bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of automation on pharmacy staff experience of workplace stressors
Authors: James K Lynette , Barlow Dave , Bithell Anne , Hiom Sarah , Lord Sue , Oakley Pat , Pollard Mike , Roberts Dave , Way Cheryl , Whittlesea Cate
Published: August 2012

Objective

Determine the effect of installing an original pack automated dispensing system (ADS) on staff experience of occupational stressors.

Methods

Pharmacy staff in a National Health Service hospital in Wales, UK, were administered an anonymous occupational stressor questionnaire pre- (n = 45) and post-automation (n = 32). Survey responses pre- and post-automation were compared using Mann–Whitney U test. Statistical significance was P ≤ 0.05. Four focus groups were conducted (two groups of accredited checking technicians (ACTs) (group 1: n = 4; group 2: n = 6), one group of pharmacists (n = 17), and one group of technicians (n = 4) post-automation to explore staff experiences of occupational stressors. Focus group transcripts were analysed according to framework analysis.

Key findings

Survey response rate pre-automation was 78% (n = 35) and 49% (n = 16) post-automation. Automation had a positive impact on staff experience of stress (P = 0.023), illogical workload allocation (P = 0.004) and work–life balance (P = 0.05). All focus-group participants reported that automation had created a spacious working environment. Pharmacists and ACTs reported that automation had enabled the expansion of their roles. Technicians felt like ‘production-line workers.’ Robot malfunction was a source of stress.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that automation had a positive impact on staff experience of stressors, improving working conditions and workload. Technicians reported that ADS devalued their skills. When installing ADS, pharmacy managers must consider the impact of automation on staff. Strategies to reduce stressors associated with automation include rotating staff activities and role expansions.
Use of systemic medication in patients with oral lichen planus – a possible association with hypothyroidism
Authors: Robledo‐Sierra J , Mattsson U , Jontell M
Published: August 2012

Background

Several drugs have been regarded as a possible aetiological factor for oral lichen planus (OLP).

Objective

To investigate the medication profile of patients with OLP and its possible association with the pathogenesis of OLP.

Methods

Data from 956 patients with OLP and 1029 controls were collected using a standardized registration method. All regular medications were recorded and classified according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System.

Results

Patients with OLP used thyroid preparations (P < 0.001) and non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (P < 0.01) in higher proportions compared to controls. A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that levothyroxine was associated with OLP (multivariate OR 3.39, 95% CI: 2.09–5.46, P < 0.001), even after controlling for confounders, including age, sex, smoking, allergies and systemic diseases. No statistical significance could be found between NSAIDs and OLP using the same model.

Conclusion

In this study, the use of levothyroxine was associated with OLP, which in turn suggests a possible connection with hypothyroidism.
Research on Sliding Ratios of Conjugate Surfaces of Two Degrees of Freedom Meshing Transmission of Spherical Gear Pair
Authors: Ting Li , Cunyun Pan , Fudong Gao , Xiaocong Wang
Published: August 2012

The spherical gear is a gear-driven mechanism with two degrees of freedom (DOF), which can transfer spatial motion. The spherical gear pairs have two types of basic assembly structures including an ideal mechanism and a gimbal mechanism, and whose kinematic characteristics are analyzed. The 2-DOF gearing principle of conjugate tooth surfaces of the spherical gear pair is introduced first. Then, the relative slide between two tooth surfaces in the mesh is analyzed. Finally, the equations of the meshing coned surface and the conjugate surface are established based on the meshing models of the spherical gear pairs. Furthermore, the sliding ratios of the tooth surfaces of the spherical gear pairs are obtained when they mesh in different meshing conditions based on two-parameter movement analysis. The computational results show that the sliding ratios of the spherical gear teeth are related to the angle velocity ratio in the ideal mechanism and they are not only related with angle velocity ratio but also related with the assembly axes in the gimbal mechanism, which are useful in theory for further studying the wear of the spherical gear.
Design of a Novel Air Bearing Workbench for Rotary Ultrasonic Drilling of Advanced Ceramics
Authors: Liu Liping , Lin Bin , Fang Fengzhou
Published: August 2012

A novel air bearing workbench used in rotary ultrasonic drilling of advanced ceramics was designed to constantly and sensitively control the cutting force. Compared with traditional feed systems, the novel air bearing workbench features an aerostatic guide and a pneumatic actuator, so that it only overcomes the air damping when the cutting force is balanced. Thus, it can sensitively and constantly control the cutting force for rotary ultrasonic drilling of advanced ceramics. The aerostatic guide, which determines the eccentric bearing capacity and stiffness of the workbench, is the most important part. The forces applied on the aerostatic guide faces were analyzed to calculate the bearing capacity and stiffness of the workbench using varying gas film thicknesses with finite element method (FEM). Based on the result of the analysis, the best gas film thickness of the aerostatic guide was designed to be 30 μm. The real eccentric bearing capacity and stiffness of the workbench were measured. The error between experimental results and the FEM results was within 12%.
Simulating Flame Lift-Off Characteristics of Diesel and Biodiesel Fuels Using Detailed Chemical-Kinetic Mechanisms and Large Eddy Simulation Turbulence Model
Authors: Som Sibendu , Longman Douglas E. , Luo Zhaoyu , Plomer Max , Lu Tianfeng , Senecal Peter K. , Pomraning Eric
Published: August 2012

