A hemispheric division of labor aids mental rotation.

In the present study, we investigated whether a hemispheric division of labor is most advantageous to performance when lateralized inputs place unequal resource demands on the left and right cerebral hemispheres. In each trial, participants decided whether 2 rotated letters, presented either in the same visual field (within-field trials) or in opposite visual fields (across-field trials), were both of normal orientation, or whether one was normal and the other was mirror-reversed. To discriminate a letter's orientation, one must rotate the letter to the upright position. Therefore, we manipulated whether the two letters imposed similar or dissimilar demands on cognitive resources by varying the number of degrees that each letter needed to be rotated to reach the upright position. As predicted, in 2 experiments we found that the across-field advantage increased as the number of degrees each letter needed to be rotated became more dissimilar. These findings support a current model of hemispheric interactions, which posits that an unequal hemispheric distribution of cognitive load allows the cerebral hemispheres to take the lead for different aspects of cognitive processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A novel gait generation method independent of target settling-time adjustment for underactuated limit cycle walking

This paper proposes a novel gait generation method for surely achieving constraint on impact posture in limit cycle walking. First, we introduce an underactuated rimless wheel model without ankle-joint actuation and formulate a state-space realization of the control output using the stance-leg angle as a time parameter through an input–output linearization. Second, we determine a control input that moves the control output to a terminal value at a target stance-leg angle during the single-support phase. Third, we conduct numerical simulations to observe the fundamental gait properties and discuss the relationship between the gait symmetry and mechanical energy restoration. Furthermore, we mathematically prove the asymptotic stability of the generated walking gait by analytically deriving the restored mechanical energy.     

High-performance cone beam reconstruction using CUDA compatible GPUs

Compute unified device architecture (CUDA) is a software development platform that allows us to run C-like programs on the nVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU). This paper presents an acceleration method for cone beam reconstruction using CUDA compatible GPUs. The proposed method accelerates the Feldkamp, Davis, and Kress (FDK) algorithm using three techniques: (1) off-chip memory access reduction for saving the memory bandwidth; (2) loop unrolling for hiding the memory latency; and (3) multithreading for exploiting multiple GPUs. We describe how these techniques can be incorporated into the reconstruction code. We also show an analytical model to understand the reconstruction performance on multi-GPU environments. Experimental results show that the proposed method runs at 83% of the theoretical memory bandwidth, achieving a throughput of 64.3 projections per second (pps) for reconstruction of 512³-voxel volume from 360 512²-pixel projections. This performance is 41% higher than the previous CUDA-based method and is 24 times faster than a CPU-based method optimized by vector intrinsics. Some detailed analyses are also presented to understand how effectively the acceleration techniques increase the reconstruction performance of a naive method. We also demonstrate out-of-core reconstruction for large-scale datasets, up to 1024³-voxel volume.     

Chemical vapor deposition of SiO2 films by TEOS/O2 supermagnetron plasma

A TEOS/O₂ supermagnetron double electrode plasma system was used to deposit SiO₂ films. Deposition rates were measured as a function of rf power and substrate stage temperature. With an increase of rf power on both electrodes from 40 to 80W, the deposition rate increased; however, with a further increase of rf power from 80 to 120W, the deposition rate ceased to increase or decreased only a small amount. The presence of O-H bonds from bonded water in the film was evaluated using buffered HF (BHF) etching solution. With an increase of rf power from 40 to 120W, the BHF etch rate decreased; i.e., the number of O-H bonds were reduced. A minimum BHF etch rate was observed at a rf phase difference of 180° between the two rf power sources. A SiO₂ film was deposited on a trench-patterned quartz substrate. A flat surface SiO₂ layer with air gaps (voids) was formed on the high-aspect ratio (depth/width=1.5-2) trench area.     

Collision response for deformable models based on hertz's contact theory

This paper presents an animation technique of collision response for deformable models defined as a spring-mass-damper system. Our approach is to calculate impulsive forces to prevent penetration of colliding objects by means of Hertz's contact theory. With this theory, contact duration and deformation in collision are obtained according to physical properties such as mass and elasticity. Animators, therefore, can represent the differences between materials such as rubber and steel in the sequence of collision animations with a few intuitive physical parameters. We also describe a deformation mapping technique which reduces the computational time of dynamic analysis and realizes the effect of global deformation.     

Levels of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and thermostable direct hemolysin gene-positive organisms in retail seafood determined by the most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR) method

The incidence and levels of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and thermostable direct hemolysin gene (tdh)-positive organisms in retail seafood were determined. The most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR) method using a PCR procedure targeting the species-specific thermolabile hemolysin gene (tlh) and tdh was used to determine the levels of V. parahaemolyticus and tdh-positive organisms, respectively. In seafood for raw consumption, V. parahaemolyticus was found in four (13.3%) of 30 fish samples, 11 (55.0%) of 20 crustacean samples, and 29 (96.7%) of 30 mollusc samples. Levels of V. parahaemolyticus were below 10(4) MPN/100 g in all fish and crustacean samples tested. However, they were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in 11 (36.7%) of the 30 mollusc samples. In all seafood for raw consumption, the level of tdh-positive organisms was below the limit of detection (< 30 MPN/100 g). In seafood for cooking, V. parahaemolyticus was found in 15 (75.0%) of 20 fish samples, nine (45.0%) of 20 crustacean sample, and 20 (100%) of 20 mollusc samples. Levels of V. parahaemolyticus were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in only three (15.0%) and one (5.0%) of the 20 fish and 20 crustacean samples, respectively. However, they were above 10(4) MPN/100 g in 18 (90.0%) of the 20 mollusc samples. In seven (35.0%) of the 20 mollusc samples, tdh-positive organisms were found and their levels ranged from 3.6x10 to 1.1 x 103 MPN/100 g. From four of seven tdhpositive samples, tdh-positive V. parahaemolyticus was isolated.     

Actin-Associated Proteins and Small Molecules Targeting the Actin Cytoskeleton

Actin-associated proteins (AAPs) act on monomeric globular actin (G-actin) and polymerized filamentous actin (F-actin) to regulate their dynamics and architectures which ultimately control cell movement, shape change, division; organelle localization and trafficking. Actin-binding proteins (ABPs) are a subset of AAPs. Since actin was discovered as a myosin-activating protein (hence named actin) in 1942, the protein has also been found to be expressed in non-muscle cells, and numerous AAPs continue to be discovered. This review article lists all of the AAPs discovered so far while also allowing readers to sort the list based on the names, sizes, functions, related human diseases, and the dates of discovery. The list also contains links to the UniProt and Protein Atlas databases for accessing further, related details such as protein structures, associated proteins, subcellular localization, the expression levels in cells and tissues, mutations, and pathology. Because the actin cytoskeleton is involved in many pathological processes such as tumorigenesis, invasion, and developmental diseases, small molecules that target actin and AAPs which hold potential to treat these diseases are also listed.     

c-axis Superfluid Response and Quasiparticle Conductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ and Bi2Sr2CuO6+δ

Josephson plasma resonance for underdoped Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CaCu ₂ O ₈₊ and Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CuO ₆₊ have been measured by sweeping the microwave, frequency continuously. The resonance enables us to determine the superfluid density and quasiparticle conductivity in the c-axis accurately. We show that the. superfluid response and the low energy excitations out of the condensate in the c-axis of these materials are very different from those in the ordinary Josephson multilayer tunnel junctions. The Josephson coupling energy in single layer Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CuO ₆₊ is more than 5000 times smaller than is predicted in interlayer tunneling model.