Monooxygenase system of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus megaterium</Emphasis> ALA2: Studies on palmitic acid oxidation products

We identified many novel oxygenated FA produced from linoleic acid by microbial strain ALA2: 12,13,17-trihydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenoic acid (12,13,17-THOA); 12,13,16-trihydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenoic acid (12,13,16-THOA); 12-hydroxy-13,16-epoxy-9(Z)-octadecenoic acid; and 12,17;13,17-diepoxy-16-hydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenoic acid. 12,13,17-THOA, the main product, inhibits the growth of some plant pathogenic fungi. Recently, we reclassified strain ALA2 as Bacillus megaterium ALA2 NRRL B-21660 and opened a possible link with the well-studied catalytically self-sufficient P450 monooxygenase of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 14581 (NRRL B-3712) and B. subtilis strain 168 (NRRL B-4219). Now we have found that strain ALA2 also oxidizes palmitic acid into three oxygenated products: 13-, 14-, and 15-hydroxy palmitic acids. This indicates that strain ALA2 also possesses a monooxygenase system similar to the abovementioned well-known strains. These data facilitate studies on the oxygenase system of strain ALA2.     

With a little help from my friends

In this paper, we propose a content-based method the for semi-automatic organization of photo albums based on the analysis of how different users organize their own pictures. The goal is to help the user in dividing his pictures into groups characterized by a similar semantic content. The method is semi-automatic: the user starts to assign labels to the pictures and unlabeled pictures are tagged with proposed labels. The user can accept the recommendation or made a correction. To formulate the suggestions is exploited the knowledge encoded in how other users have partitioned their images. The method is conceptually articulated in two parts. First, we use a suitable feature representation of the images to model the different classes that the users have collected, second, we look for correspondences between the criteria used by the different users. Boosting is used to integrate the information provided by the analysis of multiple users. A quantitative evaluation of the proposed approach is obtained by simulating the amount of user interaction needed to annotate the albums of a set of members of the flickr^® photo-sharing community.     

Single‐pack,self‐curable,aqueous‐based polyurethane dispersion containing a disperse dye

An organic‐solvent‐soluble disperse dye was introduced into an aqueous phase by a reaction with a self‐emulsified, aqueous‐based polyurethane (PU), and this resulted in the formation of a homogeneous, aqueous polymeric dye dispersion. This aqueous polymeric dye was stable in a water phase with excellent color extension upon application. It was formulated with a latent curing agent, polyaziridine (e.g., TMPTA‐AZ), as a single‐component, self‐curable, aqueous polymeric dye. The curing reaction took place between PU carboxylic acid and the latent curing agent upon drying. A self‐cured polymeric dye was obtained with excellent color extension and fastness and resistance to organic solvents and water after drying. This single‐component, self‐curable, aqueous‐based PU system containing a dye has potential for printing, writing, and dyeing applications. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2006 © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3741–3747, 2006     

Bit-level systolic arrays for modular multiplication

This paper presents bit-level cellular arrays implementing Blakley's algorithm for multiplication of twon-bit integers modulo anothern-bit integer. The semi-systolic version uses 3n(n+3) single-bit carry save adders and 2n copies of 3-bit carry look-ahead logic, and computes a pair of binary numbers (C, S) in 3n clock cycles such thatC+S[0, 2N). The carry look-ahead logic is used to estimate the sign of the partial product, which is needed during the reduction process. The final result in the correct range [0,N) can easily be obtained by computingC+S andC+S–N, and selecting the latter if it is positive; otherwise, the former is selected. We construct a localized process dependence graph of this algorithm, and introduce a systolic array containing 3nw simple adder cells. The latency of the systolic array is 6n+w–2, wherew=n/2. The systolic version does not require broadcast and can be used to efficiently compute several modular multiplications in a pipelined fashion, producing a result in every clock cycle.     

Cluster Analysis Based on T‐transitive Interval‐Valued Fuzzy Relations

In this paper, we consider cluster analysis based on T‐transitive interval‐valued fuzzy relations. A fuzzy relation with its partitional tree for obtaining an agglomerative hierarchical clustering has been studied and applied. In general, these fuzzy‐relation‐based clustering approaches are based on real‐valued memberships of fuzzy relations. Since interval‐valued memberships may be better than real‐valued memberships to represent higher order imprecision and vagueness for human perception, in this paper we first extend fuzzy relations to interval‐valued fuzzy relations and then construct a clustering algorithm based on the proposed T‐transitive interval‐valued fuzzy relations. We use two examples to demonstrate the efficiency and usefulness of the proposed method. In practical application, we apply the proposed clustering method to performance evaluations for academic departments of higher education by using actual engineering school data in Taiwan.     

