вторник, 21 мая 2013 г.

Games

Games

World of Kingdoms - Screenshots

Posted: 21 May 2013 03:50 AM PDT

Features
- Massively Multiplayer ONLINE Role Playing Game
- Free-to-play
- Beautiful hand-drawn designs
- A wide range of powerful military units, defensive buildings and wizards
- Show off your army with the best weapons, armor and spells
- Message system to communicate with your army
- A league battle system to compete with other players

Foods, Vol. 2, Pages 183-197: Comparison of Cocoa Beans from China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

A survey on five kinds of cocoa beans from new cocoa planting countries was conducted to analyze each kind's basic quality. The average bean weight and butter content of Hainan cocoa beans were the lowest, at less than 1.1 g, and 39.24% to 43.44%, respectively. Cocoa beans from Indonesia where shown to be about 8.0% and 9.0% higher in average bean weight and butter content, respectively, than that of Papua New Guinea and about 20.0% and 25.0% higher in average bean weight and butter content than Chinese dried beans, respectively. The average total polyphenolic content ranged from 81.22 mg/10 g to 301.01 mg/10 g. The Hainan 2011 sample had the highest total polyphenolic content, followed by the unfermented sample from Indonesia and the Papua New Guinea sample. The polyphenolic levels found in the Hainan 2010 sample were 123.61 mg/10 g and lower than the other three samples, but the Indonesian fermented sample had the lowest total polyphenolic content of 81.22 mg/10 g. The average total amino acid content ranged from 11.58 g/100 g to 18.17 g/100 g. The total amino acid content was the highest in the Indonesian unfermented sample, followed by the Hainan 2011 sample and the Papua New Guinea sample. The levels found in the Hainan 2010 sample were lower; the Indonesian fermented sample had the lowest total amino acid content.

Foods, Vol. 2, Pages 170-182: Effect of Carboxylmethyl Cellulose Coating and Osmotic Dehydration on Freeze Drying Kinetics of Apple Slices

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

The effect of different concentrations of sugar solution (hypertonic) (30%, 45% and 60% w/v) and carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) (0%, 1% and 2% w/v) coating on freeze drying of apple slices was studied. In total, nine treatments with respect to concentrations of hypertonic solution and coating layer were prepared to analyze their influence on the physical and chemical properties of freeze dried apple slices. It was observed that increase in the sugar solution concentration, decreased the moisture content of the apple slices significantly impacting its water activity, texture and sugar gain. Application of different concentrations of CMC coating had no significant effect on the properties of dried apple slices. A significant change was observed for color of CMC coated freeze dried apple slices pretreated with 60% sugar solution. Drying kinetics of pretreated apple slices were fitted by using two drying models, Newton's and Page's. Page's model showed higher R-square and lower root mean square error (RSME) compared to Newton's model.

Electronics, Vol. 2, Pages 178-191: Effects of Localized Trap-States and Corrugation on Charge Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

We investigate effects of the electron traps on adiabatic charge transport in graphene nanoribbons under a longitudinal surface acoustic wave (SAW) potential. Due to the weak SAW potential and strong transverse confinement of nanoribbons, minibands of sliding tunnel-coupled quantum dots are formed. Therefore, as the chemical potential passes through minigaps, quantized adiabatic charge transport is expected to occur. We analyze the condition for a closed minigap, thereby destroying the current quantization in a nanoribbon. We present numerical calculations showing the localized energy states within minigaps. Additionally, we compare the results with the minibands of corrugated nanoribbons.

