bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rational Zoom of Bit Maps Using B‐Spline Interpdation in Computerized 2‐D Animation
Authors: Durand Charles X. , Faguy Daniel 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper describes the application of B‐spline interpolation to the problem of rational transformation in computerized 2‐D animation. The technique described herewith can also be applied to the resolution independence problem which arises when the same production workstation is used to produce animation series to be recorded on variable film sizes This article fully explains our solution to the problem of rational zoom. An algorithm has been written to speed up computations by spreading the computing load among similar technical workstations hooked up in a network. Large magnifications of professional quality can be achieved in very little time and very smooth animation effects can be obtained by applying rational zooms with magnification coefficients that are a time function.
A Prolog Rule‐Based System for cartographic Name Placement
Authors: Cook Anthony C. , Jones Christopher B. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractManual name placement is an extremely time consuming task and has been one of the most difficult aspects of the map production process to automate. It is complicated by the large number of rules required for the selection and placement of names. A hybrid Prolog/Fortrau rule‐based system is described for placing names on a variety of map types. It uses a set of Prolog primitives for spatial search and name placement operations. The Ordnance Survey's 1:625000 scale digital dataset has been used to illustrate the application of rules for the selection of labels as well as for controlling their size and orientation. The application to other types of maps and diagrams is also briefly described.
IFSs and Interactive Image Synthesis
Authors: Horn Alastair N. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractDeterministic Fractal geometry provides a framework for describing both the geometry of man‐made structures and the geometry of nature.Certain deterministic Fractals which exist in the plane may be “partitioned” into a number of “tiles” equivalent to the whole under some geometric mapping. We term such Fractals self‐tiling images.We describe a scheme called Iterated Function Systems (IFSs) which an represent self‐tiling images. IFSs make explicit the mappings which take a self‐tiling image into its tiles.We show how a self‐tiling image exists as the limit of both random and deterministic processes based upon its associated IFS, and exploit massive SIMD parallelism in image generation on the AMT DAP.We also attempt to answer the question: “Can one synthesise images by the interactive graphical manipulation of a representation of IFSs?”, and present our interactive system for image synthesis (ISIS).
Relationships between Image Synthesis and Analysis Towards Unification?
Authors: Pun Thierry , Blake Edwin 
Published: October 2007

AbstractImage analysis and image synthesis have evolved on separate tracks, at different paces. There is however an increasing awareness of the numerous and growing overlaps between the two fields. By detailing the various areas where such overlaps might be found this report wishes to promote unification of analysis and synthesis into “imagery”.Three ways of looking for common ground are presented: commontheoretical background, commonareas of study, and commonapplications. They show that the distinction between image synthesis and image analysis has outlived its usefulness. The absolute differences can be discarded; what remains is a great commonality of interest.
Node Partitioning in an Octree Display Pipeline
Authors: Heal B.W. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe node partitioning stage of a graphics pipeline to transform and display octree encoded objects is described. Its function is to accept a sequence of octree node codes, from which the hidden nodes have been removed, and to partition it into sets of nodes which are suitable for a multiprocessor rendering stage. Each set is capable of being processed and displayed independently.
Using GKS Concurrently: a Practical Solution
Authors: Flores J. Zamorano , Costoya F. Pérez , Pérez J. Carretero , Henriquez L.M. Gómez , Ambite A. Pérez 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper analyses the use of GKS with concurrent languages, showing the inherent problems that arise when working in a multitasking environment. A theoretical solution and its practical implementation are described.
GROWTH AREAS, GROWTH CENTRES AND REGIONAL CONVERSION*
Authors: Cameron Gordon C. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryFive arguments in favour of a growth area strategy have been analysed and though all of them lack empirical substance, they have certain merits on a priori grounds. Thus any policy which contributes, on the long‐run, to a more rapid concentration of a region's population into relatively large urban areas, is likely to create the conditions for servicing net and replacement demand for social/economic overhead capital at a low per capita cost. Moreover for a given subsidy cost, discriminatory investment in the dense, complex, urbanised areas of a region may maximise the flow of income to regional earners in the short‐run: attract the maximum flow of exogenous enterprise and capital; and give the best chance of creating a new export base which reduces the regional balance‐of‐payments deficit and provides sufficient job‐opportunities to restrain the flow out of the region of the economically active. In addition, the quality and content of shortterm regional planning may be improved if the mix and scheduling of public investment over time is given a rigorous spatial dimension. Thus, on all of these counts, there are convincing reasons for encouraging an especially rapid development of the relative large, dense interrelated urban areas and by contrast good reasons for a relative neglect of the small hinterland areas.
INCOMES POLICY
Authors: Routh Guy 
Published: October 2007

