Effect of number of views to the viewing experience with autostereoscopic 3‐D displays

Abstract— The observers' 3‐D viewing experience when the way the content is created and shown on an autostereoscopic 3‐D display alternate is evaluated. The observer's depth impression, and the perceived contour accuracy and image naturalness or peskiness of the content shown on a 3‐D display, has been investigated. In addition, the consequences of the way the content is created to the results from the optical characterization for the same display have been studied. The alternation of the content was realized in two different ways. Firstly, the number of views for creating the image was varied. Two, five, and 14 views were used; the main focus being on testing the same display and treating it as an ordinary two‐view and a 14‐view display with inter‐sub‐view crosstalk. Also, the intermediate condition where five views with non‐uniform view‐specific crosstalk were used has been investigated. Secondly, the way the content is created was varied by using images with computer‐generated content and photos. The effect of these parameters on viewing experience as such and especially the effect of 3‐D crosstalk on the viewing experience were studied.     

Lipids and fatty acids of a whitefish (Coregonus albula) flesh and roe

The total lipids of whitefish flesh and roe averaged 3.0 and 9.8% fresh weight, respectively. Although neutral lipids dominated in both tissues the polar lipid content of fresh roe was unexceptionally high (2.5%). The fatty acid patterns of the total lipids from flesh and roe and of neutral lipids were similar to each other. Polyenoic acids constituted about half of the total fatty acids and monoenoic and saturated components existed in equal amounts. The calculated iodine values for the total lipids from flesh and roe indicated a slightly higher degree of unsaturation for roe fatty acids. The polar lipids were enriched in polyenoic and saturated fatty acids. Similarities in the composition and content of fatty acids from flesh and roe suggest that storage problems, apparent as a rancidity of roe products, may result from the high content of polar lipids readily hydrolysed during storage.     

Field comparison of real-time polymerase chain reaction and bacterial culture for identification of bovine mastitis bacteria

Fast and reliable identification of the microorganisms causing mastitis is important for management of the disease and for targeting antimicrobial treatment. Methods based on PCR are being used increasingly in mastitis diagnostics. Comprehensive field comparisons of PCR and traditional milk bacteriology have not been available. The results of a PCR kit capable of detecting 11 important etiological agents of mastitis directly from milk in 4h were compared with those of conventional bacterial culture (48h). In total, 1,000 quarter milk samples were taken from cows with clinical or subclinical mastitis, or from clinically healthy quarters with low somatic cell count (SCC). Bacterial culture identified udder pathogens in 600/780 (77%) of the clinical samples, whereas PCR identified bacteria in 691/780 (89%) of the clinical samples. The PCR analysis detected major pathogens in a large number of clinical samples that were negative for the species in culture. These included 53 samples positive for Staphylococcus aureus by PCR, but negative by culture. A total of 137 samples from clinical mastitis, 5 samples from subclinical mastitis, and 1 sample from a healthy quarter were positive for 3 or more bacterial species in PCR, whereas culture identified 3 or more species in 60 samples from clinical mastitis. Culture identified a species not targeted by the PCR test in 44 samples from clinical mastitis and in 9 samples from subclinical mastitis. Low SCC samples provided a small number of positive results both in culture (4/93; 4.3%) and by PCR (7/93; 7.5%). In conclusion, the PCR kit provided several benefits over conventional culture, including speed, automated interpretation of results, and increased sensitivity. This kit holds much promise as a tool to complement traditional methods in identification of pathogens. In conventional mastitis bacteriology, a sample with 3 or more species is considered contaminated, and resampling of the cow is recommended. Further study is required to investigate how high sensitivity of PCR and its quantitative features can be applied to improve separation of relevant udder pathogens from likely contaminants in samples where multiple species are detected. Furthermore, increasing the number of species targeted by the PCR test would be advantageous.     

