part on the energy of the X-ray radiation. Additional information useful in identifying contraband may therefore also be obtained by scanning the object 13 with two or more different energy distributions. One of the energy distributions may be one with an average energy in which the primary interaction of the X-ray radiation with the object is Compton scattering. The other energy distributions may have progressively higher average energies that will cause progressively more pair production and less Compton scattering.
For example, when examining larger objects (having a diameter greater than about 5 feet (about 1.5 meters)), two energy distributions may be provided by X-ray sources with accelerating potentials of 4 MV and 10 MV, or 6 MV and 18 MV or higher, for example. At peak energies of 4 MeV and 6 MeV, the X-ray radiation will predominantly cause Compton scattering. Pair production will only be a small fraction of resulting X-ray interaction. At peak energies of 10 MeV or 18 MeV or higher, more pair production is induced. Compton scattering takes place as well.
For smaller objects, such as luggage, X-ray tubes having accelerating potentials of about 200 KV and 90 KV, for example, may be used to generate X-ray radiation having peak energies of 200 KeV and 90 KeV, respectively. The higher peak energy induces more Compton scattering while the lower peak energy induces more radiation by the photoelectric effect, as is known in the art.
Different X-ray sources emitting X-ray radiation with different peak energies may be used. Corresponding detectors aligned with each source may be provided, as well. In
The additional sources may be linear accelerators and/or X-ray tubes emitting radiation at different peak energies. The additional sources may also include one or more radioisotopes. For example, one of the sources may be Cobalt-60, which emits essentially monoenergetic radiation at multiple energy levels. The second source 92 may also be a source of another type of radiation, such as a source of neutrons. Since different types of radiation may interact differently with certain materials, use of a different type of radiation to examine the object 13 may provide additional information that may be useful in identifying the contents of the object.
Alternatively, the source 12 may be capable of selectively emitting X-ray radiation at two or more different energy distributions. A description of a suitable source may be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/957,212 for a Standing Wave Particle Beam Accelerator, filed on Oct. 1, 2004, which is assigned to the assignee of the present inventor and is incorporated by reference herein. Linear accelerators that can emit X-ray radiation at two or more different energy distributions are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,366,021 B1, 4,382,208 and 4,400,650, for example, which are also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated by reference, herein. If it is desired to use more than two energy distributions, the platform 16 may be raised and lowered multiple times. The object 13 may also be illuminated by multiple energies from a single source 12 by selectively moving an energy selective filter between the source and the object.
One energy distribution may be emitted while the platform is moving in one vertical direction and the other energy distribution may be emitted while the platform is moving in the opposite vertical direction. A pause may be provided in the motion of the platform 16 before changing vertical direction, while the energy is being changed. While concerns over induced radioactivity might limit the upper range of the highest peak energy used to about 20 MeV, it may still be desirable to use higher energies in small area interrogation. For example, if a suspicious region is identified at a lower energy, a higher energy may be used to scan the suspicious region.
As mentioned above, the detector of
Instead of providing a separate energy sensitive detector array 99, two dimensional energy sensitive detectors in the form of detector modules, for example, may also be provided among the two dimensional detectors of the first detector array 15. Filters may be provided between the detectors 14, 99 to remove radiation below a certain threshold, to improve the sensitivity of the energy sensitive detector array to higher energies, if desired.
The detectors of the second detector array 99 may each comprise scintillators coupled to a photomultiplier tube, for example, as is known in the art. Pulse Height Analysis ("PHA") may be used to analyze the data from the energy sensitive detectors, as is known in the art. The scintillator may be a cesium iodide scintillator, for example.
Images may be prepared based on data collected at each peak energy. Separate data points may be derived from scanning at each respective energy distribution, for each voxel of the object 13. Analysis of data at different energies and images derived from data at different images are discussed further in the '060 Application, which is incorporated by reference herein.
If the object is adequately secured to the platform, the platform may be rotated about and translated along a non-vertical axis, as well. In addition, the axis of rotation and the axis along which the platform is translated, need not be the same. These variations are also discussed in more detail in the '060 Application, which is incorporated by reference herein.
The techniques described herein to reduce the number of detector modules used in a detector array by providing gaps along an expanse of a detector or detector array may be used in any system where at least some line integrals are measured more than once at object positions about 180 degrees apart. For example, in fourth generation CT systems, where detectors completely surround the object in a circle and the source is moved completely around the object in a circle within the detector circle, two identical line integrals are collected through the object.
