Separating Reflection and Transmission Images in the Wild

The reflections caused by common semi-reflectors, such as glass windows, can impact the performance of computer vision algorithms. State-of-the-art methods can remove reflections on synthetic data and in controlled scenarios. However, they are based on strong assumptions and do not generalize well to real-world images. Contrary to a common misconception, real-world images are challenging even when polarization information is used. We present a deep learning approach to separate the reflected and the transmitted components of the recorded irradiance, which explicitly uses the polarization properties of light. To train it, we introduce an accurate synthetic data generation pipeline, which simulates realistic reflections, including those generated by curved and non-ideal surfaces, non-static scenes, and high-dynamic-range scenes.Comment: accepted at ECCV 201

Structural reliability analysis of multiple limit state functions using multi-input multi-output support vector machine

Selecting and using an appropriate structural reliability method is critical for the success of structural reliability analysis and reliability-based design optimization. However, most of existing structural reliability methods are developed and designed for a single limit state function and few methods can be used to simultaneously handle multiple limit state functions in a structural system when the failure probability of each limit state function is of interest, for example, in a reliability-based design optimization loop. This article presents a new method for structural reliability analysis with multiple limit state functions using support vector machine technique. A sole support vector machine surrogate model for all limit state functions is constructed by a multi-input multi-output support vector machine algorithm. Furthermore, this multi-input multi-output support vector machine surrogate model for all limit state functions is only trained from one data set with one calculation process, instead of constructing a series of standard support vector machine models which has one output only. Combining the multi-input multi-output support vector machine surrogate model with direct Monte Carlo simulation, the failure probability of the structural system as well as the failure probability of each limit state function corresponding to a failure mode in the structural system can be estimated. Two examples are used to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the presented method

A valley-spin qubit in a carbon nanotube

Although electron spins in III-V semiconductor quantum dots have shown great promise as qubits, a major challenge is the unavoidable hyperfine decoherence in these materials. In group IV semiconductors, the dominant nuclear species are spinless, allowing for qubit coherence times that have been extended up to seconds in diamond and silicon. Carbon nanotubes are a particularly attractive host material, because the spin-orbit interaction with the valley degree of freedom allows for electrical manipulation of the qubit. In this work, we realise such a qubit in a nanotube double quantum dot. The qubit is encoded in two valley-spin states, with coherent manipulation via electrically driven spin resonance (EDSR) mediated by a bend in the nanotube. Readout is performed by measuring the current in Pauli blockade. Arbitrary qubit rotations are demonstrated, and the coherence time is measured via Hahn echo. Although the measured decoherence time is only 65 ns in our current device, this work offers the possibility of creating a qubit for which hyperfine interaction can be virtually eliminated

Family conflict and lower morning cortisol in adolescents and adults: modulation of puberty

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Pulsar Results with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The launch of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has heralded a new era in the study of gamma-ray pulsars. The population of confirmed gamma-ray pulsars has gone from 6-7 to more than 60, and the superb sensitivity of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi has allowed the detailed study of their spectra and light curves. Twenty-four of these pulsars were discovered in blind searches of the gamma-ray data, and twenty-one of these are, at present, radio quiet, despite deep radio follow-up observations. In addition, millisecond pulsars have been confirmed as a class of gamma-ray emitters, both individually and collectively in globular clusters. Recently, radio searches in the direction of LAT sources with no likely counterparts have been highly productive, leading to the discovery of a large number of new millisecond pulsars. Taken together, these discoveries promise a great improvement in the understanding of the gamma-ray emission properties and Galactic population of pulsars. We summarize some of the results stemming from these newly-detected pulsars and their timing and multi-wavelength follow-up observations.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Proceedings of ICREA Workshop on The High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems, Sant Cugat, Spain, 2010 April 12-16 (Springer