Energies, Vol. 6, Pages 2605-2623: Exploring Ventilation Efficiency in Poultry Buildings: The Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in a Cross-Mechanically Ventilated Broiler Farm

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Broiler production in modern poultry farms commonly uses mechanical ventilation systems. This mechanical ventilation requires an amount of electric energy and a high level of investment in technology. Nevertheless, broiler production is affected by periodic problems of mortality because of thermal stress, thus being crucial to explore the ventilation efficiency. In this article, we analyze a cross-mechanical ventilation system focusing on air velocity distribution. In this way, two methodologies were used to explore indoor environment in livestock buildings: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and direct measurements for verification and validation (V&V) of CFD. In this study, a validation model using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was conducted to compare these methodologies. The results showed that both methodologies were similar in results: the average of air velocities values were 0.60 ± 0.56 m s−1 for CFD and 0.64 ± 0.54 m s−1 for direct measurements. In conclusion, the air velocity was not affected by the methodology (CFD or direct measurements), and the CFD simulations were therefore validated to analyze indoor environment of poultry farms and its operations. A better knowledge of the indoor environment may contribute to reduce the demand of electric energy, increasing benefits and improving the thermal comfort of broilers.

Energies, Vol. 6, Pages 2583-2604: Online Semiparametric Identification of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using the Wavelet-Based Partially Linear Battery Model

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Battery model identification is very important for reliable battery management as well as for battery system design process. The common problem in identifying battery models is how to determine the most appropriate mathematical model structure and parameterized coefficients based on the measured terminal voltage and current. This paper proposes a novel semiparametric approach using the wavelet-based partially linear battery model (PLBM) and a recursive penalized wavelet estimator for online battery model identification. Three main contributions are presented. First, the semiparametric PLBM is proposed to simulate the battery dynamics. Compared with conventional electrical models of a battery, the proposed PLBM is equipped with a semiparametric partially linear structure, which includes a parametric part (involving the linear equivalent circuit parameters) and a nonparametric part [involving the open-circuit voltage (OCV)]. Thus, even with little prior knowledge about the OCV, the PLBM can be identified using a semiparametric identification framework. Second, we model the nonparametric part of the PLBM using the truncated wavelet multiresolution analysis (MRA) expansion, which leads to a parsimonious model structure that is highly desirable for model identification; using this model, the PLBM could be represented in a linear-in-parameter manner. Finally, to exploit the sparsity of the wavelet MRA representation and allow for online implementation, a penalized wavelet estimator that uses a modified online cyclic coordinate descent algorithm is proposed to identify the PLBM in a recursive fashion. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PLBM with the corresponding identification algorithm can accurately simulate the dynamic behavior of a lithium-ion battery in the Federal Urban Driving Schedule tests.

Energies, Vol. 6, Pages 2562-2582: Characteristics of the Operational Noise from Full Scale Wave Energy Converters in the Lysekil Project: Estimation of Potential Environmental Impacts

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Wave energy conversion is a clean electric power production technology. During operation there are no emissions in the form of harmful gases. However there are unsolved issues considering environmental impacts such as: electromagnetism; the artificial reef effect and underwater noise. Anthropogenic noise is increasing in the oceans worldwide and wave power will contribute to this sound pollution in the oceans; but to what extent? The main purpose of this study was to examine the noise emitted by a full scale operating Wave Energy Converter (WEC) in the Lysekil project at Uppsala University in Sweden. A minor review of the hearing capabilities of fish and marine mammals is presented to aid in the conclusions of impact from anthropogenic sound. A hydrophone was deployed to the seabed in the Lysekil research site park at distance of 20 and 40 m away from two operational WECs. The measurements were performed in the spring of 2011. The results showed that the main noise was a transient noise with most of its energy in frequencies below 1 kHz. These results indicate that several marine organisms (fish and mammals) will be able to hear the operating WECs of a distance of at least 20 m.