LLOYD ULMAN AND ROBERT J. FLANAGAN, Wage Restraint: A Study of Incomes Policies in Western Europe (University of California Press, 1971)JOAN MITCHELL, The National Board for Prices & Incomes (Secker & Warburg, 1972)ALLAN FELS, The British Prices and Incomes Board (Cambridge University Press, 1972)HUGH CLEGG, How to Run an Incomes Policy and Why We Made Such a Mess of the Lust One (Heinemann, 1971)MICHAEL PARKIN AND MICHAEL T. SUMNER (eds.), Incomes Policy and Inflation (Manchester University Press, 1972)FRANK BLACKABY (ed.), An Incomes Policy for Britain (Heinemann, 1972)
PORTFOLIO BEHAVIOUR AND ASSET PRICING IN A CHARACTERISTICS FRAMEWORK
Authors: BLAKE DAVID 
Published: October 2007

SummaryWe have applied the characteristics model to the problem of portfolio behaviour and asset pricing. By defining assets in terms of characteristics, we generated individual demands for assets which depended on the prices of assets, the technological relationship between assets and asset characteristics, and the individual's preferences for different characteristics. In general, the characteristics model cannot be readily aggregated across individuals. However, when we assumed that the assets‐characteristics technology had a simple form which was common to all individuals, market‐clearing conditions could be used to derive an asset pricing model. Finally, we showed that the characteristics model provides a unified approach to the problem of preference‐based portfolio behaviour and asset pricing. A number of existing models can be interpreted as characteristics models: the state‐preference model, the parameter‐preference model, the capital asset pricing model and the inter‐temporal capital asset pricing model.
FINANCIAL MARKET IMPERFECTIONS AND IRREGULAR GROWTH CYCLES
Authors: Gatti Domenico Delli , Gallegati Mauro 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIn this paper we analyze the generation of endogenous growth and irregular fluctuations in a simple New Keynesian model whose background assumptions are borrowed from a class of asymmetric information models popularized by Greenwald and Stiglitz. We extend the framework put forward by Greenwald and stiglitz taking explicitly into account technological progress as the engine of growth. We show how irregular endogenous fluctuations can arise around an endogenous trend: the traditional view of fluctuations as ‘short run’ phenomena must be abandoned in favour of models of fluctuating growth.
CHOICE OF PRODUCT TYPE BY STRATEGICALLY INTERDEPENDENT FIRMS
Authors: Gee J. M. Alec 
Published: October 2007

AstractThe paper analyses the degree of product differentiation between sigle product firms in alternative market equilibria. The equilibria are stable in the sense of Nash, and both non‐cooperative and tacitly collusive market outcomesare identified. The basic model follows the ‘address’ aproach to product differentiation, and the firms' strategic variables are choice of product type and price charged. When all firms are non‐cooperative, product gaps between firms are equal; but tacit collusion results in product gap variation between firms in Nash equilibrium. In all cases, profits for any firm are assumed to be proportional to the multiple of the product gaps between that firm and each of its two closest rivals.
SOME EVIDENCE ON MEAN REVERSION IN EX ANTE REAL INTEREST RATES
Authors: Moosa Imad A. , Bhatti Razzaque H. 
Published: October 2007

