Representing images of a rotating object with cyclic permutation for view-based pose estimation

In this paper, we propose a novel approach using a cyclic group to model the appearance change in an image sequence of an object rotated about an arbitrary axis (1DOF out-of-plane rotation). In the sequence, an image x_j is followed by an image x_j+1. We represent the relationship between images by a cyclic group as x_j+1=Gx_j, and obtain the matrix G by real block diagonalization. Then, G to the power of a real number is used to represent the image sequence and also for pose estimation. Two estimation methods are proposed and evaluated with real image sequences from the COIL-20, COIL-100, and ALOI datasets, and also compared to the Parametric Eigenspace method. Additionally, we discuss the relationship of the proposed approach to the pixel-wise Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and to linear regression, and also outline several extensions.     

"Emotional conflict and neuroticism: Personality-dependent activation in the amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate": Correction to Haas, Omura, Constable, and Canli (2007).

Reports an error in "Emotional Conflict and Neuroticism: Personality-Dependent Activation in the Amygdala and Subgenual Anterior Cingulate" by Brian W. Haas, Kazufumi Omura, R. Todd Constable and Turhan Canli (Behavioral Neuroscience, 2007[Apr], Vol 121[2], 249-256). There was an error in the text of Figure 1 on p. 250. Above the image of the third person, "×?6repetitions" should have appeared as "× 6 repetitions." The corrected figure is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-04812-002.) The amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate (AC) have been associated with anxiety and mood disorders, for which trait neuroticism is a risk factor. Prior work has not related individual differences in amygdala or subgenual AC activation with neuroticism. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate changes in blood oxygen level-dependent signal within the amygdala and subgenual AC associated with trait neuroticism in a nonclinical sample of 36 volunteers during an emotional conflict task. Neuroticism correlated positively with amygdala and subgenual AC activation during trials of high emotional conflict, compared with trials of low emotional conflict. The subscale of neuroticism that reflected the anxious form of neuroticism (N1) explained a greater proportion of variance within the observed clusters than the subscale of neuroticism that reflected the depressive form of neuroticism (N3). Using a task that is sensitive to individual differences in the detection of emotional conflict, the authors have provided a neural correlate of the link between neuroticism and anxiety and mood disorders. This effect was driven to a greater extent by the anxious relative to the depressive characteristics of neuroticism and may constitute vulnerability markers for anxiety-related disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are the parameters of various stabilization factors estimated from mutant human lysozymes compatible with other proteins?

The various factors which contribute to protein stability havebeen extensively examined using mutant proteins, but the samekinds of substitutions have given different results dependingon the substitution sites. Recently, the contributions of somestabilization factors have been quantitatively derived as parametersby a unique equation, considering the conformational changesdue to the mutations using mutant human lysozymes [Funahashiet al. (1999) Protein Eng. 12, 841–850]. To evaluate theseparameters estimated from the mutant human lysozymes, stability–structuredatasets for the mutant T4 lysozymes were selected. The stabilitiesfor the mutant T4 lysozymes could be roughly estimated usingthese parameters. Notable differences between the estimatedand experimental stabilities were caused by the uncertaintyin part of the structures due to some Arg and Lys residues fluctuatingon the surface of the T4 lysozyme. Excluding these atoms fromthe estimation gave a good correlation between the estimatedand experimental stabilities. These results suggest that theparameters of the various stabilization factors derived fromthe mutant human lysozymes are compatible with the mutant T4lysozymes, although they should be improved with respect tosome points using more information.     

Novel positive deep UV resist for KrF excimer laser lithography

A novel positive deep UV resist for KrF excimer laser lithography has been developed. The resist is composed of 1,7-bis(4-chlorosulfonyl phenyl)-4-diazo-3,5-heptanedione as the alkaline dissolution inhibitor and an alkali-soluble sytrene polymer as the main-polymer. 1,7-bis(4-chlorosulfonyl phenyl)-4-diazo-3,5-heptanedione has great capability of alkaline dissolution inhibition. High thermal stability and excellent photobleachability at 248 nm of the compound are also characterized. The alkali-soluble styrene polymer has a high transmittance of 70% in 1.0 μm thickness at 248 nm. The novel positive resist had an excellent property for dissolution kinetics and photobleaching. We achieved high aspect ratio half-micron pattern fabrication in 1.0 μm thickness using the new resist.     

