Rod-shaped Objects Research Articles

Антропоморфные изображения периода Яз-I

Two groups of unusual objects from contexts of the Early Iron Age Yaz-I period at the site of Maydatepa, southern Uzbekistan, are presented. The first group is interpreted as abstract anthropomorphic figurines. They are small rod-shaped clay objects (fired and unfired), with plastic noses and impressed eyes, sometimes with sparse additional ornaments. The second group is a collective find (and one separate individual object) from a closed pit context from the same site. The collective find consists of five, partly fragmentary, stele-like roughly hewn limestone objects, some of which have a marked off head. In view of the abstract clay objects, these small stelae can also be interpreted as anthropomorphic representations. The individual stone object is a stalagmite, which was brought intentionally to the site. Because of the natural grooved erosion at the top, which may represent hair, this object is included here. The entire collection contradicts the presumed lack of figurative art in the Early Iron Age Yaz-I communities, but it is also radically different from the preceding art of the Bronze Age.

Research on Classification of Rod-Shaped Ground Objects in Road Scene Based on Multi-Feature Associated Network

Research on Classification of Rod-Shaped Ground Objects in Road Scene Based on Multi-Feature Associated Network

Flight characteristics of rod-shaped windborne debris objects in atmospheric boundary layer winds

The presented study explored the flight characteristics of rod-shaped debris objects in neutrally-stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) winds. Despite the fact that rod-shaped debris objects, such as lumbers, are a common type of debris observed during extreme wind events, their three-dimensional motions had not been fully characterized and the understanding of their flight trajectories was limited to the outcome of only a few wind tunnel tests. To address the outlined research gaps, this study established a coupled simulation framework, which utilized both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and rigid body dynamics (RBD). After validating this framework using the experimental test data, the flight trajectories of a set of rod-shaped debris objects were first evaluated in uniform winds. With placing the rod's longitudinal axis in both along-wind and cross-wind directions, the debris flight motions were characterized for various initial pitch angles. After appropriate verifications, the simulations were extended to investigate the flight of rod-shaped objects in ABL winds. The main debris flight properties, including displacement and velocity profiles, were systematically extracted over time, taking into consideration various influential factors. With the wealth of debris flight data generated through the conducted CFD-RBD simulations, predictive models were developed for assessing the kinetic energy associated with the flight of rod-shaped debris objects.

Identification of Tomato Infecting Viruses That Co-Isolate with Nanovesicles Using a Combined Proteomics and Electron-Microscopic Approach.

Plant-derived nanovesicles (NVs) have attracted interest due to their anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidative properties and their efficient uptake by human intestinal epithelial cells. Previously we showed that tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit is one of the interesting plant resources from which NVs can be obtained at a high yield. In the course of the isolation of NVs from different batches of tomatoes, using the established differential ultracentrifugation or size-exclusion chromatography methods, we occasionally observed the co-isolation of viral particles. Density gradient ultracentrifugation (gUC), using sucrose or iodixanol gradient materials, turned out to be efficient in the separation of NVs from the viral particles. We applied cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the morphological assessment and LC–MS/MS-based proteomics for the protein identification of the gradient fractions. Cryo-TEM showed that a low-density gUC fraction was enriched in membrane-enclosed NVs, while the high-density fractions were rich in rod-shaped objects. Mass spectrometry–based proteomic analysis identified capsid proteins of tomato brown rugose fruit virus, tomato mosaic virus and tomato mottle mosaic virus. In another batch of tomatoes, we isolated tomato spotted wilt virus, potato virus Y and southern tomato virus in the vesicle sample. Our results show the frequent co-isolation of plant viruses with NVs and the utility of the combination of cryo-TEM, SEM and proteomics in the detection of possible viral contamination.

Spatial resolution compensation by adjusting the reconstruction kernels for iterative reconstruction images of computed tomography

PurposeHybrid iterative reconstruction (IR) is useful to reduce noise in computed tomography (CT) images. However, it often decreases the spatial resolution. The ability of high spatial resolution kernels (harder kernels) to compensate for the decrease in the spatial resolution of hybrid IRs was investigated. MethodsAn elliptic cylindrical phantom simulating an adult abdomen was used. Two types of rod-shaped objects with ~330 and ~130 HU were inserted to simulate contrasts of arteries in CT angiography. Two multi-slice CT systems were used to scan the phantoms with 120 kVp and scan doses of 20 and 10 mGy. The task transfer functions (TTFs) were measured from the circular edges of the rod images. The noise power spectrum (NPS) was measured from the images of the water-only section. The CT images were reconstructed using a filtered back projection (FBP) with baseline kernels and two levels of hybrid IRs with harder kernels. The profiles of the clinical images across the aortic dissection flaps were measured to evaluate actual spatial resolutions. ResultsThe TTF degradation of each hybrid IR was recovered by the harder kernels, whereas the noise reduction effect was retained, for both the 20 and 10 mGy. The profiles of the dissection flaps for the FBP were maintained by using the harder kernels. Even with the best combination of hybrid IR and harder kernel, the noise level at 10 mGy was not reduced to the level of FBP at 20 mGy, suggesting no capability of a 50% dose reduction while maintaining noise.

