Perceptual Effects in Physically Based Animation with Rigid and Deformable Objects

We perform four psychophysical studies to investigate the perceptual effect of factors in the rendering and simulation stages of physically based animation production. Our study provides helpful insights in how to improve visual plausibility or reduce computational cost, which may allow artists to adjust their designs to enhance or minimize the perceived deformation in a model, or to choose a more efficient dynamics model and simpler mesh used in simulation without harming the visual plausibility. In our first study, we find that appearance can potentially influence people’s sensitivity to differences of deformation as well as subjective rating of softness. Further analysis shows that, in simple scenarios, the effect of low-level visual details in appearance can be dominant, even if high-level information delivered by appearance has the opposite implication. Another experiment shows that as the number of objects in a scenario increases, objects are perceived to be stiffer. In the second study, we quantitatively measure how different low-level visual details can influence people’s perceived stiffness of a deformable sphere under physically based simulation. We find that checkerboard pattern with certain combinations of spatial frequency and contrast can reduce the perceived stiffness. Our study further shows that adding a high-contrast checkerboard background can reduce such effect. In our third study, we discover that the resolution of a mesh used in the simulation of deformable objects can be reduced to a certain level without being noticed. For complex deformation, it is easier for people to recognize such reduction. Lastly, we verify two hypotheses which are assumed to be true only intuitively in many rigid body simulations in our third study. I: In large scale rigid body simulation, viewers may not be able to perceive distortion incurred by an approximated simulation method. II: Fixing objects under a pile of objects does not affect the visual plausibility. Our analysis of results supports the truthfulness of the hypotheses under certain simulation environments, but discovers four factors which may affect the authenticity of these hypotheses: number of collisions simulated simultaneously, homogeneity of colliding object pairs, distance from scene under simulation to camera position, and simulation method used

Camera Capture and Frame-Rate Synchronization in a Multi-Camera System

This publication describes methods and techniques that align auto exposures, frame length times, frames-per-second frequencies, and frame length lines, in a user equipment, such as a smartphone, that utilizes a multi-camera system. In one aspect, the multi-camera system contains one front-facing red-green-blue (RGB) camera and two front-facing infrared (IR) cameras. When a user utilizes the multi-camera system consisting of RGB camera(s) and IR camera(s) it may be referred to as RGB and IR depth (RGBIRD) image capturing. Although this publication illustrates RGBIRD image capturing with a smartphone with a multi-camera system that contains one RGB camera and two IR cameras, the same methods and techniques may be applied to a multi-camera system with one RGB camera and one IR camera, with one RGB camera and two IR cameras, with two RGB cameras and two IR cameras, with two RGB cameras and three IR cameras, any other combination of RGB and IR cameras, and any combination of cameras with different physical specifications

Object Detection and Tracking with Post-Merge Motion Estimation

This publication describes techniques and apparatuses that enable an electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) with at least one camera to capture, render, and/or process frames. As the smartphone captures frames of a scene, the smartphone determines frames to be rendered and/or processed. Initially, the smartphone performs a global (fast) motion estimation to correctly render and/or process the captured frames of the scene. Information from the global motion estimation enables the smartphone to merge the captured frames, and the smartphone can generate one merged frame or a set of merged frame candidates. Information from the global motion estimation also enables the smartphone to perform target (object) detection on the merged frame. If the smartphone fails to detect a target (e.g., inside a target-detection box), the smartphone proceeds to render and/or process a next merged frame of the set of the merged frame candidates. If the smartphone, however, detects a target inside the target-detection box, the smartphone uses the necessary resources to perform local (accurate, detailed) motion estimation inside the target-detection box. The smartphone may use the information from the local motion estimation to merge the target, generate a local frame patch, and/or verify the target. The local motion estimation helps reduce or remove undesired artifacts (e.g., ghosting). Lastly, the smartphone projects the location of the target to a corresponding merged frame to generate a resulting frame with increased signal and/or increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)

The Nematic Energy Scale and the Missing Electron Pocket in FeSe

Superconductivity emerges in proximity to a nematic phase in most iron-based superconductors. It is therefore important to understand the impact of nematicity on the electronic structure. Orbital assignment and tracking across the nematic phase transition prove to be challenging due to the multiband nature of iron-based superconductors and twinning effects. Here, we report a detailed study of the electronic structure of fully detwinned FeSe across the nematic phase transition using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We clearly observe a nematicity-driven band reconstruction involving dxz, dyz, and dxy orbitals. The nematic energy scale between dxz and dyz bands reaches a maximum of 50 meV at the Brillouin zone corner. We are also able to track the dxz electron pocket across the nematic transition and explain its absence in the nematic state. Our comprehensive data of the electronic structure provide an accurate basis for theoretical models of the superconducting pairing in FeSe

Prodromal dementia with lewy bodies and recurrent panic attacks as the first symptom : a case report

