Speed up of Video Enhancement based on Human Perception

This paper presents SUVEHP (speed up of video enhancement based on human perception), a human perception-based model oriented to reduce the computational time of digital video restoration. In particular, two specific hypothesis tests able to classify degraded frame regions are proposed. Classification is performed in agreement with regions visual significance in order to enable or inhibit motion compensated enhancement. The level of the proposed hypothesis tests is theoretically assessed. Moreover, extensive experimental results on video sequences affected by additive Gaussian noise show that SUVEHP speeds up some standard motion compensated denoisers up to 60%, preserving or even slightly increasing both the objective and subjective visual quality of the restored sequences.     

Experiments on basic thermalhydraulic phenomena relevant for LWR containments: Gas mixing and transport induced by buoyant jets in a multi-compartment geometry

In the frame of the OECD SETH project twenty-four experiments have been carried out on basic gas transport and mixing phenomena in the large-scale, multi-compartment PANDA facility. The experiments consist of several series based on the flow configuration driving the gas transport including plume and jet injection of saturated or superheated steam. A variety of test configurations with well-defined initial and boundary conditions have been investigated, including the parametric effects of the geometry of the injection, the composition and velocity of the injected mixture, the initial ambient composition, the vent location and the initial temperatures. The tests have been designed to be used for the validation of computer codes that are capable of analyzing the thermalhydraulic safety of the containment of light water reactors (LWRs). The results obtained form an extensive database especially valuable for the assessment of the capabilities of three-dimensional simulation tools. The present work reports on a specific test series of the aforementioned experimental program, the so-called Free-Plume Series featuring vertical injection of buoyant steam driving the gas transport. The experimental data is presented showing its quality and the trends in the experiments are analyzed. The phenomena whose prediction might be challenging for codes are emphasized. After the expiration of the confidentiality period, the experimental data is now available for the broad scientific community to be used for code validation purposes.     

The acylation and phosphorylation pattern of lipid A from Xanthomonas campestris strongly influence its ability to trigger the innate immune response in Arabidopsis

Lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are major components of the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria. LPSs comprise a hydrophilic heteropolysaccharide (formed by the core oligosaccharide and the O-specific polysaccharide) that is covalently linked to the glycolipid moiety lipid A, which anchors these macromolecules to the external membrane. LPSs are one of a group of molecules called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are indispensable for bacterial growth and viability, and act to trigger innate defense responses in eukaryotes. We have previously shown that LPS from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) can elicit defense responses in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we have extended these studies by analysis of the structure and biological activity of LPS from a nonpathogenic Xcc mutant, strain 8530. We show that this Xcc strain is defective in core completion and introduces significant modification in the lipid A region, which involves the degree of acylation and nonstoichiometric substitution of the phosphate groups with phosphoethanolamine. Lipid A that was isolated from Xcc strain 8530 did not have the ability to induce the defense-related gene PR1 in Arabidopsis, or to prevent the hypersensitive response (HR) that is caused by avirulent bacteria as the lipid A from the wild-type could. This suggests that Xcc has the capacity to modify the structure of the lipid A to reduce its activity as a PAMP. We speculate that such effects might occur in wild-type bacteria that are exposed to stresses such as those that might be encountered during plant colonization and disease.     

A new approach to the cheap LQ regulator exploiting the geometric properties of the Hamiltonian system

The cheap LQ regulator is reinterpreted as an output nulling problem which is a basic problem of the geometric control theory. In fact, solving the LQ regulator problem is equivalent to keep the output of the related Hamiltonian system identically zero. The solution lies on a controlled invariant subspace whose dimension is characterized in terms of the minimal conditioned invariant of the original system, and the optimal feedback gain is computed as the friend matrix of the resolving subspace. This study yields a new computational framework for the cheap LQ regulator, relying only on the very basic and simple tools of the geometric approach, namely the algorithms for controlled and conditioned invariant subspaces and invariant zeros.     

Torque‐rheometry investigation of model transreactions involving condensation polymers. I. Polyesters

The chemical transformations taking place when poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) or poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) are blended in the melt with different low molar mass substances containing hydroxyl, carboxyl, or amine functional groups have been investigated as models of the transreactions, undergone by the polyesters in reactive blending operations. The polyester molecular weight changes caused by the alcoholysis, acidolysis, aminolysis, and esterolysis reactions have been monitored by torque‐rheometry, using a Brabender Plasticorder static mixer. The degradation of the polyesters by hydrolysis was also studied, under similar conditions, by the addition of a water‐releasing substance (wet polyamide‐6), and was shown to occur quite rapidly, although most of the added water was lost by flash vaporization caused by the high temperature of the polyester melt. It has been shown that the rate constants of the reactions leading to breakage of the inner ester bonds of the polyester macromolecules decrease in the following order: aminolysis (with aliphatic amines, either primary and secondary) > alcoholysis (with aliphatic alcohols) ≈ hydrolysis > acidolysis (with aromatic acids) ≥ acidolysis (with aliphatic acids) ? aminolysis (with aromatic amines) > alcoholysis (with phenols) ? esterolysis. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:139–152, 2006. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Cogeneration plant in a pasta factory: Energy saving and environmental benefit

