Subdivision of work on construction projects

In order to control a project, construction management requires project information. This is obtained through accounting, estimating, cost management and scheduling functions which produce project reports. These reports are best obtained by subdividing the project into small parts. The ways in which each of these functions subdivides a project in order to produce its reports is discussed, together with a means of interrelating this information with a technique known as the work breakdown structure.     

Enhanced Image Detection on an ARM based Embedded System

This paper presents a new technique for thedetection of Integrated Circuits within images of Printed Circuit Boards autonomouslyand without the need to be assisted by CAD data. The technique is a key partof a suite of algorithms targeted for an embedded System On Chip architecturebased on the ARM7 platform for real time detection of PCB images for diagnosticpurposes. The technique has a significant reduction in complexity when comparedto conventional approaches such as the Hough Transform. The reduction in complexitymakes the approach ideal for an embedded vision application suchas the one described in this paper. This paper presents the technique, thetarget embedded architecture and results showing the reduction in complexitywhen compared to a Hough Transform.     

Screening of South African Food Plants for Antioxidant Activity

ABSTRACT: In a screening of South African indigenous food plants for antioxidant activity by testing for inhibition of lipid peroxidation, the "potherbs" Amaranthus sp., Sisymbrium thellungii , and Urtica dioica had very high activity. This activity was greatest in the boiled extract of Amaranthus sp. and the boilet and aqueous extracts of Sisymbrium thellungii and Urtica dioica. The activity in the aqueous extract of Nasturtium aquatica was lost by boiling. High activity was also obtained with the teas Galium aparine and Aspalathus linearis (Rooibos) and with the tuber Colocasia esculenta.     

Trypsin inhibitor activity of soybean as affected by genotype and fertilisation

The presence of protease inhibitors in soybean prohibits the utilisation of the raw beans for food and feed. However, little information is available about environmental influences and the effects of nitrogen and sulphur supply on the antinutritional constituents of soybean. As these factors may influence protease inhibitors, soybean genotypes segregated according to the presence or absence of the Kunitz trypsin inhibitor have been evaluated for trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) in field trials. TIA was affected significantly by environment (geographical location), fertilisation treatment and genotype. Environmental means of TIA were between 69.5 and 104.8 mg g^?1. Nitrogen application, which caused an increase in seed protein content, resulted in a reduction in TIA by about 15% as compared with the control. Remarkably, simultaneous application of nitrogen and sulphur in the form of ammonium sulphate had a similar reductive effect on TIA to that of nitrogen application alone, although soybean protease inhibitors are rich in sulphur amino acids. Significant genetic variation in TIA was found both within the genotype class with the Kunitz inhibitor present as well as within the class lacking this inhibitor. The results suggest that TIA of soybean may be modified considerably by genetic improvement and appropriate agronomic management. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Determining stress intensity factors of composites using crack opening displacement

The main purpose of this paper is to find the mixed-mode stress intensity factors of composite materials using the crack opening displacement (COD). First, a series solution of the composite material with a crack was used to evaluate COD values. Then, the least-squares method was used to calculate mixed-mode stress intensity factors. This algorithm can be applied to any method that generates or measures COD values. The major advantage of this method is that COD values very near the crack tip are not necessary. Both finite element simulations and laboratory experiments were applied to validate this least-squares method with acceptable accuracy if the even terms of the series solution are removed.     

基于非锐化掩模的实时自适应图像增强算法

针对传统的非锐化掩模算法的局限性,依据图像中各像素点及以其为中心的若干相邻像素点的均方差值,提出了自适应图像增强算法的原理,并分析其硬件实现方法,然后给出了该算法与其它算法应用于图像增强的对比结果,最后在FPGA（field programmable gate array）实验板上进行验证.实验结果表明,此算法有效的增强图像的细节区域,防止图像边缘区域出现过冲现象,抑制图像平坦区域的噪声放大.因此,该算法取得了良好的视觉效果,硬件实现简单,适合于实时条件下图像的增强.     