In a simple illustration of the concept in
Similarly, another pie-shaped region 356 comprises a module 358 and a gap G14. In a projection of the pie-shaped region 356 about 180 degrees around the detector array 301 onto a corresponding pie-shaped region 360 comprising a detector module 362 and a gap G16, the detector module 358 at least coincides with the gap G16 and the gap G14 coincides with or lies within the module 362. It is also noted that the gap G10 and the detector module 358 also define a pie-shaped region. When projected 180 degrees around the detector array 301, onto a corresponding pie-shaped region comprising the gap G16 and the detector module 354, the module 358 at least coincides with the gap G16 and the gap G10 coincides with or lies within the module 354. Additional detector modules and gaps, such as the module 364 and the gap G5, extend in an alternating fashion around the detector array 301.
Line integrals measured twice due to overlapping portions of the detector modules in the projection, may be averaged by use of a Weighting Function W(n) of one-half, as described above with respect to
As discussed above, the detector modules may be Paxscan� 4030HE detector modules available from Varian. The Paxscan� 4030 is 40 cm wide and 30 cm high. If a diameter of the detector array 301 is 2 meters, 17 Paxscan� 4030HE modules are required to define a complete circular detector array with no gaps. In a detector array with gaps in accordance with an embodiment of the invention at least 9 detector modules but fewer than 17 detector modules are provided. In general, more than half the number of detector modules required in a full detector array are provided so that there is overlap of detector modules in the projection of the mirror images, and therefore at least some multiple measurement of the same line integral through the object. If 9 detector modules are used, the gaps would be about 17 mm and the overlap on each side in the projection would be about 6 mm.
Returning to
The collimator 325 may comprise a plurality of sections that are movable perpendicular to the plane of the circle around which the source 324 is moved, similar to collimators used in fourth generation CT systems to reduce scatter. The plurality of sections may be automatically moved in front of the source as the source moves around the object to selectively allow radiation to be directed toward the object and received by the detector elements 4 of each detector modules, and block the radiation that would impact the detector electronics sections 5, 6, 7 in the gaps. (See
Gaps may also be provided in a detector array used in a third generation CT system.
While the object discussed above is often referred to as a cargo conveyance or cargo container, the object may also be another type of object, such as luggage and bags. In addition, the object may be a person and medical CT may be performed.
The present invention may also be used in conjunction with other radiation inspection techniques known in the art, such as detecting scattered radiation, prescanning, use of pencil beams, laminar tomography, conventional planar tomography, inducing fission of fissionable material and detection of stimulated emissions, such as NRF, for example, as described in the '060 Application, which is incorporated by reference, herein. Additional sources and detectors may be provided to conduct any of these other tests, if desired or needed, or the same source(s)/detector(s) described and illustrated herein may be used.
One skilled in the art will recognize that other changes may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims, below.
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|U.S. Classification
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|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 22, 2005
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text:
Mike Brown, the 18-year-old black male who assaulted a police officer in 67 percent black Ferguson, was - once - the living embodiment as to why Barack Obama's hundred+ million "My Brother's Keeper" program was started.
|The reason the Ferguson Police Department has 50 out of 53 officers being white is because of the dramatic racial change the city has undergone in 20 years. From 73 percent white in 1990 to 28 percent white today.
His death is not "heartbreaking," unlike how the President of the United States described the events leading to his life being extinguished.
What is "heartbreaking is the deleterious effects an almost entirely black population had upon the quality of life in Ferguson, specifically Normandy High School.
Out of 1190 students, the school is 97 percent black.
And, thanks to the individual contributions of black people like the late Michael Brown, it's one of the most dangerous high schools in all of St. Louis. [Normandy High: The most dangerous school in the area, St. Louis Post Dispatch, 5-5-13]:
Daija'h Jackson is among the hundreds of Normandy High School students who arrive each morning ready to learn.
But this requires strategy in a place where fights can erupt multiple times a day, where students target one another for living on the wrong street.
On March 5, Daija'h, 15, was worried.
A girl from her block had threatened to attack her in the cafeteria. Facebook taunts were escalating. Daija'h took refuge during lunch in the classroom of an English teacher in East Hall at Normandy High School.