AstractEx ante real interest rates and their differentials are tested for mean reversion using quarterly data on three‐month treasury bill rates and consumer prices for 12 major industrial countries over the period 1972:l‐1993:3. The results are strongly supportive of mean reversion, particularly when less conventional tests are employed. The conclusion that can be derived from the empirical evidence is that goods, capital and foreign exchange markets have become highly integrated in the countries under consideration.
THE PRICE‐QUALITY RELATIONSHIP UNDER MONOPOLY AND COMPETITION
Authors: George Donald A. R. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe standard economic approaches (screening and signalling) to product quality imply an upward sloping relationship between price and product quality. In the case of screening models it is a relationship which applies to the product line of each individual firm. In the case of signalling models it applies across firms. Both types of model have their shortcomings. An alternative approach is presented which involves endogenising the quality control process. Firms voluntarily provide a warranty contract for their products and this, in turn generates an incentive to control quality. The model compares monopolistic and competitive markets in respect of warranties. quality control and the price‐quality relationship. Under monopoly, the price‐quality relationship is always upward‐sloping or flat. Under competition, however, cost shifts or certain demand side shifts can generate a downward‐sloping relationship between price and quality.
HORIZONTALISM, STRUCTURALISM, LIQUIDITY PREFERENCE AND THE PRINCIPLE OF INCREASING RISK
Authors: Lavoie Marc 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIt is shown that the horizontal post‐Keynesian view of credit‐money endogeneity is reasonable rather than extreme. One can argue in favour of a horizontal credit‐money supply curve while still taking into account the non‐accommodating behaviour of the central bank, financial innovations, protfolio adjustments, liquidity perference theory, and the principle of increasing risk. The differences between horizontalists and other post‐Keynesian monetary theorists are matters of emphasis rather than substantial differences of opinion. The only real topic of contention is the ultimate determinant of the base rate of interest.
Das Opium des Volkes
Authors: COLLINSON PATRICK 
Published: October 2007

G. J. Cuming and Derek Baker (Eds): Popular Belief and Practice: Papers Read at the Ninth Summer Meeting and the Tenth Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Cambridge University Press, 1972; pp. xii+331.Derek Baker (Ed.): Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest: Papers Read at the Tenth Summer Meeting and the Eleventh Winter Meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society. Cambridge University Press, 1972; pp. xV&Plus;404.
Effect of maternal age on autosomal trisomies
Authors: HASSOLD TERRY , JACOBS PATRICIA , KLINE JENNIE , STEIN ZENA , WARBURTON DOROTHY 
Published: October 2007

SummaryThe effect of maternal age on the genesis of trisomy was studied by comparing data from 362 trisomic and 790 chromosomally normal spontaneous abortions. As a group the trisomies were associated with a substantial increase in maternal age but there were considerable differences in the magnitude of the effect for different trisomies. The effect of increasing maternal age was most pronounced for trisomies involving the small chromosomes, both acrocentric and non‐acrocentric. However, trisomy 16 was conspicuously different from trisomies for all the other small chromosomes, both in the reduced importance of increased maternal age and in the high frequency with which it occurred. The effect of increasing maternal age on trisomies for chromosomes in groups A, B and C was less clear than that for the small chromosomes. However, the evidence suggested that trisomy for these chromosomes was associated with a moderate increase in maternal age.It was suggested that the maternal age‐dependent trisomies might result from precocious disjunction of the bivalents and random segregation of the resulting univalents, a process which would affect chromosomes with the fewest number of chiasmata and which might be more prevalent in oocytes of older women. It was further suggested that true non‐disjunction, that is, the failure of bivalents to separate at anaphase, might also result in the production of trisomies. This process might be independent of, or only slightly influenced by, increasing maternal age but be affected by the presence of large blocks of heterochromatin.
Subgroup studies of black admixture within a mixed population of Bahia, Brazil
Authors: AZEVÉDO ELIANE S. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryGenetic, anthropological and medical data are shown to support the conclusion that subgroup studies of Black admixture within a mixed population are feasible, even if to some extent subjective. Thus, the use of subgroup racial classification for studies within mixed populations can be defended as the only choice to avoid excessive heterogeneity.
The effects of increased phenotypic variance on the evolutionary outcomes of generalized major‐gene models
Authors: CARMELLI DORIT , KARLIN SAMUEL 
Published: October 2007

