Showing papers by "Academia Sinica published in 2003"

Complete solution classification for the perspective-three-point problem

Abstract: We use two approaches to solve the perspective-three-point (P3P) problem: the algebraic approach and the geometric approach. In the algebraic approach, we use Wu-Ritt's zero decomposition algorithm to give a complete triangular decomposition for the P3P equation system. This decomposition provides the first complete analytical solution to the P3P problem. We also give a complete solution classification for the P3P equation system, i.e., we give explicit criteria for the P3P problem to have one, two, three, and four solutions. Combining the analytical solutions with the criteria, we provide an algorithm, CASSC, which may be used to find complete and robust numerical solutions to the P3P problem. In the geometric approach, we give some pure geometric criteria for the number of real physical solutions.

Evidence for a narrow S = +1 baryon resonance in photoproduction from the neutron.

Abstract: The $\ensuremath{\gamma}n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}n$ reaction on $^{12}\mathrm{C}$ has been studied by measuring both ${K}^{+}$ and ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ at forward angles. A sharp baryon resonance peak was observed at $1.54\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/{c}^{2}$ with a width smaller than $25\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{M}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/{c}^{2}$ and a Gaussian significance of $4.6\ensuremath{\sigma}$. The strangeness quantum number ($S$) of the baryon resonance is $+1$. It can be interpreted as a molecular meson-baryon resonance or alternatively as an exotic five-quark state ($uudd\overline{s}$) that decays into a ${K}^{+}$ and a neutron. The resonance is consistent with the lowest member of an antidecuplet of baryons predicted by the chiral soliton model.

Transverse momentum and collision energy dependence of high p(T) hadron suppression in Au+Au collisions at ultrarelativistic energies

Abstract: We report high statistics measurements of inclusive charged hadron production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at rootS(NN)=200 GeV. A large, approximately constant hadron suppression is observed in central Au+Au collisions for 5

Evidence from d + Au measurements for final state suppression of high p(T) hadrons in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

Abstract: We report measurements of single-particle inclusive spectra and two-particle azimuthal distributions of charged hadrons at high transverse momentum (high p(T)) in minimum bias and central d+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV. The inclusive yield is enhanced in d+Au collisions relative to binary-scaled p+p collisions, while the two-particle azimuthal distributions are very similar to those observed in p+p collisions. These results demonstrate that the strong suppression of the inclusive yield and back-to-back correlations at high p(T) previously observed in central Au+Au collisions are due to final-state interactions with the dense medium generated in such collisions.

Elliptic flow of identified hadrons in [formula presented] collisions at [formula presented]

Abstract: The anisotropy parameter (v(2)), the second harmonic of the azimuthal particle distribution, has been measured with the PHENIX detector in Au+Au collisions at roots(NN)=200 GeV for identified and inclusive charged particle production at central rapidities (eta 2 GeV/c, in marked contrast to the predictions of a hydrodynamical model. A quark-coalescence model is also investigated.

Constant elevation of southern Tibet over the past 15 million years

Abstract: The uplift of the Tibetan plateau, an area that is 2,000 km wide, to an altitude of about 5,000 m has been shown to modify global climate and to influence monsoon intensity. Mechanical and thermal models for homogeneous thickening of the lithosphere make specific predictions about uplift rates of the Tibetan plateau, but the precise history of the uplift of the plateau has yet to be confirmed by observations. Here we present well-preserved fossil leaf assemblages from the Namling basin, southern Tibet, dated to approximately 15 Myr ago, which allow us to reconstruct the temperatures within the basin at that time. Using a numerical general circulation model to estimate moist static energy at the location of the fossil leaves, we reconstruct the elevation of the Namling basin 15 Myr ago to be 4,689 +/- 895 m or 4,638 +/- 847 m, depending on the reference data used. This is comparable to the present-day altitude of 4,600 m. We conclude that the elevation of the southern Tibetan plateau probably has remained unchanged for the past 15 Myr.

