bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shape‐Up: Shaping Discrete Geometry with Projections
Authors: Bouaziz Sofien , Deuss Mario , Schwartzburg Yuliy , Weise Thibaut , Pauly Mark 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe introduce a unified optimization framework for geometry processing based on shape constraints. These constraints preserve or prescribe the shape of subsets of the points of a geometric data set, such as polygons, one‐ring cells, volume elements, or feature curves. Our method is based on two key concepts: a shape proximity function and shape projection operators. The proximity function encodes the distance of a desired least‐squares fitted elementary target shape to the corresponding vertices of the 3D model. Projection operators are employed to minimize the proximity function by relocating vertices in a minimal way to match the imposed shape constraints. We demonstrate that this approach leads to a simple, robust, and efficient algorithm that allows implementing a variety of geometry processing applications, simply by combining suitable projection operators. We show examples for computing planar and circular meshes, shape space exploration, mesh quality improvement, shape‐preserving deformation, and conformal parametrization. Our optimization framework provides a systematic way of building new solvers for geometry processing and produces similar or better results than state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Radial Symmetry Detection and Shape Characterization with the Multiscale Area Projection Transform
Authors: Giachetti A. , Lovato C. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe present a novel method to characterize 3D surfaces through the computation of a function called (multiscale) area projection transform, measuring the likelihood of points in the 3D space to be center of radial symmetry at selected scales (radii). The function is derived through a simple geometric framework based on parallel surfaces and can be easily computed on triangulated meshes. It measures locally the area of the surface well approximated by a sphere of radius R centered in the point and can be normalized in order to obtain a scale invariant radial symmetry enhancement transform. This transform can therefore be used to detect and characterize salient regions like approximately spherical and approximately cylindrical surface parts and, being robust against holes and missing parts, it is suitable for real world applications e.g. anatomical features detection. Furthermore, its histograms can be effectively used to build a global shape descriptor that provides very good results in shape retrieval experiments.
Co‐Segmentation of 3D Shapes via Subspace Clustering
Authors: Hu Ruizhen , Fan Lubin , Liu Ligang 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe present a novel algorithm for automatically co‐segmenting a set of shapes from a common family into consistent parts. Starting from over‐segmentations of shapes, our approach generates the segmentations by grouping the primitive patches of the shapes directly and obtains their correspondences simultaneously. The core of the algorithm is to compute an affinity matrix where each entry encodes the similarity between two patches, which is measured based on the geometric features of patches. Instead of concatenating the different features into one feature descriptor, we formulate co‐segmentation into a subspace clustering problem in multiple feature spaces. Specifically, to fuse multiple features, we propose a new formulation of optimization with a consistent penalty, which facilitates both the identification of most similar patches and selection of master features for two similar patches. Therefore the affinity matrices for various features are sparsity‐consistent and the similarity between a pair of patches may be determined by part of (instead of all) features. Experimental results have shown how our algorithm jointly extracts consistent parts across the collection in a good manner.
Mean Curvature Skeletons
Authors: Tagliasacchi Andrea , Alhashim Ibraheem , Olson Matt , Zhang Hao 
Published: August 2012