Combustion in direct-injection diesel engines occurs in a lifted, turbulent diffusion flame mode. Numerous studies indicate that the combustion and emissions in such engines are strongly influenced by the lifted flame characteristics, which are in turn determined by fuel and air mixing in the upstream region of the lifted flame, and consequently by the liquid breakup and spray development processes. From a numerical standpoint, these spray combustion processes depend heavily on the choice of underlying spray, combustion, and turbulence models. The present numerical study investigates the influence of different chemical kinetic mechanisms for diesel and biodiesel fuels, as well as Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence models on predicting flame lift-off lengths (LOLs) and ignition delays. Specifically, two chemical kinetic mechanisms for n-heptane (NHPT) and three for biodiesel surrogates are investigated. In addition, the renormalization group (RNG) k-ε (RANS) model is compared to the Smagorinsky based LES turbulence model. Using adaptive grid resolution, minimum grid sizes of 250 μm and 125 μm were obtained for the RANS and LES cases, respectively. Validations of these models were performed against experimental data from Sandia National Laboratories in a constant volume combustion chamber. Ignition delay and flame lift-off validations were performed at different ambient temperature conditions. The LES model predicts lower ignition delays and qualitatively better flame structures compared to the RNG k-ε model. The use of realistic chemistry and a ternary surrogate mixture, which consists of methyl decanoate, methyl nine-decenoate, and NHPT, results in better predicted LOLs and ignition delays. For diesel fuel though, only marginal improvements are observed by using larger size mechanisms. However, these improved predictions come at a significant increase in computational cost.
PHONON EMISSION FROM ACOUSTIC BLACK HOLE
Authors: FANG HENGZHONG , ZHOU KAIHU , SONG YUMING
Published: August 2012

We study the phonon tunneling through the horizon of an acoustic black hole by solving the Hamilton–Jacobi equation. We also make use of the closed-path integral to calculate the tunneling probability, and an improved way to determine the temporal contribution is used. Both the results from the two methods agree with Hawking's initial analysis.
NONZERO θ13 FROM THE TRIANGULAR ANSATZ AND LEPTOGENESIS
Authors: BENAOUM H. B.
Published: August 2012

Recent experiments indicate a departure from the exact tri-bimaximal mixing by measure ring definitive nonzero value of θ13. Within the framework of type I seesaw mechanism, we reconstruct the triangular Dirac neutrino mass matrix from the μ - τ symmetric mass matrix. The deviation from μ - τ symmetry is then parametrized by adding dimensionless parameters yi in the triangular mass matrix. In this parametrization of the neutrino mass matrix, the nonzero value θ13 is controlled by Δy = y4 - y6. We also calculate the resulting leptogenesis and show that the triangular texture can generate the observed baryon asymmetry in the universe via leptogenesis scenario.
FINE-GRAINED AND LAYERED OBJECT RECOGNITION
Authors: WU YANG , ZHENG NANNING , LIU YUANLIU , YUAN ZEJIAN
Published: August 2012

This paper presents a novel research on promoting the performance and enriching the functionalities of object recognition. Instead of simply fitting various data to a few predefined semantic object categories, we propose to generate proper results for different object instances based on their actual visual appearances. The results can be fine-grained and layered categorization along with absolute or relative localization. We present a generic model based on structured prediction and an efficient online learning algorithm to solve it. Experiments on a new benchmark dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our model and its superiority against traditional recognition methods.
3-MANIFOLD GROUPS, KÄHLER GROUPS AND COMPLEX SURFACES
Authors: BISWAS INDRANIL , MJ MAHAN , SESHADRI HARISH
Published: August 2012

Let G be a Kähler group admitting a short exact sequence [Formula: see text] where N is finitely generated.

(i) Then Q cannot be non-nilpotent solvable.

(ii) Suppose in addition that Q satisfies one of the following:

(a) Q admits a discrete faithful non-elementary action on ℍn for some n ≥ 2.

(b) Q admits a discrete faithful non-elementary minimal action on a simplicial tree with more than two ends.

(c) Q admits a (strong-stable) cut R such that the intersection of all conjugates of R is trivial.

Then G is virtually a surface group. It follows that if Q is infinite, not virtually cyclic, and is the fundamental group of some closed 3-manifold, then Q contains as a finite index subgroup either a finite index subgroup of the three-dimensional Heisenberg group or the fundamental group of the Cartesian product of a closed oriented surface of positive genus and the circle. As a corollary, we obtain a new proof of a theorem of Dimca and Suciu in [Which 3-manifold groups are Kähler groups? J. Eur. Math. Soc.11 (2009) 521–528] by taking N to be the trivial group. If instead, G is the fundamental group of a compact complex surface, and N is finitely presented, then we show that Q must contain the fundamental group of a Seifert-fibered 3-manifold as a finite index subgroup, and G contains as a finite index subgroup the fundamental group of an elliptic fibration. We also give an example showing that the relation of quasi-isometry does not preserve Kähler groups. This gives a negative answer to a question of Gromov which asks whether Kähler groups can be characterized by their asymptotic geometry.
ORBITAL STABILITY OF STANDING WAVES OF SOME ℓ-COUPLED NONLINEAR SCHRÖDINGER EQUATIONS
Authors: HAJAIEJ HICHEM
Published: August 2012