SummaryThe study of generalized major‐gene models has been extended to accommodate selective, assortative mating mechanisms. In this formulation the consequences of amplified phenotypic variance on the major gene frequency are investigated. It is shown that the rate of approach to the equilibrium state is slowed under attenuated assortative mating tendencies and/or with increased environmental noise. Also, an increased phenotypic variance induces more skewness in the nature of the gene frequencies, i.e. a less ‘central’ polymorphic expression. Where strong positive assortative mating occurs, a population fixation state results. Negative assortment generally facilitates the stability of a ‘central’ polymorphism.
Reduced oxygen tension attenuates differentiation capacity of human mesenchymal stem cells and prolongs their lifespan
Authors: Fehrer Christine , Brunauer Regina , Laschober Gerhard , Unterluggauer Hermann , Reitinger Stephan , Kloss Frank , Gülly Christian , Gaßner Robert , Lepperdinger Günter 
Published: October 2007

SummaryMesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are capable of differentiating into bone, fat, cartilage, tendon and other organ progenitor cells. Despite the abundance of MSC within the organism, little is known about their in vivo properties or about their corresponding in vivo niches. We therefore isolated MSC from spongy (cancellous) bone biopsies of healthy adults. When compared with the surrounding marrow, a fourfold higher number of colony‐forming units was found within the tight meshwork of trabecular bone surface. At these sites, oxygen concentrations range from 1% to 7%. In MSC cultured at oxygen as low as 3%, rates for cell death and hypoxia‐induced gene transcription remained unchanged, while in vitro proliferative lifespan was significantly increased, with about 10 additional population doublings before reaching terminal growth arrest. However, differentiation capacity into adipogenic progeny was diminished and no osteogenic differentiation was detectable at 3% oxygen. In turn, MSC that had previously been cultured at 3% oxygen could subsequently be stimulated to successfully differentiate at 20% oxygen. These data support our preliminary finding that primary MSC are enriched at the surface of spongy bone. Low oxygen levels in this location provide a milieu that extends cellular lifespan and furthermore is instructive for the stemness of MSC allowing proliferation upon stimulation while suppressing differentiation.
Markov decision processes with a target set for minimum criteria
Authors: Ohtsubo Yoshio 
Published: October 2007

AbstractWe consider Markov decisions processes with a target set, where criterion function is an expectation of minimum function. We formulate the problem as an infinite horizon case with a recurrent class. We show under some conditions that an optimal value function is a unique solution to an optimality equation and there exists a stationary optimal policy. Also we give a policy improvement method.
Extensive Genetic Diversity in the
Plasmodium falciparum
Na
+
/H
+
Exchanger 1 Transporter Protein Implicated in Quinine Resistance
Authors: Vinayak Sumiti , Alam Mohammad Tauqeer , Upadhyay Mala , Das Manoj K. , Dev Vas , Singh Neeru , Dash Aditya P. , Sharma Yagya D. 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT

