The role of occlusion in the perception of depth, lightness, and opacity.

A theory is presented that explains how the visual system infers the lightness, opacity, and depth of surfaces from stereoscopic images. It is shown that the polarity and magnitude of image contrast play distinct roles in surface perception, which can be captured by 2 principles of perceptual inference. First, a contrast depth asymmetry principle articulates how the visual system computes the ordinal depth and lightness relationships from the polarity of local, binocularly matched image contrast. Second, a global transmittance anchoring principle expresses how variations in contrast magnitudes are used to infer the presence of transparent surfaces. It is argued that these principles provide a unified explanation of how the visual system computes the 3-D surface structure of opaque and transparent surfaces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facile modifications of polyimide via chloromethylation: II. Synthesis and characterization of thermocurable transparent polyimide having methylene acrylate side groups

From chloromethylated polyimide, a useful starting material for modification of aromatic polyimides, a thermocurable transparent polyimide having acrylate side groups was prepared. In the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec‐7‐ene, chloromethylated polyimide was esterified with acrylic acid to synthesize poly(imide methylene acrylate). The polymer was soluble in organic solvent, which makes it possible to prepare a planar film by spin coating. The polymer film became insoluble after thermal treatment at 230 °C for 30 min. Optical transparency of the film at 400 nm (for 1 µm thickness) was higher than 98 % and not affected by further heating at 230 °C for 250 min. Adhesion properties measured by the ASTM D3359‐B method ranged from 4B to 5B. Preliminary results of planarization testing showed a high degree of planarization (DOP) value (>0.53). These properties demonstrate that poly(imide methylene acrylate) could be utilized as a thermocurable transparent material in fabricating display devices such as TFT‐LCD. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Stability of hydrogenated nanodiamonds under extreme ultraviolet irradiation

It is generally accepted that diamond is resistant to a wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation from the ultraviolet through to the soft X-ray range, which makes it very attractive for the fabrication of diamond-based photodetectors. However the effect of photon radiation on the diamond structure has not yet been examined. In the work presented here, photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to study the graphitization of nanodiamond crystallites exposed to extreme ultraviolet radiation. Under such irradiation, the surface hydrogen groups and graphite species are found to prevent graphitization. The mechanism of radiation-induced nanodiamond graphitization is discussed.     

Threshold and growth mechanism of fatigue cracks under mode II and III loadings

ABSTRACT The fatigue crack growth behaviour of 0.47% carbon steel was studied under mode II and III loadings. Mode II fatigue crack growth tests were carried out using specially designed double cantilever (DC) type specimens in order to measure the mode II threshold stress intensity factor range, ΔK_IIth. The relationship ΔK_IIth > ΔK_Ith caused crack branching from mode II to I after a crack reached the mode II threshold. Torsion fatigue tests on circumferentially cracked specimens were carried out to study the mechanisms of both mode III crack growth and of the formation of the factory‐roof crack surface morphology. A change in microstructure occurred at a crack tip during crack growth in both mode II and mode III shear cracks. It is presumed that the crack growth mechanisms in mode II and in mode III are essentially the same. Detailed fractographic investigation showed that factory‐roofs were formed by crack branching into mode I. Crack branching started from small semi‐elliptical cracks nucleated by shear at the tip of the original circumferential crack.     

Effective lightning protection schemes for distribution line

The causes of lightning outage are subdivided into direct lightning strokes and induced lightning strokes, which are identified by the characteristics of the lightning overvoltage. In the past, lightning protection devices were directed mainly toward the latter, and attention has been focused on the installation of lightning protection devices, ground wires, and reinforcement of insulators. However, lightning outages continue to occur. Thus it is extremely important to clarify the fault characteristics of lightning surges and to study the effectiveness of various lightning protection devices by considering both direct lightning stroke and induced lightning stroke in order to prevent lightning outage in the future. In this research, the electromagnetic transients program (EMTP) has been applied to the direct lightning stroke, and the induced lightning outage analysis program for multiple conductor systems has been applied to the induced lightning stroke to study the effectiveness of lightning protection devices provided by combination of various lightning protection devices. The most effective lightning protection schemes are analyzed and evaluated based on verification tests on the full scale models as well as economic considerations.     

