Passive-Active Geometric Calibration for View-Dependent Projections onto Arbitrary Surfaces

In this paper we present a hybrid technique for correcting distortions that appear when projecting images onto geometrically complex, colored and textured surfaces. It analyzes the optical flow that results from perspective distortions during motions of the observer and tries to use this information for computing the correct image warping. If this fails due to an unreliable optical flow, an accurate -but slower and visiblestructured light projection is automatically triggered. Together with an appropriate radiometric compensation, view-dependent content can be projected onto arbitrary everyday surfaces. An implementation mainly on the GPU ensures fast frame rates.

Evaluation of a Mixture of Corn Steep Liquor and Distillers Solubles as a Replacement for Corn and Supplement in Cattle Finishing Diets

Finishing yearling steers fed a corn-based diet containing steep liquor had statistically similar live performance as steers fed the control diet. Numerically steers fed the steep containing diet were 6% more efficient. Steers fed steep liquor tended to contain less carcass fat (as measured by intramuscular marbling) less kidney, heart and pelvic fat, and less backfat thickness. When priced at $50/ton adding steep liquor at 10% of diet dry matter reduced feed cost for gain 9%.

hp-dGFEM for Second-Order Elliptic Problems in Plyhedra I: Stability and Quasioptimality on Geometric Meshes

We introduce and analyze hp-version discontinuous Galerkin (dG) finite element methods for the numerical approximation of linear second-order elliptic boundary-value problems in three-dimensional polyhedral domains. To resolve possible corner-, edge- and corner-edge singularities, we consider hexahedral meshes that are geometrically and anisotropically refined toward the corresponding neighborhoods. Similarly, the local polynomial degrees are increased linearly and possibly anisotropically away from singularities. We design interior penalty hp-dG methods and prove that they are well-defined for problems with singular solutions and stable under the proposed hp-refinements. We establish (abstract) error bounds that will allow us to prove exponential rates of convergence in the second part of this work.

Geometric properties of the lung parenchyma after postnatal glucocorticoid treatment in rats

While glucocorticoid (GC) administration appears to be beneficial during the acute phase of treatment of neonates at risk of developing chronic lung disease, it is still not clear whether steroid application has an adverse long-term effect on the lung maturation. Thus, the goal of the present work was to analyze GC effects on the pulmonary structure in a rat model where dosage and timing of drug administration were adapted to the therapeutic situation in human neonatology. The animals received daily a maximum of 0.1 mg dexamethasone phosphate per kilogram body weight during the first 4 postnatal days. Investigations were performed at the light microscopic level by means of a digital image analysis system. While there were no differences in the lung architecture between experimental animals and controls on day 4, the earliest time point of observation, we found a widening of airspaces with a concomitant decrease in the alveolar surface area density, representing a loss of parenchymal complexity, on days 10 and 21 in treated rats. On days 36 and 60, however, no alterations in the pulmonary parenchyma could be detected in experimental animals. We conclude from these findings that the GC-induced initial inhibition of development (days 10 and 21) was completely reversed, so that a normal parenchymal architecture and also a normal alveolar surface area density were found in adult rats (days 36 and 60). From the results obtained using the regimen of GC administration described, mimicking more closely the steroid treatment in human neonatology, we conclude that the observed short-term adverse effects on lung development can be fully compensated until adult age.

Genetic Control of Plant Development by Overriding a Geometric Division Rule

Formative cell divisions are critical for multicellular patterning. In the early plant embryo, such divisions follow from orienting the division plane. A major unanswered question is how division plane orientation is genetically controlled, and in particular whether this relates to cell geometry. We have generated a complete 4D map of early Arabidopsis embryogenesis and used computational analysis to demonstrate that several divisions follow a rule that uses the smallest wall area going through the center of the cell. In other cases, however, cell division clearly deviates from this rule, which invariably leads to asymmetric cell division. By analyzing mutant embryos and through targeted genetic perturbation, we show that response to the hormone auxin triggers a deviation from the ``shortest wall'' rule. Our work demonstrates that a simple default rule couples division orientation to cell geometry in the embryo and that genetic regulation can create patterns by overriding the default rule.

Effect of a Tibetan herbal mixture on microvascular endothelial function, heart rate variability and biomarkers of inflammation, clotting and coagulation

In this 6-week prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled and double-blind study, we investigated the effects of a natural herbal remedy based on a recipe from Tibet (Padma® 28), on microvascular endothelial function, heart rate variability and biomarkers of inflammation, clotting and coagulation in 80 coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (age 66 ± 8 years) on guideline-based medication for secondary prevention. We found no significant effects of Padma 28 and conclude that the addition of Padma 28 to guideline-based secondary prevention treatment of CAD did not lead to significant effects on important surrogate markers in elderly male CAD patients.