La demencia de inicio psiquiátrico con cuerpos de Lewy (DLB) puede incluir síntomas de depresión, alucinaciones, ansiedad y apatía. Aquí, reportamos un paciente con DLB con ataques de pánico recurrentes como su primer síntoma 5 años antes de un diagnóstico de base biológica de probable DCL. Proporcionamos una descripción ampliada de la presentación clínica y curso de DCL de inicio psiquiátrico a demencia en una mujer de 83 años. Este caso ilustra el diagnóstico erróneo común de DLB y la demora en tener un diagnóstico clínico y evaluación de biomarcadores para el diagnóstico estructurado. Con una descripción detallada de la clínica. presentación de este caso, las estrategias de tratamiento empírico y las perspectivas del paciente, Nuestro objetivo es concienciar a los médicos sobre los ataques de pánico dentro de la DCL de inicio psiquiátrico. Palabras clave: demencia con cuerpos de Lewy, ataques de pánico, reporte de caso, demencia prodrómica con cuerpos de Lewy, síntomas neuropsiquiátricosQ2Q2Psychiatric-onset dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) might include symptoms of depression, hallucinations, anxiety, and apathy. Here, we report a patient with DLB with recurrent panic attacks as her first symptom 5 years before a biological-based diagnosis of probable DLB. We provide an extended description of the clinical presentation and course from psychiatric-onset DLB to dementia in an 83-year-old woman. This case illustrates the commonmisdiagnosis of DLB and the delay of having a detailed clinical and biomarker assessment for structured diagnosis. With a detailed description of the clinical presentation of this case, the empirical treatment strategies, and the patient perspectives, we aim to make clinicians aware of panic attacks within the psychiatric-onset DLB. Keywords: dementia with Lewy bodies, panic attacks, case report, prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies, neuropsychiatric symptomshttps://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-5832-0603https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=MrICwaMAAAAJhttps://scienti.minciencias.gov.co/cvlac/visualizador/generarCurriculoCv.do?cod_rh=0001429659Revista Nacional - Indexad

Comparisons of serum miRNA expression profiles in patients with diabetic retinopathy and type 2 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the expression levels of serum miRNAs in diabetic retinopathy and type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Serum miRNA expression profiles from diabetic retinopathy cases (type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with diabetic retinopathy) and type 2 diabetes mellitus controls (type 2 diabetes mellitus patients without diabetic retinopathy) were examined by miRNA-specific microarray analysis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the significantly differentially expressed serum miRNAs from the microarray analysis of 45 diabetic retinopathy cases and 45 age-, sex-, body mass index- and duration-of-diabetes-matched type 2 diabetes mellitus controls. The relative changes in serum miRNA expression levels were analyzed using the 2-ΔΔCt method. RESULTS: A total of 5 diabetic retinopathy cases and 5 type 2 diabetes mellitus controls were included in the miRNA-specific microarray analysis. The serum levels of miR-3939 and miR-1910-3p differed significantly between the two groups in the screening stage; however, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction did not reveal significant differences in miRNA expression for 45 diabetic retinopathy cases and their matched type 2 diabetes mellitus controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that miR-3939 and miR-1910-3p may not play important roles in the development of diabetic retinopathy; however, studies with a larger sample size are needed to confirm our findings

Non-Thermal Emergence of an Orbital-Selective Mott Phase in FeTe1−x_{1-x}Sex_x

Electronic correlation is of fundamental importance to high temperature superconductivity. Iron-based superconductors are believed to possess moderate correlation strength, which combined with their multi-orbital nature makes them a fascinating platform for the emergence of exotic phenomena. A particularly striking form is the emergence of an orbital selective Mott phase, where the localization of a subset of orbitals leads to a drastically reconstructed Fermi surface. Here, we report spectroscopic evidence of the reorganization of the Fermi surface from FeSe to FeTe as Se is substituted by Te. We uncover a particularly transparent way to visualize the localization of the $d_{xy}$ electron orbital through the suppression of its hybridization with the more coherent $d$ electron orbitals, which leads to a redistribution of the orbital-dependent spectral weight near the Fermi level. These noteworthy features of the Fermi surface are accompanied by a divergent behavior of a band renormalization in the $d_{xy}$ orbital. All of our observations are further supported by our theoretical calculations to be salient spectroscopic signatures of such a non-thermal evolution from a strongly correlated metallic phase towards an orbital-selective Mott phase in FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ as Se concentration is reduced.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Homer1a Attenuates Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Mitochondrial Stress After Ischemic Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting the PERK Pathway

Homer1a is the short form of a scaffold protein that plays a protective role in many forms of stress. However, the role of Homer1a in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and its potential mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we found that Homer1a was upregulated by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) and that overexpression of Homer1a alleviated OGD-induced lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and cell death in cultured cortical neurons. After OGD treatment, the overexpression of Homer1a preserved mitochondrial function, as evidenced by less cytochrome c release, less reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, less ATP and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss, less caspase-9 activation, and inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress confirmed by the decreased expression of phosphate-PKR-like ER Kinase (p-PERK)/PERK and phosphate- inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (p-IRE1)/IRE1 and immunofluorescence (IF) staining. In addition, mitochondrial protection of Homer1a was blocked by the ER stress activator Tunicamycin (TM) with a re-escalated ROS level, increasing ATP and MMP loss. Furthermore, Homer1a overexpression-induced mitochondrial stress attenuation was significantly reversed by activating the PERK pathway with TM and p-IRE1 inhibitor 3,5-dibromosalicylaldehyde (DBSA), as evidenced by increased cytochrome c release, increased ATP loss and a higher ROS level. However, activating the IRE1 pathway with TM and p-PERK inhibitor GSK2656157 showed little change in cytochrome c release and exhibited a moderate upgrade of ATP loss and ROS production in neurons. In summary, these findings demonstrated that Homer1a protects against OGD-induced injury by preserving mitochondrial function through inhibiting the PERK pathway. Our finding may reveal a promising target of protecting neurons from cerebral I/R injury