We extend the notion of orbital stability to systems of nonlinear Schrödinger equations, then we prove this property under suitable assumptions on the local nonlinearity involved.
ON NODAL SOLUTIONS OF THE NONLINEAR SCHRÖDINGER–POISSON EQUATIONS
Authors: KIM SEUNGHYEOK , SEOK JINMYOUNG
Published: August 2012

In this paper, we are interested in nodal solutions of nonlinear Schrödinger–Poisson equations. In particular, for a given natural number k we construct a radial solution changing sign exactly k-times.
ON THE DYNAMICAL DEGREES OF MEROMORPHIC MAPS PRESERVING A FIBRATION
Authors: DINH TIEN-CUONG , NGUYÊN VIÊT-ANH , TRUONG TUYEN TRUNG
Published: August 2012

Let f be a dominant meromorphic self-map on a compact Kähler manifold X which preserves a meromorphic fibration π : X → Y of X over a compact Kähler manifold Y. We compute the dynamical degrees of f in terms of its dynamical degrees relative to the fibration and the dynamical degrees of the map g : Y → Y induced by f. We derive from this result new properties of some fibrations intrinsically associated to X when this manifold admits an interesting dynamical system.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF PERIPHERAL NERVE DISORDERS
Authors: KUNHIMANGALAM REEDA , OVALLATH SUJITH , JOSEPH PAUL K.
Published: August 2012

The recent years have witnessed an increase in the use of newer analytical tools in the field of medicine to assist in diagnostic procedure. Among the new tools, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have received particular attention because of their ability to analyze complex nonlinear data sets. This study suggests that ANNs can be used for the diagnosis of peripheral nerve disorders particularly the carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and neuropathy. This paper aims at building a classifier using a feed forward neural network that can distinguish between CTS, neuropathy, and normal controls using a reduced set of measurements or features from nerve conduction study (NCS) data. Three different ANN training algorithms, viz. Levenberg–Marquardt (LM), Conjugate gradient (CGB), and resilient back-propagation (RP) are used to see which algorithm produces better results and has faster training for the application under consideration. The data used were obtained from the Neurology Department, Kannur Medical College, Kerala, India. The obtained resultant confusion matrix indicated only a few misclassifications in all the three cases. The analysis showed that the CGB and RB algorithms provide faster convergence on pattern recognition problems, but the best performance in terms of accuracy is given by the LM algorithm. The accuracy obtained for the LM, CGB, and RB were 98.3%, 97.8%, and 97.2%, respectively. The respective sensitivities were 96.1%, 94.1%, and 94.1%, while the specificities were found to be equal to 99.4%, 98.8%, and 97.5%, respectively. The study aims at showing that ANNs may prove useful in combination with other systems in providing diagnostic and predictive medical opinions. However, it must always be kept in mind that ANNs represent only one form of computer-aided diagnosis, and the clinician's responsibility and overall control of patient care should never be underestimated.
GLOBAL PROPERTIES FOR A CLASS OF LATENT HIV INFECTION DYNAMICS MODEL WITH CTL IMMUNE RESPONSE
Authors: DONG YUEPING , MA WANBIAO
Published: August 2012

M. M. Hadjiandreou, R. Conejeros and V. S. Vassiliadis (Math. Biosci. Eng. 4 (2007) 489–504) proposed an ODE model of long-term HIV infection dynamics. This model considers all important population compartments including macrophages, latently-infected CD4+ T cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which in many respects is novel in the field of mathematical modeling of HIV infection. The purpose of the paper is to simplify their model into a five-dimensional HIV dynamics model, and give a detailed classification on the existence of the equilibria of the reduced model by introducing four reproductive numbers. Then the global asymptotic stability of each equilibrium is analyzed by constructing suitable Lyapunov functions. The results in the paper extend and improve the understanding of the dynamics of HIV latency.
AN ALGORITHM OF DETECTING OUTLIERS IN SVR
Authors: ZENG SHAOHUA , TANG YUANYAN , WEI YAN , QIN HANSHU
Published: August 2012

This paper defines an outlier and a measure that an outlier does not fit the theoretical model in the regression problems, studies the relationship between the theoretical model and the regression model in the regression problems, proposes and verifies an approximate theorem in which one-by-one deletes outlier and constructs SVR to approximate its theoretical model, draws an algorithm of detecting outliers in the SVR problems based on the approximate theorem, and analyzes the convergence and effectiveness of the algorithm in the theory. Next, it combines the step-by-step search algorithm were proposed by authors and the former detecting outlier algorithm to improve it, and brings forward an algorithm detecting outliers in SVR based on large-scale samples. Then, its analysis in theory shows the improved algorithm is convergent and effective too. Finally, its simulation results show that the detecting outlier algorithms are effective and robust, using samples produced by two test functions and in UCI dataset.
DEEP-UV CONFOCAL FLUORESCENCE IMAGING AND SUPER-RESOLUTION OPTICAL MICROSCOPY OF BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES
Authors: SMITH TREVOR A. , HIRVONEN LIISA M. , LINCOLN CRAIG N. , HAO XIAOTAO
Published: August 2012

