This paper presents a new approach to rendering triangular algebraic free form surfaces. A hierarchical subdivision of the surface with associated tight bounding volumes provides for quick identification of the surface regions likely to be hit by a ray. For each leaf of the hierarchy an approximation to the corresponding surface region is stored. The approximation is used to compute a good star...

Comparative studies on resin-dentin bond strength and failure mode were performed between the conventional tensile test and the microtensile test with non-trimming small specimens, 1 x 1 mm in cross-section, for two brands of dentin bonding systems. The fracture surface of the conventional large specimen showed a catastrophic cohesive failure in dentin at its center and a lesser adhesive failur...

A device for the controlled trimming of plastic specimen blocks for light and electron microscopy is described. Many advantages of previously reported instruments together with 1) a rack and pinion control of knife movement, and 2) a control of rotation of the specimen block at 90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, or 360 degrees are incorporated. In conjunction with an ocular micrometer, the d...

Trimming procedures are an important part of the sequence analysis pipeline in an EST Sequencing Project. In general, trimming is done in several phases, each one detecting and removing some kind of undesirable artifact, such as low quality sequence, vectors or adapters sequence, and contamination. However, this strategy often results in a phase being unable to recognize its target because part...