Motion of objects embedded in lipid bilayer membranes: Advection and effective viscosity.

An interfacial regularized Stokeslet scheme is presented to predict the motion of solid bodies (e.g., proteins or gel-phase domains) embedded within flowing lipid bilayer membranes. The approach provides a numerical route to calculate velocities and angular velocities in complex flow fields that are not amenable to simple Faxén-like approximations. Additionally, when applied to shearing motions, the calculations yield predictions for the effective surface viscosity of dilute rigid-body-laden membranes. In the case of cylindrical proteins, effective viscosity calculations are compared to two prior analytical predictions from the literature. Effective viscosity predictions for a dilute suspension of rod-shaped objects in the membrane are also presented.

Dependence of behavioral performance on material category in an object-grasping task with monkeys.

Material perception is an essential part of our cognitive function that enables us to properly interact with our complex daily environment. One important aspect of material perception is its multimodal nature. When we see an object, we generally recognize its haptic properties as well as its visual properties. Consequently, one must examine behavior using real objects that are perceived both visually and haptically to fully understand the characteristics of material perception. As a first step, we examined whether there is any difference in the behavioral responses to different materials in monkeys trained to perform an object grasping task in which they saw and grasped rod-shaped real objects made of various materials. We found that the monkeys' behavior in the grasping task, which was measured based on the success rate and the pulling force, differed depending on the material category. Monkeys easily and correctly grasped objects of some materials, such as metal and glass, but failed to grasp objects of other materials. In particular, monkeys avoided grasping fur-covered objects. The differences in the behavioral responses to the material categories cannot be explained solely based on the degree of familiarity with the different materials. These results shed light on the organization of multimodal representation of materials, where their biological significance is an important factor. In addition, a monkey that avoided touching real fur-covered objects readily touched images of the same objects presented on a CRT display. This suggests that employing real objects is important when studying behaviors related to material perception. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We tested monkeys using an object-grasping task in which monkeys saw and grasped rod-shaped real objects made of various materials. We found that the monkeys' behavior differed dramatically across the material categories and that the behavioral differences could not be explained solely based on the degree of familiarity with the different materials. These results shed light on the organization of multimodal representation of materials, where the biological significance of materials is an important factor.

Real-Time Observation of Enzymatic Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymerization Using High-Speed Scanning Atomic Force Microscopy.

The initial stage of in vitro polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymerization by PHA synthase from Ralstonia eutropha (PhaCRe) on a mica substrate in water was observed using high-speed scanning atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM). Before PHA polymerization, the adsorption–desorption cycle of the PhaCRe molecule on mica was observed in real time. For approximately 30 s after the addition of the PHA monomer, no significant change was observed on the mica substrate, but PhaCRe could be transformed into an active enzyme in water upon contact with the monomer during this period. Subsequently, linearly elongating rod-shaped objects were observed on the mica substrate, plausibly as a result of the polymerization reaction. The height of these elongating objects was considerably larger than the expected height for a single PHA chain. This observation suggests that PHA chains generated during the reported experiments might form some kind of a semiregular structure.

A theoretically exact reconstruction algorithm for helical cone-beam differential phase-contrast computed tomography

Differential phase-contrast computed tomography (DPC-CT) reconstruction problems are usually solved by using parallel-, fan- or cone-beam algorithms. For rod-shaped objects, the x-ray beams cannot recover all the slices of the sample at the same time. Thus, if a rod-shaped sample is required to be reconstructed by the above algorithms, one should alternately perform translation and rotation on this sample, which leads to lower efficiency. The helical cone-beam CT may significantly improve scanning efficiency for rod-shaped objects over other algorithms. In this paper, we propose a theoretically exact filter-backprojection algorithm for helical cone-beam DPC-CT, which can be applied to reconstruct the refractive index decrement distribution of the samples directly from two-dimensional differential phase-contrast images. Numerical simulations are conducted to verify the proposed algorithm. Our work provides a potential solution for inspecting the rod-shaped samples using DPC-CT, which may be applicable with the evolution of DPC-CT equipments.

An approximate reconstruction method for helical cone-beam differential phase-contrast computed tomography images

Differential phase-contrast computed tomography (DPC-CT) is a novel x-ray inspection method. Currently, DPC-CT reconstruction problems are solved by using parallel-beam, fan-beam and cone-beam algorithms. The above algorithms cannot show the internal structures of rod-shaped objects well enough for only reconstructing a few slices. The helical cone-beam algorithms have significant advantages for rod-shaped objects over other algorithms. Along with our numerical evaluation and verification, we report a PI-line-based approximate algorithm for helical cone-beam DPC-CT, which can be applied to reconstruct the refractive index decrement distribution of the samples directly from phase-contrast projection images. Simulations using a 3D Shepp–Logan phantom are carried out to verify the proposed algorithm. Reconstruction results show that the proposed algorithm can provide higher quality performance compared with the existing interpolation-based reconstruction algorithm.

