Unusual Orientations Research Articles

Progress and Limitations of Deep Networks to Recognize Objects in Unusual Poses

Deep networks should be robust to rare events if they are to be successfully deployed in high-stakes real-world applications. Here we study the capability of deep networks to recognize objects in unusual poses. We create a synthetic dataset of images of objects in unusual orientations, and evaluate the robustness of a collection of 38 recent and competitive deep networks for image classification. We show that classifying these images is still a challenge for all networks tested, with an average accuracy drop of 29.5% compared to when the objects are presented upright. This brittleness is largely unaffected by various design choices, such as training losses, architectures, dataset modalities, and data-augmentation schemes. However, networks trained on very large datasets substantially outperform others, with the best network tested—Noisy Student trained on JFT-300M—showing a relatively small accuracy drop of only 14.5% on unusual poses. Nevertheless, a visual inspection of the failures of Noisy Student reveals a remaining gap in robustness with humans. Furthermore, combining multiple object transformations—3D-rotations and scaling—further degrades the performance of all networks. Our results provide another measurement of the robustness of deep networks to consider when using them in the real world. Code and datasets are available at https://github.com/amro-kamal/ObjectPose.

Unexpectedly Large Structural Variations in Benzyl-Substituted Sila[1]ferrocenophanes.

A set of four planar-chiral sila[1]ferrocenophanes equipped with a benzyl group in the α-position, either on one or both Cp rings, and substituted on the bridging silicon atom, either by methyl or phenyl groups, were prepared. While NMR, UV/Vis, and DSC measurements did not show anything uncommon, single crystal X-ray analyses revealed unexpectedly large variations of the dihedral angles between both Cp rings (α tilt angle). While DFT calculations predicted α between 19.6 and 20.8°, measured values were found between 16.6(2) and 21.45(14)°. However, experimentally determined conformers differ significantly from those calculated for the gas phase. For the sila[1]ferrocenophane with the largest mismatch between the experimental and predicted α angle, it was shown that the orientation of benzyl groups have a significant influence on the ring-tilted structure. Packing of molecules in the crystal lattice forces benzyl groups into unusual orientations, resulting in a significantly reduced α angle through steric repulsions.

Structure and Bonding in Planar Hypercoordinate Carbon Compounds

The term hypercoordination refers to the extent of the coordination of an element by its normal value. In the hypercoordination sphere, the element can achieve planar and/or non-planar molecular shape. Hence, planar hypercoordinate carbon species violate two structural rules: (i) The highest coordination number of carbon is four and (ii) the tetrahedral orientation by the connected elements and/or groups. The unusual planar orientations are mostly stabilized by the electronic interactions of the central atom with the surrounding ligands. In this review article, we will talk about the current progress in the theoretical prediction of viable planar hypercoordinate carbon compounds. Primary knowledge of the planar hypercoordinate chemistry will lead to its forthcoming expansion. Experimental and theoretical interests in planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC), planar pentacoordinate carbon (ppC), and planar hexacoordinate carbon (phC) are continued. The proposed electronic and mechanical strategies are helpful for the designing of the ptC compounds. Moreover, the 18-valence electron rule can guide the design of new ptC clusters computationally as well as experimentally. However, the counting of 18-valence electrons is not a requisite condition to contain a ptC in a cluster. Furthermore, this ptC idea is expanded to the probability of a greater coordination number of carbon in planar orientations. Unfortunately, until now, there are no such logical approaches to designing ppC, phC, or higher-coordinate carbon molecules/ions. There exist a few global minimum structures of phC clusters identified computationally, but none have been detected experimentally. All planar hypercoordinate carbon species in the global minima may be feasible in the gas phase.

Anomalous texture development induced by grain yielding anisotropy in Ni and Ni-Mo alloys

During the annealing of Ni and Ni-Mo films, a {110} texture, usually considered to be both of high surface energy and high strain energy, was found to develop. Quantitative thermodynamic model calculations showed that the anomalous formation of this {110} texture originates fundamentally from the grain yielding anisotropy of Ni. Based on extensive grain yielding anisotropy model calculations, a “texture map” based on {111}, {100}, and {110} textures was constructed to predict the texture transition temperatures for different film thicknesses. A kinetic analysis of the texture evolution in the films is further presented, revealing that the texture evolution is controlled by the self-diffusion of atoms at grain boundaries. These findings pave the way for the achievement of unusual surface orientations through the quantitative texture design of thin films.