Characterization of the Axial Jet Separator with a CO2/Helium Mixture: Toward GC-AMS Hyphenation

Development of interfaces for sample introduction from high pressures is important for real-time online hyphenation of chromatographic and other separation devices with mass spectrometry (MS) or accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Momentum separators can reduce unwanted low-density gases and introduce the analyte into the vacuum. In this work, the axial jet separator, a new momentum interface, is characterized by theory and empirical optimization. The mathematical model describes the different axial penetration of the components of a jetgas mixture and explains the empirical results for injections of CO2 in helium into MS and AMS instruments. We show that the performance of the new interface is sensitive to the nozzle size, showing good qualitative agreement with the mathematical model. Smaller nozzle sizes are more preferable due to their higher inflow capacity. The CO2 transmission efficiency of the interface into a MS instrument is ~14% (CO2/helium separation factor of 2.7). The interface receives and delivers flows of ~17.5 mL/min and ~0.9 mL/min, respectively. For the interfaced AMS instrument, the ionization and overall efficiencies are 0.7-3% and 0.1-0.4%, respectively, for CO2 amounts of 4-0.6 µg C, which is only slightly lower compared to conventional systems using intermediate trapping. The ionization efficiency depends on to the carbon mass flow in the injected pulse and is suppressed at high CO2 flows. Relative to a conventional jet separator, the transmission efficiency of the axial jet separator is lower, but its performance is less sensitive to misalignments.

Deep Points Consolidation

In this paper, we present a consolidation method that is based on a new representation of 3D point sets. The key idea is to augment each surface point into a deep point by associating it with an inner point that resides on the meso-skeleton, which consists of a mixture of skeletal curves and sheets. The deep points representation is a result of a joint optimization applied to both ends of the deep points. The optimization objective is to fairly distribute the end points across the surface and the meso-skeleton, such that the deep point orientations agree with the surface normals. The optimization converges where the inner points form a coherent meso-skeleton, and the surface points are consolidated with the missing regions completed. The strength of this new representation stems from the fact that it is comprised of both local and non-local geometric information. We demonstrate the advantages of the deep points consolidation technique by employing it to consolidate and complete noisy point-sampled geometry with large missing parts.

Body mass index trajectories and predictors among 3rd to 12th graders using growth curve mixture modeling the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) study

This dissertation examined body mass index (BMI) growth trajectories and the effects of gender, ethnicity, dietary intake, and physical activity (PA) on BMI growth trajectories among 3rd to 12th graders (9-18 years of age). Growth curve model analysis was performed using data from The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) study. The study population included 2909 students who were followed up from grades 3-12. The main outcome was BMI at grades 3, 4, 5, 8, and 12. ^ The results revealed that BMI growth differed across two distinct developmental periods of childhood and adolescence. Rate of BMI growth was faster in middle childhood (9-11 years old or 3rd - 5th grades) than in adolescence (11-18 years old or 5th - 12th grades). Students with higher BMI at 3rd grade (baseline) had faster rates of BMI growth. Three groups of students with distinct BMI growth trajectories were identified: high, average, and low. ^ Black and Hispanic children were more likely to be in the groups with higher baseline BMI and faster rates of BMI growth over time. The effects of gender or ethnicity on BMI growth differed across the three groups. The effects of ethnicity on BMI growth were weakened as the children aged. The effects of gender on BMI growth were attenuated in the groups with a large proportion of black and Hispanic children, i.e., “high” or “average” BMI trajectory group. After controlling for gender, ethnicity, and age at baseline, in the “high BMI trajectory”, rate of yearly BMI growth in middle childhood increased 0.102 for every 500 Kcals increase (p=0.049). No significant effects of percentage of energy from total fat and saturated fat on BMI growth were found. Baseline BMI increased 0.041 for every 30 minutes increased in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in the “low BMI trajectory”, while Baseline BMI decreased 0.345 for every 30 minutes increased in vigorous PA (VPA) in the “high BMI trajectory”. ^ Childhood overweight and obesity interventions should start at the earliest possible ages, prior to 3rd grade and continue through grade school. Interventions should focus on all children, but specifically black and Hispanic children, who are more likely to be highest at-risk. Promoting VPA earlier in childhood is important for preventing overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. Interventions should target total energy intake, rather than only percentage of energy from total fat or saturated fat. ^