Gelation Properties of Ovalbumin as Affected by Fatty Acid Salts

The physicochemical properties of heat-induced ovalbumin (OVA) gels containing fatty acid salts (FAS) were investigated. Water-holding ability and transparency markedly increased in the presence of sodium caprate or sodium laurate. At 9% of the protein concentration transparent and hard gels formed; at 7%, transparent and soft gels formed. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the transparent gels had a more homogeneous structure than turbid gels without FAS. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that denaturation temperature of OVA was decreased and the peaks became broader after addition of FAS.     

高速钢高温形变诱发析出的研究

本文探讨了高速钢在高温形变过程中碳化物析出的行为及奥氏体组织状态对析出的影响。用透射电镜和扫描电镜分析了不同热处理状态奥氏体的组织结构,分析了高温形变过程中碳化物析出的部位,颗粒尺寸及形态。试验表明, 碳化物主要在奥氏体的缺陷处呈点状和点列状析出,大小为20mμ。处于回复状态的奥氏体缺陷诱发碳化物析出,析出碳化物钉札缺陷阻止再结晶进行。当再结晶驱动力较大时,由于动态再结晶充分发展,使缺陷大量消除,碳化物析出显著地减少。     

Organosoluble and light-colored fluorinated polyimides derived from 2,3-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)naphthalene and aromatic dianhydrides

A novel fluorinated bis(ether amine) monomer, 2,3-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)naphthalene, was prepared through the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzotrifluoride and 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene in the presence of potassium carbonate, followed by catalytic reduction with hydrazine and Pd/C. A series of new fluorine-containing polyimides having inherent viscosities of 0.54 to 1.10 dl/g were synthesized from the diamine with various commercially available aromatic dianhydrides using a standard two-stage process with thermal imidization of poly(amic acid) films. These polyimides were highly soluble in a variety of organic solvents, and most of them afforded transparent, light-colored, and tough films with good tensile strengths. These polyimides exhibited glass transition temperatures (T_gs) of 247-300 °C and showed no significant decomposition below 500 °C under either nitrogen or air atmosphere. Except for the polyimide derived from pyromellitic dianhydride, the polyimide films were almost colorless, with an ultraviolet-visible absorption cutoff wavelength below 400 nm and low b∗ values (a yellowness index) of 10.7-41.9. These polyimides had dielectric constants of 3.09 to 3.65 (1 MHz) and moisture absorptions in the range of 0.2-0.3 wt%.     

MBS树脂改性PVC的研究

研究了不同类型及用量的MBS树脂对PVC抗冲击性、光学性能、拉伸性能及加工塑化性能的改性效果以及加工条件等因素的影响。结果表明 :在低用量条件下 ,随MBS树脂含量增加 ,MBS/PVC抗冲击性能有所提高 ,光学性能略有下降。此外 ,MBS/PVC制品的拉伸性能和加工性能受MBS树脂类型及用量影响不大。     

Ionoluminescence decay measured with single ions

A new ion beam analysis-based, single ion technique called the time to first photon has been developed to measure the decay of the luminescence signal of phosphors. Such measurements are currently needed to study luminescence decay mechanisms following high-density excitations and to identify strongly luminescent phosphor coatings with short lifetimes for ion photon emission microscopy (IPEM). The samples for this technique consist of thin phosphor layers placed or coated on the surface of PIN diodes. Single ions from an accelerator strike this sample and simultaneously create ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) from the phosphor that is measured by a single-photon-detector, and an ion beam induced charge collection (IBICC) signal in the PIN diode. In this case, the IBICC signal provides the start pulse and the IBIL signal the stop pulse to a time to amplitude converter. It is straightforward to show that this approach also measures a signal proportional to activity versus time with an accuracy of 5% as long as the number of detected photons per ion is less than 0.1, which usually requires the use of absorbers for the IBIL detector or electronic discrimination for the IBIL signals. Details of the new analysis are given together with examples of luminescence decay measurements of several ceramic phosphors being considered to coat IPEM samples. IPEM is currently being developed at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), the University of North Texas in Denton, and the Universities and INFN of Padova and Torino.