Proposes a perceptually based system for pattern retrieval and matching. The central idea is that similarity judgment has to be modeled along perceptual dimensions. Hence, we detect basic visual ...categories that people use in their judgment of similarity, and design a computational model that accepts patterns as input and, depending on the query, produces a set of choices that follow human behavior in pattern matching. There are two major research aspects to our work. The first one addresses the issue of how humans perceive and measure similarity within the domain of color patterns. To understand and describe this mechanism, we performed a subjective experiment which yielded five perceptual criteria used in comparison between color patterns (vocabulary), as well as a set of rules governing the use of these criteria in similarity judgment (grammar). The second research aspect is the implementation of the perceptual criteria and rules in an image retrieval system. Following the processing typical for human vision, we design a system to: (1) extract perceptual features from the vocabulary and (2) perform the comparison between the patterns according to the grammar rules. The modeling of human perception of color patterns is new - starting with a new color codebook design, compact color representation, and texture description through multi-scale edge distribution along different directions. Moreover, we propose new color and texture distance functions that correlate with human performance. The performance of the system is illustrated with numerous examples from image databases from different application domains.
Azimuthal anisotropy of produced particles is one of the most important observables used to access the collective properties of the expanding medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. ...Here, in this paper, we present second (v2) and third (v3) order azimuthal anisotropies of $K_{S}^{0}$, Φ, Λ, Ξ, and Ω at midrapidity (|y| < 1) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$= 54.4 GeV measured by the STAR detector. The v2 and v3 are measured as a function of transverse momentum and centrality. Their energy dependence is also studied. v3 is found to be more sensitive to the change in the center-of-mass energy than v2. Scaling by constituent quark number is found to hold for v2 within 10%. This observation could be evidence for the development of partonic collectivity in 54.4 GeV Au+Au collisions. Differences in v2 and v3 between baryons and antibaryons are presented, and ratios of v3/v$^{3/2}_{2}$ are studied and motivated by hydrodynamical calculations. The ratio of v2 of Φ mesons to that of antiprotons v2(Φ)/v2($\overline{p}$) shows centrality dependence at low transverse momentum, presumably resulting from the larger effects from hadronic interactions on antiproton v2.
Here, we report a measurement of cumulants and correlation functions of event-by-event proton multiplicity distributions from fixed-target Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}$ = 3 GeV measured by ...the STAR experiment. Protons are identified within the rapidity (y) and transverse momentum ($p_T$) region –0:9 < $\textit{y}$ < 0 and 0:4 < pT < 2:0 GeV/c in the center-of-mass frame. A systematic analysis of the proton cumulants and correlation functions up to sixth-order as well as the corresponding ratios as a function of the collision centrality, $p_T$, and $\textit{y}$ are presented. The effect of pileup and initial volume fluctuations on these observables and the respective corrections are discussed in detail. The results are compared to calculations from the hadronic transport UrQMD model as well as a hydrodynamic model. In the most central 5% collisions, the value of proton cumulant ratio $C_4 = C_2$ is negative, drastically different from the values observed in Au+Au collisions at higher energies. Compared to model calculations including Lattice QCD, a hadronic transport model, and a hydrodynamic model, the strong suppression in the ratio of $C_4/C_2$ at 3 GeV Au+Au collisions indicates an energy regime dominated by hadronic interactions.
Understanding mechanisms controlling fluid injection-triggered seismicity is key in defining strategies to ameliorate it. Recent triggered events (e.g. Pohang, Mw 5.5) have exceeded predictions of ...average energy release by a factor of >1000x, necessitating robust methodologies to both define critical antecedent conditions and to thereby constrain anticipated event size. We define maximum event magnitudes resulting from triggering as a function of pre-existing critical stresses and fluid injection volume. Fluid injection experiments on prestressed laboratory faults confirm these estimates of triggered moment magnitudes for varied boundary conditions and injection rates. In addition, observed ratios of shear slip to dilation rates on individual faults signal triggering and may serve as a measurable proxy for impending rupture. This new framework provides a robust method of constraining maximum event size for preloaded faults and unifies prior laboratory and field observations that span sixteen decades in injection volume and four decades in length scale.
In human and mouse, most imprinted genes are arranged in chromosomal clusters. Their linked organization suggests co-ordinated mechanisms controlling imprinting and gene expression. The ...identification of local and regional elements responsible for the epigenetic control of imprinted gene expression will be important in understanding the molecular basis of diseases associated with imprinting such as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. We have established a complete contig of clones along the murine imprinting cluster on distal chromosome 7 syntenic with the human imprinting region at 11p15.5 associated with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. The cluster comprises ∼1 Mb of DNA, contains at least eight imprinted genes and is demarcated by the two maternally expressed genes Tssc3 (Ipl) and H19 which are directly flanked by the non-imprinted genes Nap1l4 (Nap2) and Rpl23l (L23mrp), respectively. We also localized Kcnq1 (Kvlqt1) and Cd81 (Tapa-1) between Cdkn1c (p57Kip2) and Mash2. The mouse Kcnq1 gene is maternally expressed in most fetal but biallelically transcribed in most neonatal tissues, suggesting relaxation of imprinting during development. Our findings indicate conserved control mechanisms between mouse and human, but also reveal some structural and functional differences. Our study opens the way for a systematic analysis of the cluster by genetic manipulation in the mouse which will lead to animal models of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and childhood tumours.
Exposure to ultraviolet light can cause inflammation, premature skin aging, and cancer. UV irradiation alters the expression of multiple genes that encode functions to repair DNA damage, arrest cell ...growth, and induce apoptosis. In addition, UV irradiation inhibits protein synthesis, although the mechanism is not known. In this report, we show that UV irradiation induces phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 on the α-subunit (eIF2α) and inhibits protein synthesis in a dosage- and time-dependent manner. The UV-induced phosphorylation of eIF2α was prevented by the overexpression of a non-phosphorylatable mutant of eIF2α (S51A). PERK is an eIF2α protein kinase localized to the endoplasmic reticulum that is activated by the accumulation of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. Expression of trans- dominant-negative mutants of PERK also prevented eIF2α phosphorylation upon UV treatment and protected from the associated translation attenuation. The luminal domain of dominant-negative mutant PERK formed heterodimers with endogenous PERK to inhibit the PERK signaling pathway. In contrast, eIF2α phosphorylation was not inhibited by overexpression of a trans-dominant-negative mutant kinase, PKR, supporting the theory that UV-induced eIF2α phosphorylation is specifically mediated by PERK. These results support a novel mechanism by which UV irradiation regulates translation via an endoplasmic reticulum-stress signaling pathway.
This paper presents an experimental investigation on the wind-induced vibration of a transmission tower-line system. A discrete stiffness method is applied to design the aero-elastic model on the ...basis of similarity theory. The dynamic characteristics of the single tower and the tower-line system are identified and the displacement responses at different positions are obtained under a variety of wind speeds. The mean and the RMS of the displacements as well as their spectra are discussed. Moreover, the test results and the codal specifications are compared in terms of the wind-induced vibration coefficient. The first natural frequency of the single tower is slightly larger than that of the tower-line system. But the damping ratio of the former is smaller than that of the latter, especially in the direction normal to the conductors. At the wind attack angle of 90°, the conductors significantly increase the longitudinal and lateral displacement RMS as well as the longitudinal mean displacement. And more complicated forms of vibration are aroused by the conductors, especially in the lateral direction. The wind-induced vibration coefficient show a notable rise at the position of cross arm, which cannot be characterized by Chinese code. Besides, the wind-induced vibration coefficient specified by the code is much smaller than test results thus the codal value seems to be unsafe for the UHV transmission tower.