A wide range of techniques has been developed to image biological samples at high spatial and temporal resolution. In this paper, we report recent results from deep-UV confocal fluorescence microscopy to image inherent emission from fluorophores such as tryptophan, and structured illumination microscopy (SIM) of biological materials. One motivation for developing deep-UV fluorescence imaging and SIM is to provide methods to complement our measurements in the emerging field of X-ray coherent diffractive imaging.
CONFLICT-AWARE DATA AGGREGATION SCHEDULING IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS WITH ADJUSTABLE TRANSMISSION RANGE
Authors: HONG YI , DU HONGWEI , LI DEYING , CHEN WENPING
Published: August 2012

The minimum latency data aggregation schedule is one of the fundamental problems in wireless sensor networks. Most existing works assumed that the transmission ranges of sensor nodes cannot be adjusted. However, sensors with adjustable transmission ranges have advantages in energy saving, reducing transmission interference and latency. In this paper, we study the minimum latency conflict-aware data aggregation scheduling problem with adjustable transmission radii: given locations of sensors along with a base station, all sensors could adjust their transmission radii and each sensor's interference radius is α times of its transmission radius, we try to find a data aggregation schedule in which the data from all sensors can be transmitted to the base station without conflicts, such that the latency is minimized. We first partition the set of all nodes into two parts: the major set and the minor set. Then, we design different scheduling strategies for the two sets, respectively. Finally, we propose an approximation algorithm for the problem and prove the performance ratio of the algorithm is bounded by a nearly constant. Our experimental results evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
ON SET-INDEXERS OF PATHS, CYCLES AND CERTAIN RELATED GRAPHS
Authors: THOMAS ULLAS , MATHEW SUNIL C.
Published: August 2012

In this paper, we mainly obtain the set-indexing number of paths and certain cycles. For a given cycle, we show that there are only two possible values for the set-indexing number of it. We have also computed the set-indexing number of fans of order atleast five. Finally we study the set-indexers of certain wheels, suns and helms and derive the set-indexing numbers of the same.
CODING THEORY ON h(x) FIBONACCI p-NUMBERS POLYNOMIALS
Authors: BASU MANJUSRI , PRASAD BANDHU
Published: August 2012

In this paper, we introduce h(x) Fibonacci p-numbers polynomials and a new Fibonacci Qp,h(x) matrix for h(x) Fibonacci p-numbers polynomials where p(> 0) is integer and h(x)(> 0) is a polynomial with real coefficients. Thereby, we discuss various properties of Qp,h(x) matrix and the coding theory followed from the Qp,h(x) matrix. We establish the relations among the code matrix elements for p(> 0) is integer and h(x)(> 0). We also show that the relations, among the code matrix elements for h(x) = m (> 0), coincide with the relations among the code matrix elements for coding theory on the m-extension of the Fibonacci p-numbers. The relations among the code matrix elements for h(x) = 1, coincide with the generalized relations among the code matrix elements for Fibonacci coding theory. In general, correct ability of this method, which is independent of h(x), increases as p increases but h(x) being a polynomial, improves the cryptography protection.
SOME RESULTS ON (p, g,∑)-VALUATION OF GRAPHS
Authors: MAHÉO MARYVONNE , SACLÉ JEAN-FRANÇOIS
Published: August 2012

In this article we study proper labelings (or valuations) of the edges of a graph by integers, such that the sums of the values taken on the edges incident to each vertex (the weight of this vertex) are all distinct. We look for the minimum of max (v) among the possible valuations v for some particular classes of graphs.
STRONG CONNECTIVITY IN SENSOR NETWORKS WITH GIVEN NUMBER OF DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAE OF BOUNDED ANGLE
Authors: DOBREV STEFAN , KRANAKIS EVANGELOS , KRIZANC DANNY , OPATRNY JAROSLAV , PONCE OSCAR MORALES , STACHO LADISLAV
Published: August 2012

Traditional approaches to connectivity in sensor networks are based on the omnidirectional antenna model which relies on the assumption that the sensors send and receive in all directions. Current technologies make possible the utilization of sensors with directional antenna capabilities whereby the sensors send and/or receive along a sector of a predefined angle (or beam-width). Although several researchers in the scientific literature have investigated the impact of directional antennae on network throughput, energy consumption, as well as security very little is known concerning the effect of directional antennae on its connectivity. In this paper, we introduce for the first time a new sensor model with each sensor being able to transmit in any one of k directions, for some fixed k, and explore the algorithmic limits and potential of such a directional antenna model. More specifically, given a set of n sensors in the plane, we consider the problem of establishing a strongly connected ad hoc network from these sensors using directional antennae. In particular, we prove that given such set of sensors, each equipped with k, 1 ≤ k ≤ 5, directional antennae with any angle of transmission, these antennae can be oriented in such a way that the resulting communication structure is a strongly connected digraph spanning all n sensors. Moreover, the transmission range of the antennae is at most [Formula: see text] times the optimal range (a range necessary to establish a connected network on the same set of sensors using omnidirectional antennae). The algorithm which constructs this orientation runs in O(n) time provided a minimum spanning tree on the set of sensors is given. We show that our solution can be used to give a tradeoff on the range and angle when each sensor has one antenna. Further, we also prove that for two antennae it is NP-hard to decide whether such an orientation exists if both the transmission angle and range are small for each antennae.
BIPARTITE PERMUTATION GRAPHS ARE RECONSTRUCTIBLE
Authors: KIYOMI MASASHI , SAITOH TOSHIKI , UEHARA RYUHEI
Published: August 2012