Mixture modeling for joint analysis of survival, discrete, and continuous data

Mixture modeling is commonly used to model categorical latent variables that represent subpopulations in which population membership is unknown but can be inferred from the data. In relatively recent years, the potential of finite mixture models has been applied in time-to-event data. However, the commonly used survival mixture model assumes that the effects of the covariates involved in failure times differ across latent classes, but the covariate distribution is homogeneous. The aim of this dissertation is to develop a method to examine time-to-event data in the presence of unobserved heterogeneity under a framework of mixture modeling. A joint model is developed to incorporate the latent survival trajectory along with the observed information for the joint analysis of a time-to-event variable, its discrete and continuous covariates, and a latent class variable. It is assumed that the effects of covariates on survival times and the distribution of covariates vary across different latent classes. The unobservable survival trajectories are identified through estimating the probability that a subject belongs to a particular class based on observed information. We applied this method to a Hodgkin lymphoma study with long-term follow-up and observed four distinct latent classes in terms of long-term survival and distributions of prognostic factors. Our results from simulation studies and from the Hodgkin lymphoma study demonstrated the superiority of our joint model compared with the conventional survival model. This flexible inference method provides more accurate estimation and accommodates unobservable heterogeneity among individuals while taking involved interactions between covariates into consideration.^

Geometric parameters of shoreface profiles of Laptev Sea erosion coast (Table 1)

Field investigations of the Laptev Sea shoreface morphology were carried out (1) off erosional shores composed of unconsolidated sediments, (2) off the modern delta shores of the Lena River, and (3) off rocky shores. It was found that profiles off erosional shores had a concave shape. This shape is not well described by commonly applied power functions, a feature, which is in disagreement with the generally accepted concept of the equilibrium shape of shoreface profiles. The position of the lower shoreface boundary is determined by the elevation of the coastal lowland inundated during the last transgression (at -5 to -10 m) and may easily be recognized by a sharp, an order of magnitude decrease in the mean inclination of the sea floor. The mean shoreface inclination depends on sediment grain-size and ranges from 0.0022 to 0.033. The concave shape of the shoreface did not change substantially during the last 20-30 years, which indicates that shoreline retreat did not slow down and hence suggests continued intensive coastal erosion in the 21st century. The underwater part of the Lena River delta extends up to 35 km offshore. Its upper part is formed by a shallow and up to 18-km wide bench, which reaches depths of 2-3 m along the outer edge. The evolution of the delta was irregular. Whereas some parts of the delta are advancing rapidly (58 m/year), other parts are eroding. Comparison of measured profiles with older bathymetric data gave an opportunity to evaluate the changes of the underwater delta over past decades. Bathymetric surveys of the seabed around the delta can thus contribute towards a quantification of the sediment budget of the river-sea system. In addition, some sections of the Laptev Sea coast are composed of bedrock that has a comparatively low resistance to wave erosion. These sections may supply a considerable amount of sediment, especially if the cliffs are high. This source must therefore also be taken into account when assessing the contribution of shore erosion to the Laptev Sea sediment budget.

Atmospheric, oceanic and hydrological polar motion excitation mechanisms based on a combination of geometric and gravimetric space observations

The goal of our study is to determine accurate time series of geophysical Earth rotation excitations to learn more about global dynamic processes in the Earth system. For this purpose, we developed an adjustment model which allows to combine precise observations from space geodetic observation systems, such as Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Doppler Orbit determination and Radiopositioning Integrated on Satellite (DORIS), satellite altimetry and satellite gravimetry in order to separate geophysical excitation mechanisms of Earth rotation. Three polar motion time series are applied to derive the polar motion excitation functions (integral effect). Furthermore we use five time variable gravity field solutions from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to determine not only the integral mass effect but also the oceanic and hydrological mass effects by applying suitable filter techniques and a land-ocean mask. For comparison the integral mass effect is also derived from degree 2 potential coefficients that are estimated from SLR observations. The oceanic mass effect is also determined from sea level anomalies observed by satellite altimetry by reducing the steric sea level anomalies derived from temperature and salinity fields of the oceans. Due to the combination of all geodetic estimated excitations the weaknesses of the individual processing strategies can be reduced and the technique-specific strengths can be accounted for. The formal errors of the adjusted geodetic solutions are smaller than the RMS differences of the geophysical model solutions. The improved excitation time series can be used to improve the geophysical modeling.