Application of UNIFAC models for prediction of vapor-liquid and liquid-liquid equilibria relevant to separation and purification processes of crude biodiesel fuel

Vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) of the methanol-biodiesel (BDF)/glycerin binary system and liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) of the water-BDF binary system and the methanol-BDF-glycerin and methanol-water-BDF ternary systems were predicted using several UNIFAC models: the latest original UNIFAC model, Kikic’s model, Fornari’s model, Dortmund-UNIFAC model, and LLE-UNIFAC model. The former VLE and latter LLE are used to design methanol recovery processes and separation and purification processes of crude BDF, respectively. Unfortunately, LLE data on the water-BDF binary system was not available. Instead, solubility of water in fatty acid methyl ester (one of the BDF constituents) was measured. By examining the deviation between predicted and experimental results, we determined which of the UNIFAC models was more useful for the design of those processes as follows: either the original UNIFAC model or Dortmund-UNIFAC model should be used for the methanol recovery process. The LLE-UNIFAC model and Dortmund-UNIFAC model were more useful for the recovery and water-washing processes of crude BDF and purification process of water-washed BDF, respectively.     

Effective MgO surface doping of Cu/Zn/Al oxides as water–gas shift catalysts

Trace amounts of MgO were doped on Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts with the Cu/Zn/Al molar ratio of 45/45/10 and tested for the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction. A mixture of Zn(Cu)–Al hydrotalcite (HT) and Cu/Zn aurichalcite was prepared by co-precipitation (cp) of the metal nitrates and calcined at 300 °C to form the catalyst precursor. When the precursor was dispersed in an aqueous solution of Mg(II) nitrate, HT was reconstituted by the “memory effect.” During this procedure, the catalyst particle surface was modified by MgO-doping, leading to a high sustainability. Contrarily, cp-Mg/Cu/Zn/Al prepared by Mg²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Al³⁺ co-precipitation as a control exhibited high activity but low sustainability. Mg²⁺ ions were enriched in the surface layer of m-Mg–Cu/Zn/Al, whereas Mg²⁺ ions were homogeneously distributed throughout the particles of cp-Mg/Cu/Zn/Al. CuO particles were significantly sintered on the m-catalyst during the dispersion, whereas CuO particles were highly dispersed on the cp-catalyst. However, the m-catalyst was more sustainable against sintering than the cp-catalyst. Judging from TOF, the surface doping of MgO more efficiently enhanced an intrinsic activity of the m-catalyst than the cp-catalyst. Trace amounts of MgO on the catalyst surface were enough to enhance both activity and sustainability of the m-catalyst by accelerating the reduction–oxidation between Cu⁰ and Cu⁺ and by suppressing Cu⁰ (or Cu⁺) oxidation to Cu²⁺.     

Hierarchical Three-Dimensional Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Carbon Nanotube Wafers for Integrated Nanoelectronic Devices

We report a general approach to overcome the enormous obstacle of the integration of CNTs into devices by bonding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) films to arbitrary substrates and transferring them into densified and lithographically processable "CNT wafers". Our approach allows hierarchical layer-by-layer assembly of SWNTs into organized three-dimensional structures, for example, bidirectional islands, crossbar arrays with and without contacts on Si, and flexible substrates. These organized SWNT structures can be integrated with low-power resistive random-access memory.     

Processing of membrane protein crystal using ultraviolet laser irradiation

We demonstrated the processing of a membrane protein crystal, using a pulsed UV laser soft ablation (PULSA) technique. Irradiation with deep-UV laser pulses at a wavelength of 193 nm successfully processed not only single crystals of the membrane transporter protein AcrB but also nylon loops and cryoprotectants at a cryogenic temperature. Nonprocessed parts of the crystals exhibited no signs of crack or denaturation after the laser exposure. The trimmed crystals were found to be of high resolution for X-ray diffraction data collection. The results described here indicate that PULSA processing is an effective tool for membrane protein crystals, as well as for soluble protein crystals.     

Reconstruction and semi-transparent display method for observing inner structure of an object consisting of multiple surfaces

A system of techniques is proposed for reconstructing the original object from multi-layered cross-section data including open contour lines and for displaying the inner structure as well as the outside using a stereoscopic semi-transparent image and cut-away views. The procedure is divided into three steps: 1) selection/construction of contour lines for each cross-section, 2) reconstruction of the object based on the contour line information including cutting away part of the reconstructed object with a convex polyhedron, and 3) display of the reconstructed image. Control parameters are provided to allow easy and reliable observation of multi-layererd structures.