Diversity, Vol. 5, Pages 374-392: Conservation of Protists: The Krauthügel Pond in Austria

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Although constituting more than 100,000 described species, protists are virtually ignored within the arena of biodiversity conservation. One reason is the widespread belief that the majority of protists have cosmopolitan distributions, in contrast to the highly hetereogenous biogeography of the "mega-Metazoa". However, modern research reveals that about one third of the known protists have restricted distributions, which endorses their conservation, at least in special cases. Here, we report what probably ranks as the first successful conservation intervention focused directly on known protist diversity. It is justified by unique species, type localities, and landscape maintenance as evidence for legislation. The protected habitat comprises an ephemeral pond, which is now a "Natural Monument" for ciliated protozoa. This wetland occupies a natural depression on the Krauthügel ("cabbage hill") south of the fortress of Salzburg City. When filled, the claviform pond has a size of ~30 × 15 m and a depth rarely surpassing 30 cm. Water is present only for some days or weeks, depending on heavy and/or prolonged rain. The pond occupied an agricultural field where root and leafy vegetables were cultivated for possibly more than 200 years. In the 1960s, this area became a grassland utilized as an autumn pasture, but was abandoned in the 1990s. Repeated sampling between 1982 and 2012 recovered a total of at least 150 ciliate taxa, of which 121 were identified to species level. Eight species were new to science, and an additional 10 poorly known species were reinvestigated and neotypified with populations from the Krauthügel pond. Both endemism and type localities justify the argument that the "integrative approach" in biodiversity and conservation issues should include protists and micro-metazoans. We argue that Krauthügel holds a unique reference node for biodiversity inventories to obtain the baseline knowledge—which is the prerequisite to monitor ecosystem integrity—and detect and evaluate impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.

Atmosphere, Vol. 4, Pages 157-168: Spatial and Temporal Variations of Atmospheric Aerosol in Osaka

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

It is well known that the aerosol distribution in Asia is complex due to both the increasing emissions of the anthropogenic aerosols associated with economic growth and the behavior of natural dusts. Therefore, detailed observations of atmospheric particles in Asian urban cities are important. In this work, we focus on the spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric particles around Higashi-Osaka in Japan. Higashi-Osaka is located in the eastern part of Osaka, the second-largest city in Japan, and is famous for small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. For this study, we placed various ground measurement devices around the Higashi-Osaka campus of Kinki University including a Cimel sunphotometer supported by NASA/AERONET (Aerosol robotics network), suspended particulate matter (SPM) sampler and LIDAR (light detection and ranging). Individual particle analyses with a SEM (scanning electron microscope)/EDX (energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer) show the temporal variations of particle properties, such as size, shape and components, during a dust event on 21 March 2010. The simultaneous measurement using a portable sun photometer with AERONET was conducted from April to November 2011. A comparison of the data at each site and the combination of the observed LIDAR data and model simulations indicate the difference in the transportation processes between dust and anthropogenic particles. We suppose this difference is attributed to the differences in the vertical aerosol profiles, where one aerosol is transported over Mount Ikoma and the other is blocked by it.

Algorithms, Vol. 6, Pages 309-318: Multi-Sided Compression Performance Assessment of ABI SOLiD WES Data

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Data storage is a major and growing part of IT budgets for research since manyyears. Especially in biology, the amount of raw data products is growing continuously,and the advent of the so-called "next-generation" sequencers has made things worse.Affordable prices have pushed scientists to massively sequence whole genomes and to screenlarge cohort of patients, thereby producing tons of data as a side effect. The need formaximally fitting data into the available storage volumes has encouraged and welcomednew compression algorithms and tools. We focus here on state-of-the-art compression toolsand measure their compression performance on ABI SOLiD data.

Catalysts, Vol. 3, Pages 501-516: Photocatalytic Degradation of Acridine Orange over NaBiO3 Driven by Visible Light Irradiation

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

The photocatalytic degradation of acridine orange (AO) dye by NaBiO3 photocatalyst under visible light irradiation was investigated systematically. The NaBiO3 photocatalyst exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity compared to the P25 photocatalyst. After 160 min of photocatalytic reaction, the degradation rate of AO could reach to 99% in appropriate conditions. Factors, such as catalyst dosage, solution pH, initial AO concentration and the presence of anions, were found to influence the degradation rate. To scrutinize the mechanistic details of the dye photodegradation, the intermediates of the processes were separated, identified and characterized by the HPLC-ESI-MS technique. The analytical results indicated that the N-de-methylation degradation of AO dye took place in a stepwise manner to yield mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-N-de-methylated AO species generated during the processes. The probable photodegradation pathways were proposed and discussed.

Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 3, Pages 253-272: Systems Biology as a Comparative Approach to Understand Complex Gene Expression in Neurological Diseases

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Systems biology interdisciplinary approaches have become an essential analytical tool that may yield novel and powerful insights about the nature of human health and disease. Complex disorders are known to be caused by the combination of genetic, environmental, immunological or neurological factors. Thus, to understand such disorders, it becomes necessary to address the study of this complexity from a novel perspective. Here, we present a review of integrative approaches that help to understand the underlying biological processes involved in the etiopathogenesis of neurological diseases, for example, those related to autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) endophenotypes. Furthermore, we highlight the role of systems biology in the discovery of new biomarkers or therapeutic targets in complex disorders, a key step in the development of personalized medicine, and we demonstrate the role of systems approaches in the design of classifiers that can shorten the time for behavioral diagnosis of autism.

Antibiotics, Vol. 2, Pages 265-273: The Effects of Two Novel Copper-Based Formulations on Helicobacter pylori

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

We investigated the effects of two novel copper-based inorganic formulations for their activity against 60 isolates of Helicobacter pylori (Hp). The two copper-based formulations were tested against three NCTC Helicobacter pylori isolates and 57 clinical strains isolated from the UK and Italy in time-kill assays. Both copper-based formulations were bio-cidal against all Helicobacter pylori strains tested reducing the viable count by 4–5 log within 2 h. These two copper-based anti-microbial agents deserve further study in relation to the treatment of H. pylori-related gastric disease.

The festival year starts here

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:55 AM PDT

Scrabble at the back of your wardrobe for that old poncho, grab your wellies, dust off your tent.

Algorithms, Vol. 6, Pages 278-308: A Generic Two-Phase Stochastic Variable Neighborhood Approach for Effectively Solving the Nurse Rostering Problem

Posted: 21 May 2013 12:00 AM PDT

In this contribution, a generic two-phase stochastic variable neighborhood approach is applied to nurse rostering problems. The proposed algorithm is used for creating feasible and efficient nurse rosters for many different nurse rostering cases. In order to demonstrate the efficiency and generic applicability of the proposed approach, experiments with real-world input data coming from many different nurse rostering cases have been conducted. The nurse rostering instances used have significant differences in nature, structure, philosophy and the type of hard and soft constraints. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than six different existing approaches applied to the same nurse rostering input instances using the same evaluation criteria. In addition, in all cases, it manages to reach the best-known fitness achieved in the literature, and in one case, it manages to beat the best-known fitness achieved till now.

Indie Hour - The Howler

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:50 PM PDT

Feast your eyes on the beautiful hand-drawn environments and then wipe them as you laugh at Ed and Jess' efforts playing this voice-controlled ballooning puzzler. You will see how video games can make us cry on this episode of Indie Hour!

 

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Indie Hour - The Howler" was posted by Edmond Tran and Jessica McDonell on Mon, 20 May 2013 23:50:43 -0700

Profile of math-inspired 3D printing sculptor Bathsheba Grossman

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:53 PM PDT


Shapeways interviews the amazing Bathsheba Grossman, a sculptor who creates mathematics-inspired 3D printed objects that can be bought on the Shapeways store. I own a bunch of her pieces, and I never tire of staring at them and handling them.

I was originally a math major interested in geometry and topology, when as a college senior I met the remarkable sculptor Erwin Hauer, and suddenly it was obvious that what I had in mind was more art than math. Symmetry is the foundation of what I do: there are many more ways to be symmetrical in 3-space than the familiar ones, but not so many that you can't explore them all and delve into the most interesting ones. Over the years I've moved away from literal math -- as the field has grown I no longer feel called on to make nifty math models simply because no one else is doing it! -- and into more freewheeling biomorphic shapes. But although now I play more with suggesting and breaking it, now I believe I'll always be working in some way with symmetry.

