Perception of Motion and Architectural Form: Computational Relationships between Optical Flow and Perspective

Perceptual geometry refers to the interdisciplinary research whose objectives focuses on study of geometry from the perspective of visual perception, and in turn, applies such geometric findings to the ecological study of vision. Perceptual geometry attempts to answer fundamental questions in perception of form and representation of space through synthesis of cognitive and biological theories of visual perception with geometric theories of the physical world. Perception of form, space and motion are among fundamental problems in vision science. In cognitive and computational models of human perception, the theories for modeling motion are treated separately from models for perception of form.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, submitted and accepted in DoCEIS'2012 Conference: http://www.uninova.pt/doceis/doceis12/home/home.ph

Information Surfaces in Systems Biology and Applications to Engineering Sustainable Agriculture

Systems biology of plants offers myriad opportunities and many challenges in modeling. A number of technical challenges stem from paucity of computational methods for discovery of the most fundamental properties of complex dynamical systems. In systems engineering, eigen-mode analysis have proved to be a powerful approach. Following this philosophy, we introduce a new theory that has the benefits of eigen-mode analysis, while it allows investigation of complex dynamics prior to estimation of optimal scales and resolutions. Information Surfaces organizes the many intricate relationships among "eigen-modes" of gene networks at multiple scales and via an adaptable multi-resolution analytic approach that permits discovery of the appropriate scale and resolution for discovery of functions of genes in the model plant Arabidopsis. Applications are many, and some pertain developments of crops that sustainable agriculture requires.Comment: 24 Pages, DoCEIS 1

An epidemiologic study of Toxoplasma gondii in swine in Tennessee

The reliability of the Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) to detect infection with Toxoplasma gondii was evaluated in a murine model. Thirty-five mice (ICR) were infected with bradyzoites of (UT-1 strain) and all acquired the infection. IgM and IgG titers were measured every two days in the twenty-five infected mice. IgM and IgG appeared seven days postinfection (PI). IgM peaked from 11-15 days PI and remained throughout the experiment (45 days). The presence of T. gondii was confirmed post-mortem in all infected mice by impression smear, hematoxylin and eosin and/or immunoperoxidase straining of brain sections. The MAT was proven a reliable test for seroprevalence studies. The seroprevalence of T. gondii in finishing pigs at the University of Tennessee (UT) Crossville Experiment Station was studied for period of two years, 1991-92. The seroprevalence both years was 0.6%. At another UT experiment station, the Ames Plantation, the seroprevalence was evaluated in swine of all ages raised in three different types of management systems. The pigs of all ages in partial confinement had the highest Seropositivity (P\u3c0.01). Of 3,841 sow serum samples received from the TN State Diagnostic Laboratory in 1991-92, 1130 were positive for T. gondii antibody. The total number of farms sampled was 343. The true prevalence was 36% for both years. A survey was mailed to 303 swine farmers concerning their management practices; 107 responses were returned and analyzed. There was no significant difference between the respondents and nonrespondents. From the analysis of the survey sows associated with cats were 2.6 times more likely to be seropositive for T. gondii than sows that were not associated with cats. Sows kept outdoors at any time were 23 times more likely to be seropositive than sows that were kept indoors. Sows on small farms (≤ 29 sows) were 4.47 times more likely to be seropositive than sows on large farms

Petroleum Sector-Driven Roadmap for Future Hydrogen Economy

In the climate change mitigation context based on the blue hydrogen concept, a narrative frame is presented in this paper to build the argument for solving the energy trilemma, which is the possibility of job loss and stranded asset accumulation with a sustainable energy solution in gas- and oil-rich regions, especially for the Persian Gulf region. To this aim, scientific evidence and multidimensional feasibility analysis have been employed for making the narrative around hydrogen clear in public and policy discourse so that choices towards acceleration of efforts can begin for paving the way for the future hydrogen economy and society. This can come from natural gas and petroleum-related skills, technologies, experience, and infrastructure. In this way, we present results using multidimensional feasibility analysis through STEEP and give examples of oil- and gas-producing countries to lead the transition action along the line of hydrogen-based economy in order to make quick moves towards cost effectiveness and sustainability through international cooperation. Lastly, this article presents a viewpoint for some regional geopolitical cooperation building but needs a more full-scale assessment.publishedVersio

A comparative analysis of nature-inspired optimization approaches to 2d geometric modelling for turbomachinery applications

A vast variety of population-based optimization techniques have been formulated in recent years for use in different engineering applications, most of which are inspired by natural processes taking place in our environment. However, the mathematical and statistical analysis of these algorithms is still lacking. This paper addresses a comparative performance analysis on some of the most important nature-inspired optimization algorithms with a different basis for the complex high-dimensional curve/surface fitting problems. As a case study, the point cloud of an in-hand gas turbine compressor blade measured by touch trigger probes is optimally fitted using B-spline curves. In order to determine the optimum number/location of a set of Bezier/NURBS control points for all segments of the airfoil profiles, five dissimilar population-based evolutionary and swarm optimization techniques are employed. To comprehensively peruse and to fairly compare the obtained results, parametric and nonparametric statistical evaluations as the mathematical study are presented before designing an experiment. Results illuminate a number of advantages/disadvantages of each optimization method for such complex geometries’ parameterization from several different points of view. In terms of application, the final appropriate parametric representation of geometries is an essential, significant component of aerodynamic profile optimization processes as well as reverse engineering purposes

Mathematical Analysis and Computational Integration of Massive Heterogeneous Data from the Human Retina

Modern epidemiology integrates knowledge from heterogeneous collections of data consisting of numerical, descriptive and imaging. Large-scale epidemiological studies use sophisticated statistical analysis, mathematical models using differential equations and versatile analytic tools that handle numerical data. In contrast, knowledge extraction from images and descriptive information in the form of text and diagrams remain a challenge for most fields, in particular, for diseases of the eye. In this article we provide a roadmap towards extraction of knowledge from text and images with focus on forthcoming applications to epidemiological investigation of retinal diseases, especially from existing massive heterogeneous collections of data distributed around the globe.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted and accepted in Damor2012 conference: http://www.uninova.pt/damor2012/index.php?page=author