bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shape‐simplifying Image Abstraction
Authors: Kang Henry , Lee Seungyong 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper presents a simple algorithm for producing stylistic abstraction of a photograph. Based on mean curvature flow in conjunction with shock filter, our method simplifies both shapes and colors simultaneously while preserving important features. In particular, we develop a constrained mean curvature flow, which outperforms the original mean curvature flow in conveying the directionality of features and shape boundaries. The proposed algorithm is iterative and incremental, and therefore the level of abstraction is intuitively controlled. Optionally, simple user masking can be incorporated into the algorithm to selectively control the abstraction speed and to protect particular regions. Experimental results show that our method effectively produces highly abstract yet feature‐preserving illustrations from photographs.
Sketching MLS Image Deformations On the GPU
Authors: Weng Yanlin , Shi Xiaohan , Bao Hujun , Zhang Jun 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn this paper, we present an image editing tool that allows the user to deform images using a sketch‐based interface. The user simply sketches a set of source curves in the input image, and also some target curves that the source curves should be deformed to. Then the moving least squares (MLS) deformation technique [SMW06] is adapted to produce realistic deformations while satisfying the curves' positional constraints. We also propose a scheme to reduce image fold‐overs in MLS deformations. Our system has a very intuitive user interface, generates physically plausible deformations, and can be easily implemented on the GPU for real‐time performance.
Capturing Intention‐based Full‐Frame Video Stabilization
Authors: Chen Bing‐Yu , Lee Ken‐Yi , Huang Wei‐Ting , Lin Jong‐Shan 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAnnoying shaky motion is one of the significant problems in home videos, since hand shake is an unavoidable effect when capturing by using a hand‐held camcorder. Video stabilization is an important technique to solve this problem, but the stabilized videos resulting from some current methods usually have decreased resolution and are still not so stable. In this paper, we propose a robust and practical method of full‐frame video stabilization while considering user's capturing intention to remove not only the high frequency shaky motions but also the low frequency unexpected movements. To guess the user's capturing intention, we first consider the regions of interest in the video to estimate which regions or objects the user wants to capture, and then use a polyline to estimate a new stable camcorder motion path while avoiding the user's interested regions or objects being cut out. Then, we fill the dynamic and static missing areas caused by frame alignment from other frames to keep the same resolution and quality as the original video. Furthermore, we smooth the discontinuous regions by using a three‐dimensional Poisson‐based method. After the above automatic operations, a full‐frame stabilized video can be achieved and the important regions and objects can also be preserved.
Progressive Interpolation based on Catmull‐Clark Subdivision Surfaces
Authors: Chen Zhongxian , Luo Xiaonan , Tan Le , Ye Binghong , Chen Jiapeng 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe introduce a scheme for constructing a Catmull‐Clark subdivision surface that interpolates the vertices of a quadrilateral mesh with arbitrary topology. The basic idea here is to progressively modify the vertices of an original mesh to generate a new control mesh whose limit surface interpolates all vertices in the original mesh. The scheme is applicable to meshes with any size and any topology, and it has the advantages of both a local scheme and a global scheme.
Interpolatory and Mixed Loop Schemes
Authors: Shi Zhuo , Lin Shujin , Luo Xiaonan , Wang Renhong 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper presents a new interpolatory Loop scheme and an unified and mixed interpolatory and approximation subdivision scheme for triangular meshes. The former which is C1 continuous as same as the modified Butterfly scheme has better effect in some complex models. The latter can be used to solve the “popping effect” problem when switching between meshes at different levels of resolution. The scheme generates surfaces coincident with the Loop subdivision scheme in the limit condition having the coefficient k equal 0. When k equal 1, it will be changed into a new interpolatory subdivision scheme. Eigen‐structure analysis demonstrates that subdivision surfaces generated using the new scheme are C1 continuous. All these are achieved only by changing the value of a parameter k. The method is a completely simple one without constructing and solving equations. It can achieve local interpolation and solve the “popping effect” problem which are the method's advantages over the modified Butterfly scheme.
Part‐type Segmentation of Articulated Voxel‐Shapes using the Junction Rule
Authors: Reniers Dennie , Telea Alexandru 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe present a part‐type segmentation method for articulated voxel‐shapes based on curve skeletons. Shapes are considered to consist of several simpler, intersecting shapes. Our method is based on the junction rule: the observation that two intersecting shapes generate an additional junction in their joined curve‐skeleton near the place of intersection. For each curve‐skeleton point, we construct a piecewise‐geodesic loop on the shape surface. Starting from the junctions, we search along the curve skeleton for points whose associated loops make for suitable part cuts. The segmentations are robust to noise and discretization artifacts, because the curve skeletonization incorporates a single user‐parameter to filter spurious curve‐skeleton branches. Furthermore, segment borders are smooth and minimally twisting by construction. We demonstrate our method on several real‐world examples and compare it to existing part‐type segmentation methods.
Automatic Facsimile of Chinese Calligraphic Writings
Authors: Xu Songhua , Jiang Hao , Jin Tao , Lau Francis C.M. , Pan Yunhe 
Published: January 2009

