ICCD: Interactive Continuous Collision Detection between Deformable Models Using Connectivity-Based Culling

We present an interactive algorithm for continuous collision detection between deformable models. We introduce multiple techniques to improve the culling efficiency and the overall performance of continuous collision detection. First, we present a novel formulation for continuous normal cones and use these normal cones to efficiently cull large regions of the mesh as part of self-collision tests. Second, we introduce the concept of “procedural representative triangles” to remove all redundant elementary tests between nonadjacent triangles. Finally, we exploit the mesh connectivity and introduce the concept of “orphan sets” to eliminate redundant elementary tests between adjacent triangle primitives. In practice, we can reduce the number of elementary tests by two orders of magnitude. These culling techniques have been combined with bounding volume hierarchies and can result in one order of magnitude performance improvement as compared to prior collision detection algorithms for deformable models. We highlight the performance of our algorithm on several benchmarks, including cloth simulations, N-body simulations, and breaking objects.     

An economic input-output analysis for urban stormwater quality planning

A new approach using input-output techniques is proposed for the analysis of urban stormwater pollution caused by urban land development. The input-output model provides projections of sectoral outputs within an urban region. By defining land as an input to production, these output projections may be translated into projections of commercial and industrial land development. Furthermore, the closed version of the input-output model is used to project residential land development as a function of projected wage income. The pollutant generation in urban stormwater is related to the quantity of each category of land development by a pollutant coefficient matrix. Thus, the model can be used to predict the impact of various economic growth scenarios on pollution loadings in runoff water. This will help planners in assessing the environmental costs of various scenarios, and in preparing for remedial actions. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the applications of the model.     

Primitives for asynchronous list compression

In this paper we study the problem of asynchronous processors traversing a list with path compression. We show that if an atomic splice operation is available, the worst-case work forp processors traversing a list of length h is (np ^1/2). The splice operation can be generalized to removek elements from the list. For thek-splice operation the worst-case work is (np ^1/ k+1).This research was supported by an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award CCR-8657562, Digital Equipment Corporation, NSF CER Grant CCR-861966, and NSF/Darpa Grant CCR-8907960. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Fourth Annual ACM Symposium on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures.     

Aniline hydrogenolysis on nickel: effects of surface hydrogen and surface structure

Fluorescence yield near-edge spectroscopy (FYNES) above the carbon K edge and temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS) have been used as the methods for characterizing the reactivity and structure of adsorbed aniline and aniline derived species on the Ni(100) and Ni(111) surfaces over an extended range of temperatures and hydrogen pressures. The Ni(100) surface shows appreciably higher hydrogenolysis activity towards adsorbed aniline than the Ni(111) surface. Hydrogenolysis of aniline on the Ni(100) surface results in benzene formation at 470 K, both in reactive hydrogen atmospheres and in vacuum. External hydrogen significantly enhances the hydrogenolysis activity for aniline on the Ni(100) surface. Based on spectroscopic evidence, we believe that the dominant aniline hydrogenolysis reaction is preceded by partial hydrogenation of the aromatic ring of aniline in the presence of 0.001 Torr of external hydrogen on the (100) surface. In contrast, very little adsorbed aniline undergoes hydrogen induced C-N bond activation on the Ni(111) surface for hydrogen pressures as high as 10^–7 Torr below 500 K. Thermal dehydrogenation of aniline dominates with increasing temperature on the Ni(111) surface, resulting in the formation of a previously observed polymeric layer which is stable up to 820 K. Aniline is adsorbed at a smaller angle relative to the Ni(111) surface than the Ni(100) surface at temperatures below the hydrogenolysis temperature. We believe that the proximity and strong -interaction between the aromatic ring of the aniline and the surface is one major factor which controls the competition between dehydrogenation and hydrogen addition. In this case the result is a substantial enhancement of aniline dehydrogenation relative to hydrogenation on the Ni(111) surface.     

