Modelling Reactive Multimedia: Design and Authoring

Multimedia document authoring is a multifaceted activity, and authoring tools tend to concentrate on a restricted set of the activities involved in the creation of a multimedia artifact. In particular, a distinction may be drawn between the design and the implementation of a multimedia artifact.This paper presents a comparison of three different authoring paradigms, based on the common case study of a simple interactive animation. We present details of its implementation using the three different authoring tools, MCF, Fran and SMIL 2.0, and we discuss the conclusions that may be drawn from our comparison of the three approaches.Simon Thompson is grateful to the British Council for its funding of travel in support of the work reported here.Supported by an individual research grant from NSERC. This author’s research was performed, in part, at LIRMM, Montpellier, France.Supported by an individual research grant from NSERC.     

The effect of piezoresistive microcantilever geometry on cantilever sensitivity during surface stress chemical sensing

We have designed, fabricated, and tested five piezoresistive cantilever configurations to investigate the effect of shape and piezoresistor placement on the sensitivity of microcantilevers under both point loading and surface stress loading. The experimental study reveals that: (1) high aspect ratio cantilevers that are much longer than they are wide are optimal for point-loading applications such as microscopy and force measurements; (2) low aspect ratio cantilevers that are short and wide are optimal for surface stress-loading scenarios such as those that occur in biological and chemical sensor applications. The sensitivity data for both point loads and surface stress are consistent with previously developed finite-element models.     

Occurrence of pathogens in raw and ready-to-eat meat and poultry products collected from the retail marketplace in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

A total of 800 meat and poultry products were purchased from the retail marketplace in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The products consisted of raw ground beef, chicken legs, pork chops, and ready-to-eat fermented sausage, roast beef, processed turkey breast, chicken wieners, and beef wieners. The samples were analyzed to determine the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli 022: H8 was found in one raw ground beef sample. Salmonella and Campylobacter were found in 30 and 62% of raw chicken legs, respectively. L. monocytogenes was found in 52% of raw ground beef, 34% of raw chicken legs, 24% of raw pork chops, 4% of fermented sausages, 3% of processed turkey breast, 5% of beef wieners, and 3% of chicken wieners. The occurrence of pathogens in this study is similar to that in retail products in many other international locales.     

Novel positive‐working aqueous‐base developable photosensitive polyimide precursors based on diazonaphthoquinone‐capped polyamic esters

Novel positive‐working aqueous‐base developable photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) precursors based on partially diazonaphthoquinone (DNQ)‐capped polyamic esters bearing phenolic hydroxyl groups and a DNQ photosensitive compound (PIC‐3) were developed. The partially DNQ capped polyamic esters were prepared from an esterification reaction of 1,2‐naphthoquinone diazide‐5‐sulfonyl chloride with the polyamic esters. The partially DNQ capped polyamic esters decreased the dark film loss effectively in the aqueous‐base developer and were able to make thicker film resists compared to the uncapped polyamic esters. The 25 mol % DNQ‐capped BisAPAF–PMDA polyamic ester and BisAPAF–ODPA polyamic ester containing 25 wt % PIC‐3 photosensitive compound showed a sensitivity of 176 and 185 mJ/cm², and a contrast of 1.68 and 1.02, respectively, in a 3‐μm film with 1.25 wt % tetramethylammonium hydroxide developer. A pattern with a resolution of 5 μm was obtained from both PSPI precursor compositions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2293–2300, 2003     

Maceral and rank influences on the morphology of coal char

Concentrates of vitrinite and inertinite macerals have been pyrolysed in a flame under conditions representative of the initial stages of pulverized coal combustion. Char was distinguished from soot by size analysis and the char yield correlated with the proximate analysis. The char morphology was studied by optical microscopy and quantitative measurements of porosity and pore size were made using image analysis. Vitrinite and inertinite produce chars of characteristic morphology. The softening behaviour of inertinite varies with coal rank and can be related to the optical reflectance. The porosity of vitrinite chars approaches that of inertinite chars at high rank.     

