Computer‐aided staging

This paper describes the genesis and main functionalities of a real‐time animation system for designing multimedia scenes. Users can create a system of synchronized events and give a structured shape to the various parts of a performance. Much work has been done on the production of realistic synthetic movies, but little to support planning and pre‐production. This system addresses the requirements of those who have to plan, preview and evaluate the spatial and temporal arrangements of human figures with other media before their practical realization in a real or virtual environment. To define a user staging process which is general and valid for different kinds of users and different applications, we have analysed current staging methodologies used in the theatre, cinema and TV. Since these fields lack standard procedures, obtaining a good degree of generality and completeness entailed an iterative work of specification, prototyping and testing with the help of professionals from such fields. Unlike traditional systems which treat media in separate software, e.g. human body motion alone or speech alone, we consider the elements in the scene altogether according to the theatrical paradigm which is the basic framework for describing the design of a performance. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recyclability Studies on Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PLA/PBSA) Biobased and Biodegradable Films

Poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PLA/PBSA) blends are found promising for film packaging applications because of their flexibility, resistance, and compostability. Industrially extruded granules and films based on PLA and containing different amounts of PBSA are reprocessed through mini-extrusion, to simulate recycling, and tested in terms of their melt flow rate as a function of PBSA content. Moreover, pure PLA commercial granules and the film produced extruding the PLA/PBSA 60/40 blend are reprocessed several times by injection molding and characterized in terms of melt flow rate, mechanical properties, thermal properties, and color as a function of injection molding cycles. The variation in melt fluidity and thermo-mechanical properties is negligible up to 3 injection molding cycles for both pure PLA granules and PLA/PBSA blend. In the case of blend the change in color (yellowing and darkening) is more evident and slight local compositional change in injection molded items can be evidenced as well as a slight decrease in PBS crystallinity as a function of injection molding cycles. Nevertheless, in applications where these aspects are not critical, these materials can be recycled by extrusion or injection molding before being composted, thus prolonging their life cycle and storing carbon in them as longer as possible.     

Biochar-containing construction materials for electromagnetic shielding in the microwave frequency region: the importance of water content

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Electromagnetic waves in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz frequency) are used for radar, satellite communication, and, in some countries, for...