Highly efficient interconnection for use with a multistage optical switching network with orthogonally polarized data and address information

A novel optical interconnection is introduced for a multistage optical switching network that uses orthogonally polarized data and address information. The network is unique in that the data information is never regenerated and remains in optical form throughout (i.e., it is never converted into electrical information). This has two main consequences: (1) the bandwidth of the data is not restricted by electrical circuit considerations, and (2) the optical interconnections from one stage of the network to the next must be highly efficient. The interconnection meets several goals: high efficiency, preservation of cross polarization of data and address, low cross talk between polarizations, good manufacturability, resistance to misalignment caused by thermal expansion, and absence of significant aberrations. In addition, sychronization of the signals is maintained, as the optical path lengths for all routes through the system are equal.     

Two-dimensional wavelet transform and application to holographic particle velocimetry

The goal of holographic particle velocimetry is to infer fluid velocity patterns from images reconstructed from doubly exposed holograms of fluid volumes seeded with small particles. The advantages offered by in-line holography in this context usually make it the method of choice, but seeding densities sufficient to achieve high spatial resolution in the sampling of the velocity fields cause serious degradation, through speckle, of the signal-to-noise ratio in the reconstructed images. The in-line method also leads to a great depth of field in paraxial viewing of reconstructed images, making it essentially impossible to estimate particle depth with useful accuracy. We present here an analysis showing that these limitations can be circumvented by variably scaled correlation, or wavelet transformation. The shift variables of the wavelet transform are provided automatically by the optical correlation methodology. The variable scaling of the wavelet transform derives, in this case, directly from the need to accommodate varying particle depths. To provide such scaling, we use a special optical system incorporating prescribed variability in spacings and focal length of lenses to scan through the range of particle depths.

Calculation shows, among other benefits, improvement by approximately two orders of magnitude in depth resolution. A much higher signal-to-noise ratio together with faster data extraction and processing should be attainable.

     

Analysis of layered scattering materials by pulsed photothermal radiometry: application to photon propagation in tissue

A model of pulsed photothermal radiometry (PPTR) based on optical diffusion theory is presented for a turbid, two-layer, semi-infinite medium containing a surface layer whose optical absorption and scattering properties differ from that of the underlying layer. Assuming one-dimensional geometry, we develop expressions for the depth-dependent fluence distributions and radiant-energy-density profiles and for the time dependence of the PPTR signal. Experimental tests of the PPTR model in a series of layered phantoms of varying optical properties are described. The results of these tests are consistent with the model predictions.     

Measuring the surface defects of a fabry-perot étalon

A simple method for mapping the surface defects of a Fabry-Perot étalon is described. Images of the fringes of equal thickness are acquired as the plate separation is altered in a stepwise manner. This information is processed to yield a map of the location of the surface defects, and can be further used to estimate the effect of varying plate reflectance on the instrument function.     

Glycosylation patterns of membrane proteins of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata

Integral and membrane-associated proteins extracted from neuron-enriched perirhopalial tissue of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata were probed with a panel of lectins that recognize sugar epitopes of varying complexity. Of the 13 lectins tested, only concanavalin A, jacalin lectin and tomato lectin stained distinct bands on Western blots, indicating the presence of repeating alpha-1,6-mannoses, terminal Gal-alpha-1,6-GalNAc and repeating beta-1,4-linked GlcNAc, respectively. In whole-mounted perirhopalial tissue, jacalin lectin stained several cell types, including neurons, muscle, cilia and mucus strands. Tomato lectin stained secretory cells intensely, and neurons in a punctate fashion. Concanavalin A stained cytoplasmic epitopes in both ecto- and endodermal cells, and ectodermal secretory cells and the mucus strands emanating from them. With the exception of tomato lectin's sugar epitope, the other sugar epitopes identified in this study are "non-complex". This study suggests that while glycosylation of integral and membrane-associated proteins occurs in Cyanea, the sugars post-translationally linked to these proteins tend to be simple.