Minkowski sum is an important operation. It is used in many domains such as: computer-aided design, robotics, spatial planning, mathematical morphology, and image processing. We propose a novel algorithm, named the Contributing Verticesbased Minkowski Sum (CVMS) algorithm for the computation of the Minkowski sum of convex polyhedra. The CVMS algorithm allows to easily obtain all the facets of t...

14 Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) are used in personal care products and are 15 hydrophobic, volatile and persistent. Their environmental water concentrations are low and 16 are difficult to detect using conventional sampling methods. This study shows the potential of 17 passive sampling for cVMS. We used low-density polyethylene (LDPE) samplers and in-field 18 calibration methods for o...

Training a Support Vector Machine (SVM) requires the solution of a quadratic programming problem (QP) whose computational complexity becomes prohibitively expensive for large scale datasets. Traditional optimization methods cannot be directly applied in these cases, mainly due to memory restrictions. By adopting a slightly different objective function and under mild conditions on the kernel use...

The cardioinhibitory effects of cardiac vagal motoneurons (CVMs) are mediated by activation of postganglionic neurons in the epicardial ganglia which have been shown to exert functionally selective effects on heart rate and atrioventricular conduction in the rat. Here we investigate whether CVMs producing these responses may occupy different rostrocaudal positions within the nucleus ambiguus. E...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE The age at menarche reflects a pubertal girl's physiologic maturity. The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between the age at menarche and skeletal maturation in female orthodontic patients. METHODS Hand-wrist radiographs and lateral cephalometric radiographs from 304 adolescent female subjects (age, 8-18.9 years) were selected from the files of the Depar...

Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS), specifically octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), were evaluated in the pelagic marine food web of Tokyo Bay, Japan. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners that are "legacy" chemicals known to bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms and biomagnify...