KRAS-retroviral fusion transcripts and gene amplification in arsenic-transformed, human prostate CAsE-PE cancer cells

CAsE-PE cells are an arsenic-transformed, human prostate epithelial line containing oncogenic mutations in KRAS compared to immortalized, normal KRAS parent cells, RWPE-1. We previously reported increased copy number of mutated KRAS in CAsE-PE cells, suggesting gene amplification. Here, KRAS flanking genomic and transcriptomic regions were sequenced in CAsE-PE cells for insight into KRAS amplification. Comparison of DNA-Seq and RNA-Seq showed increased reads from background aligning to all KRAS exons in CAsE-PE cells, while a uniform DNA-Seq read distribution occurred in RWPE-1 cells with normal transcript expression. We searched for KRAS fusions in DNA and RNA sequencing data finding a portion of reads aligning to KRAS and viral sequence. After generation of cDNA from total RNA, short and long KRAS probes were generated to hybridize cDNA and KRAS enriched fragments were PacBio sequenced. More KRAS reads were captured from CAsE-PE cDNA versus RWPE-1 by each probe set. Only CAsE-PE cDNA showed KRAS viral fusion transcripts, primarily mapping to LTR and endogenous retrovirus sequences on either 5′- or 3′-ends of KRAS. Most KRAS viral fusion transcripts contained 4 to 6 exons but some PacBio sequences were in unusual orientations, suggesting viral insertions within the gene body. Additionally, conditioned media was extracted for potential retroviral particles. RNA-Seq of culture media isolates identified KRAS retroviral fusion transcripts in CAsE-PE media only. Truncated KRAS transcripts suggested multiple retroviral integration sites occurred within the KRAS gene producing KRAS retroviral fusions of various lengths. Findings suggest activation of endogenous retroviruses in arsenic carcinogenesis should be explored.

Interdecadal Foredune Changes along the Southeast Australian Coastline: 1942–2014

Foredunes are important features within coastal landscapes, yet there are relatively few medium to long-term studies on how they evolve and change over time. This study of Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) foredunes has used 70 years of aerial photographs (or photogrammetry) and recent Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) datasets to assess multi-decadal fluctuations in foredune morphology. It was shown that over the past 70 years NSW foredunes have exhibited considerable spatial variation, ranging from accretion/aggradation to recession. Those sites that accreted predominantly extended seaward as new incipient dunes, gaining a maximum of 235 m3 m−1 in sand volume over the study period (for the entire dune system). These sites were commonly found in the north of the state, within closed sediment compartments, and with strong onshore (and alongshore) wind climates present (increasing the potential for aeolian sand transport). Stable foredunes were those that remained within +/− 50 m3 m−1 of their initial volume and managed to recover from the various storm impacts over the study period. The majority of these sites were found within the central to southern half of the state, behind embayed beaches, and within leaky sediment compartments, or those that have estuarine sinks. Finally, those foredunes in recession have retreated landwards and/or have reduced in height or width, and lost up to 437 m3 m−1 of sand volume over the study period. There was no clear spatial trend for these sites; however, generally they were found in compartments that had unusual orientations, had disruptions in longshore drift/cross shore sand delivery (i.e., rocky reefs), or were being impacted by humans (i.e., the installation of river training walls, sand bypassing systems, or coastal management programs). This study has shown that NSW foredunes have undergone substantial recent changes and, by understanding their past history, will provide better insight into how they can be managed into the future.

The impact of inverted text on visual word processing: An fMRI study

Visual word recognition has been studied for decades. One question that has received limited attention is how different text presentation orientations disrupt word recognition. By examining how word recognition processes may be disrupted by different text orientations it is hoped that new insights can be gained concerning the process. Here, we examined the impact of rotating and inverting text on the neural network responsible for visual word recognition focusing primarily on a region of the occipto-temporal cortex referred to as the visual word form area (VWFA). A lexical decision task was employed in which words and pseudowords were presented in one of three orientations (upright, rotated or inverted). The results demonstrate that inversion caused the greatest disruption of visual word recognition processes. Both rotated and inverted text elicited increased activation in spatial attention regions within the right parietal cortex. However, inverted text recruited phonological and articulatory processing regions within the left inferior frontal and left inferior parietal cortices. Finally, the VWFA was found to not behave similarly to the fusiform face area in that unusual text orientations resulted in increased activation and not decreased activation. It is hypothesized here that the VWFA activation is modulated by feedback from linguistic processes.

