The use of natural (Pinus pinaster) resin in the production of printing ink and the printability effect

Alkyd resins are generally used in the production of printing inks. All industries look for alternative raw materials in the production of ink with the growing inclination toward using natural products. Resins forming the vehicle of the ink to be obtained from natural resources will provide benefits for the environment, nature, and living creatures. The aim of the study was to promote the use of natural resin in the ink system. Natural Pinus pinaster resin was added into vegetable and mineral oil-based solvents in pure form with alkyd resin in different amounts and ink varnishes of different combinations were prepared. Then, printing inks were produced from these varnishes in pure and hybrid form. Following the assessment of the rheological properties of the inks prepared, printing tests were conducted to assess the printing quality parameters. Ideal mixing ratios of the natural resins in the ink were determined for printability. The environmental importance and advantages of the use of natural resins were discussed. Recommendations were given in line with the results to encourage widespread use of natural resins in near future.     

Cellular neural network with trapezoidal activation function

This paper presents a cellular neural network (CNN) scheme employing a new non‐linear activation function, called trapezoidal activation function (TAF). The new CNN structure can classify linearly non‐separable data points and realize Boolean operations (including eXclusive OR) by using only a single‐layer CNN. In order to simplify the stability analysis, a feedback matrix W is defined as a function of the feedback template A and 2D equations are converted to 1D equations. The stability conditions of CNN with TAF are investigated and a sufficient condition for the existence of a unique equilibrium and global asymptotic stability is derived. By processing several examples of synthetic images, the analytically derived stability condition is also confirmed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new deep intuitionistic fuzzy time series forecasting method based on long short-term memory

The Journal of Supercomputing - In recent years, deep artificial neural networks can have better forecasting performance than many other artificial neural networks. The long short-term memory...     

Automatic recognition fingerspelling gestures in multiple languages for a communication interface for the disabled

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a multi-lingual fingerspelling recognition module that is designed for an information terminal. Through the use of multimodal input and output methods, the information terminal acts as a communication medium between deaf and blind people. The system converts fingerspelled words to speech and vice versa using fingerspelling recognition, fingerspelling synthesis, speech recognition and speech synthesis in Czech, Russian, and Turkish languages. We describe an adaptive skin color based fingersign recognition system with a close to real-time performance and present recognition results on 88 different letters signed by five different signers, using above four hours of training and test videos.     

Maximization of total surface area of Pt-SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> catalyst by the Taguchi method

The maximization of the total surface area of Pt-SnO₂/Al₂O₃ catalyst was studied by using the Taguchi method of experimental design. The catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method. The effects of HNO₃, H₂O and aluminum nitrate concentrations and the stirring rate on the total surface area were studied at three levels of each. L₉ orthogonal array leading nine experiments was used in the experimental design. The parameter levels that give maximum total surface area were determined and experimentally verified. In the range of conditions studied it was found that, medium levels of HNO₃ and H₂O concentration and lower levels of aluminum nitrate concentration and stirring rate maximize the total surface area.     

The role of plasticizer on the exfoliation and dispersion and fracture behavior of clay particles in PVC matrix: a comprehensive morphological study

The clay nanoparticles are readily dispersed and exfoliated in the PVC matrix with the help of Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) plasticizer. X-ray, TEM and AFM analysis of the nanocomposites indicate that there is an optimum concentration of DOP for the process. If used in high concentrations, the ability to transfer forces to the clay particles through the polymer matrix decreases due to substantial decrease in viscosity. The individual platy montmorillonite particles dispersed in PVC matrix were directly observed by AFM and found to lie preferentially on their basal surfaces, especially when the compounded batch is compression molded. The edges of the particles were in some cases straight forming hexagonal angles and in other cases irregular.     

Mathematical modelling of sound transmission loss performances of different coloured surfaces coated with polyurethane-based paint

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of morphologies and the structure of polyurethane-based coatings created by different colour pigments, on sound transmission loss properties. To achieve this goal, coatings were created in different concentrations of 5%, 7% and 9% with red, green, orange and yellow pigments. The coatings were applied on glass surfaces and the sound transmission loss was measured by an experimental arrangement containing a microphone and a decibel meter. The effect of surface tension energy, surface roughness, reflection percentages and concentration of pigments were found to be negligible on the sound transmission loss, whereas the LAB colour codes have a determining effect. In the scope of this study, a new method and mathematical model were created to help measure the sound transmission loss on a surface, in which sound signal was carried with a laser beam via a system created in the laboratory.     

Improved phase performance for rotman lens

Rotman lenses are used to obtain multiple beams from a single array. Although the beams produced by the feed antennas at focal points have no path length errors, the beams produced by feed antennas at off focal points may have large path length errors. These path length errors cause deterioration in the multiple beams. In this article, two novel methods are introduced to obtain feed curves which reduce the path length errors of off focal feed points significantly, compared with the commonly used circular and elliptical feed curves. The first method obtains feed curve points based on having zero path length error at three chosen points of the radiating array for each beam direction. The second method uses the particle swarm optimization method for obtaining optimum feed points for each beam direction. The results show that there is a very significant drop in the level of the maximum path length errors (in the order of about 1:4). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 23: 634–638, 2013.