Prevalence of Moisture Problems in Finnish Houses*

Abstract A random sample of 450 houses representing various decades was surveyed by trained civil engineers for signs of water leaks or condensation. In 80% of the houses, signs of current or previous moisture fault were observed. In most houses, the surveyors made at least two separate observations of moisture but the occupants missed one in every two of these signs of moisture damage. Part of the faults were caused by flaws in design or construction, and part were due to aging of materials. Approximately 55% of the Finnish houses (i.e., a total of nearly 500 000 houses), were assessed to be in need of repair or more thorough inspection. The observations were equally frequent in the houses of different age, but certain types of moisture damage were characteristic of certain types of buildings or constructional methods used in different eras. Roof geometry was a significant factor accounting for roof leakages. The majority of the faults could be repaired at reasonable cost.     

Grafting of unsaturated acids and silanes to ethylene polymers: A kinetic model

A general kinetic model was developed to simulate the grafting of monomers such as unsaturated carboxylic acids and silanes to ethylene polymers. The polymers considered were ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene-co-butyl acrylate (EBA), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Grafting was assumed to proceed by a free-radical mechanism involving chain transfer. Organic peroxides having a strong tendency for hydrogen abstraction were selected as the source of primary radicals. The model simulated the grafting reaction as taking place in a single screw extruder. The residence time distribution in the extruder was experimentally determined by tracer analysis, according to which the extruder was a plug-flow reactor connected to two mixed reactors in parallel. The model is able to predict the extent of grafting in terms of predefined parameters. Comparison of model predictions with available experimental data showed slight deviations, the possible causes of which are discussed. However, the kinetic behavior expected on the basis of the input parameters was observed, and, as such, the model allowed study of the effect of process variables on grafting kinetics and provided insight into the reaction mechanism.     

Copolymers of ethylene with butene-1 and long chain α-olefins. I. Decene-1 as long chain α-olefin

The possibility was studied of using decene-1 as comonomer with ethylene in a slurry type polymerization with Ziegler–Natta catalysts. Under the reaction conditions used decene contents remained at the 2 wt% level in ethylene/decene-1 copolymers. When additionally butene-1 was present in the polymerization, decene-1 contents were significantly higher. A synergistic effect was identified in the reactivities of butene-1 and decene-1 in terpolymerization with ethylene. The comonomer reactions were determined and comonomer contents measured by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. Decene-1 content had an effect on the polymer density and crystallinity, but virtually no effect on melting temperature. With high comonomer contents an additional melting range was identified in DSC curves at about 100°C.     

Comparison between infrared and Raman spectroscopic analysis of maturing rabbit cortical bone

The molecular composition of the organic and inorganic matrices of bone undergoes alterations during maturation. The aim of this study was to compare Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and near-infrared (NIR) Raman microspectroscopy techniques for characterization of the composition of growing and developing bone from young to skeletally mature rabbits. Moreover, the specificity and differences of the techniques for determining bone composition were clarified. The humeri of female New Zealand White rabbits, with age range from young to skeletally mature animals (four age groups, n = 7 per group), were studied. Spectral peak areas, intensities, and ratios related to organic and inorganic matrices of bone were analyzed and compared between the age groups and between FT-IR and Raman microspectroscopic techniques. Specifically, the degree of mineralization, type-B carbonate substitution, crystallinity of hydroxyapatite (HA), mineral content, and collagen maturity were examined. Significant changes during maturation were observed in various compositional parameters with one or both techniques. Overall, the compositional parameters calculated from the Raman spectra correlated with analogous parameters calculated from the IR spectra. Collagen cross-linking (XLR), as determined through peak fitting and directly from the IR spectra, were highly correlated. The mineral/matrix ratio in the Raman spectra was evaluated with multiple different peaks representing the organic matrix. The results showed high correlation with each other. After comparison with the bone mineral density (BMD) values from micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging measurements and crystal size from XRD measurements, it is suggested that Raman microspectroscopy is more sensitive than FT-IR microspectroscopy for the inorganic matrix of the bone. In the literature, similar spectroscopic parameters obtained with FT-IR and NIR Raman microspectroscopic techniques are often compared. According to the present results, however, caution is required when performing this kind of comparison.     

Analysing singularities of a benchmark problem

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the singularities of a well known benchmark problem “Andrews’ squeezing mechanism.” We show that for physically relevant parameter values this system admits singularities, and describe explicit conditions for the parameters. The method is based on Gröbner bases computations and ideal decomposition. It is algorithmic and can thus be applied to study constraint singularities which arise in more general situations as well.