Intelligent modular design with holonic fuzzy agents

Presently,modular designs use various technologies accompanied by multiple models.Although no integral solution is known,a plethora of approaches is used to res...     

Changes in macroelements,trace elements,heavy metal concentrations and chemical composition in milk of Croatian spotted goats during different lactation stages

The research was conducted on days 60, 90, 120 and 150 during the lactation with the aim to determine the effect of lactation stage on the concentration of crucial elements and chemical composition in Croatian spotted goats' milk. Milk yield significantly decreased (from 1.15 to 0.76 kg/day), while the concentration of Ca, Mg, P, Zn and Mo in the milk of the goats significantly increased during lactation. The concentrations of Cr, Cd and Pb in milk were very low, with no significant deviations during lactation. The quality of milk from Croatian spotted goats is adequate compared with other breeds in the surrounding area of Croatia.     

Diffractive optics at the surface of light-emitting/receiving semiconductor components

Abstract

Semiconductor components that emit or receive light can use diffractive surface structures to increase the functionality and reduce the number of additional optical components needed in the system. The diffractive structure couples the light out of, or into, the semiconductor material; it splits the light and directs it into one focus or several foci at any desired position. Further, the diffractive optics can be designed so that the function of the device is largely insensitive to the polarization of the light. In this survey, we briefly discuss design and fabrication issues, and show simulated and measured results, for a few different types of components.     

SOFT‐SLAM: Computationally efficient stereo visual simultaneous localization and mapping for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles

Autonomous navigation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in GPS‐denied environments is a challenging problem, especially for small‐scale UAVs characterized by a small payload and limited battery autonomy. A possible solution to the aforementioned problem is vision‐based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), since cameras, due to their dimensions, low weight, availability, and large information bandwidth, circumvent all the constraints of UAVs. In this paper, we propose a stereo vision SLAM yielding very accurate localization and a dense map of the environment developed with the aim to compete in the European Robotics Challenges (EuRoC) targeting airborne inspection of industrial facilities with small‐scale UAVs. The proposed approach consists of a novel stereo odometry algorithm relying on feature tracking (SOFT), which currently ranks first among all stereo methods on the KITTI dataset. Relying on SOFT for pose estimation, we build a feature‐based pose graph SLAM solution, which we dub SOFT‐SLAM. SOFT‐SLAM has a completely separate odometry and mapping threads supporting large loop‐closing and global consistency. It also achieves a constant‐time execution rate of 20 Hz with deterministic results using only two threads of an onboard computer used in the challenge. The UAV running our SLAM algorithm obtained the highest localization score in the EuRoC Challenge 3, Stage IIa–Benchmarking, Task 2. Furthermore, we also present an exhaustive evaluation of SOFT‐SLAM on two popular public datasets, and we compare it to other state‐of‐the‐art approaches, namely ORB‐SLAM2 and LSD‐SLAM. The results show that SOFT‐SLAM obtains better localization accuracy on the majority of datasets sequences, while also having a lower runtime.     

Sacred records in the landscape: the mirila of the Dalmatian hinterland

This paper discusses former burial rites which resulted in memorials known as mirila. It deals with the custom of marking a temporary resting-place while transporting a deceased person, which was prevalent in the north-eastern Adriatic hinterland, manifested in the erection of mortarless stone structures, the remains of which can still be found in the landscape. The paper considers the material and symbolic components of the cultural landscape through the phenomenon of mirila in the central parts of the Croatian Adriatic hinterland: Ravni Kotari and Bukovica. At the same time, given the complexity of natural and socio-political factors, an attempt is made to establish how the custom arose in the spatial and historical context of the region.     

