67 research outputs found
The influence of semantic and phonological factors on syntactic decisions: An event-related brain potential study
During language production and comprehension, information about a word's syntactic properties is sometimes needed. While the decision about the grammatical gender of a word requires access to syntactic knowledge, it has also been hypothesized that semantic (i.e., biological gender) or phonological information (i.e., sound regularities) may influence this decision. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured while native speakers of German processed written words that were or were not semantically and/or phonologically marked for gender. Behavioral and ERP results showed that participants were faster in making a gender decision when words were semantically and/or phonologically gender marked than when this was not the case, although the phonological effects were less clear. In conclusion, our data provide evidence that even though participants performed a grammatical gender decision, this task can be influenced by semantic and phonological factors
Processing and characterization of chitosan microspheres to be used as templates for layer-by-layer assembly
Chitosan (Ch) microspheres have been developed
by precipitation method, cross-linked with glutaraldehyde
and used as a template for layer-by-layer (LBL)
deposition of two natural polyelectrolytes. Using a LBL
methodology, Ch microspheres were alternately coated with
hyaluronic acid (HA) and Ch under mild conditions. The
roughness of the Ch-based crosslinked microspheres was
characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Morphological
characterization was performed by environmental
scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) and stereolight microscopy.
The swelling behaviour of the microspheres demonstrated
that the ones with more bilayers presented the highest water
uptake and the uncoated cross-linked Ch microspheres
showed the lowest uptake capability. Microspheres presented
spherical shape with sizes ranging from 510 to
840 lm. ESEM demonstrated that a rougher surface with
voids is formed in multilayered microspheres caused by the
irregular stacking of the layers. A short term mechanical
stability assay was also performed, showing that the LBL
procedure with more than five bilayers of HA/Ch over Ch
cross-linked microspheres provide higher mechanical
stability
Analysis of Sample Correlations for Monte Carlo Rendering
Modern physically based rendering techniques critically depend on approximating integrals of high dimensional functions representing radiant light energy. Monte Carlo based integrators are the choice for complex scenes and effects. These integrators work by sampling the integrand at sample point locations. The distribution of these sample points determines convergence rates and noise in the final renderings. The characteristics of such distributions can be uniquely represented in terms of correlations of sampling point locations. Hence, it is essential to study these correlations to understand and adapt sample distributions for low error in integral approximation. In this work, we aim at providing a comprehensive and accessible overview of the techniques developed over the last decades to analyze such correlations, relate them to error in integrators, and understand when and how to use existing sampling algorithms for effective rendering workflows.publishe
A new anisotropy index on trabecular bone radiographic images using the fast Fourier transform
BACKGROUND: The degree of anisotropy (DA) on radiographs is related to bone structure, we present a new index to assess DA. METHODS: In a region of interest from calcaneus radiographs, we applied a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). All the FFT spectra involve the horizontal and vertical components corresponding respectively to longitudinal and transversal trabeculae. By visual inspection, we measured the spreading angles: Dispersion Longitudinal Index (DLI) and Dispersion Transverse Index (DTI) and calculated DA = 180/(DLI+DTI). To test the reliability of DA assessment, we synthesized images simulating radiological projections of periodic structures with elements more or less disoriented. RESULTS: Firstly, we tested synthetic images which comprised a large variety of structures from highly anisotropic structure to the almost isotropic, DA was ranging from 1.3 to 3.8 respectively. The analysis of the FFT spectra was performed by two observers, the Coefficients of Variation were 1.5% and 3.1 % for intra-and inter-observer reproducibility, respectively. In 22 post-menopausal women with osteoporotic fracture cases and 44 age-matched controls, DA values were respectively 1.87 ± 0.15 versus 1.72 ± 0.18 (p = 0.001). From the ROC analysis, the Area Under Curve (AUC) were respectively 0.65, 0.62, 0.64, 0.77 for lumbar spine, femoral neck, total femoral BMD and DA. CONCLUSION: The highest DA values in fracture cases suggest that the structure is more anisotropic in osteoporosis due to preferential deletion of trabeculae in some directions
Toward osteogenic differentiation of marrow stromal cells and in vitro production of mineralized extracellular matrix onto natural scaffolds
Uncorrected proofTissue engineering has emerged as a new interdisciplinary field for the repair of various tissues, restoring their functions by using scaffolds, cells, and/or bioactive factors. A temporary scaffold acts as an extracellular matrix analog to culture cells and guide the development of new tissue. In this chapter, we discuss the preparation of naturally derived scaffolds of polysaccharide origin, the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on biomimetic calcium phosphate coatings, and the delivery of biomolecules associated with extracellular matrix mineralization
Microstructural Shape Factors: Relation of Random Planar Sections to Three-Dimensional Microstructures
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