The graph reconstruction conjecture is a long-standing open problem in graph theory. The conjecture has been verified for all graphs with at most 11 vertices. Further, the conjecture has been verified for regular graphs, trees, disconnected graphs, unit interval graphs, separable graphs with no pendant vertex, outer-planar graphs, and unicyclic graphs. We extend the list of graph classes for which the conjecture holds. We give a proof that bipartite permutation graphs are reconstructible.
A QUESTION ON RELAXED EQUITABLE COLORING
Authors: GAO WEI , ZHOU FEN
Published: August 2012

An equitable (k, d)-coloring is a (k, d)-coloring that is also equitable. In this paper, we raise a conjecture that if G is a graph such that for each edge xy ∈ E(G), the sum d(x) + d(y) at most 2r + 1, then G has a d-relaxed equitable coloring with r + 1 - d colors. We prove that if graph G meet d(x) + d(y) ≤ 2r for every edge xy ∈ E(G) and |G| = rs, then [Formula: see text].
CONSTRUCTION OF m-REPEATED BURST ERROR CORRECTING BINARY LINEAR CODE
Authors: DASS B. K. , VERMA RASHMI
Published: August 2012

The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple method of constructing a parity-check matrix for any binary linear code capable of correcting a new kind of burst error called 'm-repeated burst error of length b or less' recently introduced by the authors. Some binary codes based on the proposed technique have been illustrated. This technique for m = 1 helps in resolving a long standing problem of devising a systematic algorithm for the construction of a burst error correcting code.
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ON CORAL REEFS
Authors: BRANDER LUKE M. , REHDANZ KATRIN , TOL RICHARD S. J. , VAN BEUKERING PIETER J. H.
Published: August 2012

Because ocean acidification has only recently been recognized as a problem caused by CO2emissions, impact studies are still rare and estimates of the economic impact are absent. This paper estimates the economic impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs which are generally considered to be economically as well as ecologically important ecosystems. First, we conduct an impact assessment in which atmospheric concentration of CO2is linked to ocean acidity causing coral reef area loss. Next, a meta-analytic value transfer is applied to determine the economic value of coral reefs around the world. Finally, these two analyses are combined to estimate the economic impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs for the four IPCC marker scenarios. We find that the annual economic impact rapidly escalates over time, because the scenarios have rapid economic growth in the relevant countries and coral reefs are a luxury good. Nonetheless, the annual value in 2100 in still only a fraction of total income, one order of magnitude smaller than the previously estimated impact of climate change. Although the estimated impact is uncertain, the estimated confidence interval spans one order of magnitude only. Future research should seek to extend the estimates presented here to other impacts of ocean acidification and investigate the implications of our findings for climate policy.
Controls on reservoir compartmentalization of an Upper Permian tight gas field in Germany and links to a modern analogue in the Western US
Authors: Antrett Philipp , Vackiner Alexandra A. , Kukla Peter A. , Back Stefan , Stollhofen Harald
Published: August 2012

This study focuses on the reservoir characteristics of a Permian tight gas field in the Southern Permian Basin, Eastern Frisia, Germany. To improve the understanding of the reservoir, 3D seismic, wireline and core data were compared with a reservoir analogue in the Panamint Valley, United States. Depositional environments of the Permian Upper Rotliegend II include perennial saline lakes, coastal parallel sand belts comprising wet, damp and dry sand flats and aeolian dunes with interdune deposits. Polygonal patterns at different scales were observed on seismic horizon slices in the reservoir intervals and the overlying Zechstein. Outlines of superordinate polygons coincide with interpreted faults. Similar polygonal networks were identified on modern dry lakes in the western United States. The kilometre-long, up to 1.20 m deep open fissures in the Panamint Valley are interpreted to originate from the combined effects of synaeresis and tectonics. Subsequently, the fissures were filled with aeolian sediment. Vegetation growth confined to the lineaments indicates enhanced fluid circulation. Such fissures systems may serve as weakness zones and fault grain and impact reservoir quality in terms of hydraulic connectivity of reservoir compartments. For the Rotliegend reservoirs, original porosities and permeabilities of these zones were reduced to a minimum by enhanced cementation along the fluid migration pathways. Permeability barriers and reservoir compartmentalization, which can be clearly depicted on seismic attribute volumes, are a potential result of this development.
Characterizing the Paleocene turbidites of the North Sea: the Mey Sandstone Member, Lista Formation, UK Central Graben
Authors: Kilhams Ben , Hartley Adrian , Huuse Mads , Davis Chris
Published: August 2012

