Skeletons of an object have a variety of applications, such as automatic path generation, shape matching, identification, and classification. In this paper, we introduce a method to detect the critical points of skeletons, then skeletons of an object can be generated by linking the detected critical points. The method is based on concepts from 2-D phase plane analysis of the linear Gradient Vec...

In this work, a Modified Vector Field Histogram (MVFH) has been developed to improve path planning and obstacle avoidance for a wheeled driven mobile robot. It permits the detection of unknown obstacle to avoid collisions by simultaneously a steering the mobile robot toward the target; a regular grid map representation for a work space environment is caurried out. A Neural Network (NN) model is...

Generation of large currents, versatile functionality, and simple structures are of fundamental importance in the development of adiabatic quantum pump devices with nanoscale dimensions. In the present study, we propose an adiabatic quantum pump with a simple structure based on molybdenum disulfide, MoS2, to generate large spin and valley resolved currents. We show that pure and fully polarized...

Tethersonde, lidar, aircraft, and surface chemistry measurements from an intensive field campaign (Pacific ’93) in the Lower Fraser Valley (LFV) demonstrate the daytime advection of pollutants into a lake-filled valley adjoining a broad urbanized coastal valley. On three separate days (immediately before, during, and after a pollutant episode), elevated concentrations of ozone (O3) in the narro...

We describe an algorithm that explores potential energy surfaces (PES) and finds approximate reaction paths and transition states. A few (≈6) evolving atomic configurations ("climbers") start near a local minimum M1 of the PES. The climbers seek a shallow ascent, low energy, path toward a saddle point S12, cross over to another valley of the PES, and climb down to a new minimum M2 that was not ...

FRANCES VAUGHAN, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in Mill Valley, California, and author of several books integrating psychological and spiritual development. 1-Icr most recent book; Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions, draws on many years of experience as a practitioner of humanistic and transpersonal psychology and explores issues that individuals encounter o...

heavy metal pollution plays an important role in global biodiversity decline. however, there is paucity of information concerning the effects of metals on amphibians. in the present study, investigations were made on the accumulation of heavy metals, copper (cu) and lead (pb) in water, sediment and tadpoles inhabiting the water bodies of barak valley, assam. tadpoles of six different anuran spe...

to identify arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (amf) associated with crataegus pontica c. koch, 54 soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of this plant in ilam province, western iran. isolation of mycorrhizal spores was conducted by wet sieving followed by centrifuge. amf were identified based on morphological characteristics of spores. in this study, 13 species of amf belonging to five gene...

We theoretically demonstrate that 100% valley-polarized transport in monolayers of MoS2 and other group-VI dichalcogenides can be obtained using off-resonant circularly polarized light. By tuning the intensity of the off-resonant light the intrinsic band gap in one valley is reduced, while it is enhanced in the other valley, enabling single valley quantum transport. As a consequence, we predict...

The ‘Uncanny Valley’ refers to a sense of unease and discomfort when people look at increasingly realistic virtual humans. Despite growing academic interest in the Uncanny Valley our understanding is limited and there has been little rigorous questioning to determine if the phenomenon actually exists. The Uncanny Valley questions widely held assumptions about the correlation between realism and...