小麦谷蛋白亚基的凝胶电泳分离及其品种鉴定

小麦胚乳贮藏蛋白在去除醇溶蛋白后，再提取高分子量（ＨＭＷ）和低分子量（ＬＭＷ）谷蛋白亚基，然后采用酸性（ｐＨ３．１）聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（Ａ－ＰＡＧＥ）方法进行分离。结果表明，在６００Ｖ电压下（缓冲液温度不超过２８℃），一般可在２～３ｈ内完成电泳，并可获得分辨度较高的分离图谱，在电泳谱上可发现两个明显的ＨＭＷ和ＬＭＷ谷蛋白亚基区域。通过与标准品种和常规ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ方法比较，可对不同品种ＨＭＷ谷蛋白亚基组成进行快速鉴定。一些重要小麦品种的分析结果显示，各品种ＬＭＷ谷蛋白亚基组成具有特异性，而且在品种间存在较大的变异度，根据ＨＭＷ和ＬＭＷ谷蛋白亚基Ａ－ＰＡＧＥ图谱很容易区分不同品种或基因型。因此，Ａ－ＰＡＧＥ方法麦谷蛋白蛋快速分离与品种鉴定中具有较大的应用潜力     

Aseptic Processing of Sweetpotato Purees Using a Continuous Flow Microwave System

ABSTRACT: Sweetpotato purees (SPP) were aseptically processed using a continuous flow microwave system to obtain a shelf-stable product. The dielectric properties of SPP were measured, and the dielectric constant and loss factor were within the range of the published values for fruits and vegetables. Small-scale tests were conducted in a 5-kW microwave unit to determine changes in color and viscosity with different thermal treatments. The results of these tests showed that color values (L*, a*) and viscosity did not change significantly compared with the untreated control. Pilot-scale tests were then conducted in a 60-kW microwave unit where the product was heated to 135 °C and held at that temperature for 30 s. The pilot-scale test produced a shelf-stable product with no detectable microbial count during a 90-d storage period at room temperature. This is the 1st report of aseptically packaged vegetable puree processed by a continuous flow microwave heating system.     

Impact of the wetting process on the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated residual soil from flysch rock mass: preliminary results

Slope instabilities in the form of shallow and deep-seated landslides in flysch formations throughout Europe typically occur after prolonged periods of heavy rainfall. The Rječina River Valley, Croatia, is characterized by the presence of flysch material in the lower part of the Valley, where numerous historical and recent landslides have occurred. The weathering process and climate conditions result in a complex engineering geological profile of flysch slopes in the Valley, with unsaturated residual soil covering the slopes. To investigate the behavior of residual soil existing on the flysch slope under increasing water content due to the rainfall infiltration process, undisturbed soil samples collected at natural water content were tested in the modified direct shear apparatus. Under imposed stress conditions, samples of low hydraulic conductivity were subjected to a prolonged wetting process simulating the rainfall infiltration process in the field. The obtained results suggest that a gradual decrease of matric suction and an increase of water content resulted in an increase of displacement rates under constant shear stress, which was interpreted as a failure of samples in partially saturated conditions. A unique shear strength envelope expressed in terms of Bishop’s effective stress equation was found to be able to predict stress conditions at the slip surface at the time of failure, while the relationship between measured matric suction and water content closely matched with the main wetting curve. Although the testing results did not point out any special characteristics of residual soil from flysch rock mass behavior, the data about hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated residual soil from flysch rock mass, as well as similar fine-grained soils, are very rare and presented results would be valuable for further research. The presented testing procedure and obtained results are useful for studies of rainfall-induced landslides triggered in fine-grained soil materials in zones above the phreatic line, such as shallow landslides occurring in natural flysch slopes or in physical landslide models built in laboratories.

     

Glucosinolates,glycosidically bound volatiles and antimicrobial activity of Aurinia sinuata (Brassicaceae)

Volatiles of Aurinia sinuata (L.) Griseb. were isolated from aerial parts and analysed by gas chromatography/gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/GC–MS). The main compounds were glucosinolate degradation products originating from glucoberteroin, glucobrassicanapin and glucoalyssin. They were: 6-(methylthio)hexanenitrile (1.8–51.5%), 6-(methylsulfinyl)hexanenitrile (0–11.5%), 5-(methylsulfinyl)pentyl isothiocyanate (0–10.2%), 5-(methylthio)pentyl isothiocyanate (0.4–9.5%), 4-pentenyl isothiocyanate (0.7–8.9%), 5-hexenenitrile (2.6–14.6%) and 5,6-epithiohexanenitrile (0–3.4%). Also other volatiles were identified, such as fatty acids and esters (0.3–19.2%), phenols, phenylpropane derivatives and related compounds (0.4–15.8%), aliphatic alcohols and carbonyl compounds (4.2–11.6%) and some other compounds in smaller percentages.