Suppressed π0 Production at Large Transverse Momentum in Central Au + Au Collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV

Abstract: Transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions in the range 1 < p_T < 10 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The pi^0 multiplicity in central reactions is significantly below the yields measured at the same sqrt(s_NN) in peripheral Au+Au and p+p reactions scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. For the most central bin, the suppression factor is ~2.5 at p_T = 2 GeV/c and increases to ~4-5 at p_T ~= 4 GeV/c. At larger p_T, the suppression remains constant within errors. The deficit is already apparent in semi-peripheral reactions and increases smoothly with centrality.

Switching between the two action modes of the dual-affinity nitrate transporter CHL1 by phosphorylation.

Abstract: To counteract fluctuating nutrient environments, plants have evolved high- and low-affinity uptake systems. These two systems were traditionally thought to be genetically distinct, but, recently, two Arabidopsis transporters, AtKUP1 and CHL1, were shown to have dual affinities. However, little is known about how a dual-affinity transporter works and the advantages of having a dual-affinity transporter. This study demonstrates that, in the case of CHL1, switching between the two modes of action is regulated by phosphorylation at threonine residue 101; when phosphorylated, CHL1 functions as a high-affinity nitrate transporter, whereas, when dephosphorylated, it functions as a low-affinity nitrate transporter. This regulatory mechanism allows plants to change rapidly between high- and low-affinity nitrate uptake, which may be critical when competing for limited nitrogen. These results demonstrate yet another regulatory role of phosphorylation in plant physiology.

PHENIX detector overview

Abstract: The PHENIX detector is designed to perform a broad study of A-A, p-A, and p-p collisions to investigate nuclear matter under extreme conditions A wide variety of probes, sensitive to all timescales, are used to study systematic variations with species and energy as well as to measure the spin structure of the nucleon Designing for the needs of the heavy-ion and polarized-proton programs has produced a detector with unparalleled capabilities PHENIX measures electron and muon pairs, photons, and hadrons with excellent energy and momentum resolution The detector consists of a large number of subsystems that are discussed in other papers in this volume The overall design parameters of the detector are presented (C) 2002 Elsevier Science BV All rights reserved

Genome-based analysis of virulence genes in a non-biofilm-forming Staphylococcus epidermidis strain (ATCC 12228).

Abstract: Summary Staphylococcus epidermidis strains are diverse in their pathogenicity; some are invasive and cause seri- ous nosocomial infections, whereas others are non- pathogenic commensal organisms. To analyse the implications of different virulence factors in Staphylo- coccus epidermidis infections, the complete genome of Staphylococcus epidermidis strain ATCC 12228, a non-biofilm forming, non-infection associated strain used for detection of residual antibiotics in food prod- ucts, was sequenced. This strain showed low viru- lence by mouse and rat experimental infections. The genome consists of a single 2499 279 bp chromosome and six plasmids. The chromosomal G + C content is 32.1% and 2419 protein coding sequences (CDS) are predicted, among which 230 are putative novel genes. Compared to the virulence factors in Staphylococcus aureus, aside from d d d -haemolysin and b b b -haemolysin, other toxin genes were not found. In contrast, the majority of adhesin genes are intact in ATCC 12228. Most strikingly, the ica operon coding for the enzymes synthesizing interbacterial cellular polysaccharide is missing in ATCC 12228 and rearrangements of adja- cent genes are shown. No mec genes, IS256, IS257, were found in ATCC 12228. It is suggested that the absence of the ica operon is a genetic marker in com- mensal Staphylococcus epidermidis strains which are less likely to become invasive.

Web application security assessment by fault injection and behavior monitoring

Abstract: As a large and complex application platform, the World Wide Web is capable of delivering a broad range of sophisticated applications. However, many Web applications go through rapid development phases with extremely short turnaround time, making it difficult to eliminate vulnerabilities. Here we analyze the design of Web application security assessment mechanisms in order to identify poor coding practices that render Web applications vulnerable to attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting. We describe the use of a number of software-testing techniques (including dynamic analysis, black-box testing, fault injection, and behavior monitoring), and suggest mechanisms for applying these techniques to Web applications. Real-world situations are used to test a tool we named the Web Application Vulnerability and Error Scanner (WAVES, an open-source project available at http://waves.sourceforge.net) and to compare it with other tools. Our results show that WAVES is a feasible platform for assessing Web application security.