When the lunch period was over, she walked into the hallway and found herself face to face with several girls, including the one making threats. One tore off Daija'h's backpack and pushed her against the wall. Daija'h panicked and grabbed her pepper spray. She inadvertently sprayed the English teacher.
Normandy High School (considered the most dangerous in all of St. Louis) is 97 percent black. Mike Brown graduated from there...
"She was trying to break it up," Daija'h said later. "It's not a safe environment."
At Normandy High, hallways have become places where neighborhood problems come to a head, where threats made on Facebook and Twitter are carried out.
As the Normandy School District struggles to improve its academics, it's also struggling with a culture of violence that erupts almost daily at the high school.
It's a common challenge at many urban schools. But even those with circumstances similar to Normandy's have demonstrated greater success in stemming assaults and disruptions through prevention efforts, security and targeted discipline.
Normandy stands apart not only for its sheer number of fights, but for a dramatic spike in serious discipline incidents — which have nearly doubled since 2009, according to district figures reported to the state.
The increase coincides with a period of crisis in which the state has stripped the district of accreditation, citing poor leadership, dismal academics and other problems. Earlier this year, the district's superintendent announced he would leave at the end of the school year.
When asked about the violence at his school, Principal Calvin Nicholas chose his words carefully.
"We don't have a problem with the kids," Nicholas said, sitting behind his desk. He pointed out that after two years leading the school, he would not be returning this fall. He declined to answer questions about what needed to be done to improve safety, and whether he had adequate central office support to crack down on behavior. The problems at the high school are "adult problems," he said.
In 2012, the school reported 285 discipline incidents — such as assaults, drugs and weapons — that resulted in out-of-school suspension, a rate of more than one for every four students, the highest among high schools in the region.
State reports on discipline incidents tend to represent only a fraction of what happens in schools, because districts vary in what they tell the state.
Nevertheless, only one other high school in a Missouri school district — Kansas City's Central Academy of Academic Excellence — was found to have reported a higher rate of incidents in 2012.
In March, two sociology professors at the University of Missouri-St. Louis notified Normandy High parents of their study exploring the causes and consequences of violence at the school "in hopes of lessening its negative effects," the letter to parents states.
Wellston Police Chief G. Thomas Walker said violence at the high school had been a problem for years. Students at Normandy come from 24 municipalities, some with longstanding rivalries. Social networking websites and the prevalence of cellphones have made the problem more difficult to control, he said.
"We respond to more fights on campus than off campus," Walker said. "It takes very little to irritate these kids and cause them to take physical action."
Teachers describe an environment that is equally challenging.
"Teaching is very difficult," said Dawn Baldesi, the English teacher who was pepper-sprayed. "Teachers get cussed out, yelled out. There are so many write-ups you can't keep up."
Other teachers, who asked that their names not be used, say group fights at the school have left students with broken noses and asthma attacks. But a few cases have been more serious.
Some parents say it's maddening to wonder each day whether their child is safe. As a result, a few parents have claimed residency elsewhere, even moved out of state, to transfer their children to other schools.
Enrollment has dropped — either from transfers or dropouts — to 805 students, from a reported 1,025 in September, according to the district.
What's "heartbreaking" is not the death of a black male, who assaulted a police officer believing this action wouldn't be considered a threat to what little semblance of law exists in the 67 percent black city; no, what's "heartbreaking" is that the 1990 U.S. Census reports Ferguson was 73.8 percent white merely 24 years ago versus roughly 28 percent white today.
The city was 25.1 percent black in 1990, versus 67 percent black today. Conversely, Normandy High School (perhaps named for when the all-white US Army stormed Normandy Beach in France on June 6, 1944...) is now one of the most dangerous high schools in all of Missouri... and it's 97 percent black.
Ferguson, the same city burning now thanks to black riots, had 22,286 residents according to the 1990 U.S. Census (p. 37): of those, 16,454 were white and 5,589 were black...
From 73.1 percent white in 1990 to 28 percent white in 2010...
That's "heartbreaking" President Obama.
Civilization recedes with the oncoming of the black undertow.
It regresses to the black mean.
Yes. That's truly "heartbreaking."
More "heartbreaking?"
White people will never dare publicly admit why the city went from 73 percent white in 1990 to 28 percent white today: the backwards rationale for Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" program is the obvious one, with white families deciding black dysfunction isn't something they want to raise their children around.
