Adaptive synthesis of distance fields

We address the computational resource requirements of 3D example-based synthesis with an adaptive synthesis technique that uses a tree-based synthesis map. A signed-distance field (SDF) is determined for the 3D exemplars, and then new models can be synthesized as SDFs by neighborhood matching. Unlike voxel synthesis approach, our input is posed in the real domain to preserve maximum detail. In comparison to straightforward extensions to the existing volume texture synthesis approach, we made several improvements in terms of memory requirements, computation times, and synthesis quality. The inherent parallelism in this method makes it suitable for a multicore CPU. Results show that computation times and memory requirements are very much reduced, and large synthesized scenes exhibit fine details which mimic the exemplars.     

Dispersion of flexible polymer chains in confined geometries

Molecular model approach has been used to predict the dispersion characteristics of flexible polymer chains in confined geometries. The analysis ranges from the early stage dispersion to the steady Taylor dispersion of the simple linear dumbbell model polymer chains. For the early stasje dispersion the ray method was applied; an Aris type moments rnothod was useful for the Taylor dispersion. Two parallel plates were chosen as a confining geometry and the specific initial condition of a point source in the midway of the gap was chosen for simplicity. It was found that the qualitative difference in dispersion properties of deformable polymer chains starts from the early stage compared with those of single Brownian particles. And it turns out that one parameter, which is similar to the relative spacing of the dumbbell to the gap of confining geometries, is useful to see the dispersion characteristics of the dumbbells.     

Catalytic Combustion of Methane over Rare Earth Stannate Pyrochlore

Well-defined Ln₂Sn₂O₇ powders (Ln = La, Sm and Gd) with a phase-pure pyrochlore structure were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction. The catalytic activities of Ln₂Sn₂O₇ powders for methane combustion were measured. Methane oxidation started at 500 °C and increased with oxidation temperature. Catalytic methane combustion is strongly influenced by the presence of oxygen vacancies that form by breaking Sn–O lattice bonds as the temperature increases. Addition of manganese to the rare earth pyrochlores improved methane oxidation activity. Manganese-doped samarium stannate pyrochlore (Sm₂Sn_1.8Mn_0.2O₇) shows highest the catalytic activity. Light-off and complete oxidation temperatures were measured at about 400 and 650 °C, respectively.     

Use of cascade reduction potential for selective precipitation of Au,Cu, and Pb in hydrochloric acid solution

Optimization of reduction potential for electroseparation was studied for the recovery of gold, copper, and lead from acidic solution. A linear sweep voltammetric method enabled us to determine characteristic reduction potentials for each metal and the kinetics of the metal deposition indicated by current-voltage curves. In order to precipitate the metal species sequentially, reduction potentials were examined for the individual and mixed solutions of Au(III), Cu(II), and Pb(II). The three metals were reasonably well isolated from the mixed solutions such as Cu(II)/ Pb(II) and Au(III)/Cu(II)/Pb(II) in the order of the corresponding reduction potentials, in particular, the mass transfer controlled reduction potentials, obtained from linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) measurement.     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a FCC regenerator

The hydrodynamic and gas mixing characteristics have been determined in a FCC regenerator (0.48 m I.D.x3.4 m high) with FCC particles. Solids holdup in the dense bed decreases with increasing gas velocity, but it increases in the freeboard region. The bubble/void fraction increases with an increase along the bed height at a given gas velocity and increases with increasing gas velocity at a constant bed height. Backmixed tracer gas at the wall region is higher than that at the center region of the bed. The gas backmixing coefficient decreases with increasing gas velocity.     