Absence of suppression in particle production at large transverse momentum in √sNN = 200 GeV d + Au collisions

Abstract: Transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons with p(T)<8 GeV/c and neutral pions with p(T)<10 GeV/c have been measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment at BNL RHIC in d+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=200 GeV. The measured yields are compared to those in p+p collisions at the same sqrt[s(NN)] scaled up by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions in d+Au. The yield ratio does not show the suppression observed in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Instead, there is a small enhancement in the yield of high momentum particles.

Complex dynamics of Holling type II Lotka–Volterra predator–prey system with impulsive perturbations on the predator ☆

Abstract: This paper develops the Holling type II Lotka–Volterra predator–prey system, which may inherently oscillate, by introducing periodic constant impulsive immigration of predator. Condition for the system to be extinct is given and permanence condition is established via the method of comparison involving multiple Liapunov functions. Further influences of the impulsive perturbations on the inherent oscillation are studied numerically, which shows that with the increasing of the amount of the immigration, the system experiences process of quasi-periodic oscillating→cycles→periodic doubling cascade→chaos→periodic halfing cascade→cycles, which is characterized by (1) quasi-periodic oscillating, (2) period doubling, (3) period halfing, (4) non-unique dynamics, meaning that several attractors coexist.

Energetics of hydrogen bonds in peptides

Abstract: Hydrogen bonds and their relative strengths in proteins are of importance for understanding protein structure and protein motions. The correct strength of such hydrogen bonds is experimentally known to vary greatly from ≈5–6 kcal/mol for the isolated bond to ≈0.5–1.5 kcal/mol for proteins in solution. To estimate these bond strengths, here we suggest a direct novel kinetic procedure. This analyzes the timing of the trajectories of a properly averaged dynamic ensemble. Here we study the observed rupture of these hydrogen bonds in a molecular dynamics calculation as an alternative to using thermodynamics. This calculation is performed for the isolated system and contrasted with results for water. We find that the activation energy for the rupture of the hydrogen bond in a β-sheet under isolated conditions is 4.76 kcal/mol, and the activation energy is 1.58 kcal/mol for the same β-sheet in water. These results are in excellent agreement with observations and suggest that such a direct calculation can be useful for the prediction of hydrogen bond strengths in various environments of interest.

Collapse of Magnetized Singular Isothermal Toroids. II. Rotation and Magnetic Braking

Abstract: We study numerically the collapse of rotating magnetized molecular cloud cores, focusing on rotation and magnetic braking during the main accretion phase of isolated star formation. Motivated by previous numerical work and analytic considerations, we idealize the precollapse core as a magnetized singular isothermal toroid, with a constant rotational speed everywhere. The collapse starts from the center and propagates outward in an inside-out fashion, satisfying exact self-similarity in space and time. For rotation rates and field strengths typical of dense low-mass cores, the main feature remains the flattening of the mass distribution along field lines—the formation of a pseudodisk, as in the nonrotating cases. The density distribution of the pseudodisk is little affected by rotation. On the other hand, the rotation rate is strongly modified by pseudodisk formation. Most of the centrally accreted material reaches the vicinity of the protostar through the pseudodisk. The specific angular momentum can be greatly reduced on the way, by an order of magnitude or more, even when the precollapse field strength is substantially below the critical value for dominant cloud support. The efficient magnetic braking is due to the pinched geometry of the magnetic field in the pseudodisk, which strengthens the magnetic field and lengthens the level arm for braking. Both effects enhance the magnetic transport of angular momentum from inside to outside. The excess angular momentum is carried away in a low-speed outflow that has, despite claims made by other workers, little in common with observed bipolar molecular outflows. We discuss the implications of our calculations for the formation of true disks that are supported against gravity by rotation.