Predicting conformations and orientations of guests within a water soluble host: a molecular docking approach

In this study we have examined conformations and orientations of guests within a water-soluble host known by the trivial name Octa Acid (OA). Docking program Vina, which was originally developed for screening drug-like molecules, has been used to identify binding modes and affinities of select guest molecules with OA. Hydrophobic guests were encapsulated into the nonpolar cavity of OA capsule owing to solvophobic interactions. Amphiphilic guests were bound by keeping the nonpolar part within the cavity of OA, while pointing the polar anionic group out of the cavity. All these results obtained from the docking study were in accord with experimental findings. The post-complexation attributes of the guests were regulated by available free space and the specific interactions between guest–OA pair, which led to unusual conformations and orientations. This study showed that scoring function available with Vina, which was derived from protein–ligand data set, could successfully predict post-complexed structural features of guests within OA, thus opening opportunities to modulate physical and chemical behavior of guest molecules.

What are the relationships between college students’ goal orientations and learning strategies?

Few studies have been done to examine the relationships between students’ goal orientations (or achievement motivation) and their learning strategies with case studies. This study examined how five educational psychology students’ goal orientations would influence their learning strategies with a semi-structured interview method. The results showed that all students who used complex, multidimensional goal orientations also used versatile learning strategies depending on their specific needs in class. The findings showed that some exhibited goal orientations (mastery/performance) and other unusual goal orientations, were inconsistent with the extant literature. These dimensions were not clear-cut as in other quantitative methods. With regards to learning strategies, the common learning strategies were seeking help and rehearsal learning strategies. Students altered their learning strategies to their perceived optimal learning strategies based on their learning experiences in the past. The implication for classroom practice was that instructors could incorporate different tasks and assignments in order to motivate, encourage students’ use of multiple learning strategies and goal orientations.

Stellar magnetic fields could explain unusual exoplanet orientations

Stellar magnetic fields could explain unusual exoplanet orientations

Dynamics and control of a spatial disorientation trainer

Modern combat aircraft can fly at unusual orientations. The spatial disorientation trainer (SDT) examines a pilot's ability to recognise these orientations, to adapt to unusual positions and to persuade the pilot to believe in the aircraft instruments for orientation and not in his own senses. The SDT is designed as a four-degree-of-freedom (4DoF) manipulator with rotational axes. Through rotations about these axes, different orientations can be achieved; different acceleration forces acting on the pilot can also be simulated. In this paper, a control algorithm of an SDT that improves the quality and safety of the SDT motion while improving position accuracy and reducing servo errors is proposed. This control algorithm uses approximate inverse dynamics based on the recursive Newton–Euler algorithm, which accounts for the motors present in the system; it calculates motor torques, as well as the forces and moments acting on the SDT links based on the achievable velocities and accelerations of the robot links. This algorithm enables accurate dimensioning of the axes bearings and links as well. The maximum possible accelerations of the SDT links are calculated in each interpolation period based on the total moments of inertia for the axes of rotation of these links, mutual influences of the link accelerations on each other, and motor capabilities. The forces, moments and torques that act on the SDT links obtained with the suggested algorithm have lower magnitude and smoother profile. In this study, the forces and angular velocities that act on the simulator pilot in the SDT are calculated along with the roll and pitch angles of the gondola for these forces.

Size-controlled nanopores in lipid membranes with stabilizing electric fields

Molecular dynamics (MD) has been shown to be a useful tool for unveiling many aspects of pore formation in lipid membranes under the influence of an applied electric field. However, the study of the structure and transport properties of electropores by means of MD has been hampered by difficulties in the maintenance of a stable electropore in the typically small simulated membrane patches. We describe a new simulation scheme in which an initially larger porating field is systematically reduced after pore formation to lower stabilizing values to produce stable, size-controlled electropores, which can then be characterized at the molecular level. A new method allows the three-dimensional modeling of the irregular shape of the pores obtained as well as the quantification of its volume. The size of the pore is a function of the value of the stabilizing field. At lower fields the pore disappears and the membrane recovers its normal shape, although in some cases long-lived, fragmented pores containing unusual lipid orientations in the bilayer are observed.

Crystallization of pentacene thin films on polymeric dielectrics

Thin films of pentacene have been deposited on five different organic dielectric layers of three different classes of organic materials: a conventional polymer, a photoreactive polymer and a self assembled monolayer. The morphology and crystallographic properties of the pentacene films were investigated with atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. It is found that the films form well known crystallographic structures but show unusual crystal orientations with respect to the surface. The (001) lattice plane of the Campbell phase is tilted approximately 13° from the substrate surface normal while tilts between 4° and 7° are observed for the thin film phase. The island shape and density are found to be inhomogeneous on all substrates. In films where mainly large dendritic grains are observed the thin-film phase is the prevalent crystallographic phase while films with a high island density and small irregular grains are dominated by the Campbell phase. It is observed that the mean surface roughnesses and mean surface energies of the substrate play a minor role for the crystallization while the substrate's morphology on nanoscopic scale is crucial for the thin film growth.

