Fine-grained sketch-based image retrieval by matching deformable part models

(c) 2014. The copyright of this document resides with its authors. It may be distributed unchanged freely in print or electronic forms.© 2014. The copyright of this document resides with its authors. An important characteristic of sketches, compared with text, rests with their ability to intrinsically capture object appearance and structure. Nonetheless, akin to traditional text-based image retrieval, conventional sketch-based image retrieval (SBIR) principally focuses on retrieving images of the same category, neglecting the fine-grained characteristics of sketches. In this paper, we advocate the expressiveness of sketches and examine their efficacy under a novel fine-grained SBIR framework. In particular, we study how sketches enable fine-grained retrieval within object categories. Key to this problem is introducing a mid-level sketch representation that not only captures object pose, but also possesses the ability to traverse sketch and image domains. Specifically, we learn deformable part-based model (DPM) as a mid-level representation to discover and encode the various poses in sketch and image domains independently, after which graph matching is performed on DPMs to establish pose correspondences across the two domains. We further propose an SBIR dataset that covers the unique aspects of fine-grained SBIR. Through in-depth experiments, we demonstrate the superior performance of our SBIR framework, and showcase its unique ability in fine-grained retrieval

Multi-Objective Demand Side Scheduling Considering the Operational Safety of Appliances

The safe operation of appliances is of great concern to users. The safety risk increases when the appliances are in operation during periods when users are not at home or when they are asleep. In this paper, multi-objective demand side scheduling is investigated with consideration to the appliances’ operational safety together with the electricity cost and the operational delay. The formulation of appliances’ operational safety is proposed based on users’ at-home status and awake status. Then the relationships between the operational safety and the other two objectives are investigated through the approach of finding the Pareto-optimal front. Moreover, this approach is compared with the Weigh and Constraint approaches. As the Pareto-optimal front consists of a set of optimal solutions, this paper proposes a method to make the final scheduling decision based on the relationships among the multiple objectives. Simulation results demonstrate that the operational safety is improved with the sacrifice of the electricity cost and the operational delay, and that the approach of finding the Pareto-optimal front is effective in presenting comprehensive optimal solutions of the multi-objective demand side scheduling

Molecular characters and recombinant expression of the carboxylesterase gene of the meadow moth Loxostege sticticalis L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Insect carboxylesterases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of ester and amide moieties, which play important roles in insecticide resistance, specifically allelochemical tolerance and developmental regulation. We obtained the cDNA encoding carboxylesterase gene of Loxostege sticticalis (LstiCarE) by a cDNA library screen. The full cDNA of LstiCarE is 1,980 bp in length, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,875 bp, which encodes a preprotein of 625 amino acid residues. The LstiCarE contains the catalytic triad (Ser-His-Glu), the pentapeptide GxSxG motif and GxxHxxD/E motif, which are typical characteristic of esterases. The GxSxG and GxxHxxD/E motifs of LstiCarE are modified as GCSAG and GxxHxxQ, respectively. The 3-D model structure of LstiCarE showed that Ser197, His440 and Glu321 are aggregated together, which form the catalytic triad. The recombinant LstiCarE were successfully expressed in BL21 cells using recombinant plasmid DNA, and showed high carboxylesterase activity. However, the biochemical and physiological functions of carboxylesterase gene in L. sticticalis requires further investigation.Key words: Carboxylesterase gene, Loxostege sticticalis, recombinant expression

Cloning and bioinformatics analysis of an ubiquitin gene of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Ubiquitin which has the function of selective protein degradation may play an important role in the regulation of insect growth and development. The coding sequence of an ubiquitin gene from the larvae of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) named CsUB (GenBank Accession No. GU238420) was cloned by RT-PCR and sequenced in this study, with primers according to the sequences of ubiquitin genes  from Homo sapiens, Drosophila melanogaster and Lepidopteran insects. Sequence analysis showed that the length of the coding sequence is 228 bp, encoding 76 amino acids with calculated molecular weight of 8.50 kDa and the theoretical isoeletric point of 5.26. Signal sequence and transmembrane domain had not been found. Multiple sequence alignment indicated that CsUB gene sequence with other known gene sequences of invertebrates and vertebrates had a high degree of homology (more than 72% similarity) and a shorter genetic distance (lower than 0.360). During the genetic diversity analysis, the total of 104 polymorphic sites was detected from 18 ubiquitin gene sequences and 18 haplotypes were sorted. Abundant genetic diversity and strong codon usage bias were found by the haplotype diversity (1.000), average number of nucleotide differences (47.475), nucleotide diversity (0.20866), effective number of codons (44.526), codon bias index (0.559) and scaled Chi-square (0.779). The predicated secondary structure composition of CsUB protein had about 32.89% extended strands, 36.84% random colis, 15.79% alpha helixes and 14.47% beta turns. Subcellular localization analysis showed that CsUB protein of cytoplasm, cell nucleus, mitochondrion, cell skeleton and plasma membrane occupied about 47.80, 26.10, 17.40, 4.30 and 4.30%, respectively. Sequence, homology and structural analysis confirmed that CsUB gene was highly conserved during evolution and belonged to ubiquitin gene family. The results might provide some fundamental data for further studies on expressed characteristics and physiological functions of CsUB gene.Key words: Chilo suppressalis Walker, ubiquitin, gene cloning, bioinformatics

