197 research outputs found
Estimation of a focused object using a corneal surface image for eye-based interaction
Researchers are considering the use of eye tracking in head-mounted camera systems, such as Google’s Project Glass. Typical methods require detailed calibration in advance, but long periods of use disrupt the calibration record between the eye and the scene camera. In addition, the focused object might not be estimated even if the point-of-regard is estimated using a portable eye-tracker. Therefore, we propose a novel method for estimating the object that a user is focused upon, where an eye camera captures the reflection on the corneal surface. Eye and environment information can be extracted from the corneal surface image simultaneously. We use inverse ray tracing to rectify the reflected image and a scale-invariant feature transform to estimate the object where the point-of-regard is located. Unwarped images can also be generated continuously from corneal surface images. We consider that our proposed method could be applied to a guidance system and we confirmed the feasibility of this application in experiments that estimated the object focused upon and the point-of-regard
Physical Reservoir Computing Using Nonlinear MEMS Resonator Having High Memory Capacity at "Edge of Chaos"
2023 IEEE 36th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), 15-19 Jan. 2023.This paper reports physical reservoir computing (PRC) using a single nonlinear electrostatic resonator and demonstrates its high memory capacity at "edge of chaos." The resonator is a simple doubly supported resonator fabricated from a silicon-on-insulator wafer. We proposed a PRC system without feedback loop, in which its memory capacity relies on the decay time of the high-Q resonator. The benchmark task results indicate that the system shows good linear and nonlinear memory capacities at the resonance and the maximum capacity was obtained at the vicinity of the instability edge of the frequency response
Predictive Tracking in Vision-based Hand Pose Estimation Using Unscented Kalman Filter and Multi-viewpoint Cameras
Molecular Breeding of Sweetpotato Carotenoids
Sweetpotato [sweet potato; Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is the seventh most valued food crop of the world. It has an inherent ability to grow under diverse agro-ecological and microclimatic zones ranging from tropical and subtropical zones to temperate areas with its tuberous roots enriched with the secondary metabolites of immense nutritional value. Among these, carotenoids are the most conspicuous one for having their use in nutritional, pharmaceutical, food, feed, aquaculture, and cosmetic industries. In food industries, carotenoids are used as food additives being antioxidants with attractive colors. Despite the immense economic importance, sweetpotato has received lesser attention in terms of its breeding with improved varieties. The conventional method of breeding by crossing has not been much successful due to the complexity of genome sterility and cross-incompatibility. Hence, the modern molecular breeding approaches, e.g. genetic, genomic, and metabolic (pathway) engineering, have been applied to this crop by some of researchers in Japan, Korea, and China to generate various cultivars with improved quantities and qualities of carotenoids. This has also opened a new gate for molecular breeders to engineer new sweetpotato cultivars enriched with carotenoids under current global scenario of dramatically rising climatic changes where novel food resources are bitterly needed, especially under alarmingly growing world population, the majority of which suffers from malnutrition
Current-induced magnetization switching in MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with CoFeB based synthetic ferrimagnetic free layers
We investigated the effect of using a synthetic ferrimagnetic (SyF) free
layer in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) on current-induced
magnetization switching (CIMS), particularly for application to spin-transfer
torque random access memory (SPRAM). The employed SyF free layer had a
Co40Fe40B20/ Ru/ Co40Fe40B20 and Co20Fe60B20/Ru/Co20Fe60B20 structures, and the
MTJs(100x(150-300) nm^2) were annealed at 300oC. The use of SyF free layer
resulted in low intrinsic critical current density (Jc0) without degrading the
thermal-stability factor (E/kBT, where E, kB, and T are the energy potential,
the Boltzmann constant, and temperature,respectively). When the two CoFeB
layers of a strongly antiferromagnetically coupled SyF free layer had the same
thickness, Jc0 was reduced to 2-4x10^6 A/cm^2. This low Jc0 may be due to the
decreased effective volume under the large spin accumulation at the CoFeB/Ru.
The E/kBT was over 60, resulting in a retention time of over ten years and
suppression of the write current dispersion for SPRAM. The use of the SyF free
layer also resulted in a bistable (parallel/antiparallel) magnetization
configuration at zero field, enabling the realization of CIMS without the need
to apply external fields to compensate for the offset field.Comment: 6 page
Timp-3 deficiency impairs cognitive function in mice
Extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation is performed primarily by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs have recently been shown to regulate synaptic activity in the hippocampus and to affect memory and learning. The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (Timp) is an endogenous factor that controls MMP activity by binding to the catalytic site of MMPs. At present, four Timp isotypes have been reported (Timp-1 through Timp-4) with 35–50% amino-acid sequence homology. Timp-3 is a unique member of Timp proteins in that it is bound to the ECM. In this study, we used the passive avoidance test, active avoidance test, and water maze test to examine the cognitive function in Timp-3 knockout (KO) mice. Habituation was evaluated using the open-field test. The water maze test showed that Timp-3 KO mice exhibit deterioration in cognitive function compared with wild-type (WT) mice. The open-field test showed decreased habituation of Timp-3 KO mice. Immunostaining of brain slices revealed the expression of Timp-3 in the hippocampus. In situ zymography of the hippocampus showed increased gelatinolytic activity in Timp-3 KO mice compared with WT mice. These results present the first evidence of Timp-3 involvement in cognitive function and hippocampal MMP activity in mice. Moreover, our findings suggest a novel therapeutic target to be explored for improvement of cognitive function in humans
Genetic diversity of HIV type 1 in Likasi, southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo
金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系To investigate the prevalence of subtypes A and C, and the existence of recombinants of both subtypes in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), blood samples were collected from 27 HIV-infected individuals in Likasi, located in an area bordering close to Zambia, and analyzed phylogenetically. Out of the 24 strains with a positive PCR profile for pol-IN and env-C2V3, 15 (62.5%) had a discordant subtype or CRF designation: one subtype A/G (pol/env), four A/U (unclassified), three G/A, one G/CRF01, three H/A, one J/C, one CRF02 (G)/A, and one U/A. Nine (37.5%) strains had a concordant subtype or CRF designation: five subtype A, two C, one D, and one CRF02/G. The remaining three samples negative for PCR with env-C2V3 primers used in this study were further analyzed with env-gp41 primers and revealed the presence of two profiles: two J/J (pol-IN/env-gp41) and one C/G. These data highlight the presence of a high proportion (16/27, 59.3%) of recombinant strains and a low prevalence (4.1 and 7.4%) of subtype C based on env-C2V3 and pol-IN analyses, respectively, in Likasi. In addition, this is the first report that CRF02_AG exists in DRC, though the epidemiological significance of the existence of CRF02_AG in DRC remains unknown
Genetic Diversity of HIV Type 1 in Likasi, Southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set
We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s
using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays
in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at
production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton
collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment
at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity.
We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the
B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2,
-1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in
agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model
value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by
other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012
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