Scalable wavelet-based coding of irregular meshes with interactive region-of-interest support

This paper proposes a novel functionality in wavelet-based irregular mesh coding, which is interactive region-of-interest (ROI) support. The proposed approach enables the user to define the arbitrary ROIs at the decoder side and to prioritize and decode these regions at arbitrarily high-granularity levels. In this context, a novel adaptive wavelet transform for irregular meshes is proposed, which enables: 1) varying the resolution across the surface at arbitrarily fine-granularity levels and 2) dynamic tiling, which adapts the tile sizes to the local sampling densities at each resolution level. The proposed tiling approach enables a rate-distortion-optimal distribution of rate across spatial regions. When limiting the highest resolution ROI to the visible regions, the fine granularity of the proposed adaptive wavelet transform reduces the required amount of graphics memory by up to 50%. Furthermore, the required graphics memory for an arbitrary small ROI becomes negligible compared to rendering without ROI support, independent of any tiling decisions. Random access is provided by a novel dynamic tiling approach, which proves to be particularly beneficial for large models of over 10(6) similar to 10(7) vertices. The experiments show that the dynamic tiling introduces a limited lossless rate penalty compared to an equivalent codec without ROI support. Additionally, rate savings up to 85% are observed while decoding ROIs of tens of thousands of vertices

Review: \u27The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā\u27

Due to the fact that for Muslims the Qur ̓ān provides not only practical guidelines for a righteous life, but the framework of a theoretical worldview, Islamic philosophers have made direct and indirect scriptural allusions that go far beyond rhetorical ornamentation and theological persuasion. For the most part, they have resorted to the Qur ̓ān in order to reinforce their philosophical position. On the other hand, there is a long tradition of Qur ̓ānic exegesis ranging from technical linguistic analysis to rational and esoteric hermeneutics (ta ̓wῑl). With regard to the relationship between the Qur ̓ān and philosophy, the Persian philosopher of the Ṣafavid Period, Mullā Ṣadrā (1571-1636), is a special case as the only philosopher who has dedicated several treatises to Qur ̓ānic commentaries. Furthermore, as Rustom notes in the Introduction to the book under review, not only is Mullā Ṣadrā\u27s exegetical approach philosophical, but also his philosophy has a Qur ānic base (p. 3-4). It is against this background that The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā links Qur ̓ānic exegesis to philosophy

\u27Abdolkarim Soroush

‘Abdolkarim Soroush is the penname for Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbᾱgh (1945–). He is one of the most controversial figures in the religious and political polemics of postrevolutionary Iran. This is owing to his early adherence to the Islamic revolutionary values, his polemics against Marxism, later departure from the conservative Islam toward a reformist stand based on the philosophy of science and modern hermeneutics, and his current role as an uncompromising and outspoken opposition voice, as well as a fervent supporter of the Green Movement. Soroush’s ideas should be categorized under religious reformism in general, which goes beyond Iranian politics. Due the political nature of Islam today, particularly its governmental institutionalization in the postrevolutionary Iran, his views on religion have found direct political relevance to the relationship between religion and politics in the Shi ̒ite world. The modern category of “religious intellectualism,” in which Soroush is a major exponent has been connected to religious and political reformism, hence his journalistic title of “the Luther of Islam,” which he does not approve of because of fundamental differences between his agenda and that of Luther’s. As a prolific writer, and an eloquent lecturer and public speaker, Soroush has addressed a variety of issues for a large audience in Iran and beyond. In Iran, he was particularly associated with the Kiyᾱn Circle, a circle of thinkers and writers who published their critical and reformist views in a journal named “Kiyᾱn.” With his background in both Western and Islamic philosophy, he has managed to maneuver on ideas concerning the evolvement of religious sciences in keeping with the demands of modernity. Soroush is especially known for his critique of clerical Islam and his treatment of Islamic theology and law in relation with contemporary issues such as religious pluralism, democracy, and human rights by employing a literary style of writing that draws on his background in Persian mystical poetry. Soroush has been criticized from two opposite quarters. While the Iranian conservative clergy and politicians have repeatedly accused him of undermining Islam, secular intellectuals criticize the religious content of his ideas and the “paradoxicality” of his project: namely, religious intellectualism. Over the past decade, Soroush has attracted a lot of attention in Western academia. He left Iran after the conservatives’ pressure on him grew more intense following the turmoil during and after Khatami’s presidency. Since 2000 Soroush has been living in the West giving lectures at several universities including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and University of Chicago

Review: \u27Mullā Ṣadrā and Eschatology: Evolution of Being\u27

One of the hallmarks of Mullā Ṣadrā’s (d. 1050/1640) intellectual agenda is his attempt to reconcile rational thought with certain issues of theological sensitivity. Among such issues, the Qurʾanic doctrine of ‘the Return’ (maʿād) of the individual human soul united with the body in the afterlife has always attracted the attention of Muslim intellectuals and become one of the points of conflict between philosophers and theologians. Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā’s (d. 428/1037) pronouncement of disappointment with the possibility of rational arguments for bodily resurrection (al-maʿād al-jismānī) and Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazālī’s (d. 505/1111) dismissal of the former’s position on this issue, among some others, as blasphemous is the most frequently quoted example of the long-held tensions between philosophy and theology in Muslim history. In this respect, al-Kutubi has chosen an important subject matter for his book on Mullā Ṣadrā and discussed it in a comprehensive and balanced manner

Mullā Ṣadrā on the Efficacy of Prayer

This article presents the manner in which Mullā Ṣadrā explains the influence of prayer (duʿā) on the world, drawing as he does on Ibn ʿArabī’s ideas against the backdrop of his own dynamic metaphysical psychology. Mullā Ṣadrā eventually distances himself from Ibn Sīnā’s position on the passive nature of prayer, and instead opts for Ibn ʿArabī’s reading of the intimate divine–human interplay in prayer itself. In doing so, Mullā Ṣadrā provides a formulation of prayer in which the supplicant plays an active role in eliciting the divine response to her prayer. For Mullā Ṣadrā, prayer therefore fashions the human soul, while the human soul also fashions the outcome of prayer

New enzymatic strategies for the preparation of pharmaceutically important enantiomeric β-amino acid derivatives

The present Ph.D. work has been planned to accomplish two major goals. In view of the significance of fluorine-substituted compounds, the first aim was to synthesize a selection of (±)-β-amino carboxylic ester hydrochloride salts 3a–e, then to generate an appropriate lipase-catalyzed method for their resolution through hydrolysis, furnishing enantiopure new β-fluorophenyl-substituted β-amino acids (S)-5a–e and unreacted β-amino esters (R)-4a–e. The second objective of my work was a comparative investigation of different green strategies and then to build an environmentally benign CALB-catalyzed hydrolysis of cis carbocyclic amino esters 6–9