Image-based Relighting, and Computer Vision

Image‐based techniques have become very popular over the past couple of years. Ranging from modeling to rendering and lighting, the use of images as direct input for graphics algorithms has become as important as processing polygons or other forms of data. This talk will focus on some of the challenges posed by Image‐based relighting. Starting from a set of photographs of an object under various illumination conditions, Image‐based relighting computes novel renderings of the objects. Also, the inverse problem stated as ``What is the required lighting configuration to reach a desired illumination on the object?'' will be discussed, as well as some thoughts on how results from computer vision can be used to accelerate the process.     

Electron-Impact Cross Sections for Ground State to np Excitations of Sodium and Potassium

Cross sections for electron impact excitation of atoms are important for modeling of low temperature plasmas and gases. While there are many experimental and theoretical results for excitation to the first excited states, little information is available for excitation to higher states. We present here calculations of excitations from the ground state to the np levels of sodium (n = 3 through 11) and potassium (n = 4 through 12). We also present a calculation for a transition from the excited sodium level 3p to 3d to show the generality of the method. Scaling formulas developed earlier by Kim [Phys. Rev. A 64, 032713 (2001)] for plane-wave Born cross sections are used. These formulas have been shown to be remarkably accurate yet simple to use. We have used a core polarization potential in a Dirac-Fock wave function code to calculate target atom wave functions and a matching form of the dipole transition operator to calculate oscillator strengths and Born cross sections. The scaled Born results here for excitation to the first excited levels are in very good agreement with experimental and other theoretical data, and the results for excitation to the next few levels are in satisfactory agreement with the limited data available. The present results for excitation to the higher levels are believed to be the only data available.     

Marine Wastewater Discharges from Multiport Diffusers. II: Unstratified Flowing Water

Laboratory experiments on the near-field mixing of buoyant plumes discharged from multiport diffusers into unstratified flowing water are reported. The spatial variation of dilution was measured by a newly developed three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence system and a microconductivity probe. The near-field hydrodynamics are complex. The plumes discharged upstream dilute and merge more rapidly than those discharged downstream. Even with wide port spacing, the plumes eventually merge to form a laterally uniform surface wastefield. The density profile in this wastefield becomes gravitationally stable and suppresses mixing, marking the end of the near field. The value of the port spacing ratio, s/H, below which the discharge approximates a line plume is greater for discharge into a flowing current than into a stationary environment, so the port spacing plays a lesser role in a flowing current. The mixing and dilution that occurs in the surface layer is less than for a discharge into a stationary environment, and it decreases as the current speed increases. Semiempirical equations to predict the major near field characteristics are presented.     

The Attentional Dynamics of Masked Detection.

A dichoptic masking procedure was used to test whether the mask-dependent cuing effects found in luminance detection by P. L. Smith (2000a) were due to integration masking or interruption masking. Attentional cuing enhanced detection sensitivity (d') when stimuli were backwardly masked with either dichoptic or monoptic masks, whereas no cuing effect was found with unmasked stimuli, implying the mask dependencies were due to interruption of stimulus processing in visual cortex by the mask. The effect is predicted by a gated diffusion process model in which masks interrupt stimulus processing and attention controls the flow of information to a sequential-sampling decision mechanism. The model correctly predicts different patterns of performance for detection and discrimination and cuing effects in simple reaction time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of phoneme representation in spoken word recognition.

Four experiments used the psychological refractory period logic to examine whether integration of multiple sources of phonemic information has a decisional locus. All experiments made use of a dual-task paradigm in which participants made forced-choice color categorization (Task 1) and phoneme categorization (Task 2) decisions at varying stimulus onset asynchronies. In Experiment 1, Task 2 difficulty was manipulated using words containing matching or mismatching coarticulatory cues to the final consonant. The results showed that difficulty and onset asynchrony combined in an underadditive way, suggesting that the phonemic mismatch was resolved prior to a central decisional bottleneck. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 using nonwords. In Experiment 3, the manipulation of task difficulty involved lexical status, which once again revealed an underadditive pattern of response times. Finally, Experiment 4 compared this prebottleneck variable with a decisional variable: response key bias. The latter showed an additive pattern of responses. The experiments show that resolution of phonemic ambiguity can take advantage of cognitive slack time at short asynchronies, indicating that phonemic integration takes place at a relatively early stage of spoken word recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drinking in the pigeon (Columba livia): Topography and spatiotemporal organization.