AbstractInspired by recent developments in contraction‐based curve skeleton extraction, we formulate the skeletonization problem via mean curvature flow (MCF). While the classical application of MCF is surface fairing, we take advantage of its area‐minimizing characteristic to drive the curvature flow towards the extreme so as to collapse the input mesh geometry and obtain a skeletal structure. By analyzing the differential characteristics of the flow, we reveal that MCF locally increases shape anisotropy. This justifies the use of curvature motion for skeleton computation, and leads to the generation of what we call “mean curvature skeletons”. To obtain a stable and efficient discretization, we regularize the surface mesh by performing local remeshing via edge splits and collapses. Simplifying mesh connectivity throughout the motion leads to more efficient computation and avoids numerical instability arising from degeneracies in the triangulation. In addition, the detection of collapsed geometry is facilitated by working with simplified mesh connectivity and monitoring potential non‐manifold edge collapses. With topology simplified throughout the flow, minimal post‐processing is required to convert the collapsed geometry to a curve. Formulating skeletonization via MCF allows us to incorporate external energy terms easily, resulting in a constrained flow. We define one such energy term using the Voronoi medial skeleton and obtain a medially centred curve skeleton. We call the intermediate results of our skeletonization motion meso‐skeletons; these consist of a mixture of curves and surface sheets as appropriate to the local 3D geometry they capture.
Can Mean‐Curvature Flow be Modified to be Non‐singular?
Authors: Kazhdan Michael , Solomon Jake , Ben‐Chen Mirela 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis work considers the question of whether mean‐curvature flow can be modified to avoid the formation of singularities. We analyze the finite‐elements discretization and demonstrate why the original flow can result in numerical instability due to division by zero. We propose a variation on the flow that removes the numerical instability in the discretization and show that this modification results in a simpler expression for both the discretized and continuous formulations. We discuss the properties of the modified flow and present empirical evidence that not only does it define a stable surface evolution for genus‐zero surfaces, but that the evolution converges to a conformal parameterization of the surface onto the sphere.
Time‐Discrete Geodesics in the Space of Shells
Authors: Heeren B. , Rumpf M. , Wardetzky M. , Wirth B. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractBuilding on concepts from continuum mechanics, we offer a computational model for geodesics in the space of thin shells, with a metric that reflects viscous dissipation required to physically deform a thin shell. Different from previous work, we incorporate bending contributions into our deformation energy on top of membrane distortion terms in order to obtain a physically sound notion of distance between shells, which does not require additional smoothing. Our bending energy formulation depends on the so‐called relative Weingarten map, for which we provide a discrete analogue based on principles of discrete differential geometry. Our computational results emphasize the strong impact of physical parameters on the evolution of a shell shape along a geodesic path.
Parallel Blue‐noise Sampling by Constrained Farthest Point Optimization
Authors: Chen Renjie , Gotsman Craig 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe describe a fast sampling algorithm for generating uniformly‐distributed point patterns with good blue noise characteristics. The method, based on constrained farthest point optimization, is provably optimal and may be easily parallelized, resulting in an algorithm whose performance/quality tradeoff is superior to other state‐of‐the‐art approaches.
Feature‐Preserving Reconstruction of Singular Surfaces
Authors: Dey T. K. , Ge X. , Que Q. , Safa I. , Wang L. , Wang Y. 
Published: August 2012

AbstractReconstructing a surface mesh from a set of discrete point samples is a fundamental problem in geometric modeling. It becomes challenging in presence of ‘singularities’ such as boundaries, sharp features, and non‐manifolds. A few of the current research in reconstruction have addressed handling some of these singularities, but a unified approach to handle them all is missing. In this paper we allow the presence of various singularities by requiring that the sampled object is a collection of smooth surface patches with boundaries that can meet or intersect.Our algorithm first identifies and reconstructs the features where singularities occur. Next, it reconstructs the surface patches containing these feature curves. The identification and reconstruction of feature curves are achieved by a novel combination of the Gaussian weighted graph Laplacian and the Reeb graphs. The global reconstruction is achieved by a method akin to the well known Cocone reconstruction, but with weighted Delaunay triangulation that allows protecting the feature samples with balls. We provide various experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our feature‐preserving singular surface reconstruction algorithm.
Empathy and values as predictors of care development
Authors: JUUJÄRVI SOILE , MYYRY LIISA , PESSO KAIJA 
Published: August 2012

Juujärvi, S., Myyry, L. & Pesso, K. (2012). Empathy and values as predictors of care development. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 413–420.This study investigates values and affective empathy as predictors for care‐based moral development. Fifty‐three students from a university of applied sciences were interviewed with Skoe’s Ethic of Care Interview at the beginning of their studies and two years later. Value priorities were measured by Schwartz et al.’s Portrait Value Questionnaire, empathy variables by Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and feelings of sympathy were rated using a real‐life moral conflict. The results showed that students in care‐oriented fields progressed in care reasoning. Real‐life sympathy and the value of self‐direction positively predicted development in care reasoning, whereas personal distress was a negative predictor. The results indicate that care‐based moral development is more closely connected with affective empathy than personal values. Individuals who feel empathy for others, and who prefer independent thinking and action, achieve the greatest gains in care development. In conclusion, educators should encourage students’ empathy and moral reasoning in authentic moral conflicts.
The relationship between the FFM and personality disorders in a personnel selection sample
Authors: NEDERSTRÖM MIKAEL , FURNHAM ADRIAN 
Published: August 2012