Funny: as a city's black population rises, the level of dysfunction increases (contra Robert Putnam, who thought a homogeneous population would breed social capital; black people breed social dysfunction and ruin... we call this the Detroit Corollary).
White people will go to their grave singing the "Star Spangled Banner," never knowing it was the federal government's policy of black (minority) advancement that put them there...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
4th May - 12th May - Excel, London
Another huge and exciting event for the Thomas Sanderson calendar, after last year's performance this is fast becoming the one to watch. UK's leading contemporary home show. The event is packed with ideas and innovation for your home and garden, with exhibitors covering interiors, gardens, home improvements, self-build, renovations, technology and shopping there really is something for everyone.


text: Space barnacles were a space borne species that fed off energy and converted it into mass to reproduce. They looked like white ridged domes. Some space barnacles attached themselves to the Godspeed, and started taking its power. They killed Tobbs when he tried to investigate. The Ninth Doctor told the crew to shut down all systems, materialised outside the Godspeed and used the light on top of the TARDIS to attract the barnacles. When they all moved to the TARDIS, he dematerialised, taking the sphere of barnacles with him, and rematerialised in a nearby asteroid belt where the barnacles could feed off the sun. (PROSE: The Hungry Night)


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Why are boys so confusing?
Join the DiscussionThis article has 720 comments. Post your own now!
Apr. 23, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Apr. 22, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Apr. 17, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Sorry, but I disagree.
First of all, maybe it's just me, but I'd preferr a woman with darker hair. But that doesn't matter, what matters is who the girl is, i.e. personality.
Secondly, although some men are shallow, not all are.
Finally, women can be just as shallow as men, of course not all women are shallow. But simply for the fact that I'm "unique" and I have possibly every culture in Europe and West Asia running in my genetics, most women seem to avoid me. Maybe it's ... (more »)
Apr. 17, 2010 at 2:02 pm
By the way, if you click my name. The poem I posted was inspired by a girl who was likely shallow, but she knew how to play my heart.
Later she cheated on me, even after I'd defended her name, when my best friend told me that she was unfaithful. And well...words slipped out that I wish never would have. I never saw her after that. No she didn't commit suicide, she moved before I apologized
Apr. 14, 2010 at 9:43 pm
May 10, 2010 at 2:29 pm
true true. i think that's really stupid though.
Apr. 11, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Apr. 9, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Apr. 9, 2010 at 4:06 pm
While I understand the thoughts you're trying to convey, on some points I strongly disagree. I think that the whole 'blond-haired blue-eyed being the most beautiful' thing is a stereotype.
I prefer brown-haired girls in most instances, and that's still personal preference, but to me it doesn't seem like guys only go for the blondes. The majority of the cheerleaders and popular girls at my school have brown hair. Also cheerleader =/= popular. Cheerl... (more »)
Apr. 8, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Apr. 1, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Mar. 31, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Mar. 18, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Mar. 18, 2010 at 2:16 pm
May 10, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Mar. 18, 2010 at 11:24 am
1) It really does depend on the guy. I'm Filipina and I have brunette hair and brown eyes. The guys I've gone for and have gone out with, even my friends, don't even go for blonde girls. They like the Asian girls, like myself. So, it's the guy's preference.
2) Not all cheerleaders are blonde with blue eyes. I'm an "ex-cheerleader". I was good at the sport, but it just wasn't my interest... (more »)
Mar. 22, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Mar. 22, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Mar. 23, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I don't like how the blonds are always the bad ones. Were not bad! Not to mention I don't always get the boy I like ether.


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Tolito replied to Tolito's topic in Networking and MultiplayerThanks! It is the same thing in general. It is simply a matter of storing the sockaddr information and updating it for sendto, the SDL_net version. Thanks!
Tolito posted a topic in Networking and MultiplayerI'm writing a simple command-line based chat client using C and SDL_net. This page has been useful: http://content.gpwiki.org/SDL:Tutorial:Using_SDL_net#Using_UDP The code on that page works well for clients connecting to a host and sending messages to the host. What I am now trying to do is have the host send data back to each client. It seems like it would be relatively simple, but I can't find any notes anywhere for it. Can anyone help me out with the code that needs to be added to the client and the host so the host can send messages back to the clients? Thanks!
Thanks! Hopefully others with this question will come across this post!