The
Plasmodium falciparum
Na
+
/H
+
exchanger (
Pfnhe
-
1
) locus at chromosome 13 and another locus at chromosome 9 have recently been proposed to influence quinine resistance. Here, we sequenced the ms4760 locus of the
Pfnhe
-
1
gene from 244
P. falciparum
isolates collected from five different regions of India. A total of 16 different ms4760 alleles (with one to five DNNND repeats) were observed among these isolates. Interestingly, areas with a high prevalence of chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance showed more
Pfnhe
-
1
DNNND repeats compared to low drug resistance areas. The extent of genetic diversity at the ms4760 locus also varied from one region to another, with expected heterozygosity values ranging from 0.47 to 0.88.
Antimicrobial Susceptibilities and Clinical Sources ofDialisterSpecies
Authors: Morio F. , Jean-Pierre H. , Dubreuil L. , Jumas-Bilak E. , Calvet L. , Mercier G. , Devine R. , Marchandin H. 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACTSeventy-four strains representing the four species of the genusDialisterwere isolated from various clinical samples.Dialister pneumosintesandDialister micraerophiluswere the two mainly encountered species. Fifty-five isolates were tested against 14 antimicrobial agents. Decreased susceptibilities to piperacillin, metronidazole, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and rifampin were demonstrated. The clinical impact of these decreased susceptibilities remains to be investigated but should prompt microbiologists to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing for clinically importantDialisterspp.
Antimicrobial Action of Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Compounds
Authors: Nobre Lígia S. , Seixas João D. , Romão Carlos C. , Saraiva Lígia M. 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT

Carbon monoxide (CO) is endogenously produced in the human body, mainly from the oxidation of heme catalyzed by heme oxygenase (HO) enzymes. The induction of HO and the consequent increase in CO production play important physiological roles in vasorelaxation and neurotransmission and in the immune system. The exogenous administration of CO gas and CO-releasing molecules (CO-RMs) has been shown to induce vascular effects and to alleviate hypoxia-reoxygenation injury of mammalian cells. In particular, due to its anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and antiproliferative properties, CO inhibits ischemic-reperfusion injury and provides potent cytoprotective effects during organ and cell transplantation. In spite of these findings regarding the physiology and biology of mammals, nothing is known about the action of CO on bacteria. In the present work, we examined the effect of CO on bacterial cell proliferation. Cell growth experiments showed that CO caused the rapid death of the two pathogenic bacteria tested,
Escherichia coli
and
Staphylococcus aureus
, particularly when delivered through organometallic CO-RMs. Of importance is the observation that the effectiveness of the CO-RMs was greater in near-anaerobic environments, as many pathogens are anaerobic organisms and pathogen colonization occurs in environments with low oxygen concentrations. Our results constitute the first evidence that CO can be utilized as an antimicrobial agent. We anticipate our results to be the starting point for the development of novel types of therapeutic drugs designed to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which are widespread and presently a major public health concern.
Characterization of the Antibody Response against
Plasmodium falciparum
Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 in Human Volunteers
Authors: Krause Darren R. , Gatton Michelle L. , Frankland Sarah , Eisen Damon P. , Good Michael F. , Tilley Leann , Cheng Qin 
Published: October 2007

ABSTRACT

The immune response against the
Plasmodium falciparum
variant surface antigen
P. falciparum
erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is a key component of clinical immunity against falciparum malaria. In this study, we used sera from human volunteers who had been infected with the
P. falciparum
3D7 strain to investigate the development, specificity, and dynamics of anti-PfEMP1 antibodies measured against six different strain 3D7 Duffy binding-like domain 1α (DBL1α) fusion proteins. We observed that a parasitemia of 20 to 200 infected erythrocytes per μl was required to trigger an antibody response to DBL1α and that antibodies against one DBL1α variant cross-react with other DBL1α variants. Both serum and purified immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) were able to agglutinate infected erythrocytes, and purified anti-DBL1α IgGs bound to the live infected red blood cell surface in a punctate surface pattern, confirming that the IgGs recognize native PfEMP1. Analysis of sera from tourists naturally infected with
P. falciparum
suggests that the anti-PfEMP1 antibodies often persisted for more than 100 days after a single infection. These results help to further our understanding of the development of acquired immunity to
P. falciparum
infections.