Cathodic bacterial community structure applying the different co-substrates for reductive decolorization of Alizarin Yellow R

Selective enrichment of cathodic bacterial community was investigated during reductive decolorization of AYR fedding with glucose or acetate as co-substrates in biocathode. A clear distinction of phylotype structures were observed between glucose-fed and acetate-fed biocathodes. In glucose-fed biocathode, Citrobacter (29.2%), Enterococcus (14.7%) and Alkaliflexus (9.2%) were predominant, and while, in acetate-fed biocathode, Acinetobacter (17.8%) and Achromobacter (6.4%) were dominant. Some electroactive or reductive decolorization genera, like Pseudomonas, Delftia and Dechloromonas were commonly enriched. Both of the higher AYR decolorization rate (k(AYR) = 0.46) and p-phenylenediamine (PPD) generation rate (k(PPD) = 0.38) were obtained fed with glucose than acetate (k(AYR) = 0.18; k(PPD) = 0.16). The electrochemical behavior analysis represented a total resistance in glucose-fed condition was about 73.2% lower than acetate-fed condition. The different co-substrate types, resulted in alteration of structure, richness and composition of bacterial communities, which significantly impacted the performances and electrochemical behaviors during reductive decolorization of azo dyes in biocathode. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.11116Ysciescopu

Band and scattering tuning for high performance thermoelectric Sn1-xMnxTe alloys

published_or_final_versio

Strain Softening Induced by High Pressure Torsion in Copper Alloys

Three kinds of Cu-Al alloys and a pure Cu sample with different stacking fault energies (SFEs) are deformed using room temperature rolling (RR) and high pressure torsion (HPT), respectively. The microstructure is analysed by means of transaction electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. It is found that HIPT is more feasible to obtain nanocrystals and profuse twins. Tailoring the SFE can promote sample strength without sacrificing the ductility of the Cu alloys. The tensile properties of samples processed by HPT and RR are compared. It is discovered that the HPT process leads to the strain softening phenomenon in samples with relatively high SFE. The excellent mechanical properties can be obtained in samples deformed by HPT with a SFE of 6 mJ/m(2), in which strain softening was restrained and strain hardening played a dominant role in the deformation process. The relationship between tensile properties and microstructures of the deformed metals is also investigated.110Ysciescopu

QTL analysis of production traits on SSC3 in a Large White×Meishan pig resource family

In order to locate the genetic regions that are responsible for economically important traits, a resource population was established by crossing Large White boars and Meishan sows. Phenotypic data of a total of 287 F2 offspring were collected from 1998 to 2000 and QTL analysis conducted using nine microsatellites on Sus scrofa chromosome 3 (SSC3). Least square regression interval mapping revealed two significant QTL effects on dressing percentage and moisture in m. longissimus dorsi, respectively. They were located at 136 cM and 22 cM in the genetic linkage map, near the marker Sw349 and Swr1637, respectively. QTL for dressing percentage had an additive effect of -1.035 ± 0.296% and a dominance effect of 1.056 ± 0.481%, and the explained phenotypic variance was 15.9%. The additive and dominance effects of QTL for moisture in m. longissimus dorsi were -0.025 ± 0.076% and 0.365 ± 0.101%, respectively, indicating that this QTL seemed to be significantly dominant in action. The present study confirms previously identified QTL and provides an important step in the search for the actual major genes involved in the traits of economic interest. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 36(2) 2006: 122-12