Proteomics of brain synapses and molecular dissection of synaptic subdomains

Synapses form the nuts and bolts of the brain. Synaptic transmission involves an intricate network of synaptic proteins that forms the molecular machinery underlying transmitter release, activation of transmitter receptors, and signal transduction cascades. It is generally believed that neuronal activity-dependent change of synaptic efficacy is at the basis of learning and memory and is encoded by sequential molecular events at the synapse. In the past 2-3?years, a number of proteomics studies have been performed on synaptic subdomains, including synaptic vesicles, postsynaptic density, synaptic lipid raft, synapse protein complexes, as well as on synaptic protein PTMs, notably phosphorylation. The activity-dependent dynamics of protein constituents of the synapse are starting to be examined by quantitative proteomics. It is anticipated that these analyses will yield novel insights into the organization of the synapse, and will generate testable hypotheses of synapse function and regulation both in health and disease.     

Reexamination of slow relaxation of polymer chains in sol-gel transition

Using [2+2] photocycloaddition of coumarin groups attached to the PMMA chain backbone, we can gradually transfer a semidilute copolymer solution to a uniform speckle-free gel. We reexamined the effects of concentration, crosslinking density, solvent quality on the controversial scaling exponent (α_s) between the linewidth (Γ_s) of the slow mode and the scattering vector (q) during the sol-gel transition. Our results suggest that the slow mode is attributed to large thermally agitated density fluctuation and revealed that the variation of α_s is due to the relative length of 1/q to the correlation length (ξ) of the density fluctuation; namely, if ξ>1/q, α_s→3, while when ξ<1/q, α_s→2.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation for Ultrafine Machining

This article surveys the advances of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in the research of ultrafine machining and related technologies. Modeling methods, including interatomic potentials and boundary conditions, are addressed. Algorithm strategies for MD simulations are discussed. By applying simulations with Tersoff potential, a case study of the material removal mechanism of the polishing based on coupling vibrations of liquid (PCVL) is presented.     

Realistic rendering and animation of knitwear

We present a framework for knitwear modeling and rendering that accounts for characteristics that are particular to knitted fabrics. We first describe a model for animation that considers knitwear features and their effects on knitwear shape and interaction. With the computed free-form knitwear configurations, we present an efficient procedure for realistic synthesis based on the observation that a single cross section of yarn can serve as the basic primitive for modeling entire articles of knitwear. This primitive, called the lumislice, describes radiance from a yarn cross section that accounts for fine-level interactions among yarn fibers. By representing yarn as a sequence of identical but rotated cross sections, the lumislice can effectively propagate local microstructure over arbitrary stitch patterns and knitwear shapes. The lumislice accommodates varying levels of detail, allows for soft shadow generation, and capitalizes on hardware-assisted transparency blending. These modeling and rendering techniques together form a complete approach for generating realistic knitwear.     

Weighted thin-plate spline image denoising

This note aims to present new denoising method based on thin-plate splines (TPS). The proposed approach is based on the general TPS denoising Berman [2], however, its unfavorable smoothing of edges and details is suppressed by introduction of a weighting approach applied locally. The performance of the method is shown and compared to the original TPS denoising.     

用于去除单张图像高光的光照约束补色

在计算机视觉研究领域,如何检测和消除图像中的高光(specular)一直是个热点问题,有关的研究结果对于提高计算机视觉算法性能有着重要的影响.针对这一问题,提出了一种检测和消除高光的方法.首先,通过比较高光和漫反射光(diffuse)的色度特性的不同,给出了一种交互检测单色物体表面高光区域的方法;然后,引入补色(inpainting)方法并结合光照约束条件,设计了一种去除单张图像中高光并还原出漫反射分量的新的补色算法.与一般补色方法不同,该算法充分利用了高光区域含有的信息来指导补色过程.通过综合利用观测到的像素值、光源的色度分析(illumination chromaticity analysis)、光源颜色的平滑性等来约束补色过程,保证了算法能够克服一般的补色方法无法保持物体表面细微明暗变化的缺点.实验结果表明,与以往的去除单张图像高光的方法相比,该算法能够提供更好的光源色度估计,从而得到更准确的结果.     

液氮汽车的研究

液氮汽车作为一种环保交通工具 ,与电动汽车相比 ,具有很多优点 ,亦是当前环保汽车的一大发展趋势。目前国内对液氮汽车的研究基本上还是空白 ,国外的研究也是刚刚起步。文章在阐述液氮汽车研究现状的同时 ,得出现有液氮汽车系统中存在的主要问题 ,并提出解决现有问题的技术措施 ,探索新型循环系统的原理以及各关键部件和过程的优化模型 ,为实用且环保的液氮汽车的发展提供理论依据     

Neural network based expert system for induction motor faults detection

Early detection and diagnosis of incipient induction machine faults increases machinery availability, reduces consequential damage, and improves operational efficiency. However, fault detection using analytical methods is not always possible because it requires perfect knowledge of a process model. This paper proposes a neural network based expert system for diagnosing problems with induction motors using vibration analysis. The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) is used to process the quasi-steady vibration signals, and the neural network is trained and tested using the vibration spectra. The efficiency of the developed neural network expert system is evaluated. The results show that a neural network expert system can be developed based on vibration measurements acquired on-line from the machine.