Characterization of Gamma Irradiated Peanut Kernels Stored One Year Under Ambient and Frozen Conditions

Peanut kernels were gamma irradiated at 0, 2.5,5.0,10, and 20 KGy, and stored 1 yr at ambient and frozen (? 14°C) conditions. Irradiated peanuts lost germination capabilities during storage. Molds were detected only on peanuts irradiated with 2.5 KGy and stored at ambient temperature. Peanut oil in kernels stored at ? 14°C was comparatively more stable than that in peanuts stored at ambient temperature. Oxidation of oil was not significantly changed by irradiation. Changes in fatty acid content varied slightly with exception of linoleic and linolenic acids which decreased with increased radiation depending on storage temperature. The SDS-PAGE protein patterns of peanuts revealed no noticeable variation of protein subunits resulting from irradiation and storage.     

State synchronization in process-oriented chaincode

Business processes often involve operational processes, contracts, and regulations. The modeling of such processes must address regulation monitoring and enforcement and maintain a reliable history of data for evidence. This study proposes modeling business processes as chaincode (CC) on permissioned blockchains (BCs). The challenges encountered by the proposed approach are state synchronizations among distributed nodes (called authnodes)and realtime requirements. This study separates CC executions from the state management of multiple BCs and demonstrates the validity of the proposed approach with a payment authorization system at a Chinese bank.     

知“竹”常乐——2010台北花博“台湾园”设计

“台湾园”位于2010年台北国际花卉博览会寰宇庭园区,是当代的台湾风景园林师第一次有机会以台湾为主题思考,来诠释具台湾精神的庭园.整体设计融入台湾人民热情好客的处世精神与敬天畏地的生活态度,并目同时以“现代样貌”的景观表情,展示都市生活美学对于“人文”及“生态”议题的思考.作品完成后得到景观设计专业与一般民众的一致认可...     

A KNOWLEDGE-BASED NAVIGATION SCHEME FOR AUTONOMOUS LAND VEHICLES

A knowledge-based navigation system for autonomous land vehicles (ALVs) has been developed which can successfully negotiate an obstacle and threat-laden terrain, even if nothing is known beforehand about the terrain. The ALV stores new information in its memory as it travels, has the ability to backtrack out of unexpected dead ends, and performs spontaneous decision making in the field based on local sensor readings. The optimal global route of the ALV journey is obtained using dynamic programming, and decision making is accomplished via a production rule-based system. Execution examples demonstrate the power of the prototype system to solve navigation problems. This establishes the feasibility of constructing a valid ALV by combining search techniques with artificial intelligence tools such as production rule-based systems.     

一种植物花朵开花的动态仿真模型

本文针对数字娱乐领域虚拟场景中对植物仿真的需求,提出了一种基于环境因素影响的花朵动态生长及开放的简化模型。采用了基于几何约束的微分L系统来描述花朵的拓扑结构,利用Bezier曲面模拟花朵的几何结构,并结合植物学的相关知识,引入了环境因素对花朵生长的影响,建立了符合植物学原理的花朵动态生长模型,并生成了花开的真实感动画。实验结果显示生成的花朵造型逼真,生长过程基本符合自然规律,满足数字娱乐领域中的应用需求。     

Structural and electrical properties of cerium dioxide films grown by RF magnetron sputtering

A systematic study was performed on the structural and electrical properties of cerium dioxide thin films grown on Si substrate with various deposition temperatures by RF magnetron sputtering. The films grown at 200°C are partly amorphous whereas those grown above 250°C are polycrystalline. An amorphous layer of SiO₂ forms at the interface between the cerium dioxide film and the Si substrate. Cerium dioxide film grown at higher temperatures up to 500°C sustains more leakage current on the basis of current-voltage measurements. The electrical conduction of the films is well fitted by a power-law relation, which is explained as space-charge-limited current conduction with exponential distributed traps in the band gap. The variations of dielectric constant, flatband voltage, fixed oxide charge and interface-trapped charge with deposition temperature were studied by making capacitance-voltage measurements on an Al/CeO₂/Si structure. The variations of electrical properties with temperature are strongly correlated with the formation of an amorphous SiO₂ layer. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

FINITE ELEMENT FORMULATIONS FOR FRICTION PENDULUM SEISMIC ISOLATION BEARINGS

In this paper, an advanced analytical model and finite element formulations including local bending moment effects for the Friction Pendulum System (FPS) are presented. Some important findings in these investigations reveal that local bending moments which result from the movements of the isolator, should be accounted for in the engineering design. The results presented in this paper show that if the effects of local bending moments are excluded from design considerations, it may endanger structures during earthquakes. The new formulations considering local effects provide an effective tool to simulate the behaviour of FPS-isolated structures subjected to earthquake loadings. The proposed formulations can be applied directly for both two- and three-dimensional analyses without any further assumption. It is easy to implement the proposed techniques in existing finite element programs. The results obtained from the numerical analyses suggest that the local bending moment effects are of significant importance, and should be taken into account to assure the safety of isolated structures during earthquakes. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.