Blends of chlorinated isotactic polypropylene with poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) I. Effect of component polymers composition on the blend miscibility

Chlorinated isotactic polypropylenes (CPP) having various chlorine contents were blended with poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)s (EVA) having various vinyl acetate (VA) contents. The blends were made by casting films from dilute THF solutions and miscibility of the blends was identified by single glass transition temperature, which was confirmed by DSC and dynamic mechanical measurements. Based on the miscibility data from a large number of CPP/EVA combinations, a miscibility map was depicted where CO equivalent weight (CO-EQW) of EVA was plotted against chlorine equivalent weight (Cl-EQW) of CPP. Though an attractive interaction between CPP and EVA could be detected in all the miscible and immiscible blend pairs, miscibility of the CPP/EVA blends could solely be observed in a relatively narrow range of Cl-EQW ca. 65–100 and CO-EQW ca. 170–230.     

Soap‐free emulsion copolymerization of perfluoroalkyl acrylates in the presence of a reactive surfactant

Soap‐free emulsion copolymerization of perfluoroalkyl acrylate (FA)/methyl methacrylate (MMA)/n‐butyl acrylate (n‐BA) was carried out in the presence of sodium 2‐acrylamide‐2‐methyl propanesulfonate (AMPSNa) as a reactive surfactant and potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator. An analysis of the effects of concentration of AMPSNa, KPS, FA as well as polymerization temperature on the kinetic features (rate of polymerization) and colloidal characteristics (mean particle diameter, particle disperse index, particle numbers, and surface charge density) was followed. NMR, FTIR, AFM, and fluorine‐selective electrode analysis were used to characterize the composition and morphology of the FA copolymers. Both AFM analysis and contact angle measurements strongly implied that the fluorinated segments migrated to the outmost surface and created films with lower surface energy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 2438–2444, 2007     

Effects of estrogen-induced hyperlipidemia on the erythrocyte membrane in chicks

The effects of estrogen-induced hyperlipidemia on plasma lipid peroxidation, fatty acid composition and osmotic fragility of erythrocytes in chickens were studied. Young male chickens implanted with estrogen for three wk developed a marked hyperlipidemia. Plasma levels of triglyceride, cholesterol and phospholipid were elevated 68-, four- and 24-fold, respectively, over controls. There was also a two-fold increase in plasma lipid peroxidation measured by the thiobarbituric acid test. Vitamin E supplement (1,000 IU/kg diet) reduced the plasma lipid peroxidation to the control level, but had no effect on the plasma lipid content. Estrogen-induced hyperlipidemia resulted in changes in the fatty acid composition of membrane lipids of erythrocytes. The major changes were an increase in oleic acid from 10.0% to 14.2% and a decrease in linoleic acid from 31.3% to 26.0%. The erytrocytes with an altered membrane fatty acid composition were found to have an increased osmotic fragility. It was apparent that there was a direct correlation between the oleic acid content and the osmotic fragility of erythrocytes.     

A kinetic model for polystyrene (PS) pyrolysis reaction

A mathematical model for the pyrolysis reaction of polystyrene (PS) in a semi-batch reactor has been presented. The thermal degradation of PS was flexibly modeled by a combination of random and specific chain-end scissions. Numerical simulation was used to investigate the effect of operating conditions on the PS products spectrum, the results of which were validated by the experimental data. It was found that as the reaction temperature increased (decreased), the monomer fraction in the products became lower (higher) while the trimer higher (lower). No significant variation in the product composition was, however, observed while constant temperature was maintained. These results indicate the reaction temperature is an effective manipulated variable for the control of products composition of PS pyrolysis. The calculation of the optimum temperature trajectories through the optimization study can thus be of interest for achieving productivity enhancement in plastics pyrolysis processes. This paper is dedicated to Professor Dong Sup Doh on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Enhanced utilization bound of Rate-Monotonic scheduling in Controller Area Networks

When priorities to message streams are assigned using Rate Monotonic (RM) for a Controller Area Network (CAN), the utilization bound is known to be about 25% for CAN 2.0A and 29% for CAN 2.0B. In this letter, we present a higher utilization bound than the existing ones with a reasonable constraint. The new utilization bounds are approximately 34% for CAN 2.0A and 41% for CAN 2.0B if no single message stream's utilization exceeds 46% or 27% of the total utilization for CAN 2.0A or CAN 2.0B, respectively.