3D Scene Annotation for Efficient Rendering on Mobile Devices

This paper presents a new approach for efficient 3D rendering on mobile devices, where selective rendering can be achieved with the help of 3D scene annotation. By taking advantage of first person environments in most 3D applications, we are able to annotate the flooring details of the 3D space. This allows 3D environments to be interfaced using a higher level view of objects. With the higher level of scene understanding, it is possible to determine which 3D objects are not required for loading or rendering based on the viewer’s location and its surrounding constraints

An improved image segmentation algorithm for salient object detection

Semantic object detection is one of the most important and challenging problems in image analysis. Segmentation is an optimal approach to detect salient objects, but often fails to generate meaningful regions due to over-segmentation. This paper presents an improved semantic segmentation approach which is based on JSEG algorithm and utilizes multiple region merging criteria. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is encouraging and effective in salient object detection

Magnetostructural Transformation and Magnetoresponsive Properties of MnNiGe1-xSnx Alloys

The martensitic and magnetic phase transformations in MnNiGe1-xSnx (0 \leq x \leq 0.200) alloys were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and magnetization measurements. Results indicate that the increasing Sn substitution in MnNiGe1-xSnx results in (i) decrease of martensitic transformation temperature from 460 to 100 K and (ii) conversion of AFM spiral to antiparallel AFM strcuture in martensite. Based on these, the remarkable magnetic-field-induced PM/spiral-AFM and FM/AFM magnetostructural transformations and, large positive and negative magnetocaloric effects are obtained. The magnetoresponsive effects of MnNiGe1-xSnx alloys are enhanced by Sn substitution. A structural and magnetic phase diagram of MnNiGe1-xSnx alloys has been proposed.Comment: 3 pages and 4 figure

Genomic analysis of 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid reductase genes of Zea mays

The 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid reductases (OPRs) are enzymes of the octadecanoid pathway which converts linolenic acid to a phytohormone, jasmonic acid. Bioinformatics analysis of ESTs and genomic sequences from available private and public databases revealed that the maize genome encodes eight different OPR genes. This number of maize OPR genes has been independently confirmed by Southern blot analysis and by mapping of individual OPR genes to maize chromosomes using oat maize chromosome addition lines. Survey of massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) assays revealed that transcripts of each OPR gene accumulate differentially in diverse organs of maize plants. This data suggested that individual OPR genes may have a distinct function in development. Similarly, RNA blot analysis revealed that distinct OPR genes are differentially regulated in response to stress hormones, wounding or pathogen infection. ZmOPR1 and ZmOPR2 appear to have important functions in defense responses to pathogens because they are transiently induced by salicylic acid (SA), chitooligosaccharides and by infection with Cochliobolus carbonum, Bipolaris maydis and Fusarium verticillioides and not by wounding. In contrast to these two genes, ZmOPR6 and ZmOPR7/8 are highly induced by wounding and treatments with wound-associated signaling molecules jasmonic acid, ethylene and abscisic acid. ZmOPR6 and ZmOPR7/8 are not induced by SA treatments or pathogen infections suggesting their specific involvement in wound-induced defense responses. Possible functions of specific OPR genes are discussed

Expression analysis of OsbZIP transcription factors in resistance response by the rice blast resistance gene Pi36-mediated

Plant basic leucine zipper (bZIP) proteins play an essential role in the genes expression and regulation in higher plants. They have been shown to regulate diverse plant specific phenomena, including germination, floral induction and development, seed maturation, photomorphogenesis, biotic and abiotic stresses. Resistance response mediated by the rice blast resistance gene Pi36 is a typical signal transduction, in which 12 OsbZIP genes were differentially expressed by microarray analyses. To understand the potential function of OsbZIP genes during the defense responses against rice blast, the expression analysis of these OsbZIP genes, in response to the blast fungus inoculation and the related defense signal molecules induction, were further conducted using real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Our data indicates that among the 12 OsbZIP genes, the expression level eight tested genes were differentially regulated and maintained to 96 h points post inoculation in rice resistant and susceptible cultivars during Magnaporthe oryzae infection, and all of them were also significantly up-regulated by one or several kinds of exogenous plant hormones stresses. Although, these genes were induced only at early time points (1 to 24 h); it is evident that the OsbZIP genes may be involved in different signaling pathway, and play potential important functions in the defense response to rice blast.Keywords: OsbZIP transcription factors, rice blast, resistance response, plant hormones stresses.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(34), pp. 5294-530

Mitochondrial Dysfunction Induces Formation of Lipid Droplets as a Generalized Response to Stress

Lipid droplet (LD) formation is a hallmark of cellular stress. Cells attempt to combat noxious stimuli by switching their metabolism from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis, sparing resources in LDs for generating cellular reducing power and for anabolic biosynthesis. Membrane phospholipids are also a source of LDs. To elucidate the formation of LDs, we exposed mice to hyperoxia, hypoxia, myocardial ischemia, and sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). All the above-mentioned stressors enhanced the formation of LDs, as assessed by transmission electron microscopy, with severe mitochondrial swelling. Disruption of mitochondria by depleting mitochondrial DNA (ρ0 cells) significantly augmented the formation of LDs, causing transcriptional activation of fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolic reprogramming to glycolysis. Heme oxygenase (HO)-1 counteracts CLP-mediated septic shock in mouse models. In HO-1-deficient mice, LD formation was not observed upon CLP, but a concomitant decrease in “LD-decorating proteins” was observed, implying a link between LDs and cytoprotective activity. Collectively, LD biogenesis during stress can trigger adaptive LD formation, which is dependent on mitochondrial integrity and HO-1 activity; this may be a cellular survival strategy, apportioning energy-generating substrates to cellular defense

PBGen: Partial Binarization of Deconvolution-Based Generators for Edge Intelligence

This work explores the binarization of the deconvolution-based generator in a GAN for memory saving and speedup of image construction. Our study suggests that different from convolutional neural networks (including the discriminator) where all layers can be binarized, only some of the layers in the generator can be binarized without significant performance loss. Supported by theoretical analysis and verified by experiments, a direct metric based on the dimension of deconvolution operations is established, which can be used to quickly decide which layers in the generator can be binarized. Our results also indicate that both the generator and the discriminator should be binarized simultaneously for balanced competition and better performance. Experimental results based on CelebA suggest that directly applying state-of-the-art binarization techniques to all the layers of the generator will lead to 2.83$\times$ performance loss measured by sliced Wasserstein distance compared with the original generator, while applying them to selected layers only can yield up to 25.81$\times$ saving in memory consumption, and 1.96$\times$ and 1.32$\times$ speedup in inference and training respectively with little performance loss.Comment: 17 pages, paper re-organized

中国における財政政策と高齢者福祉サービス ―地域別に見た高齢者福祉サービスへの提言―

城西国際大学博士（経営学）2023doctoral thesi