Packaging‐related properties of protein‐ and chitosan‐coated paper

The mechanical and gas‐barrier properties of paper and paperboard coated with chitosan–acetic acid salt (chitosan), whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate and wheat gluten protein were studied. Paper sheets were solution‐coated using a hand applicator. In addition, bi‐layer composites of wheat gluten and paper or paperboard were produced by compression moulding, and the chitosan solution was also applied on paperboard using curtain coating. Young's modulus, fracture stress, fracture strain, tearing strength, air permeance and oxygen permeability were assessed. The mechanical and air permeance measurements of solution‐coated paper showed that chitosan was the most effective coating on a coat weight basis. This was due to its high viscosity, which limited the degree of penetration into the paper. The proteins, however, also enhanced the strength and toughness of the paper. Compression‐moulded wheat gluten/paper or paperboard, as well as curtain‐coated chitosan paperboard laminates, showed oxygen barrier properties comparable to those of paper and paperboard coated with commercial barrier materials. None of the composites could be delaminated without fibre rupture, indicating good adhesion between the coatings and the substrates. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The constituents of business interaction––generic layered patterns

In order to perform business modelling as apart of information systems development, there is a need for frameworks and methods. The paper proposes a framework for business interaction based on a language/action perspective. The framework is an architecture of five generic layers. The first layer concept is ‘business act’, which functions as the basic unit of analysis. The following four layer concepts are ‘action pair’, ‘exchange’, ‘business transaction’, and ‘transaction group’. The framework is inspired by a similar framework constructed by Weigand et al. The paper makes a critical examination of this framework as a basis for the proposed framework.     

Navigation Aided Image Processing in UAV Surveillance: Preliminary Results and Design of an Airborne Experimental System

This paper describes an airborne reconfigurable measurement system being developed at Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), Sensor Technology, Sweden. An image processing oriented sensor management architecture for UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) IR/EO-surveillance is presented. Some preliminary results of navigation aided image processing in UAV applications are demonstrated, such as SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping), structure from motion and geolocation, target tracking, and detection of moving objects. The design goal of the measurement system is to emulate a UAV-mounted sensor gimbal using a stand-alone system. The minimal configuration of the system consists of a gyro-stabilized gimbal with IR and CCD sensors and an integrated high-performance navigation system. The navigation system combines dGPS real-time kinematics (RTK) data with data from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) mounted with reference to the optical sensors. The gimbal is to be used as an experimental georeferenced sensor platform, using a choice of carriers, to produce military relevant image sequences for studies of image processing and sensor control on moving surveillance and reconnaissance platforms. Furthermore, a high resolution synthetic environment, developed for sensor simulations in the visual and infrared wavelengths, is presented. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Designing on-site: Facilitating participatory contextual architecture with mobile phones

Some movements within modern architecture particularly emphasise the importance of matching buildings to their surroundings. However, practicing such “contextual architecture” is highly challenging and typically not something the future inhabitants of a building are well equipped for participating in. This paper explores the potentials of using mobile phone technology for facilitating such client participation in the parts of an architecture process that take place on the building site. For this we introduce ArchiLens, a mobile system for interactive on-site 3D visualisation of houses, and findings from a field study with 40 participants in the process of building or modifying their home. The study showed that using the system helped evoke people’s imagination of the look and feel of their future house, and envision it in context. This enabled them to participate more closely in the design process on-site by iteratively reviewing design alternatives and exploring, for example, other placements and materials.     

Physical Characterization of Anhydrous and Hydrous Forms of the Hydrochloride Salt of BVT.5182 A Novel 5-HT6 Receptor Antagonist

ABSTRACT

The physicochemical properties of 1-benzenesulfonyl-4-(piperazin-1-yl)-indole hydrochloride, a novel 5-HT₆ receptor antagonist for the treatment of obesity were characterized. Two solid state forms were identified at ambient conditions (23°C): an anhydrate form (1) and a hydrate form (2), with 1.5 moles of H₂O. The latter easily dehydrates and rehydrates without affecting the crystal morphology. Investigations of the propensity for interconversion between the two forms reveal that a) conversion of 2→1 takes place above 145°C and that b) conversion of 1→2 only occurs after crystallization from supersaturated aqueous solutions at a water activity ≥0.94 or in the presence of comparable amounts of crystals of 2 in water at ambient conditions. However, in an equimolar suspension of 1 and 2 at 37°C no phase transformation was observed. Thus, the difference in chemical potential between the two forms is small. Form 1 was shown to have overall favorable solid state properties and, hence, considered the preferred form for continued pharmaceutical development. The characterization was performed by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR/NIR-spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, hot stage microscopy, thermogravimetry, dynamic vapor sorption, Karl Fischer water content determination, phase stability studies of suspensions, solubility, and intrinsic dissolution rate measurements.     

