One of the practical approaches to environmental issues in developing countries is introducing eco-products made in developed countries. However, such products are not always acceptable due to ...differences of various contexts in the different regions. It is necessary to understand how such local conditions are related with product function and structure. The aim of this study is to develop a design support system for visualizing design information for locally-oriented product design. The system aids users in understanding relationship among product specifications and local information. The authors show a case study on home electric appliances in Vietnam and Japan to validate the system.
Although in vitro selection technology is a versatile experimental tool for discovering novel synthetic RNA molecules, finding complex RNA molecules is difficult because most RNAs identified from ...random sequence pools are simple motifs, consistent with recent computational analysis of such sequence pools. Thus, enriching in vitro selection pools with complex structures could increase the probability of discovering novel RNAs. Here we develop an approach for engineering sequence pools that links RNA sequence space regions with corresponding structural distributions via a "mixing matrix" approach combined with a graph theory analysis. We define five classes of mixing matrices motivated by covariance mutations in RNA; these constructs define nucleotide transition rates and are applied to chosen starting sequences to yield specific nonrandom pools. We examine the coverage of sequence space as a function of the mixing matrix and starting sequence via clustering analysis. We show that, in contrast to random sequences, which are associated only with a local region of sequence space, our designed pools, including a structured pool for GTP aptamers, can target specific motifs. It follows that experimental synthesis of designed pools can benefit from using optimized starting sequences, mixing matrices, and pool fractions associated with each of our constructed pools as a guide. Automation of our approach could provide practical tools for pool design applications for in vitro selection of RNAs and related problems.
The authors aim to propose highly effective, efficient and satisfactory service of language teaching and learning by means of educational technology from the viewpoint of usability engineering. In ...the field of computational/quantitative linguistics based on corpora data, many linguists have been numerically analyzing lexical characteristics for each English vocabulary and compiled them as a vocabulary list which is machine-readable since 1960s. On the other hand, a lexical database of semantic relations called WordNet has also been developed in the field of computing science. This study consists of three components. One is to enrich, refine and integrate already-existing vocabulary information in terms of "frequency", "difficulty", and "relativeness". Another is to develop the system of language learning and teaching service with the integrated vocabulary information. And the other is to evaluate the system from usability engineering point of view. So far, the authors reached and conducted the first two kinds of studies, succeeded in deriving the newly-integrated vocabulary list and visualizing the word relations in each experiment.
The binary alkaline earth trielides of the composition A
2 exhibit a puzzling variety of structure types ranging from electron precise Zintl compounds like CaIn
and KHg
(both with networks of ...four-bonded M
entities) and the AlB
structure type (with graphite analogue M sheets) to the cubic Laves phases e. g. of CaAl
. The examination of the phase stabilities of mixed compounds AM1
M2
of two trielides allows to separate the stability ranges in a structure map by taking the electronegativity differences of M
and A
(Δ EN) and the radius ratios (RR = rM/rA) into account: The CaIn2-type is stable at comparatively large RR, for example over the whole range CaGa
-CaIn
and even up to CaAl
Ga
and CaAl
In
, and in SrIn
, together with a limited substitution of In by Al or Ga. The KHg
-type is observed in a region of lower RR: In BaIn
, a substitution of In by 50% Al and 30% Ga is possible without a general structure change, in SrAl
this holds for a content of up to 50% In. At high Δ EN and low RR values (e. g. Sr/Ba-Ga), the ideal AlB
structure type exhibits a distinct stability range; only for small RR around CaAl
the MgCu
-type is stable. FP-LAPWband structure calculations of the binary trielides allow to explain the structural changes qualitatively. In the case of the electron precise phases forming the CaIn
, KHg
or AlB
structure type, details of the bonding situation (such as M-M distances) as well as differences to other isoelectronic compounds can be rationalized taking the incomplete charge transfer from the alkaline earth towards the triel elements into account. This causes a partial depopulation of some of the bonding and a population of predominantly antibonding states.