Up-Regulation of Tumor Interleukin-8 Expression by Infiltrating Macrophages: Its Correlation with Tumor Angiogenesis and Patient Survival in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract: Purpose: To evaluate the interaction between tumor-infiltrating macrophages and cancer cells and its effect on the expression of a potent angiogenic factor, interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor angiogenesis, and patient outcome in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Experimental Design: We measured tumor IL-8 mRNA expression (by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR), intratumor microvessel counts, and tumor-infiltrating macrophage density (by immunohistochemical staining) in 35 NSCLC surgical specimens and correlated with the patient’s clinical outcome. We then investigated the interaction between macrophages (cell line THP-1) and six different human cancer cell lines (four NSCLCs, one osteosarcoma, and one hepatoma) and its effect on IL-8 mRNA expression using a macrophage/cancer cell coculture system, IL-8 mRNA expression in lung cancer cells, and macrophages being measured separately after coculture in the presence or absence of six anti-inflammatory agents, i.e. , pentoxifylline, aspirin, indomethacin, dexamethasone, celecoxib (a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor), and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, a specific nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) inhibitor. NF-κB transcriptional activity and protein levels were measured by reporter gene assay and Western blot. Results: The tumor-infiltrating macrophage density correlated significantly and positively with tumor IL-8 mRNA expression and intratumor microvessel counts and significantly and negatively with patient survival. In addition, after cell–cell interaction in cancer cell:macrophage cocultures, marked IL-8 mRNA expression was induced in lung cancer cells (∼270-fold) and, to a lesser degree, in macrophages (4.5-fold). The increase in IL-8 mRNA expression correlated with the in vitro metastatic potential of the cancer cells. All six anti-inflammatory agents suppressed induction of IL-8 mRNA expression in lung cancer cells by >90%, four (pentoxifylline, celecoxib, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, and dexamethasone) having a dose-dependent effect. NF-κB transcriptional regulation and protein levels were simultaneously increased in the nuclei of cancer cells in macrophage/cancer cell cocultures, this effect also being suppressed by all six anti-inflammatory agents. Conclusions: The interaction between infiltrating macrophages and cancer cells up-regulates IL-8 mRNA expression, especially in the cancer cells; this may contribute greatly to the increased tumor angiogenesis and adverse outcome in NSCLC patients with a high density of tumor-infiltrating macrophages. Anti-inflammatory agents can suppress the induction of IL-8 mRNA expression seen in lung cancer cells after coculture with macrophages, and this suppression is mediated, in part, through the NF-κB pathway.

The Prp19p-associated complex in spliceosome activation

Abstract: During spliceosome activation, a large structural rearrangement occurs that involves the release of two small nuclear RNAs, U1 and U4, and the addition of a protein complex associated with Prp19p. We show here that the Prp19p-associated complex is required for stable association of U5 and U6 with the spliceosome after U4 is dissociated. Ultraviolet crosslinking analysis revealed the existence of two modes of base pairing between U6 and the 5' splice site, as well as a switch of such base pairing from one to the other that required the Prp19p-associated complex during spliceosome activation. Moreover, a Prp19p-dependent structural change in U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles was detected that involves destabilization of Sm-like (Lsm) proteins to bring about interactions between the Lsm binding site of U6 and the intron sequence near the 5' splice site, indicating dynamic association of Lsm with U6 and a direct role of Lsm proteins in activation of the spliceosome.

Realizing Green Phosphorescent Light-Emitting Materials from Rhenium(I) Pyrazolato Diimine Complexes

Abstract: Two neutral pyrazolato diimine rhenium(I) carbonyl complexes with formula [Re(CO)3(N-N)(btpz)] where N-N = 2,2‘-bipyridine (1) and 1,10-phenanathroline (2), and btpz = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) pyrazolate, were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, routine spectroscopic methods, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. Ground and excited state properties of these complexes were investigated by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopies. Complexes 1 and 2 show photoluminescent emission in both solution and solid-state at room temperature, arising from metal to ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) transition with strong overlapping of intraligand π → π* transitions. The long-lived excited state lifetimes of complexes 1 and 2, which are on the order of microseconds, indicate the presence of phosphorescent emission. As these complexes hold the potential to serve as phosphors for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), their electroluminescent performances were evaluated by employing them as dopant...