This paper presents an integrated seismic, petrophysical and core facies study of the Mey Sandstone Member of the Central North Sea Lista Formation. Seismic mapping and attribute analysis reveal that the Mey Sandstone Member is composed of distinct axial and lateral routing systems. In turn, the axial system can be divided into coeval western and eastern fairways defined by the underlying graben topography in a similar manner to the overlying Sele Formation (Forties) sandstones. These trends are confirmed by petrophysical analysis, which also reveals that the lateral systems are not as important as previously proposed and that the cycles of the Mey Sandstone Member prograded over time before a late stage of backstepping. These variations can be related directly to published sea-level curves. Core analysis reveals that mean grain size is the main control on sandstone quality and that similar proximal (channelized) to distal (sheet-like) changes in sedimentological facies occur to those described in the Sele Formation. It is argued that these deposits cannot be described as simple basin floor fans due to the impact of topography on turbidite flow routing and the existence of multiple entry points of sediment into the basin.
Continuous character control with low-dimensional embeddings
Authors: Levine Sergey , Wang Jack M. , Haraux Alexis , Popović Zoran , Koltun Vladlen
Published: August 2012

Interactive, task-guided character controllers must be agile and responsive to user input, while retaining the flexibility to be readily authored and modified by the designer. Central to a method's ease of use is its capacity to synthesize character motion for novel situations without requiring excessive data or programming effort. In this work, we present a technique that animates characters performing user-specified tasks by using a probabilistic motion model, which is trained on a small number of artist-provided animation clips. The method uses a low-dimensional space learned from the example motions to continuously control the character's pose to accomplish the desired task. By controlling the character through a reduced space, our method can discover new transitions, tractably precompute a control policy, and avoid low quality poses.
Functional maps
Authors: Ovsjanikov Maks , Ben-Chen Mirela , Solomon Justin , Butscher Adrian , Guibas Leonidas
Published: August 2012

We present a novel representation of maps between pairs of shapes that allows for efficient inference and manipulation. Key to our approach is a generalization of the notion of map that puts in correspondence real-valued functions rather than points on the shapes. By choosing a multi-scale basis for the function space on each shape, such as the eigenfunctions of its Laplace-Beltrami operator, we obtain a representation of a map that is very compact, yet fully suitable for global inference. Perhaps more remarkably, most natural constraints on a map, such as descriptor preservation, landmark correspondences, part preservation and operator commutativity become linear in this formulation. Moreover, the representation naturally supports certain algebraic operations such as map sum, difference and composition, and enables a number of applications, such as function or annotation transfer without establishing point-to-point correspondences. We exploit these properties to devise an efficient shape matching method, at the core of which is a single linear solve. The new method achieves state-of-the-art results on an isometric shape matching benchmark. We also show how this representation can be used to improve the quality of maps produced by existing shape matching methods, and illustrate its usefulness in segmentation transfer and joint analysis of shape collections.
Decoupling algorithms from schedules for easy optimization of image processing pipelines
Authors: Ragan-Kelley Jonathan , Adams Andrew , Paris Sylvain , Levoy Marc , Amarasinghe Saman , Durand Frédo
Published: August 2012

Using existing programming tools, writing high-performance image processing code requires sacrificing readability, portability, and modularity. We argue that this is a consequence of conflating what computations define the
algorithm
, with decisions about
storage
and the
order
of computation. We refer to these latter two concerns as the
schedule
, including choices of tiling, fusion, recomputation vs. storage, vectorization, and parallelism.

We propose a representation for feed-forward imaging pipelines that separates the algorithm from its schedule, enabling high-performance without sacrificing code clarity. This decoupling simplifies the algorithm specification: images and intermediate buffers become functions over an infinite integer domain, with no explicit storage or boundary conditions. Imaging pipelines are compositions of functions. Programmers separately specify scheduling strategies for the various functions composing the algorithm, which allows them to efficiently explore different optimizations without changing the algorithmic code.

We demonstrate the power of this representation by expressing a range of recent image processing applications in an embedded domain specific language called Halide, and compiling them for ARM, x86, and GPUs. Our compiler targets SIMD units, multiple cores, and complex memory hierarchies. We demonstrate that it can handle algorithms such as a camera raw pipeline, the bilateral grid, fast local Laplacian filtering, and image segmentation. The algorithms expressed in our language are both shorter and faster than state-of-the-art implementations.
Design preserving garment transfer
Authors: Brouet Remi , Sheffer Alla , Boissieux Laurence , Cani Marie-Paule
Published: August 2012

