Image coding by multistep, adaptive flux interpolation

The authors describe and discuss the new technique, multistep adaptive flux interpolation (MAFI), and its application to image data for coding. When applied to an image, MAFI produces an output which is also in an image form, but which has a more uniform feature density and a greatly reduced size. MAFI warps the input image by removing those rows and columns which contain a majority of redundant pixels. The side information required for reconstruction is minimal, and the image can be further compressed using conventional coders, making the compression ratio even higher. Because of its warped nature, the MAFI output's statistics are also more consistent with the properties assumed by block-based discrete cosine transform (DCT) methods     

Manufacture of films displaying liquid-crystalline structure

Reported is an attempt to attain orientation of macromolecules during extrusion of films of cellulose derivatives that led to the liquid-crystalline state of a polymer and resulted in enhanced film strength.     

Effect of repositioning of rhodium direct-charge detectors in a RBMK-1000 reactor on fuel and emitter-material burnup coefficients

Scientific-Technical Center “Atomtekhénergo.” Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. N. V. Sultanov Institute of Nuclear Reactors, Russian Scientific Center “Kurchatovskii institut.” Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 76, No. 6, pp. 470–473, June, 1994.     

Advancing controlled release packaging through smart blending

Researchers from Rutgers University and Clemson University have collaborated to develop a concept of using smart blending to generate functional packaging films for the controlled release of active compounds such as antimicrobials, antioxidants and flavour compounds to extend the shelf‐life of food. In this paper, literature results are reviewed to justify the significance of controlled release packaging (CRP) and the research gaps for further development are identified. A major research gap is the lack of packaging materials that can provide the release of active compounds at rates suitable for a wide range of food packaging applications. Smart blending is a promising technology for bridging this research gap. To fully realize the potentials of smart blending, a systematic approach for developing CRP using smart blending is also presented. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation and experimental analyses of electromagnetic transients behaviors of lightning surge on vertical conductors

Simulation of very fast surge phenomena in a three-dimensional (3-D) structure requires a method based on Maxwell's equations, such as the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method or the method of moments, because circuit-equation-based methods cannot handle the phenomena. This paper uses a method of thin-wire representation of the vertical conductor system for the FDTD method which is suitable for the 3-D surge simulation. The thin-wire representation is indispensable to simulate electromagnetic surges on wires or steel frames in which the radius is smaller than a discretized space step used in the FDTD simulation. In this paper, a general surge analysis program named the virtual surge test lab based on the Maxwell's equations formulated by the FDTD method, is used to simulate the surge phenomena of a vertical conductor, including the effects of horizontal wave incidence and vertical wave incidence. Experimental results on the reduced scale model have been presented in order to compare among the simulation results by the FDTD method and the results using numerical electromagnetic code based on the MoM.     

Principles of reference-aided decision making

A unified approach to decision making with extremal many-criteria models, expert estimates, and voting is developed on the basis of reference and distance concepts and taxonomy methods. It involves the solution of many-criteria problems with the Pareto optimum. Examples demonstrating the effectiveness and universality of the approach are given.