AbstractTo imitate personal handwritings is non‐trivial. In this paper, we attempt to address the challenging problem of automatic handwriting facsimile. We focus on Chinese calligraphic writings due to their rich variation in style, high artistic values and also the fact that they are among the most difficult candidates for the problem. We first analyze the structures and shapes of the constituent components, i.e., strokes and radicals, of characters in sample calligraphic writings by the same writer. To generate calligraphic writing in the style of the writer, we facsimile the individual character elements as well as the layout relationships used to compose the character, both in the writer's personal writing style. To test our algorithm, we compare our facsimileing results of Chinese calligraphic writings with the original writings. Our results are found to be acceptable for most cases, some of which are difficult to differentiate from the real ones. More results and supplementary materials are provided in our project website athttp://www.cs.hku.hk/~songhua/facsimile/.
Robust and Efficient Wave Simulations on Deforming Meshes
Authors: Angst Roland , Thuerey Nils , Botsch Mario , Gross Markus 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe goal of this paper is to enable the interactive simulation of phenomena such as animated fluid characters. While full 3D fluid solvers achieve this with control algorithms, these 3D simulations are usually too costly for real‐time environments. In order to achieve our goal, we reduce the problem from a three‐ to a two‐dimensional one, and make use of the shallow water equations to simulate surface waves that can be solved very efficiently. In addition to a low runtime cost, stability is likewise crucial for interactive applications. Hence, we make use of an implicit time integration scheme to obtain a robust solver. To ensure a low energy dissipation, we apply an Implicit Newmark time integration scheme. We propose a general formulation of the underlying equations that is tailored towards the use with an Implicit Newmark integrator. Furthermore, we gain efficiency by making use of a direct solver. Due to the generality of our formulation, the fluid simulation can be coupled interactively with arbitrary external forces, such as forces caused by inertia or collisions. We will discuss the properties of our algorithm, and demonstrate its robustness with simulations on strongly deforming meshes.
Simulating Inextensible Cloth Using Impulses
Authors: Ye Juntao 
Published: January 2009

AbstractComputer simulation of cloth is often plagued by springs being over‐stretched. The evaluation of impulses to prevent over‐stretching is explained step‐by‐step. Our impulse approach controls the length of springs by a nonlinear system and then a novel linearization of it into a symmetric positive definite system. The cloth/solid collision handling is integrated into the linearized system seamlessly. Some results based on this method are also presented.
Smart Motion Synthesis
Authors: Oshita Masaki 
Published: January 2009

