7,147 research outputs found
Video enhancement using adaptive spatio-temporal connective filter and piecewise mapping
This paper presents a novel video enhancement system based on an adaptive spatio-temporal connective (ASTC) noise filter and an adaptive piecewise mapping function (APMF). For ill-exposed videos or those with much noise, we first introduce a novel local image statistic to identify impulse noise pixels, and then incorporate it into the classical bilateral filter to form ASTC, aiming to reduce the mixture of the most two common types of noises - Gaussian and impulse noises in spatial and temporal directions. After noise removal, we enhance the video contrast with APMF based on the statistical information of frame segmentation results. The experiment results demonstrate that, for diverse low-quality videos corrupted by mixed noise, underexposure, overexposure, or any mixture of the above, the proposed system can automatically produce satisfactory results
Sensory Measurements: Coordination and Standardization
Do sensory measurements deserve the label of “measurement”? We argue that they do. They fit with an epistemological view of measurement held in current philosophy of science, and they face the same kinds of epistemological challenges as physical measurements do: the problem of coordination and the problem of standardization. These problems are addressed through the process of “epistemic iteration,” for all measurements. We also argue for distinguishing the problem of standardization from the problem of coordination. To exemplify our claims, we draw on olfactory performance tests, especially studies linking olfactory decline to neurodegenerative disorders
Measuring vertebrate telomeres: applications and limitations
Telomeres are short tandem repeated sequences of DNA found at the ends of eukaryotic
chromosomes that function in stabilizing chromosomal end integrity.
In vivo
studies of
somatic tissue of mammals and birds have shown a correlation between telomere length and
organismal age within species, and correlations between telomere shortening rate and
lifespan among species. This result presents the tantalizing possibility that telomere length
could be used to provide much needed information on age, ageing and survival in natural
populations where longitudinal studies are lacking. Here we review methods available for
measuring telomere length and discuss the potential uses and limitations of telomeres as
age and ageing estimators in the fields of vertebrate ecology, evolution and conservation
Light States in Chern-Simons Theory Coupled to Fundamental Matter
Motivated by developments in vectorlike holography, we study SU(N)
Chern-Simons theory coupled to matter fields in the fundamental representation
on various spatial manifolds. On the spatial torus T^2, we find light states at
small `t Hooft coupling \lambda=N/k, where k is the Chern-Simons level, taken
to be large. In the free scalar theory the gaps are of order \sqrt {\lambda}/N
and in the critical scalar theory and the free fermion theory they are of order
\lambda/N. The entropy of these states grows like N Log(k). We briefly consider
spatial surfaces of higher genus. Based on results from pure Chern-Simons
theory, it appears that there are light states with entropy that grows even
faster, like N^2 Log(k). This is consistent with the log of the partition
function on the three sphere S^3, which also behaves like N^2 Log(k). These
light states require bulk dynamics beyond standard Vasiliev higher spin gravity
to explain them.Comment: 58 pages, LaTeX, no figures, Minor error corrected, references added,
The main results of the paper have not change
Moduli Spaces of Cold Holographic Matter
We use holography to study (3+1)-dimensional N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills
theory with gauge group SU(Nc), in the large-Nc and large-coupling limits,
coupled to a single massless (n+1)-dimensional hypermultiplet in the
fundamental representation of SU(Nc), with n=3,2,1. In particular, we study
zero-temperature states with a nonzero baryon number charge density, which we
call holographic matter. We demonstrate that a moduli space of such states
exists in these theories, specifically a Higgs branch parameterized by the
expectation values of scalar operators bilinear in the hypermultiplet scalars.
