Systematic packaging design tools integrating functional and environmental consequences on product life cycle: Case studies on laundry detergent and milk

This study presents systematic packaging design tools integrating functional and environmental consequences on product life cycle. To design packaging for sustainability, the trade-offs between functional and environmental aspects of packaging throughout the product life cycle should be considered. However, it is difficult for packaging designers to understand the overall trade-offs because the extent of the design consequences on the entire life cycle of packaging and its contents is unclear. We developed two tools for packaging design: the Life Cycle Association Matrix (LCAM) and the Function Network Diagram (FND). The following three steps, based on literature reviews and interviews with industrial experts, were applied. Firstly, we listed the product functions and design variables related to the functions as the attributes allocated to the product life cycle. Secondly, the attributes were connected appropriately based on causal relationships. Lastly, we identified the factors to support decision making in the packaging design procedure. As a result, the LCAM depicts the design consequences on the life cycle, and the FND determines the stakeholders affected by the design consequences. Two case studies were demonstrated to analyze the trade-offs by using our tools. In the case studies, a liquid laundry detergent bottle and a milk carton were redesigned. The tools identified the design consequences and stakeholders affected by the redesign of the usability and protective function for the detergent and milk cases, respectively. The results showed the significance of understanding the design consequences on the product life cycle by integrating the functional and environmental aspects.     

An adaptive image steganographic scheme based on Noise Visibility Function and an optimal chaotic based encryption method

Steganography is the science of hiding secret message in an appropriate digital multimedia in such a way that the existence of the embedded message should be invisible to anyone apart from the sender or the intended recipient. This paper presents an irreversible scheme for hiding a secret image in the cover image that is able to improve both the visual quality and the security of the stego-image while still providing a large embedding capacity. This is achieved by a hybrid steganography scheme incorporates Noise Visibility Function (NVF) and an optimal chaotic based encryption scheme. In the embedding process, first to reduce the image distortion and to increase the embedding capacity, the payload of each region of the cover image is determined dynamically according to NVF. NVF analyzes the local image properties to identify the complex areas where more secret bits should be embedded. This ensures to maintain a high visual quality of the stego-image as well as a large embedding capacity. Second, the security of the secret image is brought about by an optimal chaotic based encryption scheme to transform the secret image into an encrypted image. Third, the optimal chaotic based encryption scheme is achieved by using a hybrid optimization of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) which is allowing us to find an optimal secret key. The optimal secret key is able to encrypt the secret image so as the rate of changes after embedding process be decreased which results in increasing the quality of the stego-image. In the extracting process, the secret image can be extracted from the stego-image losslessly without referring to the original cover image. The experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme not only has the ability to achieve a good trade-off between the payload and the stego-image quality, but also can resist against the statistics and image processing attacks.     

The day of the week when you were born in 700 ms: Calendar computation in an autistic savant.

Some individuals are able to determine the weekday of a given date in a few seconds (finding for instance that June 12, 1900, was a Tuesday). This ability has fascinated scientists for many years because it is predominantly observed in people with limited intelligence and may appear very early in life. Exceptional visual memory, exceptional concentration abilities, or privileged access to lower levels of information not normally available through introspection have been advanced to explain such phenomena. In the present article, the authors show that a simple cognitive model can explain all aspects of the performance of Donny, a young autistic savant who is possibly the fastest and most accurate calendar prodigy ever described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cued recall from image and sentence memory: A shift from episodic to identical elements representation.

The applicability of the identical elements (IE) model of arithmetic fact retrieval (T. C. Rickard, A. F. Healy, & L. E. Bourne, 1994) to cued recall from episodic (image and sentence) memory was explored in 3 transfer experiments. In agreement with results from arithmetic, speedup following even minimal practice recalling a missing word from an episodically bound word triplet did not transfer positively to other cued recall items involving the same triplet. The shape of the learning curve further supported a shift from episode-based to IE-based recall, extending some models of skill learning to cued recall practice. In contrast with previous findings, these results indicate that a form of representation that is independent of the original episodic memory underlies cued-recall performance following minimal practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implementation of RNS-Based Distributed Arithmetic Discrete Wavelet Transform Architectures Using Field-Programmable Logic

Currently there are design barriers inhibiting the implementation of high-precision digital signal processing (DSP) objects with field programmable logic (FPL) devices. This paper explores overcoming these barriers by fusing together the popular distributed arithmetic (DA) method with the residue number system (RNS) for use in FPL-centric designs. The new design paradigm is studied in the context of a high-performance filter bank and a discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The proposed design paradigm is facilitated by a new RNS accumulator structure based on a carry save adder (CSA). The reported methodology also introduces a polyphase filter structure that results in a reduced look-up table (LUT) budget. The 2C-DA and RNS-DA are compared, in the context of a FPL implementation strategy, using a discrete wavelet transform (DWT) filter bank as a common design theme. The results show that the RNS-DA, compared to a traditional 2C-DA design, enjoys a performance advantage that increases with precision (wordlength).     

CCD型束流截面探测器

CCD型束流截面探测器的主要特点是使用电荷耦合器件做传感器,用束流同步光中的可见光成份做为信号源。该探测器同时具有模拟量和数字量两种输出,工作周期短,速度高,不影响束团粒子寿命,在电子储存环物理运行中,是一种有效的探测设备。     

A simplified expression for the hard-sphere dimer fluid radial distribution function

Recently, in our laboratory a closed form expression for the correlation function of the hard-sphere dimer fluid obtained from Wertheims multidensity Ornstein-Zernike integral equation theory with Percus-Yevick approximation was presented by Kim et al. [2001]. However, it is difficult to apply its expression to perturbation theory and vapor-liquid equilibria calculations, since it is of very complex form. In this work, we present a simplified expression for the first shell of the radial distribution function (RDF) of the hard-sphere dimer fluid using a series expansion of the analytical expression. The expansion is carried out in terms of both the packing fraction and the radial distance. Expressions are also obtained for the coordination number and its first and second derivatives as functions of radial distance and packing fraction. These expressions, which are useful in perturbation theory, are simpler to use than those obtained from the starting equation, while giving good agreement with the original expression results. Then we present an simplified equation of state for the square-well dimer fluid of variable well width (λ) based on Barker-Henderson perturbation theory using its expression for the radial distribution function of the hard-sphere dimer fluid, and test its expression with NVT and Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulation data [Kim et al., 2001].     

三圆弧形叶片型线理论及其泵的性能测试

介绍了三圆弧形叶片型线理论，叙述了采用该理论制造的150XA—520泵的叶轮、测量方法及结果。     

煤矿破碎机人员安全探测系统的研制

文中给出了煤矿人员安全探测系统设计的性能要求，详细介绍系统的硬件设计和软件设计。对利用热释电传感器实现人员定位与移动相对位置匹配算法设计进行深入细致的讨论．从防止漏报警、提高系统可靠性和降低系统功耗三个方面探讨了设计中涉及到的关键技术及其具体解决方法、与其他报警和定位系统相比，系统具有结构简单、成本低、功耗小、定位准确的特点。     

火焰图像特征在火灾数字图像识别中的运用

火焰尖角数目和圆形度是早期火灾火焰的主要特征,本文主要论述了如何在数学形态学基础上,利用火灾火焰的两个特点判断和识别早期火情。实验中,对火焰的二值图像进行开运算,即先腐蚀,再膨胀,目的是为了对火焰图像进行形态学滤波,去噪。从实验结果可以看出,该算法可以很好的识别火焰和干扰源。