Nederström, M. & Furnham A. (2012). The relationship between the FFM and personality disorders in a personnel selection sample.Scandinavian Journal of Psychology53, 421–429.The relationships between the Five Factor Model (FFM) personality and personality disorders were investigated. A sample of real‐life job applicants completed two personality questionnaires with different theoretical backgrounds in a psychological assessment center. The job applicants provided self‐descriptions both on the FFM inventory and on a personality disorder trait inventory. A subsample of these candidates was interviewed by expert psychologists upon entrance to the assessment center. The psychologists assessed the same disorder traits of each target in job interviews. Both self‐descriptions were used to predict the expert assessments. The results demonstrated considerable overlap between the FFM measures of normal and measures of abnormal personality in both samples and regardless of assessment method.
Peasantry and Entrepreneurship As Frames for Farming: Reflections on Farmers' Values and Agricultural Policy Discourses
Authors: Niska Miira , Vesala Hannu T. , Vesala Kari Mikko 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis article takes a frame analytic approach to the popular peasant–entrepreneur typology and focuses on the much‐studied topic of farmers' values. Peasantry is often thought to represent traditional or ‘indigenous’ style of farming, while entrepreneurship is associated with values injected and promoted by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In this article, peasantry and entrepreneurship are approached as frames for farming, i.e., social constructions that can be used to make sense of farming. The aim is to study whether farmers themselves frame farming in line with the peasant ethos and whether one can detect the impact of the policy discourses in farmers' framings. The study utilises value survey data from Finland and concludes that even though Finnish farmers' framings do not straightforwardly reflect the peasant–entrepreneur typology, they are highly compatible with the multifunctionality policy discourse. The results call for further attention to the novel framings new peasantry and ecological entrepreneurship that are compatible with the multifunctionality discourse.
Closing the regulatory regress: GMP accreditation in stem cell laboratories
Authors: Stephens Neil , Lewis Jamie , Atkinson Paul 
Published: August 2012

AbstractContemporary biomedical research is conducted amidst regimes of national and transnational regulation. Regulation, like rules generally, cannot specify all the practicalities of their application. Regulations for biomedical research impose considerable constraints on laboratories and others. In principle, there is a never‐ending regress whereby scientists have to provide increasingly more guarantees that protocols have been followed, standards reached and maintained, and rules adhered to. In practice, regulatory regress is not the actual outcome, as actors find ways of establishing closure for all practical purposes. Based on ethnographic case studies of two sites of biomedical work – the UK Stem Cell Bank and an anonymous laboratory working with primary human foetal material – this article documents the possibility of regulatory regress and strategies aimed at its closure.
Constructing denial as a disease object: accounts by medical students meeting dying patients
Authors: Borgstrom Erica , Barclay Stephen , Cohn Simon 
Published: August 2012

AbstractAs part of the general shift in contemporary healthcare from a focus on specific diseases to treating the whole person, doctors are now expected to be reflective and engage empathetically with patients. Yet, the context of end of life potentially confounds this commitment. Here we draw on the written submissions of UK medical students confronting dying patients to offer insight into a range of entangled issues. Although the exercise is designed to highlight the value of listening to patients and to encourage reflective practice, the experience of ultimately not being able to treat or cure frequently challenges the students’ understanding of the central purpose of clinical care and their future role as doctors. Because they invariably draw on the notion of ‘good death’, whenever they have to make sense of patient behaviour deemed as irrational or obstructive the students employ the concept of ‘denial’ as a strategic category. In this context denial is referred to as a disease‐like object that the students feel they can, and should, diagnose and treat. Such conceptual operations consequently illustrate a tension arising from trying to acknowledge the value of a whole‐patient approach while simultaneously reproducing the emphasis placed on identifying those discrete elements that determine legitimate medical intervention.
‘If you have a soul, you will volunteer at once’: gendered expectations of duty to care during pandemics
Authors: Godderis Rebecca , Rossiter Kate 
Published: August 2012

AbstractDuty to care has been identified as a pressing ethical issue in contemporary discussions of pandemic preparedness; however, nuanced discussions of this complicated issue are relatively limited. This article presents historical data from the experience of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Brantford, Ontario in Canada, demonstrating that, in the face of an actual pandemic, the particular construction of duty to care as both moral and gendered meant that women were placed at a greater personal risk during this time. Given that women still dominate the front lines of healthcare work, we argue that it is critical for current stakeholders to reflect on how these historical patterns may be replicated in contemporary pandemic planning and response.
Key Findings of the NTM‐IMPACT Project
Authors: Orden David , Beghin John , Henry Guy 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis Introduction summarises some of the key research findings of the papers in this special issue of The World Economy drawn from a European Commission co‐funded project on non‐tariff measures (NTMs) affecting agri‐food trade of the EU and its trade partners. The project created a large symmetric international database of regulations and standards, constructed measures of their heterogeneity and evaluated the effects of heterogeneity on trade. Cases studies for selected dairy, meat, and fruit and vegetable products complement the aggregate analysis. The findings suggest that at least for some import standards, the harmonisation of regulations will increase trade. Additional findings address the potential protectionist leaning of some NTMs, their welfare impact, third‐country consequences of their imposition, interface of NTMs with tariffs and other border measures, negotiation strategies, North–South dimensions of NTM impacts and the value added from the application of diverse and novel models to the assessment of their effects.
The Impact of Regulatory Heterogeneity on Agri‐food Trade
Authors: Winchester Niven , Rau Marie‐Luise , Goetz Christian , Larue Bruno , Otsuki Tsunehiro , Shutes Karl , Wieck Christine , Burnquist Heloisa L. , Pinto de Souza Maurício J. , Nunes de Faria Rosane 
Published: August 2012

