Occlusion-resistant camera design for acquiring active environments.

In this article, we present a detailed theoretical analysis and a prototype implementation of a family of cameras designed with the explicit goal of detecting and removing interfering dynamic occluders in real time, during live capture, as opposed to fixing the resulting artifacts a posteriori. Such an early-acquisition approach improves efficiency: more valid samples are acquired faster without worrying about moving occluders. One option for designing a camera to be unaffected by moving occluders is to sample through the occluder, but true x-ray-like vision is technically impractical. Another option is to sample around the occluder using a camera with a large effective aperture, but such an approach requires a bulky acquisition device. Yet another possibility of sampling around an occluder is to rely on second and higher order reflected rays that indirectly sample surfaces not directly visible. However, devising an acquisition device sufficiently sensitive and efficient to capture large environments using reflected rays will remain challenging for the foreseeable future.     

Electronic properties of CuO2 planes

We study a 3-band model of CuO₂ with “bare bones” interactions: hopping from copper ions to nearest-neighbor oxygenst _pd only, a two-body interaction on the copper ionsU _dd only, and an overlap copper-oxygen parameter λ_pd. In the limitt _pd ∝U _dd ^1/2→∞, t^*=t _pd ²/2U _dd is the unit of energy with 8λ_pd ² as the only parameter of significance. If the two-body interaction is invariant under particle-hole interchange, the low-lying states (energy O(t^*)) can be described by conserved particles and can all be classified. They are quite distinct from the high-lying states (energies O(U _dd)). The dynamics of the conserved fermion-like elementary particles are well described by a modifiedt-J model with extended hopping and nearest-neighbor superexchange attraction. This is a scenario known to be favorable to high-temperature superconductivity, but it must be noted that both the hopping range and the exchange are functions of 8λ_pd ². Moreover, if the Hamiltonian isnot invariant under particle-hole interchange the dynamics becomes much more complex and possibly more inimical to high-temperature superconductivity. This may provide an explanation for the deleterious effect on superconductivity of very small concentrations of certain impurities.     

Overexpression, purification, and characterization of SHPTP1, a Src homology 2-containing protein-tyrosine-phosphatase

A protein-tyrosine-phosphatase (PTPase; EC 3.1.3.48) containing two Src homology 2 (SH2) domains, SHPTP1, was previously identified in hematopoietic and epithelial cells. By placing the coding sequence of the PTPase behind a bacteriophage T7 promoter, we have overexpressed both the full-length enzyme and a truncated PTPase domain in Escherichia coli. In each case, the soluble enzyme was expressed at levels of 3-4% of total soluble E. coli protein. The recombinant proteins had molecular weights of 63,000 and 45,000 for the full-length protein and the truncated PTPase domain, respectively, as determined by SDS/PAGE. The recombinant enzymes dephosphorylated p-nitrophenyl phosphate, phosphotyrosine, and phosphotyrosyl peptides but not phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, or phosphoseryl peptides. The enzymes showed a strong dependence on pH and ionic strength for their activity, with pH optima of 5.5 and 6.3 for the full-length enzyme and the catalytic domain, respectively, and an optimal NaCl concentration of 250-300 mM. The recombinant PTPases had high Km values for p-nitrophenyl phosphate and exhibited non-Michaelis-Menten kinetics for phosphotyrosyl peptides.     

The nuclear fuel cycle

In the first half of the 21st century, a redistribution of the energy data should occur, where nuclear will play a more important role, particularly as coal will become more and more costly to extract.On a worldwide basis, the unability of oil to be replaced in some areas like transportation, and the difficulty of developing countries to find substitutes for this energy source, could also lead developed countries to keep the energy resources for a better utilization, and give the countries which have no access to other resources, a possibility to develop.Thus, France has extensively enhanced nuclear energy for its electricity production, and, consequently, makes the necessary efforts for the knowledge of the whole fuel cycle.     

Aging, expertise, and narrative processing.

In a study of how aviation expertise influences age differences in narrative processing, young and older pilots and nonpilots read and recalled aviation and general narratives. They chose referents for sentences referring to a protagonist or minor character mentioned 1 sentence (recent character) or 3 sentences (distant character) before this target sentence. All groups chose referents less accurately for sentences about distant and minor characters than about recent and protagonist characters, perhaps because these referents were less likely to be in working memory. Young readers and pilots were more accurate for distant and minor character target sentences in aviation narratives and recalled aviation narratives more accurately. Expertise did not reduce age differences. Expertise differences may reflect decreased demands on working memory capacity, and age declines may reflect reduced capacity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A systematic transition to flexible manufacturing

The transition from basic automation to flexible manufacturing is an expensive and tedious procedure. It requires meticulous planning and almost clairvoyant forecasting to insure that the initial flexibility obtained is sufficient to allow growth and expansion in the future. This paper will suggest a systematic and methodological approach to achieve optimal flexibility and describe the present results of its application to an ongoing system transformation.

Conclusions based on existing levels of completion are presented along with identification of critical and non critical flexibility requirements. The considerations and steps taken are summarized in a procedural format which may then be applied to a wide variety of system transformations.     

The End of Black and White

It's no longer just black hats or white hats in computer security. The more someone has to lose, the less likely they should be to trust the computer. It means that all people, all programs, all transactions are shades of grey. Black and white are just a memory.     

Destillation im Fein- und Hochvakuum

The distillation in the fine and high vacuum range requires not only appropriate vacuum pumps but also special apparatus and machines. The principle and the design of laboratory and industrial plants are explained. New mathematical methods are supporting laboratory and pilot testing required for process development and plant layout. An example was chosen for demonstration purposes.