The colour fastness of optionally aftertreated direct dyes on cotton during washing in an activated oxygen bleach-containing detergent

This study uses previously proposed spectrophotometric pass/fail criteria for the assessment of oxidative-bleach fading of cellulosic dyes on cotton during repeated washing. A high level of correlation (88%) has been obtained between the fading exhibited by optionally aftertreated direct dyes in the UK-TO test and that after 20 domestic machine washes in the presence of a detergent containing an oxidative-bleach system. The correlation, and ultimate utility of the test method, is further improved when preceded by an ISO 105 C06/C2S wash fastness test to screen out dyes having a low intrinsic fastness to washing.     

Monitoring and predicting land use change in Beijing using remote sensing and GIS

Rapid land use change has taken place in many mega cities of China such as Beijing over the past two decades. In this paper, land use change dynamics were investigated by the combined use of satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS). The results indicated that there had been a notable and uneven urban growth and a major loss of cropland loss between 1986 and 2001. Most of the urban growth and loss of agriculture land occurred in inner and outer suburbs. Land use change was projected for the next 20 years using Markov chains and regression analyses. The further integration of remote sensing and GIS technologies with Markov model and regression model was found to be useful for describing, analyzing and predicting the process of land use change.     

DETERMINATION OF DIBENZO[A,L]PYRENE AND OTHER FJORD-REGION PAH ISOMERS WITH MW 302 IN ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occur in the environment as complex mixtures including compounds with mutagenic and carcinogenic activity. The PAH profile routinely determined in environmental samples at present encompasses isomers with molecular weight (MW) not greater than 300. However, PAHs with MW >300 have been demonstrated for several matrices to contribute up to 50% of the total activity when tested for carcinogenicity in experimental animals. Recent studies indicate that among the dibenzopyrenes with MW 302 dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, possessing a fjord region, is by far the most carcinogenic PAH hitherto identified. To further elucidate the environmental relevance of this compound we have applied the isotope dilution GC/MS technique as analytical procedure to determine this compound and the related fjord region PAH naphtho[1,2-a]- and naphtho[1,2-e]pyrene in various matrices. Identification was based on comparison of UV and mass spectra as well as retention times of authentic reference materials. Determination of these PAHs was achieved after clean-up by several chromatographic steps including fractionation on a modified TABA-silica gel column. Quantitative data for matrices such as two cigarette smoke condensates, motor vehicle exhaust condensate (Otto-type engines), and tar-cork are reported. Based on toxic equivalent factors the relative contribution of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (5.4–42.3%) to the total carcinogenic activity of a PAH profile will be discussed comprising 14 selected isomers (benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]thiophene; cyclopenta[cd]pyrene; benz[a]anthracene; chrysene/triphenylene; sum of benzo[b]-, benzo[k]-, and benzo[j]fluoranthene; benzo[a]pyrene; indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene; dibenz[a,h]anthracene; benzo[ghi]perylene; anthanthrene; dibenzo[a,l]pyrene determined in these matrices.     

Self-Consistent Model and Numerical Analysis of VCSEL's Laser Diodes

A self-consistent model of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's) is presented in this paper, in which the carrier diffusion rate equation, the photon density rate equation, and the thermal conduction equation are considered simultaneously. The nonuniform heat flux density distribution in the active region due to the current-spreading effect is taken into account. The effects of temperature on gain and transparency carrier density are also included in this model. It is nonlinearly and self-consistently solved in the Matlab environment. The transient and lateral distribution characteristics of the carrier and photon densities and the junction temperature are investigated. Some interesting results are gotten and analyzed.     

From Shape to Function: The Next Step in Bioprinting

In 2013, the “biofabrication window” was introduced to reflect the processing challenge for the fields of biofabrication and bioprinting. At that time, the lack of printable materials that could serve as cell-laden bioinks, as well as the limitations of printing and assembly methods, presented a major constraint. However, recent developments have now resulted in the availability of a plethora of bioinks, new printing approaches, and the technological advancement of established techniques. Nevertheless, it remains largely unknown which materials and technical parameters are essential for the fabrication of intrinsically hierarchical cell–material constructs that truly mimic biologically functional tissue. In order to achieve this, it is urged that the field now shift its focus from materials and technologies toward the biological development of the resulting constructs. Therefore, herein, the recent material and technological advances since the introduction of the biofabrication window are briefly summarized, i.e., approaches how to generate shape, to then focus the discussion on how to acquire the biological function within this context. In particular, a vision of how biological function can evolve from the possibility to determine shape is outlined.     