We present a fully automatic method for design-preserving transfer of garments between characters with different body shapes. For real-life garments, such transfer is performed through a knowledge intensive and time consuming process, known as
pattern grading
. Our first contribution is to reformulate the criteria used in professional pattern-grading as a set of geometric requirements, respectively expressing shape or design preservation, proportionality, and fit. We then propose a fully automatic garment transfer algorithm which satisfies all of these criteria while ensuring the physical plausibility of the result. Specifically, we formulate garment transfer as a constrained optimization problem and solve it efficiently through iterative quadratic minimization. As demonstrated by our results, our method is able to automatically generate design-preserving versions of existing garments for target characters whose proportions and body shape significantly differ from those of the source. The method correctly handles the transfer of multiple layers of garment. Lastly, when source 2D patterns are available, we output graded patterns suitable for manufacturing the transferred garments. Our fully automatic design-preserving transfer method leads to significant time savings for both computer artists and fashion designers.
Stitch meshes for modeling knitted clothing with yarn-level detail
Authors: Yuksel Cem , Kaldor Jonathan M. , James Doug L. , Marschner Steve
Published: August 2012

Recent yarn-based simulation techniques permit realistic and efficient dynamic simulation of knitted clothing, but producing the required yarn-level models remains a challenge. The lack of practical modeling techniques significantly limits the diversity and complexity of knitted garments that can be simulated. We propose a new modeling technique that builds yarn-level models of complex knitted garments for virtual characters. We start with a polygonal model that represents the large-scale surface of the knitted cloth. Using this mesh as an input, our interactive modeling tool produces a finer mesh representing the layout of stitches in the garment, which we call the
stitch mesh
. By manipulating this mesh and assigning stitch types to its faces, the user can replicate a variety of complicated knitting patterns. The curve model representing the yarn is generated from the stitch mesh, then the final shape is computed by a yarn-level physical simulation that locally relaxes the yarn into realistic shape while preserving global shape of the garment and avoiding "yarn pull-through," thereby producing valid yarn geometry suitable for dynamic simulation. Using our system, we can efficiently create yarn-level models of knitted clothing with a rich variety of patterns that would be completely impractical to model using traditional techniques. We show a variety of example knitting patterns and full-scale garments produced using our system.
Synthesis of detailed hand manipulations using contact sampling
Authors: Ye Yuting , Liu C. Karen
Published: August 2012

Capturing human activities that involve both gross full-body motion and detailed hand manipulation of objects is challenging for standard motion capture systems. We introduce a new method for creating natural scenes with such human activities. The input to our method includes motions of the full-body and the objects acquired simultaneously by a standard motion capture system. Our method then automatically synthesizes detailed and physically plausible hand manipulation that can seamlessly integrate with the input motions. Instead of producing one "optimal" solution, our method presents a set of motions that exploit a wide variety of manipulation strategies. We propose a randomized sampling algorithm to search for as many as possible visually diverse solutions within the computational time budget. Our results highlight complex strategies human hands employ effortlessly and unconsciously, such as static, sliding, rolling, as well as finger gaits with discrete relocation of contact points.
Eyecatch
Authors: Yeo Sang Hoon , Lesmana Martin , Neog Debanga R. , Pai Dinesh K.
Published: August 2012

We present a novel framework for animating human characters performing fast visually guided tasks, such as catching a ball. The main idea is to consider the coordinated dynamics of sensing and movement. Based on experimental evidence about such behaviors, we propose a generative model that constructs interception behavior online, using discrete submovements directed by uncertain visual estimates of target movement. An important aspect of this framework is that eye movements are included as well, and play a central role in coordinating movements of the head, hand, and body. We show that this framework efficiently generates plausible movements and generalizes well to novel scenarios.
Exploring collections of 3D models using fuzzy correspondences
Authors: Kim Vladimir G. , Li Wilmot , Mitra Niloy J. , DiVerdi Stephen , Funkhouser Thomas
Published: August 2012

Large collections of 3D models from the same object class (e.g., chairs, cars, animals) are now commonly available via many public repositories, but exploring the range of shape variations across such collections remains a challenging task. In this work, we present a new exploration interface that allows users to browse collections based on similarities and differences between shapes in user-specified regions of interest (ROIs). To support this interactive system, we introduce a novel analysis method for computing similarity relationships between points on 3D shapes across a collection. We encode the inherent ambiguity in these relationships using fuzzy point correspondences and propose a robust and efficient computational framework that estimates fuzzy correspondences using only a sparse set of pairwise model alignments. We evaluate our analysis method on a range of correspondence benchmarks and report substantial improvements in both speed and accuracy over existing alternatives. In addition, we demonstrate how fuzzy correspondences enable key features in our exploration tool, such as automated view alignment, ROI-based similarity search, and faceted browsing.
Synthesizing open worlds with constraints using locally annealed reversible jump MCMC
Authors: Yeh Yi-Ting , Yang Lingfeng , Watson Matthew , Goodman Noah D. , Hanrahan Pat
Published: August 2012

We present a novel Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm that generates samples from transdimensional distributions encoding complex constraints. We use factor graphs, a type of graphical model, to encode constraints as factors. Our proposed MCMC method, called locally annealed reversible jump MCMC, exploits knowledge of how dimension changes affect the structure of the factor graph. We employ a sequence of annealed distributions during the sampling process, allowing us to explore the state space across different dimensionalities more freely. This approach is motivated by the application of layout synthesis where relationships between objects are characterized as constraints. In particular, our method addresses the challenge of synthesizing
open world
layouts where the number of objects are not fixed and optimal configurations for different numbers of objects may be drastically different. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach on two open world layout synthesis problems: coffee shops and golf courses.
Manifold exploration
Authors: Jakob Wenzel , Marschner Steve
Published: August 2012

