Image statistics for surface reflectance perception

Human observers can distinguish the albedo of real-world surfaces even when the surfaces are viewed in isolation, contrary to the Gelb effect. We sought to measure this ability and to understand the cues that might underlie it. We took photographs of complex surfaces such as stucco and asked observers to judge their diffuse reflectance by comparing them to a physical Munsell scale. Their judgments, while imperfect, were highly correlated with the true reflectance. The judgments were also highly correlated with certain image statistics, such as moment and percentile statistics of the luminance and subband histograms. When we digitally manipulated these statistics in an image, human judgments were correspondingly altered. Moreover, linear combinations of such statistics allow a machine vision system (operating within the constrained world of single surfaces) to estimate albedo with an accuracy similar to that of human observers. Taken together, these results indicate that some simple image statistics have a strong influence on the judgment of surface reflectance.     

Using the ring-shaped protein TRAP to capture and confine gold nanodots on a surface

The cavity of the toroidal protein TRAP (trp RNA-binding attenuation protein) is modified to capture gold nanodots in solution. By engineering a titanium-binding peptide onto one surface of the ring it is also possible to bind it specifically and tightly to a TiO2 surface. TRAP bound in this way is then used to capture gold nanodots and attach them to prepared surfaces. Gold-protein complexes are observed using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The modified TRAP is used to build gold nanodots into the SiO2 layer of a metal oxide semiconductor. This is the first use of a ring protein, rather than the more commonly used spherical protein cages, to constrain nanodots to a surface. This method is an important addition to the current range of bionanotechnology tools and may be the basis for future, multicomponent electronic devices.     

Effects of interaction between molten zircaloy and irradiated MOX fuel on the fission product release behavior

As a first step for obtaining experimental data on the effects of high-temperature chemical interaction on fission product release behavior, we focused on the dissolution of irradiated uranium plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel by molten zircaloy (Zry) and carried out a heating test under the reducing atmosphere. Pieces of an irradiated MOX fuel pellet and cladding were subjected to the heating test at 2373 K for five minutes. The fractional release rate of cesium (specifically ¹³⁷Cs) was monitored during the test and its release behavior was evaluated. The observation of microstructures and measurements of elemental distribution in the heated specimen were also performed. We demonstrated experimentally that the fuel dissolution by molten Zry accelerated the release of Cs from the fuel pellets.     

Inflammogenic effect of well-characterized fullerenes in inhalation and intratracheal instillation studies

Background

We used fullerenes, whose dispersion at the nano-level was stabilized by grinding in nitrogen gas in an agitation mill, to conduct an intratracheal instillation study and an inhalation exposure study. Fullerenes were individually dispersed in distilled water including 0.1% Tween 80, and the diameter of the fullerenes was 33 nm. These suspensions were directly injected as a solution in the intratracheal instillation study. The reference material was nickel oxide in distilled water. Wistar male rats intratracheally received a dose of 0.1 mg, 0.2 mg, or 1 mg of fullerenes and were sacrificed after 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. In the inhalation study, Wistar rats were exposed to fullerene agglomerates (diameter: 96 ± 5 nm; 0.12 ± 0.03 mg/m³; 6 hours/days for 5 days/week) for 4 weeks and were sacrificed at 3 days, 1 month, and 3 months after the end of exposure. The inflammatory responses and gene expression of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractants (CINCs) were examined in rat lungs in both studies.

Results

In the intratracheal instillation study, both the 0.1 mg and 0.2 mg fullerene groups did not show a significant increase of the total cell and neutrophil count in BALF or in the expression of CINC-1,-2αβ and-3 in the lung, while the high-dose, 1 mg group only showed a transient significant increase of neutrophils and expression of CINC-1,-2αβ and -3. In the inhalation study, there were no increases of total cell and neutrophil count in BALF, CINC-1,-2αβ and-3 in the fullerene group.

