Resolution Independent NPR-Style 3D Line Textures

This work introduces a technique for interactive walk-throughs of non-photorealistically rendered (NPR) scenes using three-dimensional (3D) line primitives to define architectural features of the model, as well as indicate textural qualities. Line primitives are not typically used in this manner in favour of texture mapping techniques which can encapsulate a great deal of information in a single texture map, and take advantage of GPU optimizations for accelerated rendering. However, texture mapped images may not maintain the visual quality or aesthetic appeal that is possible when using 3D lines to simulate NPR scenes such as hand-drawn illustrations or architectural renderings. In addition, line textures can be modified interactively, for instance changing the sketchy quality of the lines. The technique introduced here extracts feature edges from a model, and using these edges, generates a reduced set of line textures which indicate material properties while maintaining interactive frame rates. A clipping algorithm is presented to enable 3D lines to reside only in the interior of the 3D model without exposing the underlying triangulated mesh. The resulting system produces interactive illustrations with high visual quality that are free from animation artifacts.     

XML-based ISO9000 electronic document management system

Maintaining, customizing, sharing and reusing ISO9000 quality documents are essential for many organizations, especially those who work as virtual enterprises (VE). In a VE, the documents must be shared among organizations to take the full advantages of the recent Internet advances. XML is a new browser-based language standard. The purpose of this research is to explore the capabilities of XML and Internet technologies in electronic document management environments to comply with the ISO9000 requirements. This research has demonstrated several XML-enabled examples beneficial for the main functions of ISO9000 document management such as document creation, document change, document control and document access. The implemented examples demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiencies of document customizing, querying, hierarchical linking, tracking and reusing. The research results solve the ISO9000 document-related problems among working partners and facilitate document flow and information integration of value chain.     

Sharing intelligence: Decision-making interactions between users and software in maestro

By combining the best of automated and human decision-making in scheduling, many advantages can accrue. The joint performance of the user and system is potentially much better than either alone. Features of the MAESTRO scheduling system serve to illustrate concepts of user/software cooperation. MAESTRO may be operated at a user-determinable and dynamic level of autonomy. Because the system allows so much flexibility in the allocation of decision-making responsibilities, and provides users with a wealth of information and other support for their own decision-making, better overall schedules may result.     

Inhibition of larval settlement by natural products from the ascidian,Eudistoma olivaceum (Van Name)

Settlement bioassays with larvae of the cheilostome bryozoanBugula neritina were used to isolate and purify antifouling compounds from the ascidianEudistoma olivaceum (Van Name). Three inhibitors of larval settlement, two toxic and one nontoxic, were investigated. The toxic compounds accounted for approximately 0.4% of the organic fraction (on a dry weight basis) and were identified as eudistomins g and h, two of a number of alkaloids possessed byE. olivaceum. The nontoxic inhibitor of settlement was not characterized. Eudistomins g and h were effective inhibitors of larval settlement at concentrations as low as 0.5% of that present in the living animal.     

Estimation of the inorganic-to-organic chlorine ratio in coal

Dimethyl sulphoxide is demonstrated to quantitatively extract soluble chloride salts from coal whereas water does not completely leach such salts. The chloride held by ion exchange is also extracted if 0.1 M KNO₃ is included in the DMSO. The use of DMSO as a solvent therefore provides a means for determining the inorganic-to-organic chlorine ratio in coal by comparing the extracted to the total chlorine concentration in a sample. The latter value is determined by an independent method.     

Destruction of a Carbon Tetrachloride Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquid by Modified Fenton’s Reagent

Destruction of a dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) by soluble iron (III)-catalyzed and pyrolusite (β-MnO2)-catalyzed Fenton’s reactions (hydrogen peroxide and transition metal catalysts) was investigated using carbon tetrachloride (CT) as a model contaminant. In the system amended with 5 mM soluble iron (III), 24% of the CT DNAPL was destroyed after 3 h while CT dissolution in parallel fill-and-draw systems was minimal, indicating that CT was degraded more rapidly than it dissolved into the aqueous phase. Fenton’s reactions catalyzed by the naturally occurring manganese oxide pyrolusite were even more effective in destroying CT DNAPLs, with 53% degradation after 3 h. Although Fenton’s reactions are characterized by hydroxyl radical generation, carbon tetrachloride is unreactive with hydroxyl radicals; therefore, a transient oxygen species other than hydroxyl radicals formed through Fenton’s propagation reactions was likely responsible for CT destruction. These results demonstrate that Fenton-like reactions in which nonhydroxyl radical species are generated may provide an effective method for the in situ treatment of DNAPLs.     

School readiness and later achievement.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 44(1) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2007-19851-023). The DOI for the supplemental materials was printed incorrectly. The correct DOI is as follows: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1428.supp.] Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness--school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills--and later school reading and math achievement. In an effort to isolate the effects of these school-entry skills, the authors ensured that most of their regression models control for cognitive, attention, and socioemotional skills measured prior to school entry, as well as a host of family background measures. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power, followed by reading and then attention skills. By contrast, measures of socioemotional behaviors, including internalizing and externalizing problems and social skills, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance, even among children with relatively high levels of problem behavior. Patterns of association were similar for boys and girls and for children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family socialization of emotional expression and nonverbal communication styles and skills.

Describes the development of the Family Expressiveness Questionnaire, which measures family styles of emotional expression and discusses its use in a study assessing the effects of family socialization of emotional expression on the Ss' own expression, nonverbal behavior, and skill. Questionnaire development indicated accuracy in tapping emotional expression levels in the home. In the study, 64 college students and confederates filled out several questionnaires, were videotaped while discussing topics of emotional significance and while encoding scenes of affective content, and participated in a nonverbal judging task. The socialization hypothesis, that family expressiveness has a differential effect on individuals' nonverbal behavior and skill, was supported and refined. It is concluded that style of expression and skill in communication are influenced by the emotional expressiveness of the family environment. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)