Querying Geometric Figures Using a Controlled Language, Ontological Graphs and Dependency Lattices

Dynamic geometry systems (DGS) have become basic tools in many areas of geometry as, for example, in education. Geometry Automated Theorem Provers (GATP) are an active area of research and are considered as being basic tools in future enhanced educational software as well as in a next generation of mechanized mathematics assistants. Recently emerged Web repositories of geometric knowledge, like TGTP and Intergeo, are an attempt to make the already vast data set of geometric knowledge widely available. Considering the large amount of geometric information already available, we face the need of a query mechanism for descriptions of geometric constructions. In this paper we discuss two approaches for describing geometric figures (declarative and procedural), and present algorithms for querying geometric figures in declaratively and procedurally described corpora, by using a DGS or a dedicated controlled natural language for queries.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted at CICM 201

Seasonal variation and spatial distribution of carbonaceous aerosols in Taiwan

To investigate the physico-chemical properties of aerosols in Taiwan, an observation network was initiated in 2003. In this work, the measurements of the mass concentration and carbonaceous composition of PM(10) and PM(2.5) are presented. Analysis on the data collected in the first 5-years, from 2003 to 2007, showed that there was a very strong contrast in the aerosol concentration and composition between the rural and the urban/suburban stations. The five-year means of EC at the respective stations ranged from 0.9 +/- 0.04 to 4.2 +/- 0.1 mu gC m(-3). In rural areas, EC accounted for 2-3% of PM(10) and 3-5% of PM(2.5) mass loadings, comparing to 4-6% of PM(10) and 4-8% of PM(2.5) in the urban areas. It was found that the spatial distribution of EC was consistent with CO and NO(x) across the network stations, suggesting that the levels of EC over Taiwan were dominated by local sources. The measured OC was split into POC and SOC counterparts following the EC tracer method. Five-year means of POC ranged from 1.8 +/- 0.1 to 9.7 +/- 0.2 mu gC m(-3) among the stations. It was estimated that the POM contributed 5-17% of PM(10) and 7-18% of PM(2.5) in Taiwan. On the other hand, the five-year means of SOC ranged from 1.5 +/- 0.1 to 3.8 +/- 0.3 mu gC m(-3). The mass fractions of SOM were estimated to be 9-19% in PM(10) and 14-22% in PM(2.5). The results showed that the SOC did not exhibit significant urban-rural contrast as did the POC and EC. A significant cross-station correlation between SOC and total oxidant was observed, which means the spatial distribution of SOC in Taiwan was dominated by the oxidant mixing ratio. Besides, correlation was also found between SOC and particulate nitrate, implying that the precursors of SOA were mainly from local anthropogenic sources. In addition to the spatial distribution, the carbonaceous aerosols also exhibited distinct seasonality. In northern Taiwan, the concentrations of all the three carbonaceous components (EC, POC, and SOC) reached their respective minima in the fall season. POC and EC increased drastically in winter and peaked in spring, whereas the SOC was characterized by a bimodal pattern with the maximal concentration in winter and a second mode in summertime. In southern Taiwan, minimal levels of POC and EC occurred consistently in summer and the maxima were observed in winter, whereas the SOC peaked in summer and declined in wintertime. The discrepancies in the seasonality of carbonaceous aerosols between northern and southern Taiwan were most likely caused by the seasonal meteorological settings that dominated the dispersion of air pollutants. Moreover, it was inferred that the Asian pollution outbreaks could have shifted the seasonal maxima of air pollutants from winter to spring in the northern Taiwan, and that the increases in biogenic SOA precursors and the enhancement in SOA yield were responsible for the elevated SOC concentrations in summer

The Effect of Ion Implanting on Hydrogen Entry into Metals

The effectiveness of platinum ion implanting in mitigating hydrogen entry into 4340 steel is measured and quantified. Data are presented to compare the extent of hydrogen absorption by the substrate during electrolytic hydrogen charging of platinum ion-implanted and unimplanted 4340 steel substrates. Several implanting conditions were used in processing the samples, and the surface-limited mass-transfer coefficient was calculated for each case and used to quantify the effectiveness of each treatment in reducing hydrogen absorption. It is shown that the underlying mechanism for reducing hydrogen absorption by platinum ion-implanted substrates is the catalytic effect of platinum that favors hydrogen evolution at the steel\u27s surface over hydrogen absorption by the metal. Although scattering experiments with low energy helium ions suggest that the platinum content in the first monolayer of platinum-implanted steels is small, the ability of Pt to catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction is still strong enough to significantly reduce the quantity of hydrogen that enters the metal