Conclusion

These data in intratracheal instillation and inhalation studies suggested that well-dispersed fullerenes do not have strong potential of neutrophil inflammation.     

Development of a water-resistant and detergent-washable powder coated with a stimuli-responsive polymer and its application to suncare products

IFSCC Magazines , 12 (2009) (1) 3–7
It is generally well known that the surface of an inorganic UV-protective powder used in a sunscreen formula is treated with a fatty acid or other hydrophobic chemicals to obtain a high water resistance. Due to the resulting strongly hydrophobic surface, the treatment has a clear drawback in that it allows the sunscreen to leave its base components on the skin after washing with regular soap. Therefore, in this study to develop an intelligent sunscreen formula that has a high water resistance and can be washed away easily with regular soap, we focused on a pH-responsive polymer as the surface-treatment agent for a UV-protective powder. Numerous experiments led to the synthesis of the 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid/11-methacrylamidoundecanoic acid (AMPS/MAU) copolymer, which is hydrophobic in acidic to neutral solution and hydrophilic in basic solution. Titanium dioxide subjected to surface treatment was treated with the AMPS/MAU copolymer showed a high pH-responsiveness that was similar to that of the polymer. A W/O-type sunscreen containing the pH-responsive titanium dioxide showed a high water resistance as well as a high washability with regular soap.
Keywords:  Detergent-washable, pH-responsive polymer, pH-responsive powder, sun care product, water-resistant     

A boundary element method for the aerodynamic analysis of aircraft in arbitrary motions

A new boundary integral formulation for the aerodynamic analysis of an aircraft (in particular, a tiltrotor) in arbitrary motion is presented. The formulation is based on the velocity potential for compressible flows, and as such is an extension of past work of the authors. The distinguishing feature is that the boundary integral representation is written for a surface in arbitrary motion with respect to a frame of reference which in turn moves in arbitrary motion with respect to the undisturbed air. Thus, the integrals are evaluated on the emission surface, which is the locus of the emitting points at the locations (in the moving frame) that they had when the signal influencing a given point at a given time was emitted. The differences with respect to related formulations (e.g., Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings) are outlined. Also, the advantages of the present formulation with respect to the preceding ones by the authors are discussed. Numerical validation results are presented for the limited case of helicopter rotors in hover.     

High-J Rotational Transitions of NNO Measured with the NAIR Terahertz Spectrometer

A BWO-based terahertz spectrometer has been constructed and tested by measuring some high-J rotational transitions of NNO in the frequency region from 620 to 730 GHz. The observed line center frequencies confirm the previously reported ones obtained by FTIR spectroscopy. The high sensitivity of the present spectrometer allowed us to record spectra of singly substituted isotopomers, 15NNO, N15NO, NN18O, and NN17O, in natural abundance. The rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been revised. Copyright 1997 Academic Press. Copyright 1997Academic Press     

Fabrication of stable hydrogenated amorphous silicon from SiH2Cl2 by ECR-hydrogen-plasma

Relatively stable high bandgap hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films were prepared by the microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) hydrogen plasma CVD method using SiH₂Cl₂ source gas. The substrate position relative to the position of the generation of reactive species affects the structure of these films. The films prepared under optimized condition showed rather high bandgap, 1.83 eV. However, the defect density was low, 3 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³, and the photosensitivity was greater than 7 orders of magnitudes. The defect density was found to saturate at relatively low values ( 3 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³) independent of the illumination intensity.     

New PWM Method for Fully Digitized Inverters

The development of digital devices has led to the production of PWM inverters for driving induction motors having high-frequency carriers over 10 000 Hz. However, the popular digital devices exhibit difficulties in arriving at the precise switching instants because of limitation of available memory capacity and of bits, especially in the low-frequency region. Basic discussions on the magnetic flux and torque ripple and an introduction to a memory-saving and low-torque-ripple new PWM (split zero vector) method are given. The experiments show fairly good current waveforms, low iron loss, and low acoustic noise.