Photorealistic image synthesis for outdoor scenery under various atmospheric conditions

We propose a method for displaying photorealistic images of outdoor scenes suitable for displaying simulation results, such as the appearance of a building under various weather conditions. This method portrays the changes in perceived color of buildings under various atmospheric conditions by taking into account the spectral distribution of both direct sunlight and sky light. Such views of buildings (including the effects of atmospheric particles like clouds, fog, and light beams) are useful for the design not only of buildings, but also of whole city areas.     

Effect of endogenous acid proteinases on the properties of edible films prepared from Alaska pollack surimi

The existence of endogenous acid proteinases in Alaska pollack surimi and their effect on mechanical properties of surimi films were investigated. The optimum pH of acid proteinases involved in the degradation of myosin heavy chain (MHC) was 3.0, and the optimum temperature was 45 °C. The degradation of MHC was completely inhibited by pepstatin A together with any one of cysteine proteinase inhibitors, suggesting that acid proteinases present in surimi are mainly cathepsin D and cysteine proteinases. The concomitant decrease of surimi film strength with the extent of MHC degradation was observed, but surimi films were formed even when most of MHC was degraded. The main associative forces responsible for the surimi films prepared at pH 3.0 were ionic bonds and hydrophobic interactions.     

Biodegradable Protein‐based Films and Their Properties: A Comparative Study

Biodegradable protein‐based films prepared from different protein sources [commercial bovine gelatine (CG), giant catfish skin gelatine (GG), soy protein isolates (SPI), fish myofibrillar protein (FMP) and whey protein concentrate (WPC)] were all investigated for their mechanical, physical, chemical, thermal and barrier properties. The properties of the resulting films were then compared with those of commercial wrap films [polyvinyl chloride (PVC)]. The film forming solution containing 7% (w/v) protein and 50% (w/w) glycerol was used to produce the films through a casting method. Of the protein‐based films, the GG film had the highest tensile strength and elongation, while the WPC film exhibited the lowest film solubility, water vapour permeability, light transmission in UV‐Vis range (200–800 nm) and film transparency. However, the colour of the FMP film and the thickness were closer to that of the PVC film, particularly the L* and b* values. The appearances of the protein‐based films were similar to the PVC film, and they were uniformly transparent. Therefore, biodegradable films produced from different types of protein sources exhibited differences in their properties. These results are consistent with data from FTIR and protein pattern analyses. Based on these findings, different sources of protein‐based films can be used as an alternative for food packaging applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cellular origin of dysiherbaine, an excitatory amino acid derived from a marine sponge

The cellular origin of dysiherbaine, a marine-sponge toxin, was investigated immunohistochemically by using an anti-dysiherbaine antibody. Dysiherbaine-like immunoreactivity was found to be localized in spherical cells harbored in the sponge mesohyl. A combination of ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) analysis and cell-morphology analysis revealed that the spherical cells were Synechocystis cyanobacteria. However, the sponge, identified as Lendenfeldia chondrodes on the basis of its rDNA sequence, appeared to contain two different chemotypes--dysiherbaine-producing (DH+) and nondysiherbaine-producing (DH-)--both of which inhabited the same region. Synechocystis cells in the DH- sponge were not labeled with antibody, although the 16S rDNA gene profile of the cyanobacteria in the DH- sponge was indistinguishable from that of the cyanobacteria in the DH+ sponge. On the basis of these results, we hypothesize that dysiherbaine is a metabolite of certain varieties of endosymbiotic Synechocystis sp.     

Polymer whiskers based on p-mercaptobenzoyl and p-oxybenzoyl blocks

Preparation of polymer whisker based on p-mercaptobenzoyl (S) and p-oxybenzoyl (O) blocks was examined by the polymerization of S-acetyl-4-mercaptobenzoic acid (AMBA) and the following addition of 4-acetoxybenzoic acid (ABA). Polymerization of AMBA was carried out in liquid paraffin at 300 °C for 3 h yielding poly(p-mercaptobenzoyl) (PMB) whisker, and then ABA was added stepwise at 3-hour intervals into the solution. Initial polymerization concentration was 1.98%. The length of the whisker increased with the addition and it became 26.7 μm from 20.1 μm after third ABA addition. The width increased very slightly. Both length and width increased with polymer yield but the length increased preferentially rather than the width. The number of whiskers was constant even after the addition of ABA and poly(p-oxybenzoyl) (POB) whisker was not newly formed by the addition. Microscopic FT-IR and selected area electron diffraction measurements revealed that polymer molecules were aligned along the long axis of the whiskers, and the center and tip parts were comprised of PMB crystal and POB crystal, respectively. The polymer whisker based on S and O blocks was successfully prepared as grafting POB crystal on PMB whisker with stepwise addition of ABA. Thermal property of the resulting whiskers was also discussed.     

Modeling of Skylight and Rendering of Outdoor Scenes

Photorealistic animated images are extremely effective for pre-evaluating visual impact of city renewal and construction of tall buildings. In order to generate a photorealistic image not only the direct sunlight but also skylight must be considered. This paper proposes a method of high-fidelity image generation for photorealistic outdoor scenes based on the following ideas:

• 1 The intensity distribution of skylight taking account of scattering and absorption due to particles in the atmosphere which coincides with CIE standard skylight luminance functions is sought, and realistic images considering about spectrum distribution of skylight for any altitude of the sun can be easily and accurately displayed.
• 2 A rectangular parallelepiped with a specialized distribution of intensity simulating the skylight is introduced for efficient calculation of illumination due to skylight, and by employing a graphics hardware calculation of the skylight illuminance taking into account shadow effects is obtained with high efficiency; these techniques can be used to generate sequences of images, making animations possible at far lower calculation cost than previous methods.

     

A new scale for side-chain contribution to protein stability based on the empirical stability analysis of mutant proteins

The hydrophobicity scales for amino acid side chains based onthe transfer Gibbs energy (     

Wetting of Au and Ag particles on monocrystalline graphite substrates

1. Introduction Carbon is widely used in areas such as the proc- essing of graphite-metal compacts, brazing of graph- itic materials and carbon nanotubes [1]. The most common carbon material is graphite. Recently, monocrystalline graphite is used as substrates for the fabrication and observation of metallic nanoparticles [2-4]. With decreasing particle size, the effects of the surface and substrate on the physical and chemical stabilities of the particles cannot be ignored due to the large sur…     

Epoxy composite sheets with a large interfacial area from a high surface area-supplying single-walled carbon nanotube scaffold filler

Closed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with the highest available specific surface area (>1000 m²/g) were used to provide a very large interfacial area with the matrix to fabricate epoxy composite sheets. Through mechanical redirection of the vertically aligned SWCNTs, we created a laterally aligned “scaffold” sheet, into which epoxy resin was impregnated. The SWCNT scaffold was engineered in structure to meet two almost mutually exclusive demands, i.e. to have nanometer mesopores (∼2–50 nm) to facilitate homogeneous impregnation of the epoxy resin and to possess a cohesive mechanical strength to tolerate the compaction forces generated during impregnation. Through this approach, a SWCNT/epoxy composite sheet was realized where long and aligned SWCNTs were loaded at a high weight fraction (33%) with an intertube distance approaching the radius of gyration for polymers. The resultant composite showed a Young’s modulus of 15.0 GPa and a tensile strength of 104 MPa, thus achieving 5.4- and 2.1-fold reinforcement compared to the epoxy resin.