Analyzed drinking response of 5 male White Carneaux pigeons by means of high-speed cinematography. Like eating, drinking may be subdivided into 3 movement patterns involving the effector systems of the neck, eyelids, and beak. The major topographic difference between the 2 responses involves beak opening (gape). In eating, beak opening begins prior to contact with the food, and the amount of gape is directly proportional to seed size. In drinking, the beak remains almost closed during descent and opens intermittently and with a relatively small gape during water intake. The topography of drinking in the pigeon differs from that of many birds, and these differences reflect a difference in the mechanism of water ingestion. Data in this study confirm previous observations of a general resemblance between certain features of the pigeon's drinking behavior and the topography of water-reinforced key pecks. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simulating the effects of surface diffusion on electron beam induced deposition via a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation

The effects that adsorbed precursor surface diffusion has on electron beam induced deposition are explored via a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation. Initially the growth rate and resolution are compared for a common set of deposition conditions with a variable surface diffusion coefficient ranging from 0 to 1 × 10(-8)?cm(2)?s(-1). The growth rate and resolution are shown to both be enhanced as the growth changes from a mass transport limited regime to a reaction rate limited regime. The complex interplay between the vertical growth rate, the lateral growth rate, the interaction volume and the adsorbed and diffused precursor species are discussed. A second scenario is also simulated in which only gas diffused from a constant source at the perimeter of the simulation boundary is assumed (no gas phase adsorption). At low diffusion coefficients, the diffusing gas is consumed by secondary and backscattered electrons and experimentally observed ring-like structures are generated. At higher diffusion coefficients, the diffusion length is sufficient for the precursor atoms to diffuse to the center (and up the pillar sidewalls) to generate nanowires.     

Intramyocardial Inflammation after COVID-19 Vaccination: An Endomyocardial Biopsy-Proven Case Series

Myocarditis in response to COVID-19 vaccination has been reported since early 2021. In particular, young male individuals have been identified to exhibit an increased risk of myocardial inflammation following the administration of mRNA-based vaccines. Even though the first epidemiological analyses and numerous case reports investigated potential relationships, endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)-proven cases are limited. Here, we present a comprehensive histopathological analysis of EMBs from 15 patients with reduced ejection fraction (LVEF = 30 (14–39)%) and the clinical suspicion of myocarditis following vaccination with Comirnaty^® (Pfizer-BioNTech) (n = 11), Vaxzevria^® (AstraZenica) (n = 2) and Janssen^® (Johnson & Johnson) (n = 2). Immunohistochemical EMB analyses reveal myocardial inflammation in 14 of 15 patients, with the histopathological diagnosis of active myocarditis according the Dallas criteria (n = 2), severe giant cell myocarditis (n = 2) and inflammatory cardiomyopathy (n = 10). Importantly, infectious causes have been excluded in all patients. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has been detected sparsely on cardiomyocytes of nine patients, and differential analysis of inflammatory markers such as CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells suggests that the inflammatory response triggered by the vaccine may be of autoimmunological origin. Although a definitive causal relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and the occurrence of myocardial inflammation cannot be demonstrated in this study, data suggest a temporal connection. The expression of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein within the heart and the dominance of CD4⁺ lymphocytic infiltrates indicate an autoimmunological response to the vaccination.     

基于RDF4S的一种轻量语义Web服务组合

首先简要介绍语义Web服务资源描述框架(RDF4S),在此基础上提出语义Web服务包装机制,语义Web服务经包装后,分别通过组合接口和调用接口为组合语义Web服务的设计与调用提供支持.然后分别详细介绍组合语义Web服务的设计存储和调用执行:通过图形化的设计工具按照语义Web服务的3种基本逻辑关系设计组合结构图,然后将该图映射到组合结构信息表存储,组合语义Web服务执行时根据结构信息表生成语义Web服务代理对象和相应的语义消息,再根据语义消息传递机制调用Web服务实体.最后用一个实例展示组合语义Web服务执行时的消息传递,试验表明该方法有效.