Update: For my new multiplication function, I simply did this: SDL_Rect r={0,0,XRES,YRES}; SDL_SetRenderDrawBlendMode(screen,SDL_BLENDMODE_MOD); FillRect(screen,&r,color);This multiplies the new color to the screen without the need for accessing and editing the screen pixels, multiplying to them one by one. Since this is why I was needing to access the renderer pixels, this is no longer a problem.
Thanks again! Since no pixel representation can be found, it sounds like my idea of storing said pixels as an SDL_Surface after they have been copied to the renderer is not a possibility. The only efficient possibility for doing this may be copying the to-be-blitted region of each texture, multiplying to the copy, rendering the copy to the SDL_Renderer, and destroying the copy. Doing this effectively is all over my head, though. Should I keep using SDL_Surfaces for everything and do the multiplication and rendering there, then storing as a texture and rendering that to the renderer at whatever scale?
Thanks for the reply! Actually, I am using SDL_RenderCopy to copy textures to the screen, which is of type SDL_Renderer. Instead of updating every texture each frame, I want to edit the pixels of the renderer itself, basically the final version of the screen. I am trying to avoid using an SDL_Surface since this will be calculated each frame and I want to do all of this in the GPU. Creating a surface that is a copy of the renderer, multiplying the colors there, converting the surface to a texture, and using SDL_RenderCopy again to put the edited colors back on the renderer would work, but it seems like there is a more efficient way of doing that. Is there a way to access and edit the pixels of an SDL_Renderer itself? Thanks again!
Tolito posted a topic in For BeginnersWhen I was storing the screen as an SDL_Surface, I could multiply colors to it like so: Uint32 *pixels = (Uint32 *)screen->pixels; unsigned int x, y; for(y=0;y<screen->h;y++) { for(x=0;x<screen->w;x++) { // Code to edit each pixel here. } } I am migrating my code to work with SDL_Textures again, which requires using an SDL_Renderer. I am familiar with using SDL_RenderCopy and all of those functions, but I'm not sure how to go about editing the individual pixels rendered to an SDL_Renderer, and this is necessary. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Thanks!
Thank you for the useful responses, everyone! My guess was that using SDL_Textures instead would help, but there was a problem loading a 10,000x8 image as a texture. It looks like using an image that is squarer works, so that is no longer a problem. I think my last question regarding SDL_Textures is this: by what means can I edit the contents of an SDL_Renderer? With SDL_Surfaces, using what will be rendered to the screen as a surface, I can easily edit pixels. I wrote a function to multiply a color to every pixel on a surface, which is then rendered to more. How can I go about doing the same thing for a renderer? Maybe I should start a new topic, but replies to this question are welcome. Thanks again, everyone!
Thank you for your response! One image is approximately 10,000x8 pixels, which doubles to 20,000x16. Having everything scaled in advance was working well with SDL 1.2, but when storing that many pixels was the only way to display a scaled version to the screen and they couldn't all be stored, and having been told that SDL 2.0 could natively draw graphics double the scale without a slowdown, I migrated the code to SDL 2.0. There unfortunately is still a slowdown, even when scaling only the final version of the image instead of each individual one. The native resolution is less than 320x240 pixels. This is a suitable resolution for the graphics that are in use and it saves space. It looks much better with double the resolution, however, but has high-detailed graphics that cannot all be stored in ram if everything is double the scale. I heard that SDL 2.0 could natively do this. Would the slowdown still be present if I were to write my own version of SDL_BlitSurface that blits four pixels for every one pixel of a surface? What I'm thinking SDL_BlitScaled does is it does math to scale the surfaces before blitting them to the screen.
Tolito posted a topic in For BeginnersI'm unfortunately bringing this topic back from the dead (initially posted here: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/651375-double-screen-resolution/) In favor of using SDL_BlitScaled, I migrated all of the code to SDL 2.0. Unfortunately, the slowdown is back again. How can I double the screen resolution so that every 1x1 pixel is a 2x2 pixel? I'm surprised that they still haven't implemented anything like this. It runs at full speed at the small resolution, but I would like for it to be double that without having to scale all of the graphics in advance, which will consume more ram. Is there something that I am forgetting? Thanks!