Effect of doping ferrocene in the working fluid of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) micropumps

The effect of doping ferrocene in the working fluid of electrohydrodynamic micropumps was investigated under the application of DC electric fields. The micropump consisted of 100 planar electrode pairs that were embedded along the bottom wall of a 100-micron-high, 5-mm-wide and 26-mm-long microchannel. The width of the emitter and collector electrodes was 20 and 40 µm, respectively, with inter-electrode spacing of 30 µm. A redox dopant, ferrocene, was diffused homogeneously into the working fluid HFE-7100 at 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 % concentration by weight. The static pressure head generation and flow rate at different back pressure conditions were measured under different applied DC voltages. The current and pressure generated with the doped working fluid were significantly higher than with pure HFE-7100 under an applied DC field. A maximum static pressure of 6.7 kPa and flow rate of 0.47 mL/min at no back pressure were achieved at 700 V.     

Performance of estimating depth in projection based stereoscopic virtual display

Accurate distance estimation is essential for effective user interaction with objects appearing in the virtual space. Research has shown that the distance estimation in the virtual space is not as accurate as that in the real world. The inaccuracy phenomenon is almost exclusively documented for estimating objects appearing straight ahead of the eye. A collection of the accuracy data for targets located in different angles of view in the visual field may be useful in aiding the design of user‐virtual object interaction. This study collected the object to object distance estimation accuracy for targets displayed stereoscopically. There are five horizontal and two vertical viewing angles and three depths, resulting in a total of 30 locations in the virtual space. The distance estimation for any of the 30 object pairs were performed with or without the aid of spatial cues. Significant factors influencing the accuracy and time of distance estimation were identified. Implications of the finding were discussed with respect to the stereoscopic display environment.     

A User‐Centric Evaluation Procedure for the Design of Child‐Resistant Medicine Bottles

Recently, people have begun to realize the importance of child‐resistant (CR) medicine packaging. However, most manufacturers and designers have not been able to effectively provide prevention strategies or design criteria to protect consumers. This research proposes a systematic approach to analyze CR packaging design problems and experiments to evaluate the identified design parameters and to generate the most suitable CR medicine packaging design. The design of a CR packaging bottle is used as an example to help explain the development procedure. During the development procedure, user trials, questionnaires, and children's anthropometric data on bottle opening and hand operations are analyzed. Five design parameters, specifically the cap diameter, cap height, bottle height, bottle diameter, and torsion, are identified and used to perform a Taguchi orthogonal array experimental analysis. A computer‐aided design system is also built to help generate the most suitable design alternatives. The results should assist designers in determining the most important CR design parameters and their most suitable combinations for bottle and related CR medicine packaging design.     

A study of optimal viewing distance in a parallax barrier 3D display

The optimal viewing distance was proposed as a parameter for designing a parallax barrier 3D display. It can be designed based on simple geometric method and by considering the pitches of image display pixels and parallax barrier, or even including the aperture ratios of the image display pixels and parallax barrier. It can be analyzed by using ray tracing method. By considering the optical refraction index of the cover glass, the angular behavior of the system becomes more realistic; however, the geometric method is difficult to be used. We propose a revised method for estimating the view distance and angular behavior. In this paper, we have demonstrated a designated eye position (DEP) for each view and shown that multiple DEPs make a circular curve around the center of the display. We prove the new concept by comparing the optical ray tracing calculations and optical measurement.     

An Integrated Model of the Toyota Production System with Total Quality Management and People Factors

The Toyota production system (TPS), or lean production, has been associated with many benefits for manufacturing firms that implement the system. However, to implement the TPS successfully, it is necessary to integrate the so‐called “hard side” of the system (that is, the technical aspects of material handling) with the “soft side” of the program (that is, the aspects associated with human factors). The present study makes a contribution to such a holistic view of the TPS by proposing an integrated model that consists of the technical aspects of the TPS, together with elements associated with total quality management (TQM), human resources management (HRM), and certain identified “people factors.” The study then uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to test this holistic model using data obtained from a questionnaire survey of 153 Taiwanese manufacturing firms. The empirical study confirms the appropriateness of the causal model, which is evaluated by several goodness‐of‐fit methods. The study confirms the proposition that the inclusion of the “people factors” together with TQM and HRM significantly improves the realization of benefits associated with the TPS practices of “just‐in‐time” (JIT) and “autonomation.” The conclusion is that such an integrated model provides a much more effective “lean system” and has the potential to produce significantly enhanced benefits for firms that implement it. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.