Integration of molecular biology tools for identifying promoters and genes abundantly expressed in flowers of Oncidium Gower Ramsey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Orchids comprise one of the largest families of flowering plants and generate commercially important flowers. However, model plants, such as <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>do not contain all plant genes, and agronomic and horticulturally important genera and species must be individually studied.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several molecular biology tools were used to isolate flower-specific gene promoters from <it>Oncidium </it>'Gower Ramsey' (<it>Onc</it>. GR). A cDNA library of reproductive tissues was used to construct a microarray in order to compare gene expression in flowers and leaves. Five genes were highly expressed in flower tissues, and the subcellular locations of the corresponding proteins were identified using lip transient transformation with fluorescent protein-fusion constructs. BAC clones of the 5 genes, together with 7 previously published flower- and reproductive growth-specific genes in <it>Onc</it>. GR, were identified for cloning of their promoter regions. Interestingly, 3 of the 5 novel flower-abundant genes were putative trypsin inhibitor (<it>TI</it>) genes (<it>OnTI1</it>, <it>OnTI2 </it>and <it>OnTI3</it>), which were tandemly duplicated in the same BAC clone. Their promoters were identified using transient GUS reporter gene transformation and stable <it>A. thaliana </it>transformation analyses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>By combining cDNA microarray, BAC library, and bombardment assay techniques, we successfully identified flower-directed orchid genes and promoters.</p

Weak Transitions in A=6 and 7 Nuclei

The $^6$He beta decay and $^7$Be electron capture processes are studied using variational Monte Carlo wave functions, derived from a realistic Hamiltonian consisting of the Argonne $v_{18}$ two-nucleon and Urbana-IX three-nucleon interactions. The model for the nuclear weak axial current includes one- and two-body operators with the strength of the leading two-body term--associated with $\Delta$-isobar excitation of the nucleon--adjusted to reproduce the Gamow-Teller matrix element in tritium $\beta$-decay. The measured half-life of $^6$. He is under-predicted by theory by $\simeq$ 8%, while that of $^7$Be for decay into the ground and first excited states of $^7$Li is over-predicted by $\simeq$ 9%. However, the experimentally known branching ratio for these latter processes is in good agreement with the calculated value. Two-body axial current contributions lead to a $\simeq$ 1.7% (4.4%) increase in the value of the Gamow-Teller matrix element of $^6$He ($^7$Be), obtained with one-body currents only, and slightly worsen (appreciably improve) the agreement between the calculated and measured half-life. Corrections due to retardation effects associated with the finite lepton momentum transfers involved in the decays, as well as contributions of suppressed transitions induced by the weak vector charge and axial current operators, have also been calculated and found to be negligible.Comment: 23 pages 8 tables. submitted to Phys. Rev.

SO(3) Gauge Symmetry and Neutrino-Lepton Flavor Physics

Based on the SO(3) gauge symmetry for three family leptons and general see-saw mechanism, we present a simple scheme that allows three nearly degenerate Majorana neutrino masses needed for hot dark matter. The vacuum structure of the spontaneous SO(3) symmetry breaking can automatically lead to a maximal CP-violating phase. Thus the current neutrino data on both the atmospheric neutrino anomaly and solar neutrino deficit can be accounted for via maximal mixings without conflict with the current data on the neutrinoless double beta decay. The model also allows rich interesting phenomena on lepton flavor violations.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex, no figures, minor changes and references added, the version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Iterative graph cuts for image segmentation with a nonlinear statistical shape prior

Shape-based regularization has proven to be a useful method for delineating objects within noisy images where one has prior knowledge of the shape of the targeted object. When a collection of possible shapes is available, the specification of a shape prior using kernel density estimation is a natural technique. Unfortunately, energy functionals arising from kernel density estimation are of a form that makes them impossible to directly minimize using efficient optimization algorithms such as graph cuts. Our main contribution is to show how one may recast the energy functional into a form that is minimizable iteratively and efficiently using graph cuts.Comment: Revision submitted to JMIV (02/24/13

The synthesized 2-(2-fluorophenyl)-6,7-methylenedioxyquinolin-4-one (CHM-1) promoted G2/M arrest through inhibition of CDK1 and induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial-dependent pathway in CT-26 murine colorectal adenocarcinoma cells

