APPL_PRM

Overview

APPL_PRM is the second step in EM reconstruction after the alignment stage. With alignment parameters and the conversion factors for electron counts to mass density (both are loaded from the file pointed to by the input parameter IprmFile), this program creates a mass normalized and aligned data stack for reconstruction.

The algorithm is:

  1. Choose the center and x and y dimensions of the region of interest. This is set by the input parameters shXYZ and iRef.
  2. Calculate the minimum, M(i), in the region of interest for each projection, i. From the difference with the fitted value, B(i) which is calculated by MASSNORM, choose the constant C0 such that the minimum electron count value will be mass normalized to a value just above zero.
  3. Align and mass normalize the selected region of the raw projection stack. How this is done depends on which image formation model is assumed (set by the imForm input parameter). For the log model, a normalized value in projection i, P'(i,r) is log(A(i) / P(i,r)) + C / cos(TILT(i)). For the scaled linear model, P'(i,r) = (A(i) - P(i,r)) / A(i) + C / cos(TILT(i)). For the linear model, P'(i,r) = (B(i) / A(i) * (A(i) - P(i,r)) + C / cos(TILT(i)). P(i,r) is the electron count measurement from the input data stack, A(i) is the reference value calculated by MASSNORM, and B(i) is the result of the fit of the reference values. The term C/cos(TILT(i)) is used to increase the value of the positivity constraint in TAPIR; ideally it will push most of the mass normalized values to be greater than zero but keep the smallest positive values close to zero so the positivity constraint has the most leverage. The constant C is the product of C0 calculated in the second step above and the input parameter pcBase.

Here's an example command file for APPL_PRM:

    (time appl_prm \
     /mama/weiping/test/centSr.stk \
     /mama/weiping/test/centSr.MnAln \
     -iprmfile=/mama/weiping/test/centSr.bprmMn \
     -dimxy=480:480 -iv=0:22:1 -shxyz=0:0:0 -iref=-1 \
     -imform=0 -pcbase=.5 -positivity=1 ) \
     > /mama/weiping/emrecon.log

Parameters

IdatFile | OdatFile | NX:NY:NV | IprmFile | dimxy | iv | shXYZ | iRef | imForm | pcBase | positivity | tilt_offset

Related Priism Topics

Priism | Reconstruction | MASSNORM | EWBP | TAPIR | Alignment


IdatFile

This is the name of the file containing the raw projection data stack from the CCD (i.e. measured in terms of electron counts; data stacks with the contrast inverted can not be handled).

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OdatFile

This parameter names the file that will contain the aligned and mass normalized data stack.

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NX:NY:NV

The first two values are, respectively, the x and y dimension of the projections. The third value is the number of projections in the data stack.

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IprmFile

This parameter supplies the name of the file with the alignment information and, optionally, conversion factors for mass normalization. The file can be generated by BALIGN or by MASSNORM.

On the command line, use -iprmfile=filename to supply the name of the parameter file. If the option is not set or the filename is not supplied or is none, the program will terminate with an error.

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dimxy

These two values are, respectively, the x and y dimensions of the aligned projections. Usually the full dimensions of the input data are used, but when doing a quick reconstruction to determine an appropriate value for the z shift, it is convenient to generate a aligned projection with a y dimension of one.

On the command line, set the dimensions of the output data stack with -dimxy=nx:ny. If not set, the output x and y dimensions are the same as the x and y dimensions of the input data stack.

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iv

These three values set which of the input projections are aligned and mass normalized. The first value is the index of the first projection to use, the second value is the index of the last projection to use, and the third is the index step. Allowable values for the indices are between zero and the number of input projections minus one, inclusive.

From the command line, use -iv=first:last:step to set the range of projections to process. When not set, the default is to process the entire input stack: first is zero, last is the number of input projections minus one, and step is one.

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shXYZ

These three values (thery are in units of pixels) shift the imaginary 3D tilt axis of the projection data from its default location; they are used to center the reconstruction volume on an object of interest. The default orientation of the 3D tilt axis has it pass through the point whose x and y coordinates are the center of the reference projection (see the iRef parameter) and whose z coordinate is the z coordinate of the center of mass of the reference markers used for alignment.

A good way to determine appropriate values for the shifts is to use the Pick XYZ toggle buttons in the main reconstruction dialog.

Use -shxyz=x_shift:y_shift:z_shift to set the shifts on the command line. If the shifts are not specified, a value of zero pixels for each shift is assumed.

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iRef

For calculating the effect of the x and y shifts (see the shXYZ input parameter), the center of the projection whose index is given by iRef is used.

The reference projection can be set on the command line with -iref=index. If it is not specified or index is less than zero or greater than or equal to the number of projections in the input file, the projection whose tilt angle is closest to zero is used.

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imForm

This parameter sets which model should be assumed for the process of image formation - how electron counts are related to the mass density of the specimen. The three options are:

imForm: log
The mass density is linearly related to the logarithm of the electron counts.
imForm: sLin
The mass density is linearly related to the electron counts. This model is called the scaled linear model.
imForm: lin
The mass density is linearly related to the electron counts.

For more details on the image formation model, see the overview.

On the command line, use -imform=0 to use the log conversion, -imform=1 to use the scaled linear model, or -imform=2 to use the linear model. If none of them are set, the log conversion is used.

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pcBase

The mass normalization process (see the overview) includes an additive term which would correspond to the presence of a sheet with uniform mass density. The pcBase parameter scales the contribution of this term which has an important effect on positivity constraints. If pcBase is too small, a larger fraction of the mass normalized data will be negative and will be coerced to zero when a positivity constraint is applied; this coercion causes errors. If pcBase is too large, the mass normalized values will be positive and much greater than zero so a positivity constraint will provide little leverage for refining the reconstruction. As a compromise, the recommended value for pcBase is 0.5 if the Fit: background option to MASSNORM was used. When the Fit: average option is used with MASSNORM, a value of 1.0 is recommended for pcBase.

On the command line, set the scale factor with -pcbase=factor. When it is not set, a value of 1.0 is assumed.

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positivity

When on, mass normalized values which are less than zero are coerced to be zero. On the command line, this behavior is selected by specifying the -positivity=any value option. By default, if no such option is supplied on the command line, negative mass normalized values are not coerced to be zero.

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tilt_offset

The value of this parameter, assumed to be in degrees, is added to the tilt angles stored in the header of the output data stack. It does not affect the tilt angles that are used in the mass normalization calculation. On the command line you can supply the tilt offset by specifying -tilt_offset=angle. When no offset is set, a value of zero is assumed.

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