Electrical conductivity modeling of carbon black/polycarbonate,carbon nanotube/polycarbonate,and exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet/polycarbonate composites

Adding conductive carbon fillers to electrically insulating thermoplastic polymers increases the resulting composite's electrical conductivity, which would enable them to be used in electrostatic dissipative and semiconductive applications. In this study, varying amounts of carbon black (CB: 2 to 10 wt %), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT: 0.5 to 8 wt %), or exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (GNP: 2 to 15 wt %) were added to polycarbonate (PC) and the resulting composites were tested for electrical conductivity (EC = 1/electrical resistivity). The percolation threshold was ～ 1.2 vol % CNT, ～ 2.4 vol % CB, and ～ 4.6 vol % GNP. In addition, three EC models (Mamunya, additive, and general effective media) were developed for the CB/PC, CNT/PC, and GNP/PC composites. The general effective media (GEM) model showed the best agreement with the experimental results over the entire range of filler concentrations (above and below the percolation threshold) for all three composite systems. In addition, the GEM model can be easily adapted for composites containing combinations of different conductive fillers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

An Ester of β-Hydroxybutyrate Regulates Cholesterol Biosynthesis in Rats and a Cholesterol Biomarker in Humans

In response to carbohydrate deprivation or prolonged fasting the ketone bodies, β‐hydroxybutyrate (βHB) and acetoacetate (AcAc), are produced from the incomplete β‐oxidation of fatty acids in the liver. Neither βHB nor AcAc are well utilized for synthesis of sterols or fatty acids in human or rat liver. To study the effects of ketones on cholesterol homeostasis a novel βHB ester (KE) ((R)‐3‐hydroxybutyl (R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate) was synthesized and given orally to rats and humans as a partial dietary carbohydrate replacement. Rats maintained on a diet containing 30‐energy % as KE with a concomitant reduction in carbohydrate had lower plasma cholesterol and mevalonate (?40 and ?27 %, respectively) and in the liver had lower levels of the mevalonate precursors acetoacetyl‐CoA and HMG‐CoA (?33 and ?54 %) compared to controls. Whole liver and membrane LDL‐R as well as SREBP‐2 protein levels were higher (+24, +67, and +91 %, respectively). When formulated into a beverage for human consumption subjects consuming a KE drink (30‐energy %) had elevated plasma βHB which correlated with decreased mevalonate, a liver cholesterol synthesis biomarker. Partial replacement of dietary carbohydrate with KE induced ketosis and altered cholesterol homeostasis in rats. In healthy individuals an elevated plasma βHB correlated with lower plasma mevalonate.     

Chirality of 5,11-dimethylheptadecane,the major sex pheromone component of the hemlock looper,Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Of the four possible stereoisomers of 5,11-dimethylheptadecane, the major sex pheromone component of the eastern hemlock looper (EHL),Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria Guen., and the western hemlock looper (WHL),Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa Hulst, (5R,11S)-5,11-dimethylheptadecane was the only stereoisomer eliciting electrophysiological responses by male EHL and WHL antennae. In field bioassays with EHL and WHL populations, traps baited with (5R,11S)-5, 11-dimethylheptadecane caught as many males as did traps baited with all four stereoisomers combined or a synthetic mixture of 5,11-dimethylheptadecanes. Catches in traps baited with the other three stereoisomers did not significantly differ from those in the unbaited control traps. We conclude that male antennae lack chemoreceptors for the other three stereoisomers of 5,11-dimethylheptadecane and hypothesize that only (5R,115)-5,11-dimethylheptadecane is produced by female EHLs and WHLs.     

The reaction between water-soluble tree leaf constituents and ferric oxide in relation to podzolisatlon

Sterile aqueous extracts of tree leaves dissolve ferric oxide, and the reaction products are sorbed on residual ferric oxide. Extracts of autumn-fallen leaves and needles of oak, beech and larch, and picked Scots pine needles, were allowed to react with ferric oxide under conditions in which both the solution and sorption processes may be assumed to go to completion, and the effect on the composition of the extracts was determined. Under these conditions the net excess of solution of iron over sorption was quite small, and polyphenols, sugars, α-amino acids and carboxylic acids were retained on the ferric oxide.