This paper describes a new algorithm for geometric displacement mapping. Its key idea is that all occluded solutions for an eye ray lie in two-dimensional manifolds perpendicular to the underlying surface to which the height map is applied. The manifold depends only on the eye position and surface geometry, and not on the height field. A simple stepping algorithm, moving along the surface withi...

Regression models for above-ground and below-ground biomass were estimated for 143 sample plots in young and mature coniferous forest. Various canopy height and canopy density metrics derived from the canopy height distributions of first as well as last pulse laser scanner data with a sampling density of approximately 1.1 m were used as independent variables in the regressions. Each of the sele...

The mechanisms involved in enzymatic hydride transfer have been studied for years, but questions remain due, in part, to the difficulty of probing the effects of protein motion and hydrogen tunneling. In this study, we use transition path sampling (TPS) with normal mode centroid molecular dynamics (CMD) to calculate the barrier to hydride transfer in yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) and human...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the trend in the nutritional status of Saudi children over a 10-year period. METHODS The growth data collected between 1993--1994 were compared with those collected between 2004--2005 from all regions of the Kingdom. Both nutritional surveys had a similar design leading to representative samples of Saudi children determined by multistage probability sampling. Similar met...

Prevalences of malnutrition and overweight among children under five years and its association with socioeconomic, demographic and health indicators were estimated for the six largest municipalities of Maranhão, in 2006/2007. By means of a household survey, a sample of 1214 children under five years of age was randomly selected. Two-stage cluster sampling was used, representing the six municipa...

A scan involving 1134 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 709 expressed genes was used to assess the potential impact of artificial selection for height growth on the genetic diversity of white spruce. Two case populations of different sizes simulating different family selection intensities (K = 13% and 5%, respectively) were delineated from the Quebec breeding program. Their genetic di...

The nests of some mound-building ants are thought to serve an important function as passive solar collectors. To test this hypothesis, imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren, S. richteri Forel, and their hybrid) mound shape characteristics (south facing slope angle and area, mound height, and basal elongation in the plane of the ground) were quantified in 2005 and 2006 at a number of locat...

A complex interaction of controllable and uncontrollable factors is involved in aerial application of crop production and protection materials. Although it is difficult to completely characterize spray deposition and drift, these important factors can be estimated with appropriate sampling protocol and analysis. Application height is an important variable influencing off-target spray drift, but...