Concept-Driven Interaction Design Research

In this article, we explore a concept-driven approach to interaction design research with a specific focus on theoretical advancements. We introduce this approach as a complementary approach to more traditional, and well-known, user-centered interaction design approaches. A concept-driven approach aims at manifesting theoretical concepts in concrete designs. A good concept design is both conceptually and historically grounded, bearing signs of the intended theoretical considerations. In the area of human–computer interaction and interaction design research, this approach has been quite popular but not necessarily explicitly recognized and developed as a proper research methodology. In this article, we demonstrate how a concept-driven approach can coexist, and be integrated with, common user-centered approaches to interaction design through the development of a model that makes explicit the existing cycle of prototyping, theory development, and user studies. We also present a set of basic principles that could constitute a foundation for concept driven interaction research, and we have considered and described the methodological implications given these principles. For the field of interaction design research we find this as an important point of departure for taking the next step toward the construction and verification of theoretical constructs that can help inform and guide future design research projects on novel interaction technologies.     

A Danish case: portfolio evaluation and its impact on energy efficiency policy

A political agreement from 2005 stated that an evaluation of the entire Danish energy efficiency policy portfolio must be carried out before the end of 2008, with the aim to assess the following: (1) Is the policy portfolio sufficient to meet the energy efficiency targets? (2) Do the policies enable the national goals to be met in a cost-effective manner? (3) Is the overall design of the policy portfolio appropriate? The evaluation gave recommendations on how to improve and develop the portfolio, mainly using cost-effectiveness as criteria. The evaluation was completed in December 2008, and this paper presents the main findings and the subsequent impact on Danish policy. A key lesson learned is the importance of including all energy efficiency policies in the evaluation. Examining the entire portfolio of policies (as opposed to only selected policies) gave way to findings that would otherwise not have been captured. With its broad perspective, the evaluation found that the policy instruments prioritised the commercial and industrial sectors less than the household and public sectors. The recommendations made by the authors contributed to the implementation of new taxes for the commercial and industrial sectors together with the reform of the Electricity Saving Trust to a Centre for Energy Savings charged with energy savings within all sectors, except transport—both which have been important steps towards a more cost-effective solution.     

Polylactide latex/nanofibrillated cellulose bionanocomposites of high nanofibrillated cellulose content and nanopaper network structure prepared by a papermaking route

Previous attempts to use polylactide (PLA) latex particles and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) in papermaking processing have been limited to low NFC content. In the present study, a bionanocomposite material was successfully produced using a PLA latex and NFC. The components were mixed using a wet mixing method and bionanocomposite films were made by filtration followed by hot pressing. In composite materials, the dispersion of the reinforcing component in the matrix is critical for the material properties. Biopolymers such as PLA are non-polar and soluble only in organic solvents; NFC is, however, highly hydrophilic. By utilizing latex, i.e., an aqueous dispersion of biopolymer micro-particles, wet mixing is possible and the problem of aggregation of the hydrophilic nanocellulose in organic solvent is avoided. The properties of the resulting NFC/PLA latex bionanocomposite films were analyzed. Thorough blending resulted in good dispersion of the reinforcing component within the matrix. Adding increasing amounts of NFC improved the Young's modulus, tensile strength, and strain at break of the bionanocomposite material. The increase in the tensile properties was linear with increasing NFC content as a result of the good dispersion. The NFC also improved the thermal stability of the bionanocomposite material. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Strips of hourly power options—Approximate hedging using average-based forward contracts

We study approximate hedging strategies for a contingent claim consisting of a strip of independent hourly power options. The payoff of the contingent claim is a sum of the contributing hourly payoffs. As there is no forward market for specific hours, the fundamental problem is to find a reasonable hedge using exchange-traded forward contracts, e.g. average-based monthly contracts. The main result is a simple dynamic hedging strategy that reduces a significant part of the variance. The idea is to decompose the contingent claim into mathematically tractable components and to use empirical estimations to derive hedging deltas. Two benefits of the method are that the technique easily extends to more complex power derivatives and that only a few parameters need to be estimated. The hedging strategy based on the decomposition technique is compared with dynamic delta hedging strategies based on local minimum variance hedging, using a correlated traded asset.