This paper presents a localization and guidance method for mobile robots based on computer vision. The purpose of this study was to use CCTV-system video images to position and guide mobile robots. ...This method enables direct observation of the robot and is not influenced by the characteristics of a specific region or area, changes in the environment at a certain time are used to guide the robot's movement. In this study, an image structure map was designed to guide the movement of the robot, and motion detection was integrated to position the robot. Throughout the movement process, ultrasound was used to detect obstacles and send feedback to the image structure map, which then immediately labeled the map and changed the course of the robot. This method may be directly employed for care robots and can be extended to other applications in the future.
Zr
1−
δ
V
1+
δ
As is accessible via arc-melting of different mixtures of ZrAs, VAs, Zr, and V. It crystallizes in the tetragonal La
2Sb type, with a phase range of −0.43(4)⩽
δ⩽0.15(1). The lattice ...dimensions (
a=382.4(1)
pm,
c=1486.8(6)
pm for Zr
1.43(4)V
0.57As; and
a=375.77(7)
pm,
c=1400.2(3)
pm for Zr
0.85(1)V
1.15As) strongly depend on
δ because of the different sizes of the Zr and V atoms. The ZrVAs structure comprises sheets of (empty)
M
6 octahedra, whose triangular faces are capped by the main group atoms
Q. The sheets are interconnected via
M−
Q bonds to a truly three-dimensional structure. Like in the isostructural ZrTiAs, the smaller 3
d M atom prefers the site in the densely packed square planes. In addition to the dominating
M−As bonds, the structure comprises strong
M−
M bonding. Independent of the exact Zr:V ratio, Zr
1−
δ
V
1+
δ
As is calculated to have three-dimensional metallic properties.
A common output of a means-end study is a tree-like network diagram often called a Hierarchical Value Map (HVM). An HVM presents a graphical representation of a set of means-end chains which can be ...thought of as an aggregate (e.g., market-level) cognitive structure map. Using concepts from statistical graphics, graphical perception theory and the semiology of graphics, we examine ways of improving the design of the HVM such that it better represents the original data in a clear and simple fashion. We compare the traditional HVM design to an alternative design format using data from an empirical study of ski destination choice. Finally, we discuss the usefulness of the new format for theoretical research and strategic decision making.
Existing methods for the palinspastic reconstruction of structure maps do not adequately account for heterogeneous rock strain and hence cannot accurately treat features such as fault terminations ...and non-cylindrical folds. We propose a new finite element formulation of the map reconstruction problem that treats such features explicitly. In this approach, a model of the map surface, with internal openings that honor the topology of the fault-gap network, is constructed of triangular finite elements. Both model building and reconstruction algorithms are guided by rules relating fault-gap topology to the kinematics of fault motion and are fully automated. We represent the total strain as the sum of a prescribed component of locally homogeneous simple shear and a minimum amount of heterogeneous residual strain. The region within which a particular orientation of simple shear is treated as homogenous can be as small as an individual element or as large as the entire map. For residual strain calculations, we treat the map surface as a hyperelastic membrane. A globally optimum reconstruction is found that unfolds the map while faithfully honoring assigned strain mechanisms, closes fault gaps without overlap or gap and imparts the least possible residual strain in the restored surface. The amount and distribution of the residual strain serves as a diagnostic tool for identifying mapping errors. The method can be used to reconstruct maps offset by any number of faults that terminate, branch and offset each other in arbitrarily complex ways.
This paper presents a non-photorealistic rendering technique for stylizing a photograph in the pencil drawing style, which can well preserve the fine structure of the original image. We first ...construct a structure map from the anti-color image of the original image to model the detailed underlying fine structure of the original image, and generate a coarse pencil drawing image with line integral convolution. Then we refine the coarse pencil drawing image with the structure map for enrich the structure information. The presented algorithm is highly parallel allowing a real-time performance with GPU implementation. Experimental results show that our approach can produce more attractive and impressive pencil drawing effects with a variety of photographs.
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