Italy produces approximately 4,520,000 tons of pasta annually, which is about 67% of its total productive potential. As factories need electric and thermal energy simultaneously, combined heat and power (CHP) systems are the most suitable. This paper describes a feasibility study of a CHP plant in a pasta factory in Italy while analyzing energy saving and environmental benefits. Commercially available CHP systems suitable for the power range of energy demand in pasta production use reciprocating engines or gas turbines. This study demonstrates how their use can reduce both energy costs and CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gas emission in the environment. An economic analysis was performed following the methodology set out by Italian National Agency for Technology, Energy and Environment (ENEA) based on a discounted cash flow (DCF) method called “Valore Attuale Netto” (VAN), which uses a cash flow based on the saving of energy when using different energy processes.     

Treatment of paper and pulp wastewater and removal of odorous compounds by a Fenton‐like process at the pilot scale

A Fenton‐like process, involving oxidation and coagulation, was evaluated for the removal of odorous compounds and treatment of a pulp and paper wastewater. The main parameters that govern the complex reactive system [pH and Fe(III) and hydrogen peroxide concentrations] were studied. Concentrations of Fe(III) between 100 and 1000 mg L^?1 and of H₂O₂ between 0 and 2000 mg L^?1 were chosen. The main mechanism for color removal was coagulation. The maximum COD, color and aromatic compound removals were 75, 98 and 95%, respectively, under optimal operating conditions ([Fe(III)] = 400 mg L^?1; [H₂O₂] = 500–1000 mg L^?1; pH = 2.5; followed by coagulation at pH 5.0). The biodegradability of the wastewater treated increased from 0.4 to 0.7 under optimal conditions and no residual hydrogen peroxide was found after treatment. However, partially or non‐oxidized compounds present in the treated wastewater presented higher acute toxicity to Artemia salina than the untreated wastewater. Based on the optimum conditions, pilot‐scale experiments were conducted and revealed a high efficiency in relation to the mineralization of organic compounds. Terpenes [(1S)‐α‐pinene, β‐pinene, (1R)‐α‐pinene and limonene] were identified in the wastewater and were completely eliminated by the Fenton‐like treatment. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Pyrolysis Kinetics for the Conversion of a Polymer into an Amorphous Silicon Oxycarbide Ceramic

We present experimental and analytical results for the pyrolysis reactions underlying the conversion of a cross-linked polymer into an amorphous ceramic material. The activation energies, obtained from thermogravimetric data, and chemical analysis of the volatiles by mass spectroscopy are used to identify the reaction pathways. The reaction is determined to be first-order, which is consistent with its solid-state nature. The magnitude of the weight loss is analyzed to calculate the number of molecular sites in the polymer that participate in the reaction. The experiments were conducted on a polymer made from silsesquioxanes that convert into silicon oxycarbide ceramics on pyrolysis. The results show that <2.5% of the silicon atoms in the polymer are removed as volatile silanes, and less than one-half of the carbon atoms are lost as methane. These results are a first step in understanding the molecular basis for the ceramic yield, as well as the evolution of the nanostructure as the material changes from an organic into a ceramic state by reactions that can occur at <850°C.     

Mixtures of cyclic oligomers of poly(lactic acid) analyzed by negative chemical lonization and thermospray mass spectrometry

Summary An investigation of the distribution of the cyclic oligomers of poly(lactic acid), formed both by pyrolysis of the polymer and by equilibration with a catalyst, has been performed by Negative Chemical Ionization and Thermospray Mass Spectrometry.The results indicate that the two methods can be used to obtain information on the relative amounts of the oligomers present in the mixture.     

Input-Output Equivalence of Spin Networks under Multiple Measurements

Two quantum control systems that are driven by an external field are said to be input–output equivalent if, for any control field, the measured value of a given observable is the same. Equivalent models cannot be distinguished by experiments involving state evolutions and measurements. In this paper, we characterize the equivalent models of networks of spin driven by electro-magnetic fields for which the expectation value of the total magnetization is measured. Extending previous results and definitions that only dealt with the case of a single measurement, we describe the class of equivalent models under a sequence of Von Neumann measurements. The results are motivated by the problem of parameter identification for Heisenberg spin systems modeling molecular magnets.Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): 93B30, 17B45, 17B81Partially supported by M.I.U.R., project Viscosity, metric, and control theoretic methods for nonlinear partial differential equations.Supported by NSF Career Grant, ECS0237925.