... Let's start by saying that I love 3D printing the way it is. Before technology I worked with lost-wax casting, machining, fabricating, all by hand; since then I've watched artistic 3D printing grow from crude cornstarch parts to the sleek metal models that we see now, and I'm still over the moon about it. It's better and cheaper and more flexible than I ever hoped, and while I believe it will get better, if it never does I'll be perfectly happy doing just what I'm doing now.

Personally I'm most interested in archival materials, like metals, glass and ceramic as opposed to plastics and resins. Art buyers like them which is pretty important! In that area it seems like the last frontier is multi-materials: interlacing different metals, maybe metal with glass? Progress is slow because material science is hard. We wait in hope.

Something not mentioned in the interview: Bathsheba's twin brothers are Austin "YOU" Grossman and Lev "The Magicians" Grossman.

Designer Spotlight: Bathsheba Grossman

    

MapleStory RED update announced

Posted: 20 May 2013 11:48 PM PDT

New patch for Korean MMO to feature large scale boss battles, cross-realm play and PvP boss mode; no word on North American or Southeast Asian release date.

 

Korean publisher Nexon and developer Wizet have announced a new MapleStory update that is slated for release in Korea this summer.

According to an announcement made during the MapleStory 10th anniversary celebration held in South Korea on May 20 (via MMO Culture), the upcoming update will be called RED--and is an abbreviation for Revolution, Evolution and Delight. The patch will add balance changes and overhauls to the game's adventurer classes, as well as a Free Advancement system allowing players to advance to another class without restriction.

The RED update will introduce new modes, including a Player-versus-Player (PvP) mode where characters can become boss monsters. A new boss will also be added, and will require 100 players to take it down. Other new features include cross-realm support, allowing players from different servers to quest together, an auction house, reinforced account security, and new hunting ground and map with its own monsters and loot drops.

More information on the update will be revealed by Nexon and Wizet in June. Currently there is no word on a planned North American or Southeast Asian release for the new patch.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"MapleStory RED update announced" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Mon, 20 May 2013 23:48:16 -0700

Katie Couric acknowledges one-sided violent video games report

Posted: 20 May 2013 10:45 PM PDT

Network journalist acknowledges one-sided violent video game report; invitations to Bungie and the Entertainment Software Association were declined.

 

Journalist Katie Couric has acknowledged the misrepresentation of gamers in her recent hour-long report on violent video games.

Following the broadcast of the show, Couric reached out via social media network Twitter to encourage those who were upset by the segment to send messages that spoke of the positive side of video games.

Couric has since acknowledged the report was one-sided, stating, "It probably would have been a good idea to have somebody on the other side of the debate". Couric added that efforts were made to invite industry body the Entertainment Software Association and game developer Bungie onto the show. Both parties had declined.

The special report, titled "Are Video Games Ruining Your Life?" was aired on April 29. The segment included a testimony from Daniel Petric, who cited video games as being a "catalyst" for shooting and killing his mother on October 20, 2007.

Highlights from the report can be viewed on the Katie website.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Katie Couric acknowledges one-sided violent video games report" was posted by Zorine Te on Mon, 20 May 2013 22:45:29 -0700

Obsidian Entertainment to help with new MMORPG Skyforge

Posted: 20 May 2013 08:42 PM PDT

Fallout: New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth developer to team up with Russian team Mail.ru.

 

Russian developer Mail.ru has announced a partnership with Obsidian Entertainment to develop upcoming MMORPG Skyforge.

According to a report by Games Industry International, the Fallout: New Vegas developer is working with one of Mail.ru's studios, Allods Team. The news was announced during Russian game developer's conference, KRI 2013.

Skyforge is set in a world where magic and technology exist side-by-side. The game is slated for release on the PC in 2014. No English version of the game has been announced. For more information on Obsidian Entertainment's work, check out GameSpot's coverage of South Park: The Stick of Truth and Project Eternity.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Obsidian Entertainment to help with new MMORPG Skyforge" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Mon, 20 May 2013 20:42:32 -0700
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