At a generic point on the Higgs branch, the R-symmetry and gauge group are
spontaneously broken to subgroups. Our holographic calculation consists of
introducing a single probe Dp-brane into AdS5 times S^5, with p=2n+1=7,5,3,
introducing an electric flux of the Dp-brane worldvolume U(1) gauge field, and
then obtaining explicit solutions for the worldvolume fields dual to the scalar
operators that parameterize the Higgs branch. In all three cases, we can
express these solutions as non-singular self-dual U(1) instantons in a
four-dimensional space with a metric determined by the electric flux. We
speculate on the possibility that the existence of Higgs branches may point the
way to a counting of the microstates producing a nonzero entropy in holographic
matter. Additionally, we speculate on the possible classification of
zero-temperature, nonzero-density states described holographically by probe
D-branes with worldvolume electric flux.Comment: 56 pages, 8 PDF images, 4 figure
On the coset duals of extended higher spin theories
We study the holographic duality between the M x M matrix extension of
Vasiliev higher spin theories on AdS3 and the large N limit of SU(N+M)/SU(N) x
U(1) type cosets. We present a simplified proof for the agreement of the
spectra and clarify the relation between this duality and the version in which
the cosets are replaced by Kazama-Suzuki models of Grassmannian type.Comment: 27 pages, 1 tabl
Entanglement Entropy of 3-d Conformal Gauge Theories with Many Flavors
Three-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) of deconfined gauge fields
coupled to gapless flavors of fermionic and bosonic matter describe quantum
critical points of condensed matter systems in two spatial dimensions. An
important characteristic of these CFTs is the finite part of the entanglement
entropy across a circle. The negative of this quantity is equal to the finite
part of the free energy of the Euclidean CFT on the three-sphere, and it has
been proposed to satisfy the so called F-theorem, which states that it
decreases under RG flow and is stationary at RG fixed points. We calculate the
three-sphere free energy of non-supersymmetric gauge theory with a large number
N_F of bosonic and/or fermionic flavors to the first subleading order in 1/N_F.
We also calculate the exact free energies of the analogous chiral and
non-chiral {\cal N} = 2 supersymmetric theories using localization, and find
agreement with the 1/N_F expansion. We analyze some RG flows of supersymmetric
theories, providing further evidence for the F-theorem.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; v2 refs added, minor change
MiR-155 has a protective role in the development of non-alcoholic hepatosteatosis in mice
Hepatic steatosis is a global epidemic that is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. MicroRNAs (miRs) are regulators that can functionally integrate a range of metabolic and inflammatory pathways in liver. We aimed to investigate the functional role of miR-155 in hepatic steatosis. Male C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and miR-155−/− mice were fed either normal chow or high fat diet (HFD) for 6 months then lipid levels, metabolic and inflammatory parameters were assessed in livers and serum of the mice. Mice lacking endogenous miR-155 that were fed HFD for 6 months developed increased hepatic steatosis compared to WT controls. This was associated with increased liver weight and serum VLDL/LDL cholesterol and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, as well as increased hepatic expression of genes involved in glucose regulation (Pck1, Cebpa), fatty acid uptake (Cd36) and lipid metabolism (Fasn, Fabp4, Lpl, Abcd2, Pla2g7). Using miRNA target prediction algorithms and the microarray transcriptomic profile of miR-155−/− livers, we identified and validated that Nr1h3 (LXRα) as a direct miR-155 target gene that is potentially responsible for the liver phenotype of miR-155−/− mice. Together these data indicate that miR-155 plays a pivotal role regulating lipid metabolism in liver and that its deregulation may lead to hepatic steatosis in patients with diabetes
Gated Diffusion-controlled Reactions
The binding and active sites of proteins are often dynamically occluded by motion of the nearby polypeptide. A variety of theoretical and computational methods have been developed to predict rates of ligand binding and reactivity in such cases. Two general approaches exist, "protein centric" approaches that explicitly treat only the protein target, and more detailed dynamical simulation approaches in which target and ligand are both treated explicitly. This mini-review describes recent work in this area and some of the biological implications
Low-frequency cortical activity is a neuromodulatory target that tracks recovery after stroke.
Recent work has highlighted the importance of transient low-frequency oscillatory (LFO; <4 Hz) activity in the healthy primary motor cortex during skilled upper-limb tasks. These brief bouts of oscillatory activity may establish the timing or sequencing of motor actions. Here, we show that LFOs track motor recovery post-stroke and can be a physiological target for neuromodulation. In rodents, we found that reach-related LFOs, as measured in both the local field potential and the related spiking activity, were diminished after stroke and that spontaneous recovery was closely correlated with their restoration in the perilesional cortex. Sensorimotor LFOs were also diminished in a human subject with chronic disability after stroke in contrast to two non-stroke subjects who demonstrated robust LFOs. Therapeutic delivery of electrical stimulation time-locked to the expected onset of LFOs was found to significantly improve skilled reaching in stroke animals. Together, our results suggest that restoration or modulation of cortical oscillatory dynamics is important for the recovery of upper-limb function and that they may serve as a novel target for clinical neuromodulation
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