AbstractCreating long motion sequences is a time‐consuming task even when motion capture equipment or motion editing tools are used. In this paper, we propose a system for creating a long motion sequence by combining elementary motion clips. The user is asked to first input motions on a timeline. The system then automatically generates a continuous and natural motion. Our system employs four motion synthesis methods: motion transition, motion connection, motion adaptation, and motion composition. Based on the constraints between the feet of the animated character and the ground, and the timing of the input motions, the appropriate method is determined for each pair of overlapped or sequential motions. As the user changes the arrangement of the motion clips, the system interactively changes the output motion. Alternatively, the user can make the system execute an input motion as soon as possible so that it follows the previous motion smoothly. Using our system, users can make use of existing motion clips. Because the entire process is automatic, even novices can easily use our system. A prototype system demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.
Local Volume Preservation for Skinned Characters
Authors: Rohmer Damien , Hahmann Stefanie , Cani Marie‐Paule 
Published: January 2009

AbstractGenerating plausible deformations of a character skin within the standard production pipeline is a challenge. This paper presents a volume preservation method dedicated to skinned characters. As usual, the character is defined by a skin mesh at some rest pose and an animation skeleton. At each animation step, skin deformations are first computed using standard SSD. Our method corrects the result using a set of local deformations which model the fold‐over‐free, constant volume behavior of soft tissues. This is done geometrically, without the need of any physically‐based simulation. To make the method easily applicable, we also provide automatic ways to extract the local regions where volume is to be preserved and to compute adequate skinning weights, both based on the character's morphology.
A Resolution Independent Approach for the Accurate Rendering of Grooved Surfaces
Authors: Bosch C. , Pueyo X. , Mérillou S. , Ghazanfarpour D. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper presents a method for the accurate rendering of path‐based surface details such as grooves, scratches and similar features. The method is based on a continuous representation of the features in texture space, and the rendering is performed by means of two approaches: one for isolated or non‐intersecting grooves and another for special situations like intersections or ends. The proposed solutions perform correct antialiasing and take into account visibility and inter‐reflections with little computational effort and memory requirements. Compared to anisotropic BRDFs and scratch models, we have no limitations on the distribution of grooves over the surface or their geometry, thus allowing more general patterns. Compared to displacement mapping techniques, we can efficiently simulate features of all sizes without requiring additional geometry or multiple representations.
Gradient‐based Interpolation and Sampling for Real‐time Rendering of Inhomogeneous, Single‐scattering Media
Authors: Ren Zhong , Zhou Kun , Lin Stephen , Guo Baining 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe present a real‐time rendering algorithm for inhomogeneous, single scattering media, where all‐frequency shading effects such as glows, light shafts, and volumetric shadows can all be captured. The algorithm first computes source radiance at a small number of sample points in the medium, then interpolates these values at other points in the volume using a gradient‐based scheme that is efficiently applied by sample splatting. The sample points are dynamically determined based on a recursive sample splitting procedure that adapts the number and locations of sample points for accurate and efficient reproduction of shading variations in the medium. The entire pipeline can be easily implemented on the GPU to achieve real‐time performance for dynamic lighting and scenes. Rendering results of our method are shown to be comparable to those from ray tracing.
Photon‐driven Irradiance Cache
Authors: Brouillat J. , Gautron P. , Bouatouch K. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe describe a global illumination method combining two well known techniques: photon mapping and irradiance caching. The photon mapping method has the advantage of being view independent but requires a costly additional rendering pass, called final gathering. As for irradiance caching, it is view‐dependent, irradiance is only computed and cached on surfaces of the scene as viewed by a single camera. To compute records covering the entire scene, the irradiance caching method has to be run for many cameras, which takes a long time and is a tedious task since the user has to place the needed cameras manually. Our method exploits the advantages of these two methods and avoids any intervention of the user. It computes a refined, view‐independent irradiance cache from a photon map. The global illumination solution is then rendered interactively using radiance cache splatting.
Interactive Global Illumination for Deformable Geometry in CUDA
Authors: Schmitz Arne , Tavenrath Markus , Kobbelt Leif 
Published: January 2009