In this study, we investigated the effects of 2-(2-fluorophenyl)-6,7-methylenedioxyquinolin-4-one (CHM-1) on cell viability, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CT-26 murine colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. For determining cell viability, the MTT assay was used. CHM-1 promoted G2/M arrest by PI staining and flow cytometric analysis. Apoptotic cells were evaluated by DAPI staining. We used CDK1 kinase assay, Western blot analysis and caspase activity assays for examining the CDK1 activity and proteins correlated with apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The in vivo anti-tumor effects of CHM-1-P were evaluated in BALB/c mice inoculated with CT-26 cells orthotopic model. CHM-1 induced CT-26 cell viability inhibition and morphologic changes in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner and the approximate IC(50) was 742.36 nM. CHM-1 induced significant G2/M arrest and apoptosis in CT-26 cells. CHM-1 inhibited the CDK1 activity and decreased CDK1, Cyclin A, Cyclin B protein levels. CHM-1 induced apoptosis in CT-26 cells and promoted increasing of cytosolic cytochrome c, AIF, Bax, BAD, cleavage of pro-caspase-9, and -3. The significant reduction of caspase-9 and -3 activity and increasing the viable CT-26 cells after pretreated with caspase-9 and -3 inhibitor indicated that CHM-1-induced apoptosis was mainly mediated a mitochondria-dependent pathway. CHM-1-P improved mice survival rate, and enlargement of the spleen and liver metastasis were significantly reduced in groups treated with either 10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg of CHM-1-P and 5-FU in comparison to these of CT-26/BALB/c mice. Taken together, CHM-1 acted against colorectal adenocarcinoma cells in vitro via G2/M arrest and apoptosis, and CHM-1-P inhibited tumor growth in vivo

An ALMA survey of CO in submillimetre galaxies: companions, triggering, and the environment in blended sources

We present ALMA observations of the mid-J 12CO emission from six single-dish selected 870-μm sources in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South and UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey fields. These six single-dish submillimetre sources were selected based on previous ALMA continuum observations, which showed that each comprised a blend of emission from two or more individual submillimetre galaxies (SMGs), separated on 5–10 arcsec scales. The six single-dish submillimetre sources targeted correspond to a total of 14 individual SMGs, of which seven have previously measured robust optical/near-infrared spectroscopic redshifts, which were used to tune our ALMA observations. We detect CO(3–2) or CO(4–3) at z = 2.3–3.7 in 7 of the 14 SMGs, and in addition serendipitously detect line emission from three gas-rich companion galaxies, as well as identify four new 3.3 mm selected continuum sources in the six fields. Joint analysis of our CO spectroscopy and existing data suggests that 64(±18)percent of the SMGs in blended submillimetre sources are unlikely to be physically associated. However, three of the SMG fields (50 per cent) contain new, serendipitously detected CO-emitting (but submillimetre-faint) sources at similar redshifts to the 870 μm selected SMGs we targeted. These data suggest that the SMGs inhabit overdense regions, but that these are not sufficiently overdense on ∼100 kpc scales to influence the source blending given the short lifetimes of SMGs. We find that 21±12percent of SMGs have spatially distinct and kinematically close companion galaxies (∼8–150 kpc and ≲ 300 km s−1), which may have enhanced their star formation via gravitational interactions

An ALMA survey of the S2CLS UDS field: optically invisible submillimetre galaxies

We analyse a robust sample of 30 near-infrared-faint (KAB > 25.3, 5σ) submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected from a 0.96 deg2 field to investigate their properties and the cause of their faintness in optical/near-infrared wavebands. Our analysis exploits precise identifications based on Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 870-μm continuum imaging, combined with very deep near-infrared imaging from the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey. We estimate that SMGs with KAB > 25.3 mag represent 15 ± 2 per cent of the total population brighter than S870 = 3.6 mJy, with a potential surface density of ∼450 deg−2 above S870 ≥ 1 mJy. As such, they pose a source of contamination in surveys for both high-redshift ‘quiescent’ galaxies and very high redshift Lyman-break galaxies. We show that these K-faint SMGs represent the tail of the broader submillimetre population, with comparable dust and stellar masses to KAB ≤ 25.3 mag SMGs, but lying at significantly higher redshifts (z = 3.44 ± 0.06 versus z = 2.36 ± 0.11) and having higher dust attenuation (AV = 5.2 ± 0.3 versus AV = 2.9 ± 0.1). We investigate the origin of the strong dust attenuation and find indications that these K-faint galaxies have smaller dust continuum sizes than the KAB ≤ 25.3 mag galaxies, as measured by ALMA, which suggests their high attenuation is related to their compact sizes. We identify a correlation of dust attenuation with star formation rate surface density (SFR), with the K-faint SMGs representing the higher SFR and highest AV galaxies. The concentrated, intense star formation activity in these systems is likely to be associated with the formation of spheroids in compact galaxies at high redshifts, but as a result of their high obscuration these galaxies are completely missed in ultraviolet, optical, and even near-infrared surveys