It is a long-standing problem in unbiased Monte Carlo methods for rendering that certain difficult types of light transport paths, particularly those involving viewing and illumination along paths containing specular or glossy surfaces, cause unusably slow convergence. In this paper we introduce Manifold Exploration, a new way of handling specular paths in rendering. It is based on the idea that sets of paths contributing to the image naturally form manifolds in path space, which can be explored locally by a simple equation-solving iteration. This paper shows how to formulate and solve the required equations using only geometric information that is already generally available in ray tracing systems, and how to use this method in in two different Markov Chain Monte Carlo frameworks to accurately compute illumination from general families of paths. The resulting rendering algorithms handle specular, near-specular, glossy, and diffuse surface interactions as well as isotropic or highly anisotropic volume scattering interactions, all using the same fundamental algorithm. An implementation is demonstrated on a range of challenging scenes and evaluated against previous methods.
Ghost SPH for animating water
Authors: Schechter Hagit , Bridson Robert
Published: August 2012

We propose a new ghost fluid approach for free surface and solid boundary conditions in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) liquid simulations. Prior methods either suffer from a spurious numerical surface tension artifact or drift away from the mass conservation constraint, and do not capture realistic cohesion of liquid to solids. Our Ghost SPH scheme resolves this with a new particle sampling algorithm to create a narrow layer of ghost particles in the surrounding air and solid, with careful extrapolation and treatment of fluid variables to reflect the boundary conditions. We also provide a new, simpler form of artificial viscosity based on XSPH. Examples demonstrate how the new approach captures real liquid behaviour previously unattainable by SPH with very little extra cost.
Animating bubble interactions in a liquid foam
Authors: Busaryev Oleksiy , Dey Tamal K. , Wang Huamin , Ren Zhong
Published: August 2012

Bubbles and foams are important features of liquid surface phenomena, but they are difficult to animate due to their thin films and complex interactions in the real world. In particular, small bubbles (having diameter <1cm) in a dense foam are highly affected by surface tension, so their shapes are much less deformable compared with larger bubbles. Under this small bubble assumption, we propose a more accurate and efficient particle-based algorithm to simulate bubble dynamics and interactions. The key component of this algorithm is an approximation of foam geometry, by treating bubble particles as the sites of a weighted Voronoi diagram. The connectivity information provided by the Voronoi diagram allows us to accurately model various interaction effects among bubbles. Using Voronoi cells and weights, we can also explicitly address the volume loss issue in foam simulation, which is a common problem in previous approaches. Under this framework, we present a set of bubble interaction forces to handle miscellaneous foam behaviors, including foam structure under Plateau's laws, clusters formed by liquid surface bubbles, bubble-liquid and bubble-solid coupling, bursting and coalescing. Our experiment shows that this method can be straightforwardly incorporated into existing liquid simulators, and it can efficiently generate realistic foam animations, some of which have never been produced in graphics before.
Selectively de-animating video
Authors: Bai Jiamin , Agarwala Aseem , Agrawala Maneesh , Ramamoorthi Ravi
Published: August 2012

We present a semi-automated technique for selectively
deanimating
video to remove the large-scale motions of one or more objects so that other motions are easier to see. The user draws strokes to indicate the regions of the video that should be immobilized, and our algorithm warps the video to remove the large-scale motion of these regions while leaving finer-scale, relative motions intact. However, such warps may introduce unnatural motions in previously motionless areas, such as background regions. We therefore use a graph-cut-based optimization to composite the warped video regions with still frames from the input video; we also optionally loop the output in a seamless manner. Our technique enables a number of applications such as clearer motion visualization, simpler creation of artistic
cinemagraphs
(photos that include looping motions in some regions), and new ways to edit appearance and complicated motion paths in video by manipulating a de-animated representation. We demonstrate the success of our technique with a number of motion visualizations, cinemagraphs and video editing examples created from a variety of short input videos, as well as visual and numerical comparison to previous techniques.
Tools for placing cuts and transitions in interview video
Authors: Berthouzoz Floraine , Li Wilmot , Agrawala Maneesh
Published: August 2012

We present a set of tools designed to help editors place cuts and create transitions in interview video. To help place cuts, our interface links a text transcript of the video to the corresponding locations in the raw footage. It also visualizes the suitability of cut locations by analyzing the audio/visual features of the raw footage to find frames where the speaker is relatively quiet and still. With these tools editors can directly highlight segments of text, check if the endpoints are suitable cut locations and if so, simply delete the text to make the edit. For each cut our system generates visible (e.g. jump-cut, fade, etc.) and seamless, hidden transitions. We present a hierarchical, graph-based algorithm for efficiently generating hidden transitions that considers visual features specific to interview footage. We also describe a new data-driven technique for setting the timing of the hidden transition. Finally, our tools offer a one click method for seamlessly removing 'ums' and repeated words as well as inserting natural-looking pauses to emphasize semantic content. We apply our tools to edit a variety of interviews and also show how they can be used to quickly compose multiple takes of an actor narrating a story.