Ozonation of Humic Substances: Effects on Molecular Weight Distributions of Organic Carbon and Trihalomethane Formation Potential

Four different sources of humic substances were studied to determine the effects of ozonation on molecular weight-distributions, based on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP). Solutions of two soil-derived fulvic acids and a one soil-derived humic acid, as well as dissolved organic matter (DOM) associated with a natural water source were studied. Both gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and ultrafiltration (UF) were employed to define apparent molecular weight (AMW). Applied ozone doses ranged from 2.0 to 2.5 mg O₃/mg DOC. Overall samples of untreated and ozonated waters, as well as individual molecular weight fractions, were characterized according to DOC, UV absorbance, and THMFP. Ozonation resulted in a significant disappearance of higher AMW material with a corresponding increase in lower AMW material. Although little overall reduction in DOC concentration was observed, significant overall reductions in UV absorbance and THMFP levels were observed.     

基于曝光适度评价的多曝光图像融合方法

针对数字相机在拍摄宽亮度范围场景时动态范围不足的问题,提出一种高效的多曝光图像融合方法.该方法通过场景的多次采样曝光,分析不同像素的亮暗变化,利用高斯数学模型计算评价数值.将结合图像亮度信息的曝光适度评价方法应用于图像分块区域,并计算每个像素的权重值,消除图像块效应.将不同曝光度下成像的图像序列融合为一幅局部自适应曝光的高动态范围(HDR)图像,实现动态范围扩展.与另外3种方法进行对比分析,结果表明:该方法简便有效,细节纹理与颜色信息具有更强的表现能力,且熵值更高.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of pulsed DC magnetron sputtered nanocomposite Cr-Cu-N thin films

The nanocomposite Cr-Cu-N thin films have been deposited at a substrate temperature of 250 °C by a bipolar asymmetric pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering process. Different Cu contents ranging from 0.4 to 14.9 at.% were achieved. The structures of Cr-Cu-N thin films were analyzed by XRD. The surface and cross sectional morphologies of thin films were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nanoindentation and scratch tests were adopted to evaluate the mechanical and tribological properties of Cr-Cu-N coatings. The influences of Cu content on the structure, mechanical and tribological properties of Cr-Cu-N coatings were explored. It is observed that the columnar structure no longer exists when the Cu content exceeds 10.9 at.%. The stability of CrN phase in the coating is influenced by the Cu content. The scratching coefficient of thin films decreases with increasing Cu content. Sufficient adhesion and tribological properties of Cr-Cu-N coatings are achieved. The maximum average hardness around 20 GPa and scratching coefficient around 0.1 are found in the coatings with around 2.1 to 2.6 at.% Cu in this work.     

Effects of temperature and current density on the surface hardness and tribological properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by molten salt carburization

Surface hardening of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was achieved by carburization in a molten salt bath containing BaCO₃ as the carbon-yielding agent with electrolysis within the temperature range 790–930°C. The hardness of the total carburizing layer (TCD) is influenced by the bath temperature, the applied current density and the carburizing period. The major hardening effect is considered to be the formation of a solid solution of carbon in -Ti. The oxide film wrapping at the outermost surface of cathodically charged specimens, identified to be mainly BaTiO₃, was formed irrespective of the bath temperature during the quenching process and has no effect on the surface hardening. The optimal carburizing parameters obtained in this study for surface hardening are carburizing at 930±10°C (bath temperature) and 0.3 A/Cm² (applied current density) for 90 min (carburizing period), while those for tribological properties improvement are carburizing at 860±5°C and 0.3 A/Cm² for 90 min.     

An investigation on the hot extrusion process of magnesium alloy sheet

This study investigates the hot extrusion of magnesium alloy sheets at various temperatures, material, speed and lubricant. A multi-speed method is applied to extrude a magnesium alloy sheet at a high extrusion ratio. The experimental results are analyzed to optimize the processing conditions, increase the tensile strength and reduce the extrusion load on the magnesium alloy thin sheet. Nowadays, most magnesium alloy products are manufactured by industrial die casting. Hot extrusion is seldom used to finish magnesium products because the extrusion speed, temperature and extrusion load significantly effect the properties of the product. In this study, the Taguchi experimental method with the orthogonal array is applied. ANOVA is used to investigate how parameters affect the extrusion process. All possible mechanical properties of the product are analyzed to obtain the optimal process parameters. In addition, magnesium alloys with different compositions are experimentally tested to determine the mechanical properties of the extruded product and obtain the relationship between the process parameters and the properties of the material.     

An elastic net-based hybrid hypothesis method for compressed video sensing

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Compressed Sensing, an emerging framework for signal processing, can be used in image and video application, especially when available resources at the...     

A study of optimal viewing distance in a parallax barrier 3D display

The optimal viewing distance was proposed as a parameter for designing a parallax barrier 3D display. It can be designed based on simple geometric method and by considering the pitches of image display pixels and parallax barrier, or even including the aperture ratios of the image display pixels and parallax barrier. It can be analyzed by using ray tracing method. By considering the optical refraction index of the cover glass, the angular behavior of the system becomes more realistic; however, the geometric method is difficult to be used. We propose a revised method for estimating the view distance and angular behavior. In this paper, we have demonstrated a designated eye position (DEP) for each view and shown that multiple DEPs make a circular curve around the center of the display. We prove the new concept by comparing the optical ray tracing calculations and optical measurement.     

Ergonomic Analysis of Head‐Mounted Night Vision Goggle Systems in Simulated Ground Operations

This study compared the mounting time and strain on the head‐neck while using an old model (forehead and cheek supported) and a new model (head harness supported) of head‐mounted night vision goggle systems in the postures of standing, sitting, and lying prone. The results showed that effectively reducing the mounting time was attributed to the ease and less time required for length adjustments of the head harness in the new model. The novel device received higher positive subjective ratings for convenience and comfort while wearing than did the old model. Although the weight of the new model was decreased to 0.794 kg and the length was reduced to 0.155 m, the loads on the head‐neck complex remained high. These findings suggest that a rifle should be fitted with the night vision goggle or handheld model to decrease neck‐shoulder workload if the prone position is the most frequent and important posture for soldiers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Brain MR images segmentation using statistical ratio: mapping between watershed and competitive Hopfield clustering network algorithms

Conventional watershed segmentation methods invariably produce over-segmented images due to the presence of noise or local irregularities in the source images. In this paper, a robust medical image segmentation technique is proposed, which combines watershed segmentation and the competitive Hopfield clustering network (CHCN) algorithm to minimize undesirable over-segmentation. In the proposed method, a region merging method is presented, which is based on employing the region adjacency graph (RAG) to improve the quality of watershed segmentation. The relation of inter-region similarities is then investigated using image mapping in the watershed and CHCN images to determine more appropriate region merging. The performance of the proposed technique is presented through quantitative and qualitative validation experiments on benchmark images. Significant and promising segmentation results were achieved on brain phantom simulated data.