AbstractInteractive global illumination for fully deformable scenes with dynamic relighting is currently a very elusive goal in the area of realistic rendering. In this work we propose a system that is based on explicit visibility calculations and which is highly efficient and scalable. The rendering equation defines the light exchange between surfaces, which we approximate by subsampling. By utilizing the power of modern parallel GPUs using the CUDA framework we achieve interactive frame rates. Since we update the global illumination continuously in an asynchronous fashion, we maintain interactivity at all times for moderately complex scenes. We show that we can achieve higher frame rates for scenes with moving light sources, diffuse indirect illumination and dynamic geometry than other current methods, while maintaining a high image quality.
Business Cycles and Net Buying Pressure in the S&P 500 Futures Options
Authors: Chan Kam C. , Chen Carl R. , Lung Peter P. 
Published: January 2009

Abstract We analyse the cyclical behaviour and intraday pattern of net buying pressure in the S&P 500 futures options market. The results suggest that the net buying pressure of puts is counter‐cyclical and is more intense during contraction periods. The trading profits for selling put options during contraction periods thus far exceed those during expansion periods. Net buying pressure also exhibits an intraday pattern. Trading profits in the early trading sessions are higher than those for the rest of the day. In addition, we show that hourly‐basis hedging yields smaller profits than daily‐basis hedging, which suggests that the trading profits based on daily‐basis hedging may contain a risk premium associated with discretely rebalanced ‘risk‐free’ option portfolios.
Cost‐effectiveness of HIV nonoccupational post‐exposure prophylaxis in Australia
Authors: Guinot D , Ho MT , Poynten IM , McAllister J , Pierce A , Pell C , Grulich AE 
Published: January 2009

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to determine the cost‐effectiveness of HIV nonoccupational post‐exposure prophylaxis (NPEP) in Australia.MethodsA retrospective cost analysis of a population‐based observational cohort of 1601 participants eligible for NPEP in Australia between 1998 and 2004 was carried out. We modelled NPEP treatment costs and combined them with effectiveness outcomes to calculate the cost per seroconversion avoided. We estimated the cost‐utility of the programme, and sensitivity and threshold analysis was performed on key variables.ResultsThe average NPEP cost per patient was A$1616, of which A$848 (52%) was for drugs, A$331 (21%) for consultations, A$225 (14%) for pathology and A$212 (13%) for other costs. The cost per seroconversion avoided in the cohort was A$1 647 476 in our base case analysis, and A$512 410 when transmission rates were set at their maximal values. The cost per quality‐adjusted life‐year (QALY) was between A$40 673 and A$176 772, depending on the risks of HIV transmission assumed.ConclusionsIn our base case, NPEP was not a cost‐effective intervention compared with the widely accepted Australian threshold of A$50 000 per QALY. It was only cost‐effective after receptive unprotected anal intercourse exposure to an HIV‐positive source. Although NPEP was a relatively well‐targeted intervention in Australia, its cost‐effectiveness could be improved by further targeting high‐risk exposures.
Implications of and perspectives on HIV surveillance using a serological method to measure recent HIV infections in newly diagnosed individuals: results from a pilot study in Berlin, Germany, in 2005–2007
Authors: Bätzing‐Feigenbaum J , Loschen S , Gohlke‐Micknis S , Hintsche B , Rausch M , Hillenbrand H , Cordes C , Poggensee G , Kücherer C , Hamouda O 
Published: January 2009