Relevant term suggestion in interactive web search based on contextual information in query session logs

Abstract: This paper proposes an effective term suggestion approach to interactive Web search. Conventional approaches to making term suggestions involve extracting co-occurring keyterms from highly ranked retrieved documents. Such approaches must deal with term extraction difficulties and interference from irrelevant documents, and, more importantly, have difficulty extracting terms that are conceptually related but do not frequently co-occur in documents. In this paper, we present a new, effective log-based approach to relevant term extraction and term suggestion. Using this approach, the relevant terms suggested for a user query are those that co-occur in similar query sessions from search engine logs, rather than in the retrieved documents. In addition, the suggested terms in each interactive search step can be organized according to its relevance to the entire query session, rather than to the most recent single query as in conventional approaches. The proposed approach was tested using a proxy server log containing about two million query transactions submitted to search engines in Taiwan. The obtained experimental results show that the proposed approach can provide organized and highly relevant terms, and can exploit the contextual information in a user's query session to make more effective suggestions.

Complete sequence of the binary vector pBI121 and its application in cloning T-DNA insertion from transgenic plants

Abstract: The widely used expression vector pBI121 for plant transformation was reconstructed, and the complete sequence of 14758 bp is now available (accession number AF485783) The T-DNA region (6193 bp) contains the right border, expression cassettes for a neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPTII) selection marker and a β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene, and the left border The non-T-DNA region (8565 bp) was constructed according to the Bin 19 vector We applied the vector information to clone the plant/T-DNA junction region from three independent transgenic tobacco plants Knowledge of the complete sequence of this vector will be useful for an accurate description of vector size, determination of the integrity of T-DNA, identification of independent lines, the locus where it is inserted, the T-DNA copy number in those stable transformants, or construction of a smaller vector In addition, the complete sequence (5667 bp) of the transient expression vector pBI221 (accession number AF502128) carrying the ampicillin resistance and gus reporter genes is also reported

Tropical drought regions in global warming and El Nino teleconnections

Abstract: [1] Climate model global warming simulations predict large regional changes in tropical rainfall, including regions of drought. Qualitatively similar changes occur during El Nino interannual variability. Using an intermediate climate model, we have identified a mechanism that creates regional reductions in precipitation at the margins of convection zones during warming. In this “upped-ante mechanism”, a warm troposphere increases the value of surface boundary layer moisture required for convection to occur. In regions of plentiful moisture supply, moisture simply rises to maintain precipitation, but this increases the moisture gradient relative to neighboring subsidence regions. Reductions in rainfall then result for those margins of convection zones that have strong inflow of air from the subsidence regions and less frequently meet the increased “ante” for convection. In simulations analyzed here, this new mechanism is the leading cause of tropical drought in the global warming case and is dominant in certain El Nino drought regions.

Midrapidity Neutral-Pion Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at √s = 200 GeV

Abstract: The invariant differential cross section for inclusive neutral-pion production in p+p collisions at roots=200 GeV has been measured at midrapidity (eta<0.35) over the range 1

State-specific correlation of coincident product pairs in the F + CD4 reaction.

Abstract: When a chemical reaction forms two molecular products, even if the state-resolved differential cross section (DCS) for each product is obtained individually, the coincident attributes of the coproducts are still lacking. We exploit a method that provides coincidence information by measuring the state-resolved, pair-correlated DCS. Exemplified by the reaction F + CD 4 → DF + CD 3 , a time-sliced ion velocity imaging technique was used to measure the velocity distribution of a state-selected CD 3 product and to reveal the information of the coincident DF in a state-correlated manner. The correlation of different product state pairs shows a striking difference, which opens up a new way to unravel the complexity of a polyatomic reaction.

Negative Lateral Shift of a Light Beam Transmitted through a Dielectric Slab and Interaction of Boundary Effects

Abstract: It is found that when a light beam travels through a slab of optically denser dielectric medium in air, the lateral shift of the transmitted beam can be negative. This is a novel phenomenon that is reversed in comparison with the geometrical optic prediction according to Snell's law of refraction. A Gaussian-shaped beam is analyzed in the paraxial approximation, and a comparison with numerical simulations is made. Finally, an explanation for the negativity of the lateral shift is suggested, in terms of the interaction of boundary effects of the slab's two interfaces with air.