Characteristics of bruises in carcasses of cows sourced from farms or from livestock markets

Bruises in cattle develop after the application of force, and they provide evidence for sub-optimal animal welfare. The aim of this study was to describe the gross characteristics of bruises in cows arriving at the slaughterhouse directly from farms or through the livestock market. The number of bruises and their distribution on the carcass as well as their severity, shape, size and colour were assessed post mortem in a slaughterhouse in Chile. A total of 258 cow carcasses were evaluated, and a total of 846 bruises were found on 243 of the carcasses. Cows that had passed through a livestock market (M-carcasses) had in total 563 bruises (mean 3.8 bruises/carcass, s.d. 2.0), whereas cows transported directly from farms (F-carcasses) had in total 283 bruises (mean 2.5 bruises/carcass, s.d. 1.8). The backs of F-carcasses had twice as many bruises as M-carcasses (32.9% and 16.2%, respectively), whereas bruises in the rib area were more frequently observed in M-carcasses (13.1%) than in F-carcasses (8.1%). Superficial bruises (grade 1) were the most frequently observed (66.2% of all bruises). Regarding the size of the bruises, 64 (7.6%) were classified as large, 271 (32.0%) as medium and 511 (60.4%) as small. Irregularly shaped bruises were the most frequent (91.1%, n = 771), followed by linear (3.8%, n = 32), circular (3.1%, n = 26) and tramline-shaped bruises (1.9%, n = 16). The latter were noticed only in M-carcasses, which may indicate that these animals were beaten more frequently with sticks or other rod-shaped objects. Fresh, bright red-coloured bruises were found more frequently on all the animals (69.5% from farms and 70.5% from market) compared with bluish (29.7% and 29.3%, respectively) and yellow bruises (0.4% and 0.2%, respectively). The method of selling was significantly associated with the number of bruises on the carcass (P < 0.001) and the anatomical site (P < 0.05), but not with the severity, shape and colour of the bruises. Increased fat coverage reduced the severity of bruises (P < 0.001). This study shows that, in Chile, market animals have more bruises than those sourced directly from farms, and their distribution is different. More information about the causes of infliction may help reduce bruises and it may also improve their welfare. Further studies are required to elucidate whether the causes of the high bruising in the case of animals passing through markets are related only to extra handling (repeated loading, unloading, transportation, eventual mixing) or to the way of handling by personnel and inadequate design.

Study of putative microfossils in space dust from the stratosphere

AbstractInterplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were recovered from the stratosphere by a cryosampler flown below a balloon flying at altitudes of 20–41 km. The present study uses high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry to examine fresh samples collected at 38–41 km. The SEM observations confirm the presence of 7–32 μm sized clusters of coccoidal (0.4–1.3 μm in diameter) and rod-shaped (0.6–2.5 μm in length) objects as components of the IDP complex. Many single globules (1.6–9.0 μm in diameter) are also observed, some of which exhibit a rough surface with filamentous features of variable lengths. The spectrophotometry of the particles in aggregate reveals a prominent peak centred at 216 nm, which is remarkably similar to that of diatoms and close to the UV astronomical feature of 217.5 nm that has been identified as the spectral characteristic of aromatic hydrocarbons. The evidence presented here suggests that the stratospheric particles are IDPs comprising an assortment of materials among which are included microfossil-like features in variable sizes and forms, such as coccoids, rods and filaments.

Computer simulation of the directional displacement of rod‐shaped, arc‐shaped, and circular objects in an array of obstacles, representing a simple model for the gel electrophoresis of small DNA

The gel electrophoresis of DNA of identical length but various static conformations was simulated using a two-dimensional model of the movement of rod-shaped, arc-shaped, and circular objects through random arrays of disk-shaped obstacles. At low obstacle density, the displacement rate of these objects decreases from the rod-shaped to the circular to the arc-shaped objects. At high obstacle densities, the displacement rate of circular objects approaches zero. The alignment of the arc-shaped objects along the axis of the directional movement of the objects were retarded in their movement by collisions with the obstacles; the number of collisions of the former, in view of their greater ability to align, was less than that of the latter. Circular objects were exclusively retarded by collisions, while the arc-shaped objects exhibited an additional retarding mechanism, viz. the suspension ("hanging") on the obstacles. When the rigid objects were made flexible, their displacement increased. The increase was most pronounced with the circular objects, allowing them to penetrate at obstacle densities from which the rigid objects were excluded.