ObjectivesThis cross‐sectional study was designed to pilot the analysis of clinical data, knowledge about and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, and prevention and risk behaviour in persons recently infected with HIV.MethodsBlood samples and demographic, laboratory, clinical and behavioural data were collected from patients with newly diagnosed HIV infections. The BED IgG‐capture ELISA (BED‐CEIA) was used to determine the recency of infection.ResultsRecent HIV infections contributed 54% [95% confidence interval (CI) 45; 64%] of infections in men who have sex with men (MSM) and 16% (95% CI 0; 39%) of infections in patients with other transmission risks (P=0.041). Recently infected MSM were characterized by younger age and higher viral load as compared with MSM who had longstanding infections (P=0.011 and 0.005, respectively). Symptoms during primary infection and patients' assumptions with regard to time of infection were significantly correlated with test results indicating whether or not the HIV infection was recently acquired (P<0.001).ConclusionsCross‐sectional surveillance of recent HIV infections proved to be relevant to the identification of current risks for acquiring HIV infection. The high proportion of recent HIV infections in MSM and the even higher proportion in MSM younger than 30 years indicate ongoing HIV transmission in this group. The method will be used in future national HIV surveillance in Germany.
THE FOUNDING ABYSS OF COLONIAL HISTORY: OR “THE ORIGIN AND PRINCIPLE OF THE NAME OF PERU”
Authors: THURNER MARK 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe name of “Peru” and the entities and beings it names first appeared “in an abyss of history” on “the edge of the world” in the early 1500s. In this essay I ask what hermeneutical truths or meanings the strange event that made the name of Peru both famous and historical holds for—and withholds from—any understanding of the meaning of colonial history. By way of a reading of Inca garcilaso de la Vega's rendering, in Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609) of “the origin and principle of the name of Peru,” I suggest that Peru's name is itself an inaugural event that marks the founding void or abyss of colonial and postcolonial history, which is to say, of modern global history. This événemential void is not unoccupied, however. It is inhabited by another founding, mythopoetic figure of history: “the barbarian” whose speech is registered in the historian's text.
Dermatofibroma: a possible model of local fibrosis with epithelial/mesenchymal cell interaction
Authors: Yamamoto T 
Published: January 2009

AbstractDermatofibromas are benign dermal nodules usually seen on the extremities; however, whether a dermatofibroma is a reactive fibrous hyperplasia or a true neoplasm is still unclear. Fibrous type dermatofibromas might be regarded as the symptom of local fibrotic processes and thus present a possible model of local fibrosis. Interaction between proliferated dermatofibroma fibroblasts and overlying elongated epidermis suggests a relationship between keratinocytes and mesenchymal cells. We herein describe current insights into the pathogenesis of dermatofibromas and explore the possible involvement of immunocytes around fibroblasts and effector cells which play an important role in the development of dermatofibromas.Conflicts of interestNone declared
The JCMS Annual Lecture: National Welfare States and European Integration: In Search of a ‘Virtuous Nesting’*
Authors: FERRERA MAURIZIO 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn recent years the EU has been witnessing a growing tension between the logic of ‘closure’, which underpins national welfare systems, and the logic of ‘opening’, which guides the integration process, especially in the economic sphere. Are there ways of mitigating such tension, in order to avoid negative consequences in terms of performance and legitimacy? The article outlines a strategy of institutional reconciliation between the two logics, based on a more explicit and effective ‘nesting’ of the nation‐based welfare state within the overall spatial architecture of the Union. While recognizing the important role played by free movement and competition rules, this nesting strategy entails the strengthening of an EU ‘social space’, capable of safeguarding the closure preconditions for multi‐level social sharing arrangements.
Altiero Spinelli and the Idea of the US Constitution as a Model for Europe: The Promises and Pitfalls of an Analogy
Authors: GLENCROSS ANDREW 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAltiero Spinelli believed European integration needed to draw inspiration from the US constitutional founding. The article uses Spinelli's analogy to assess how useful it is to compare the predicament of European integration with US constitutional politics. The analysis reveals both how Spinelli exaggerated the extent to which the US Constitution established and delimited federal political authority once and for all as well the way in which, despite its functionalist non‐constitutional origins, the EU has experienced its own brand of constitutional politics. The analogy is thus most useful in showing how both polities faced similar tensions over the process of constitutionalism, restraining unit sovereignty and the institutionalization of popular sovereignty at the federal level.
Securitization and Risk at the EU Border: The Origins of FRONTEX*
Authors: NEAL ANDREW W. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractDocumenting the origins, remit and practices of the European external borders agency FRONTEX, this article argues that FRONTEX is not the product of ‘securitizing’ links between terrorism, security, migration and borders made by EU institutions in response to 9/11, but rather of their failure. In so doing, the article critiques securization theory in comparison to the alternative modality of risk.