Aharonov-Bohm interference in topological insulator nanoribbons

Topological insulators represent novel phases of quantum matter with an insulating bulk gap and gapless edges or surface states. The two-dimensional topological insulator phase was predicted in HgTe quantum wells and confirmed by transport measurements. Recently, Bi2Se3 and related materials have been proposed as three-dimensional topological insulators with a single Dirac cone on the surface and verified by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. Here, we show unambiguous transport evidence of topological surface states through periodic quantum interference effects in layered single-crystalline Bi2Se3 nanoribbons. Pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the magnetoresistance clearly demonstrate the coverage of two-dimensional electrons on the entire surface, as expected from the topological nature of the surface states. The dominance of the primary h/e oscillation and its temperature dependence demonstrate the robustness of these electronic states. Our results suggest that topological insulator nanoribbons afford novel promising materials for future spintronic devices at room temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, RevTex forma

Clinical evidence of efficacy of red yeast rice and berberine in a large controlled study versus diet

Efficacy of a new patented proprietary combination of natural nutraceuticals (PN) containing natural hypolipidemic as red yeast, policosanol and berberine was tested in a large study on dyslipidemic patients in clinical practice. A parallel, controlled, randomized, multicenter study was designed. After 2 weeks on a stable dietary regimen, the patients were randomized to PN 1 tablet/day associated with diet (PN + D) or diet alone (D) for 16 weeks. Entry criteria were: Tot-Chol >200 mg/dL or LDL-Chol >150 mg/dL without a clear indication for statins, or plasma triglycerides >150 mg/dL. Lipid pattern and CV parameters were evaluated at baseline and monthly. 1,751 patients were enrolled in 248 Italian units, 933 patients on PN + D and 818 on D. The baseline lipid values were: Tot-Chol 255.4 versus 243.1 mg/dL, LDL-Chol 170.1 versus 162.2 mg/dL, HDL-Chol 50.0 versus 48.8 mg/dL, and TG 190.5 versus 184.4 mg/dL. PN constantly and significantly improved lipid parameters versus D group: at 16 weeks −19.1 versus −9.4% for Tot-Chol (p < 0.001), −23.5 versus −10.8% for LDL-Chol (p < 0.001), +11.6 versus +4.0% for HDL-Chol (p < 0.001), −17.9 versus −11.3% for TG (p < 0.001). In conclusions, PN plus diet allows an effective improvement of blood lipids with a significant reduction of global CV risk, suggesting a role for PN in CHD prevention

PACAP neurons in the ventral premammillary nucleus regulate reproductive function in the female mouse.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP, Adcyap1) is a neuromodulator implicated in anxiety, metabolism and reproductive behavior. PACAP global knockout mice have decreased fertility and PACAP modulates LH release. However, its source and role at the hypothalamic level remain unknown. We demonstrate that PACAP-expressing neurons of the ventral premamillary nucleus of the hypothalamus (PMVPACAP) project to, and make direct contact with, kisspeptin neurons in the arcuate and AVPV/PeN nuclei and a subset of these neurons respond to PACAP exposure. Targeted deletion of PACAP from the PMV through stereotaxic virally mediated cre- injection or genetic cross to LepR-i-cre mice with Adcyap1fl/fl mice led to delayed puberty onset and impaired reproductive function in female, but not male, mice. We propose a new role for PACAP-expressing neurons in the PMV in the relay of nutritional state information to regulate GnRH release by modulating the activity of kisspeptin neurons, thereby regulating reproduction in female mice

Rapid haplotype inference for nuclear families

Hapi is a new dynamic programming algorithm that ignores uninformative states and state transitions in order to efficiently compute minimum-recombinant and maximum likelihood haplotypes. When applied to a dataset containing 103 families, Hapi performs 3.8 and 320 times faster than state-of-the-art algorithms. Because Hapi infers both minimum-recombinant and maximum likelihood haplotypes and applies to related individuals, the haplotypes it infers are highly accurate over extended genomic distances.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant 5-T90-DK070069)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 5-P01-NS055923)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Graduate Research Fellowship