Spectral Ray Differentials

Light refracted by a dispersive interface leads to beautifully colored patterns that can be rendered faithfully with spectral Monte‐Carlo methods. Regrettably, results often suffer from chromatic noise or banding, requiring high sampling rates and large amounts of memory compared to renderers operating in some trichromatic color space. Addressing this issue, we introduce spectral ray differentials, which describe the change of light direction with respect to changes in the spectrum. In analogy with the classic ray and photon differentials, this information can be used for filtering in the spectral domain. Effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated by filtering for offline spectral light and path tracing as well as for an interactive GPU photon mapper based on splatting. Our results show considerably less chromatic noise and spatial aliasing while retaining good visual similarity to reference solutions with negligible overhead in the order of milliseconds.     

On‐the‐fly generation and rendering of infinite cities on the GPU

In this paper, we present a new approach for shape‐grammar‐based generation and rendering of huge cities in real‐time on the graphics processing unit (GPU). Traditional approaches rely on evaluating a shape grammar and storing the geometry produced as a preprocessing step. During rendering, the pregenerated data is then streamed to the GPU. By interweaving generation and rendering, we overcome the problems and limitations of streaming pregenerated data. Using our methods of visibility pruning and adaptive level of detail, we are able to dynamically generate only the geometry needed to render the current view in real‐time directly on the GPU. We also present a robust and efficient way to dynamically update a scene's derivation tree and geometry, enabling us to exploit frame‐to‐frame coherence. Our combined generation and rendering is significantly faster than all previous work. For detailed scenes, we are capable of generating geometry more rapidly than even just copying pregenerated data from main memory, enabling us to render cities with thousands of buildings at up to 100 frames per second, even with the camera moving at supersonic speed.     

High-Strength Zirconia Fibers

Fine-grained polycrystalline zirconia fibers have been formed from an acetate precursor. The fibers contained a Y₂O₃ additive, which inhibited grain growth (grain size ≤0.5 μm) and allowed the tetragonal phase to be retained at room temperature. Fibers with diameters in the range 2 to 5 μm had strengths in the range 1.5 to 2.6 GPa.     

13C- and 23Na-NMR investigations on alkali cellulose

Summary Solid state ²³Na- and ¹³C-NMR spectra of alkali cellulose are presented as a function of NaOH-concentration of the steeping lye, steeping temperature and amount of adhering lye (press factor). Results are discussed with regard to chemical binding of NaOH to the cellulose chain in the system cellulose/ NaOH/H₂O.Presented at the 22nd Microsymposium, Characterization of Structure and Dynamics of Macromolecular Systems by NMR Methods, Prague, CSSR, July 20–23,1981     

Properties of cuticular oxidases used for sex pheromone biosynthesis byHeliothis zea

Biosynthesis of the aldehydic sex pheromone components released by females ofHeliothis zea was found to be catalyzed by primary alcohol oxidases residing in the cuticle that covers the glands. Activity, as indicated by conversion of primary alcohol to aldehyde, was as high in cell-free cuticle as it was in intact pheromone glands. Studies indicated that some activity was associated with the surface of the epicuticle and could be removed, into buffer, by sonication. However, the majority of activity lies within the inner epicuticle and exo- and endocuticular layers. The oxidase was not functional in pharate pupae that did not have mature adult cuticle but became functional just prior to adult emergence. The enzyme in individual glands was saturated at alcohol concentrations above 100 n. moles. Nonionic detergents did not affect the activity of the oxidase in the cuticle but treatment with either 7 M urea or 1% SDS resulted in total loss of activity. Studies on the effect of pH indicated an optimum at 6.4; however, activity was high throughout the range of 5–9. The oxidase was functional in both dichloromethane and hexane, suggesting that this enzyme system may have applications for organic synthesis of aldehydes.     

Designing for reportability: sustainable gamification,public engagement,and promoting environmental debate

There is a growing emphasis in many countries on matters such as participation in e-government, e-democracy, the provision of forums for online debate, and so on. A critical issue in all of these cases is one of encouraging engagement across a broad spectrum of potentially interested parties and stakeholders. In this paper, we use an ethnographic study of an online event, designed to encourage debate, to explore some critical issues in how the mechanisms productive of debate have shifted in company with the Web 2.0 phenomenon. By contrasting this with a prior study of how players managed their gameplay in a multiplayer pervasive game, we focus upon how different ways of constructing games and events can have serious implications for their ordinary everyday reportability in routine face-to-face interactions. We conclude that designing for reportability should be an active consideration when designing the resources for online debate and consider some ways in which that might be accomplished.     

Pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses of palm and lauric products

The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries are large and still growing. New products, astute marketing and sophisticated advertising have been very effective in these industries. They are more and more exacting and highly complex in their requirements. They require specification products with specific performance characteristics. The cosmetic industry and drug or pharmaceutical industries are defined. Information is given about the unique composition of palm and lauric oils which make them suitable raw materials for use in these applications. These two base oils are used in the form of triglycerides, whole fatty acids, fractionated fatty acids or fatty chemical derivatives. Information is given about these various ingredients, their use in specific cosmetic and pharmaceutical products and reasons for their use. Particular use is made of palmitic, stearic, myristic and short-chain fatty acids. The derivatives would include glycerine esters, monostearates, other monoglycerides, propylene glycol esters, polyglycerol esters, sorbitans and sorbitan ethylene oxide products, isopropyl palmitic and myristate. Specific powdered stearins and cocoa butter substitutes are used in various formulations. The production and marketing of ingredients for this industry are natural growths of the developing fatty acid industry in Malaysia and nearby countries of southeast Asia.     

Applications of laser Raman microprobe spectroscopy to the characterization of coals and cokes

Optical microscopy is widely used in the characterization of coals and cokes. This Paper shows that the laser Raman microprobe (MOLE) which combines an optical microscope and a Raman spectrometer can provide useful additional information. Three main areas were investigated: identification of minerals in coal and coke; structural characterization of coals and cokes; and the interaction of inorganic additives and coal. Where possible, the results were compared with conventional optical microscopy measurements whereby it was shown that the optical texture and Raman spectra of cokes are not closely related. The Raman spectra of high temperature cokes were used to estimate the size of microcrystalline regions.     

冠带层新平台技术

子午线轮胎出现不久，就采用钢丝带束层代替了纤维带束层，这对于实现子午线轮胎提高使用寿命和改善操纵性能的潜能是必要的。