Structural Correlations in High-Spin Complexes of [Fe{HC(3,5-Me2pz)3}2]2+: Solid State Structure of [Fe{HC(3,5-Me2pz)3}2][Fe2OCl6

AbstractThe cation in the solid state structure of [Fe{HC(3,5-Me 2 pz) 3 } 2 ][Fe 2 OCl 6 ] (pz = pyrazolyl ring) contains an octahedral iron(II) center with an average Fe-N bond distance of 2.17 Å, indicating that the iron(II) is in the high-spin form. While M-N bond distances of this length with κ 3 -[HC(3,5-Me 2 pz) 3 ] ligands generally cause tilting of pz to open up the “bite” angle, in this structure the average tilting angle is only 3.1°, a much lower value than observed in earlier structures of this same cation paired with different anions. The crystals are monoclinic, space group P2 1 /n, with a = 11.1671(12) Å, b = 10.8091(11) Å, c = 17.4385(17) Å, α = γ = 90°, β = 95.685(2)°, and Z = 2.Graphical AbstractThe cation in the solid state structure of [Fe{HC(3,5-Me 2 pz) 3 } 2 ][Fe 2 OCl 6 ] (pz = pyrazolyl ring) contains an octahedral iron(II) center in the high-spin form with unusual orientations of the pyrazolyl rings.[IMAGE]

Effect of growth conditions on the structure and properties of tungsten films prepared using a thermal evaporation process

We report the fabrication and characterization of tungsten films obtained using a thermal evaporation method. Single phase α-tungsten films were obtained at higher substrate temperatures (520–680°C) than the single phase β-tungsten films (180–220°C). X-ray spectra show that both the α-tungsten films and the β-tungsten films are polycrystalline having unusual preferred (200) and (321) orientations, respectively. Poor adhesion was observed when the films were deposited on bare silicon substrate. The adhesion is greatly improved by the introduction of a carbon layer between the film and the substrate. The field emission properties of the α-tungsten films and the β-tungsten films were also examined. The α-tungsten films and β-tungsten films exhibit turn-on fields at 1.3 and 2.8V∕μm, respectively. Current densities in the order of 10−1mA∕cm2 were observed. These field emission properties are believed to be better or much better than that of both tungsten nanowires and nanorods. The relation between the field emission properties and the film structures is discussed.

Control of in-plane and out-of-plane texture in shear mode piezoelectric ZnO films by ion-beam irradiation

ZnO polycrystalline films have a strong tendency to grow their c-axis perpendicular to the film surface, even on an amorphous substrate. However, unusual (101¯0) preferred orientations in which the c-axis lies in the substrate plane are often observed when the film is exposed to ion irradiation during its growth. To investigate the effect of ion irradiation on the (101¯0) preferred orientation, ZnO films were fabricated using a 0–1 keV oxygen ion-beam-assisted electron-beam evaporation of zinc. The results clearly indicated that the tendency of (101¯0) preferred orientation was enhanced with increasing ion energy and amount of ion irradiation. This demonstrated that the ion bombardment induced the (0001) preferred orientation to change into a (101¯0) preferred orientation which corresponds to the ion channeling direction. An in-plane preferred orientation was also obtained, probably because of deviations in the incident ion-beam direction from 5° to the substrate surface normal. These in-plane textured (101¯0) ZnO films, fabricated under the ion-beam irradiation of 0.5–1 keV, excited a shear acoustic wave without any longitudinal wave. The highest shear mode electromechanical coupling coefficient was found to be k15=0.16 in the film with ion-beam irradiation of 1 keV. This k15 value corresponds to 60% of that in a ZnO single crystal (k15=0.26).

The Biologically Important Surfactin Lipopeptide Induces Nanoripples in Supported Lipid Bilayers

Under specific conditions, lipid membranes form ripple phases with intriguing nanoscale undulations. Here, we show using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) that the biologically important surfactin lipopeptide induces nanoripples of 30 nm periodicity in dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers at 25 degrees (i.e. well below the pretransition temperature of DPPC). Whereas most undulations formed the classical straight orientation with characteristic angle changes of 120 degrees , some of them also displayed unusual circular orientations. Strikingly, ripple structures were formed at 15% surfactin but were rarely or never observed at 5 and 30% surfactin, emphasizing the important role played by the surfactin concentration. Theoretical simulations corroborated the AFM data by revealing the formation of stable surfactin/lipid assemblies with positive curvature.