AbstractWe estimate the impact of regulatory heterogeneity on agri‐food trade using a gravity analysis that relies on detailed data on non‐tariff measures (NTMs) collected by the NTM‐Impact project. The data cover a broad range of import requirements for agricultural and food products for the EU and nine of its major trade partners. We find that trade is significantly reduced when importing countries have stricter maximum residue limits (MRLs) for plant products than exporting countries. For most other measures, due to their qualitative nature, we were unable to infer whether the importer has stricter standards relative to the exporter, and we do not find a robust relationship between these measures and trade. Our findings suggest that, at least for some import standards, harmonising regulations will increase trade. We also conclude that tariff reductions remain an effective means to increase trade even when NTMs abound.
Convergence of US and EU Production Practices Under the New FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
Authors: Humphrey John 
Published: August 2012

AbstractPrivate standards relating to food safety have become an important element in trade in fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly in Europe. Discussions of the positive and negative impacts of such standards on farmers in developing countries are associated with the way they are implemented and enforced, with particular emphasis being placed on how these standards introduce prescriptive controls at the farm level backed up by audit and third‐party certification. Enactment in the United States of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in January 2011 adds a new element to the discussion of private standards. The Act mandates the introduction of risk‐based controls on domestic farms for fruits and vegetables deemed high risk. It also places an obligation on food importers to ensure that their suppliers observe equivalent levels of safety controls. The FSMA is likely to lead to farm‐level controls and certification as seen with private food safety standards as they have developed in Europe.
The Relationship between Exchange Rates and Interest Rate Differentials: A Wavelet Approach
Authors: Scott Hacker R. , Karlsson Hyunjoo Kim , Månsson Kristofer 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis paper uses wavelet analysis to investigate the relationship between the spot exchange rate and interest rate differential for seven pairs of countries, with a small country, Sweden, included in each case. The key empirical results show that there tends to be a negative relationship between the spot exchange rate (domestic‐currency price of foreign currency) and nominal interest rate differential (approximately the domestic interest rate minus the foreign interest rate) at the shortest timescales, while a positive relationship is more frequently found at the longest timescales. This indicates that among models of exchange rate determination using the asset approach, the sticky‐price models are supported in the short run and flexible‐price models in the long run.
Taxation of Foreign Profits with Heterogeneous Multinational Firms
Authors: Becker Johannes 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis paper analyses optimal taxation of foreign profits using a model with heterogeneous multinational firms that serve a foreign market through exports or foreign direct investment (FDI). If a firm switches from exporting to FDI, domestic activity and tax payments may decrease, stay constant or even rise because of intra‐firm trade. It turns out that, in contrast to recent claims, in all three cases, the optimal tax system implies full taxation after deduction of foreign tax payments. If the country accounts for the effects of its policy on the foreign price level, the case for taxing foreign income becomes even stronger. However, the globally optimal tax system may require exemption of foreign income from tax.
The European Redistributive State and a European Law of Struggle
Authors: Chalmers Damian 
Published: August 2012

Abstract: Its more central involvement in the government of economic and fiscal policy requires a new public law for the EU. This must be alive to the positive, negative and intractable qualities of conflicts associated with these fields. Such a law would internalise conflicts within the political process so that their irresolution and ongoing struggle become the dynamo endowing the Union with qualities of political engagement, imagination and justice. The recent reforms make mediation of conflicts a central mission of the Union but still use the public law structures of the regulatory state which lack these three qualities.
Transnational Solidarity and the Mediation of Conflicts of Justice in Europe
Authors: de Witte Floris 
Published: August 2012

AbstractThis contribution analyses the conflicts of justice that are becoming increasingly visible in Europe. It argues that while European Union (EU) law can be understood as an instrument for the incorporation of the demands of justice and the articulation of ‘the good’ beyond the nation state, it also potentially skews the distributive criteria and assumptions of justice that underlie the national welfare state. In light of the absence of a transnational political system that can bound such conflicts of justice, this article suggests that the capacity of the EU to contribute to, rather than detract from, the attainment of justice depends on the careful articulation and institutionalisation of the different types of transnational solidarity that exist in Europe.