Tolito replied to Tolito's topic in For BeginnersThanks for the response. I am using SDL without OpenGL, using SDL_RenderCopy to display graphics. Double buffering seems to be for OpenGL only: http://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL_GL_SetAttribute#Remarks Tiles render, but VSync doesn't work: screen=SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_SOFTWARE ); Nothing renders (this should enable VSync alongside software rendering): screen=SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC | SDL_RENDERER_SOFTWARE ); Everything renders but tiles (if using 2,000x8, the tiles render, but the 11,000x8 image is necessary for this project): screen=SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC | SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED ); What I am asking: How do I (a) enable VSync in SDL 2.0 with software rendering, or (b) how can I store the 11,000x8 pixels image as a texture in the GPU? It stores in ram properly because it renders with software rendering.
Tolito posted a topic in For BeginnersThe image that is the map tiles is approximately 11,000 pixels wide. When I load it into SDL_Texture with software rendering, it works. When I use this, however, it does not: screen=SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED | SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC | SDL_RENDERER_SOFTWARE );Using [b]SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC | SDL_RENDERER_SOFTWARE[/b] without [b]SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED[/b] also does not work. If I want the tiles to render, I must supply [b]SDL_RENDERER_SOFTWARE[/b] only. How do I enable VSync in SDL 2.0 with software rendering, or why can I not store that as a texture in the GPU, yet I can store it in the CPU just fine? Thanks!
I added code to work with surfaces that are double their original scale and made them be scaled after being loaded. It took a while to implement, but the doubled resolution renders more quickly now. The original, doubled, and fullscreen resolutions are now all available to the user. Hopefully storing the scaled surfaces will not be a problem for the system requirements! Thanks for the input! I was hoping there was a way to render at double the resolution without having to scale the surfaces, but this will do.
Thanks for the response! This is almost finished, so switching to something other than SDL 1.2 at the last minute may be more work than necessary. Is there some kind of way to scale screen and then do SDL_Flip(screen); instead of making a duplicate that is a scaled version of screen and then blitting to screen, flipping screen afterwards? I tried running the scaling code in the background without re-blitting and there was no slowdown. Blitting the duplicated and scaled surface to screen before doing SDL_Flip(screen); is what causes the major slowdown to occur.
if(new_screen_w && new_screen_h && (stored_res_x!=new_screen_w || stored_res_y!=new_screen_h) ) screen=SDL_SetVideoMode( new_screen_w, new_screen_h, 32, SDL_SWSURFACE ),stored_res_x=new_screen_w,stored_res_y=new_screen_h; That's what I was saying. The problem was probably not occurring because it only had to blit for one fourth of the size of the window. With that line of code enabled, however, it must do four times the blitting, which led to an entire system slowdown. Instead of scaling and blitting a duplicate, how can I scale the screen itself and use SDL_Flip on that? For example, this: scale(screen); SDL_Flip(screen); Instead of this: SDL_Surface *scaled=scale(screen); SDL_BlitSurface(scaled,NULL,screen,NULL); SDL_Flip(screen); I tried running the code with scaling going on in the background with no re-blitting. There was no lag. Blitting without scaling also results in no lag. With both scaling and blitting, however, the entire system slows down. Thanks again!


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Hi all,
My fear and axiety seems to be paralyzing me at the moment. The internet is like doomsday, but I can't stay away from looking for people who might have experienced something similar to what I have. I am seeing my PCP every few days, but the waiting in between is killer.
Here is my situation:
A little over 5 weeks. Due to my use of birth control, I know exactly when I will start my period. It generally occurs on the dot and never misses. So when I was 5 days late i got a little suspicious and took a first response test, came back positive. Becasue this was so unexpected and not planned, I took the other two in the box as well, and they were positive. It took me 48 hours to digest this since we were not trying and by the third day we were so excited.... I told myself only one more test and then we would really believe it. POSITIVE.
Later that same night, I got cramps, and started bleeding. It followed the same trends as my normal period so I made an appointment with my doctor. He gently explained to me that this is common in early pregnancy and due to hpt's people are finding out much sooner than in the past and early misscarriage is more common than we think. However, he did tell me that bleeding is also common in early pregnancy and this could be viable and we would need to do blood works He was just concerned that the bleeding was typical to my average period and only 5 days late So my first HCG test came back and read 26.7.
The bleeding lasted about 3 days, with minor clots, but was much more red in color than usual. I got my first HCG test on day 1 of bleeding.
