A Machine Vision Sensor for Quality Control of Green Anode Paste Material

JOM - A machine vision sensor was developed for predicting deviations from the optimum amount of pitch in anode formulations using paste texture analysis. It could help operators mitigate the...     

Cyanogenic,carotenoids and protein composition in leaves and roots across seven diverse population found in the world cassava germplasm collection at CIAT,Colombia

The objective of this study was to characterise the nutritional potential of leaves and identify a diversity centre with low cyanide and high nutrient content among 178 Latin American cassava genotypes. This field-based collection represents the seven diversity centres, held at The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT Palmira, Colombia) by the Cassava Program. The cyanide, all-trans-β-carotene and lutein concentrations in cassava leaves ranged from 346 to 7484 ppm dry basis (db), from 174–547 μg g⁻¹ db and 15–181 μg g⁻¹ db, respectively. Cassava leaves also showed significant levels of essential amino acids leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, valine and threonine, and average total protein content of 26.24 g 100 g⁻¹ db. Among seven diversity centres, South American rainforest group showed low cyanide and high carotene content in leaves. In addition, VEN77 and PAN51 genotypes stood out for having low cyanide in leaves and roots and high carotene in leaves. This genetic diversity can be used to select high potential progenitors for breeding purposes.     

Performance comparison of masking models based on a new psychovisual test method with natural scenery stimuli

Various image processing applications exploit a model of the human visual system (HVS). One element of HVS-models describes the masking-effect, which is typically parameterized by psycho-visual experiments that employ superimposed sinusoidal stimuli. Those stimuli are oversimplified with respect to real images and can capture only very elementary masking-effects. To overcome these limitations a new psycho-visual test method is proposed. It is based on natural scenery stimuli and operates in the wavelet domain. The collected psycho-visual data is finally used to evaluate the performance of various masking models under conditions as found in real image processing applications like compression.     

Importance of out-of-plane dispersion of the excitation spectrum of superconducting bilayers with Josephson coupling

We study the effect of Josephson coupling between adjacent superconducting layers on the BCS energy spectrum. We find that the interference between the gap functions of two layers can lead to vanishing condensation energy for perpendicular momenta corresponding to the formation of standing waves. We therefore predict a conventional energy spectrum for large interlayer spacings, if the gap of the single layers has no nodes, and in all cases a gapless spectrum for small spacings. Within the experimental error, our numerical results account for the low-temperature dependence of the penetration depth reported in Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.9.     

Lithium reactivity with III–VI layered compounds

The reactivity of lithium with layered chalcogenides InSe and In₂Se₃ is studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electrochemical potential spectroscopy (EPS) and Raman scattering (RS). It is found that for x(Li)≥0.1 in Li_xInSe, the host material decomposes with the formation of lithium selenide. The presence of Li₂Se is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. The insertion of Li into In₂Se₃ appears more stable with the occurrence of a superlattice formation at x(Li)≈0.25. The superstructure corresponding to the 2a×2a lattice is consistent with the EPS measurements of Li_xIn₂Se₃.     

Optically pumped rubidium as a frequency standard at 196 THz

The performance of 196.0-THz (1529-nm) DFB lasers frequency-locked to absorption lines of a rubidium vapor optically pumped at 384.2 THz (780.2 nm) is studied. The absorption profiles of the pumped vapor are measured under various conditions and compared with theoretical predictions. A bright resonance resulting from the cascade of two cycling transitions is characterized both experimentally and theoretically. The measured frequency stability of a DFB laser frequency-locked to this line reaches a level of 2×10^-10 for an averaging time of 100 s when compared to a similar laser locked to an acetylene line     

Pedestrian Reactive Navigation for Crowd Simulation: a Predictive Approach

This paper addresses the problem of virtual pedestrian autonomous navigation for crowd simulation. It describes a method for solving interactions between pedestrians and avoiding inter-collisions. Our approach is agent-based and predictive: each agent perceives surrounding agents and extrapolates their trajectory in order to react to potential collisions. We aim at obtaining realistic results, thus the proposed model is calibrated from experimental motion capture data. Our method is shown to be valid and solves major drawbacks compared to previous approaches such as oscillations due to a lack of anticipation. We first describe the mathematical representation used in our model, we then detail its implementation, and finally, its calibration and validation from real data.     

Thermodynamic equations of state for hydrazine and monomethylhydrazine

Thermodynamic equations of state are evaluated for the aerospace fuels hydrazine and monomethylhydrazine using Peng-Robinson (PR) and Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) formulations. The PR formulation is shown to be the best fit for hydrazine, and the SRK formulation to be the best fit for monomethylhydrazine, based on available critical property data and evaluations of thermodynamic consistency. The adequacy of the differing property data for these fuels in the literature is discussed, and the methodology used to validate the formulations is outlined. The importance of using appropriate real fluid equations of state in thermodynamic safety and hazards analysis of fuel systems is demonstrated by considering an adiabatic compression of gaseous fuels previously postulated in accident scenarios of aerospace propulsion systems. Calculation of isentropic compression temperatures for pure components using ideal gas constant heat capacity, ideal gas with variable heat capacity, and real fluid equations of state are compared to illustrate the need for real fluid equations of state. In addition, three separate approaches are used for estimating isentropic compression temperatures for mixtures involving these fuels, again illustrating the importance of treating these mixtures as real fluids for design and safety analysis.