Object recognition with severe spatial deficits in Williams syndrome: sparing and breakdown

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder that results in severe visual-spatial cognitive deficits coupled with relative sparing in language, face recognition, and certain aspects of motion processing. Here, we look for evidence for sparing or impairment in another cognitive system—object recognition. Children with WS, normal mental-age (MA) and chronological age-matched (CA) children, and normal adults viewed pictures of a large range of objects briefly presented under various conditions of degradation, including canonical and unusual orientations, and clear or blurred contours. Objects were shown as either full-color views (Experiment 1) or line drawings (Experiment 2). Across both experiments, WS and MA children performed similarly in all conditions while CA children performed better than both WS group and MA groups with unusual views. This advantage, however, was eliminated when images were also blurred. The error types and relative difficulty of different objects were similar across all participant groups. The results indicate selective sparing of basic mechanisms of object recognition in WS, together with developmental delay or arrest in recognition of objects from unusual viewpoints. These findings are consistent with the growing literature on brain abnormalities in WS which points to selective impairment in the parietal areas of the brain. As a whole, the results lend further support to the growing literature on the functional separability of object recognition mechanisms from other spatial functions, and raise intriguing questions about the link between genetic deficits and cognition.

Hydrogen bonding and crystal packing favor a nonplanarCo(III)porphyrin conformation and unusually weak axial ligation in [Co(TPP)(benzylamine)2](SCN): A crystallographic and density functional theory investigation

The single crystal X-ray structure of [ Co ( TPP )( BzNH2)2]( SCN ), compound 2, where TPP = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin dianion and BzNH2= benzylamine, reveals that the SCN-ion is hydrogen-bonded to one of the coordinated amino group hydrogen atoms via its sulfur atom. Furthermore, the N – H ⋯ SCN interaction is balanced by a stronger N – H ⋯ NCS hydrogen bonding interaction for the trans BzNH2ligand as a result of the multiple hydrogen bond accepting character of the thiocyanate ion. Analysis of the crystal packing shows that these two hydrogen bonds play a major role in fixing unusual orientations for the axial ligands relative to the porphyrin ring in this system. This, in turn, leads to the formation of a nonplanar porphyrin core conformation that is a mixture of ruffle- and saddle-type distortions. The intricate hydrogen bonding between the cations and anions in 2 results in an unusually long mean Co – Naminecoordination distance of 2.033(4) Å, some 0.05 Å longer than previously observed for other bis(primary amine) complexes of Co(III) porphyrins with comparable porphyrin ligands. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/LACVP* level of theory have been used to gauge the perturbation of the electronic structure of the [ Co ( TPP )( BzNH2)2]+cation caused by the N – H ⋯ SCN and N – H ⋯ NCS hydrogen-bonded SCN-ions. The calculations show that partial mixing of the anion MOs with those of the porphyrin cation lead to changes in the electron populations of the 3d orbitals of up to 0.42 e as well as more nearly tetragonal electronic symmetry for the Co(III) ion as a result of adjustments of the relative energies of the MOs with predominantly 3d character.

Behavioral inferences from the Skhul/Qafzeh early modern human hand remains.

Two groups of humans are found in the Near East approximately 100,000 years ago, the late archaic Neanderthals and the early modern Skhul/Qafzeh humans. Observations that Neanderthals were more heavily muscled, had stronger upper-limb bones, and possessed unusual shapes and orientations of some upper-limb joint complexes relative to the Skhul/Qafzeh hominids, have led some researchers to conclude that significant between-group upper-limb-related behavioral differences must have been present, despite the association of the two groups with similar Middle Paleolithic archeological complexes. A three-dimensional morphometric analysis of the hand remains of the Skhul/Qafzeh hominids, Neanderthals, early and late Upper Paleolithic humans, and Holocene humans supports the dichotomy. The Skhul/Qafzeh carpometacarpal remains do not have any unique morphologies relative to the other fossil samples remains examined. However, in the functionally significant metacarpal 1 and 3 bases they resemble Upper Paleolithic humans, not Neanderthals. Furthermore, the Skhul/Qafzeh sample differs significantly from the Neanderthals in many other aspects of hand functional anatomy. Given the correlations between changes in tool technologies and functional adaptations seen in the hands of Upper Paleolithic humans, it is concluded that the Skhul/Qafzeh hand remains were adapted to Upper Paleolithic-like manipulative repertoires. These results support the inference of significant behavioral differences between Neanderthals and the Skhul/Qafzeh hominids and indicate that a significant shift in human manipulative behaviors was associated with the earliest stages of the emergence of modern humans.