We waited and I went back in about 40 hours later and the hcg blod test was 41.7. This was on day 3 of bleeding. Doctor said he did not want to read that as 100% reassuring so I went back in this morning to get a third blood test. This time it was more like 70 hours in between tests so he would like to see the number go over 100.
Now I am playing the waiting game, but the fear and anxiety building in me is out of hand. I did something really dumb too, and took an HPT (home pregnancy test) this morning and the line was there but the lightest out of all my hpt's.
Anyone out there had a similar experience to mine? I understand every pregnancy is unique--- but I just don't know what to do.


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The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (Academy) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) are pleased to announce their two major beauty sponsors – Lancôme and L'Oréal Professionnel – for the first ever Canadian Screen Awards' 2-Hour Live Broadcast Gala Sunday March 3, 2013 @ 8pm (8:30 N.T) on CBC.
"The Academy is very excited about our two major beauty sponsors. Lancôme and L'Oréal Professionnel are a dream come true," says Helga Stephenson, Academy CEO. "Lancôme is Canada's leading luxury beauty brand and L'Oréal Professionnel is the number one professional hair care brand used amongst the top hairdressers in Canada," she adds.
"We are thrilled to have L'Oréal Canada, a leader in style and innovation, as a partner for the inaugural broadcast of the Canadian Screen Awards on CBC," said Alan Dark, General Manager, CBC Revenue Group.
"In collaborating with the Canadian Screen Awards, L'Oréal Professionnel, the Parisian House of Hairdressing, is honored to support and help showcase Canadian talent from coast to coast. We are and always will be committed to applaud beauty in all its forms. Creativity and artisanal excellence are a common ground both our industries share" said Doriane Dalati, Vice-President, General Manager, Professional Prestige Brands.
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I'm not quite two weeks into this lifestyle, and only the last couple of days have I really felt like I'm eating and exercising the way I need to be. That said, I think I have a yeast infection. I've only had 2 before in my life (and I'm 31), but I'm pretty sure that's what it is, although I'm confused as to how...I'm not eating all that crap I was eating before! Would the increase in fruit be enough to cause a yeast infection?
I searched this before posting and there seemed to be a lot of talk about PB being a great anti-candida diet. So, I'm just wondering if anyone else has gone through this?


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Today, I found out the hard way that my boyfriend and mother have been sending each other sexually-explicit picture messages. FML
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Today, I gave my daughter the sex talk. Barely 10 minutes later, her public Facebook status read: "My mom's a total pedo." and after she mentioned the talk, her friend posted, "That's sexual harassment. You can sue for that." Clearly I've failed as a parent. FML
Today, my 7-year-old son proudly announced that he had laid an egg during the night. I checked. He'd simply shat the bed. FML
Today, I went to a store. I was wearing a shirt that I'd bought from the very same store, and was accused of stealing. When I tried explaining, the manager said I was lying because I'm a teenager and "all teenagers are full of shit." FML
Today, I was visiting my cousin's farm. Going out for a morning stroll, I took an apple with me to munch along the way. As I was eating it, I heard a distant thumping sound and was suddenly slammed into the ground. When I looked up, a horse was eating my apple. I got mugged by a horse. FML


text:
Today, I was a TA for a history class and the class was taking a test. About halfway through, I noticed one kid had a small piece of paper in his hand. I ran up the row, grabbed his test, and ripped it into four pieces. Then I took the note from him. It said "I believe in you, -Mom." FML
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By Noname / Thursday 26 February 2009 15:30 / United States
Today, I woke up so pissed off that I yelled at my cereal. FML
By Anonymous / Wednesday 11 May 2011 14:33 / United States
Today, I was sitting beside a very cute girl on a 3 hour bus trip with my class. She fell asleep, head on my lap. She woke up because my erection was jabbing her in the cheek. FML
By dickface / Monday 28 March 2011 20:13 / Canada
Today, my girlfriend was giving me a hand job. As I reached my climax, she thought it would be funny to turn my 'weapon' against me. Boom, headshot. FML
By SkinsCastSelection / Monday 17 January 2011 09:53 / France
Today, I found out that my wife was having sex with my friend. It turned out that my genius cat realized it wasn't me there and attacked his balls, severely cutting them. I now have to kill my cat and pay for his medical bills to sew his balls back. FML
By Anonymous - / Sunday 9 January 2011 01:11 / United States