A software‐based method for ergonomic posture assessment in automotive preproduction planning: Concordance and difference in using software and personal observation for assessments

This article describes the pilot study for testing a system for ergonomic posture assessment. 1 The software‐based approach for ergonomic assessment is based on motion capturing work tasks using realistic mock‐ups of the assembly environment. The approach for ergonomic assessment reduces the expenditure of time for evaluation. This may lead to considerable ergonomic aspects during the early stages of production planning. A comparative test between human observers and the software system was carried out. The test of the system focuses on correct recognition of postures from the motion data and compares the computer‐based evaluation with the results of a manual analysis carried out by a human observer. The tests indicate sufficient results for the automated assessment, especially for the arm and leg postures. But there is still some potential for further improvement of the recognition accuracy of the back postures. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Language-specific model checking of UML-RT models

Model-driven development (MDD) deals with complexities of modern software development by using models. Their verification is one of the opportunities of MDD, since it can be performed in the early stages of the development. The prevailing trend in verification of MDD models has been to translate them to an input language of one of the existing tools, most notably model checkers. Such an approach has advantages; for instance, we can use tools that achieved a higher level of maturity, including SPIN, NuSMV and Java PathFinder. However, the input languages of model checkers are typically not compatible with MDD models, which can make the translations very complex and difficult to maintain. Moreover, it is more difficult to take advantage of specific features of the structure and semantics of models to, e.g., speed up analysis. In this paper, we depart from the translational trend and present more direct and dedicated approach. We use an MDD language, namely UML-RT (used in IBM Rational Software Architect RealTime Edition), and we introduce a verification method built around its main features such as hierarchical structures, action code and asynchronous communication. In our method we use a formalization tailored to UML-RT models. This enables very easy transformation of models, but also reduces the necessary translations of verification results and directly supports the most important features of UML-RT. The proposed method includes an on-the-fly model checking algorithm based on the original CTL labeling. This algorithm is further optimized to include lazy composition. In the paper, we present all necessary components of the checking algorithms. Additionally, we also show the results of experiments with our implementation using several UML-RT models and CTL formulas. The experiments provide some evidence of the viability of a language-specific analysis of MDD models and of the effectiveness of our optimizations in certain cases.     

Experience of automation failures in training: effects on trust,automation bias,complacency and performance

This work examined the effects of operators’ exposure to various types of automation failures in training. Forty-five participants were trained for 3.5 h on a simulated process control environment. During training, participants either experienced a fully reliable, automatic fault repair facility (i.e. faults detected and correctly diagnosed), a misdiagnosis-prone one (i.e. faults detected but not correctly diagnosed) or a miss-prone one (i.e. faults not detected). One week after training, participants were tested for 3?h, experiencing two types of automation failures (misdiagnosis, miss). The results showed that automation bias was very high when operators trained on miss-prone automation encountered a failure of the diagnostic system. Operator errors resulting from automation bias were much higher when automation misdiagnosed a fault than when it missed one. Differences in trust levels that were instilled by the different training experiences disappeared during the testing session.

Practitioner Summary: The experience of automation failures during training has some consequences. A greater potential for operator errors may be expected when an automatic system failed to diagnose a fault than when it failed to detect one.     

Soft X-ray lithography of high aspect ratio SU8 submicron structures

SU8 submicron structures with an aspect ratio of more than 50 are made by soft X-ray lithography using modified spectra of the synchrotron radiation at the ANKA LITHO-1 beamline, which includes a chromium mirror. The X-ray spectrum is additional shaped by a beam stop and a filter to a narrow band in order to reduce the influence of diffraction and photoelectrons. The exposure determination is based on the measured threshold doses for used SU-8 resist layers as well as on the calculated diffractive distribution of an absorbed power. Post-exposure bake of the resist is performed at low temperature and low pressure to avoid changes of the structural size because of shrinkage due to temperature changes and to eliminate a “skin” layer at the top of the resist. SU8 structures with lateral dimensions of 1 μm and heights from 50 to 80 μm have been fabricated defect free with the optimized process.     

Evaluation of performance and architectural efficiency of FPGAs and GPUs in the 40 and 28 nm generations for algorithms in 3D ultrasound computer tomography

In heterogeneous computing, application developers have to identify the best-suited target platform from a variety of alternatives. In this work, we compare performance and architectural efficiency of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for two algorithms taken from a novel medical imaging method named 3D ultrasound computer tomography. From the 40 nm and 28 nm generations, we use top-notch devices and those with similar power consumption values. For our two benchmark algorithms from the signal processing and imaging domain, the results show that if power consumption is not considered, the GPU and FPGA from the 40nm generation give both, a similar performance and efficiency per transistor. In the 28 nm process, in contrast, the FPGA is superior to its GPU counterpart by 86% and 39%, depending on the algorithm. If power is limited, FPGAs outperform GPUs in each investigated case by at least a factor of four.