Shear mode coupling and tilted grain growth of A1N thin films in BAW resonators.

Polycrystalline A1N thin films were deposited by RF reactive magnetron sputtering on Pt(111)/Ti electrode films. The substrates were tilted by an angle ranging from 40 degrees to 70 degrees with respect to the target normal. A low deposition temperature and a high sputter gas pressure were found ideal for tilted growth. The resulting grain tilt angle amounts to about half the substrate tilt angle. For coupling evaluation, 5 GHz solidly mounted resonator structures have been realized. The tilted grain A1N films exhibited a permittivity in the 9.5-10.5 range and loss tangent of 0.3%. Two shear modes as well as the longitudinal mode could be clearly identified. The coupling coefficient k2(eff) of the fundamental thickness shear mode (TS0) was found to be about 0.5%, which is compatible with a c-axis tilt of about 6 degrees.     

Efficient Reflectance and Visibility Approximations for Environment Map Rendering

We present a technique for approximating isotropic BRDFs and precomputed self-occlusion that enables accurate and efficient prefiltered environment map rendering. Our approach uses a nonlinear approximation of the BRDF as a weighted sum of isotropic Gaussian functions. Our representation requires a minimal amount of storage, can accurately represent BRDFs of arbitrary sharpness, and is above all, efficient to render. We precompute visibility due to self-occlusion and store a low-frequency approximation suitable for glossy reflections. We demonstrate our method by fitting our representation to measured BRDF data, yielding high visual quality at real-time frame rates.     

Double cracking in brittle cylindrical specimens subjected to quenching

A series of quench tests on hollow cylindrical specimens made of the machinable ceramic, Pyrophyllite, has been performed. The specimens consistently fractured with two diametrically opposite longitudinal cracks. Finite element analysis indicates that the primary crack occurred at the stage when the strain energy of the cylinder reached its maximum during the thermal transient process, while the secondary crack was caused by stress waves generated following the primary crack. This is supported by experimental observation of the time of fracture and the crack morphology. The work reported here helps to shed light on the fracture criterion for brittle cylindrical components under transient thermal and dynamic loadings.     

Interfacial activity and rate of palladium(II) extraction with decyl pyridine monocarboxylates

Decyl isonicotiniate and decyl nicotiniate permit a rapid extraction of palladium(II) from its hydrochloride solutions. Decyl picoliniate is not a suitable extractant. 4-Octylphenylamine can act as a phase transfer catalyst when its concentration in the organic phase is at least 2·5 × 10^?4 M . It seems that the interfacial adsorption of pyridine carboxylates and of 4-octylphenylamine is not the decisive phenomenon in palladium(II) extraction. The negligible protonation of the pyridine-type extractants and the phase transfer catalysis explains well the quick extraction of palladium(II) with the commercial and highly hydrophobic extractant ACORGA CLX-50.     

Enzymatic modification of selected functional properties of myofibril preparation obtained from mechanically recovered poultry meat

The effect of addition of 3 g/L of commercially available transglutaminase preparation to protein extracts obtained from mechanically recovered poultry meat was studied. The content of free thiol groups (–SH), thermal drip and gel texture were determined. After pre-incubation at 7–8 °C for 1, 3, 5 and 24 h, the samples were subjected to one-step heating at 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C and two-step heating at 50/80, 55/80 and 60/80 °C. The addition of preparation and the extension of pre-incubation time led to decrease of free -SH groups content. After heating, the number of thiol groups decreased, the texture was improved, but thermal drip from gels increased. The amount of –SH groups in gel extracts subjected to one-step heating decreased with simultaneous increase of mechanical strength of gels. Protein gels subjected to two-step heating exhibited higher firmness than gels subjected to one-step heating. Thus, the 3 g/L addition of transglutaminase preparation in combination with one-step thermal processing at 70 °C and pre-incubation for 3 h contributed to improvement of texture properties of model gels and low thermal drip.     

Clinical psychologists in the primary health care system in the Netherlands.

Discusses the Dutch health system, focusing on the increasing number of clinical psychologists who are offering their services to the public as private practitioners. This move toward primary health care given by the "first-line psychologist" results from a generalistic frame of reference in which a wide range of psychic, psychosocial, and psychosomatic difficulties are treated with a time-limited framework. In this way, the clinical psychologist contributes to changing the habits and lifestyles of a broad population. Responses to the system are encouraging, and the government has begun to respond positively to the system. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real-time detection of colored objects in multiple camera streams with off-the-shelf hardware components

We describe RTblob, a high speed vision system that detects objects in cluttered scenes based on their color and shape at a speed of over 800 frames/s. Because the system is available as open-source software and relies only on off-the-shelf PC hardware components, it can provide the basis for multiple application scenarios. As an illustrative example, we show how RTblob can be used in a robotic table tennis scenario to estimate ball trajectories through 3D space simultaneously from four cameras images at a speed of 200 Hz.