Extending the color gamut and dynamic range of an sRGB image using a residual image

Image sources, such as digital camera captures and photographic negatives, typically have more information than can be reproduced on a photographic print or a video display. The information that is lost during the tone/color rendering process relates to both the extended dynamic range and color gamut of the original scene. In conventional photographic systems, most of this additional information is archived on the photographic negative and can be accessed by adjusting the way the negative is printed. However, most digital imaging systems have traditionally archived only a rendered video RGB image. As a result, it is not possible to make the same sorts of image manipulations that historically have been possible with conventional photographic systems. This suggests that there would be an advantage to storing images using an extended dynamic range/color gamut color encoding. However, because of file compatibility issues, digital imaging systems that store images using color encoding other than a standard video RGB representation (e.g., sRGB) would be significantly disadvantaged in the marketplace. In this article, we describe a solution that has been developed to maintain compatibility with existing file formats and software applications, while simultaneously retaining the extended dynamic range and color gamut information associated with the original scenes. With this approach, the input raw digital camera image or film scan is first transformed to the scene‐referred ERIMM RGB color encoding. Next, a rendered sRGB image is formed in the usual way and stored in a conventional image file (e.g., a standard JPEG file). A residual image representing the difference between the original extended dynamic range image and the final rendered image is formed and stored in the image file using proprietary metadata tags. This provides a mechanism for archiving the extended dynamic range/color gamut information, which is normally discarded during the rendering process, without sacrificing interoperability. Appropriately enabled applications can decode the residual image metadata and use it to reconstruct the ERIMM RGB image, whereas applications that are not aware of the metadata will ignore it and only have access to the sRGB image. The residual image is formed such that it will have negligible pixel values for those portions of the image that lie within the sRGB gamut, and will therefore be highly compressible. Tests on a population of 950 real customer images have demonstrated that the extended dynamic range scene information can be stored with an average file size overhead of about 8% compared to the sRGB images alone. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 251–266, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10160     

Effect of surfactants on phenol removal by the method of polymerization and precipitation catalysed by Coprinus cinereus peroxidase

The removal of phenol by peroxidase‐catalysed polymerization was examined using Coprinus cinereus peroxidase in the presence of surfactants. The non‐ionic surfactants with poly(oxyethene) residues, Triton X‐100, Triton X‐405 and Tween 20, enhanced the phenol removal efficiency at a level similar to high relative molecular mass poly(ethylene glycol) (relative molecular mass 3000). Although the improvement in the removal efficiency was less than that of Triton X‐100, Span 20, sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS) and lauryl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) also enhanced the removal efficiency. The requirement of the enzyme for almost 100% removal of 100 mg dm^?3 phenol decreased to one‐fourth by the addition of 30 mg dm^?3 Triton X‐100. Triton X‐100, Triton X‐405, Tween 20 and DTAB could reactivate the enzyme precipitated with the phenol polymer, leading to the restarting of the phenol removal reaction. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

A digital secure image communication scheme based on the chaotic Chebyshev map

In this paper, a simple image secure communication scheme based on the chaotic Chebyshev map and chaos synchronization is proposed. The scheme relies on the excellent correlation property of chaotic sequences, which is very desirable for secure image communication. The results obtained by computer simulation indicate that the transmitted source image can be correctly and reliably recovered using the proposed scheme, even through a noisy channel. Notably, the scheme possesses relatively high security and can be easily implemented. Moreover, the quality of the recovered image is satisfactory, quantified by such common criteria as the bit‐error rate performance. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Complete oxidation of methane at low temperature over Pt and Pd catalysts for the abatement of lean-burn natural gas fuelled vehicles emissions: influence of water and sulphur containing compounds

The catalytic activity of fresh Pd and Pt catalysts supported on γ-alumina in the complete oxidation of CH₄ traces under lean-burn conditions was studied in the presence or the absence of water or H₂S. Steam-aged catalysts were also studied in order to simulate long-term ageing in real lean-burn natural gas fuelled vehicles (NGVs) exhaust conditions. Without water or H₂S added to the feed, Pd catalysts exhibit a superior catalytic activity in methane oxidation compared to Pt ones, whatever the catalysts were fresh or aged. The addition of 10 vol.% water vapour to the feed strongly affects the activity of the fresh Pd catalyst, thus being only slightly more efficient than the fresh Pt one. H₂S has a strong poisoning effect on the catalytic activity of Pd catalysts, while Pt catalysts are more resistant. The fresh H₂S-poisoned Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst was studied by TPD in O₂/He. Poisoning species decompose above 873 K as SO₂ and O₂ in relative concentrations consistent with the decomposition of surface sulphate species. However, a treatment in O₂/He at temperatures as high as 923 K does not allow the complete regeneration of the catalytic activity of H₂S-poisoned Pd/Al₂O₃. A mechanism involving the poisoning of PdO by sulphate species is proposed. Different diffusion processes by which these sulphate species can migrate back and forth between PdO and the support, depending on the experimental conditions, are suggested.