Stowage planning in maritime container transportation

We consider a stowage-planning problem of arranging containers on a container ship in the maritime transportation system. Since containers are accessible only from the top of the stack, temporary unloading and reloading of containers, called shifting, is unavoidable if a container required to be unloaded at the current port is stacked under containers to be unloaded at later ports on the route of the ship. The objective of the stowage planning problem is to minimize the time required for shifting and crane movements on a tour of a container ship while maintaining the stability of the ship. For the problem, we develop a heuristic solution method in which the problem is divided into two subproblems, one for assigning container groups into the holds and one for determining a loading pattern of containers assigned to each hold. The former subproblem is solved by a greedy heuristic based on the transportation simplex method, while the latter is solved by a tree search method. These two subproblems are solved iteratively using information obtained from solutions of each other. To see the performance of the suggested algorithm, computational tests are performed on problem instances generated based on information obtained from an ocean container liner. Results show that the suggested algorithm works better than existing algorithms.     

Vertex-based inter-frame boundary encoding scheme

The boundary is approximated by a polygon which can be encoded with the smallest number of bits for maximum distortion. The temporal redundancy between two successive frames is efficiently removed with the proposed scheme, resulting in a lower bit rate than the conventional algorithms     

On CCE graphs of doubly partial orders

Let D be a digraph. The competition-common enemy graph (CCE graph) of D has the same set of vertices as D and an edge between vertices u and v if and only if there are vertices w and x in D such that (w,u), (w,v), (u,x), and (v,x) are arcs of D. We call a graph a CCE graph if it is the CCE graph of some digraph. In this paper, we show that if the CCE graph of a doubly partial order does not contain C₄ as an induced subgraph, it is an interval graph. We also show that any interval graph together with enough isolated vertices is the CCE graph of some doubly partial order.     

Polynomial decay rate for the dissipative wave equation

Using Fourier integral operators with special amplitude functions, we analyze the stabilization of the wave equation in a three-dimensional bounded domain on which exists a trapped ray bouncing up and down infinitely between two parallel parts of the boundary.     

The magnetic properties of Be-codoped GaMnN grown via molecular beam epitaxy

GaMnN and Be-codoped GaMnN were grown via molecular beam epitaxy using a single GaN precursor and their structural and magnetic properties were examined. X-ray diffraction and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements revealed that the grown layers are homogeneous without precipitates. The saturation magnetization of GaMnN has increased from ∼4 to ∼16 emu/cm³ via codoping of Be. The d–d exchange interaction between Mn atoms was discussed for the ferromagnetism of GaMnN.     

Oil Migration in Chocolate

Oil migration in filled chocolates limits shelf life due to texture changes and loss of visual appeal. Spatial and temporal oil concentration changes of a two-layer chocolate and peanut butter filling system, which models a filled chocolate, were monitored by magnetic resonance imaging. Formulations of chocolate varied with respect to particle size, milk fat content and emulsifier level. Sorption-time experimental data was used to establish the best fit diffusion coefficient for a Fickian diffusion model. On the basis of the comparison of spatial experimental data to the model, Fickian diffusion alone does not account for oil migration. Authors' address: Michael J. McCarthy, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA     

Validation of 3-D curved objects: CAD model and fabricatedworkpiece

This paper proposes a new method to describe and identify a 3-D curved object for the purpose of validating a fabricated object to the design specification. Curved 3-D objects are, in general, difficult to represent and identify because they lack distinct properties such as edges, planes, or cylindrical surfaces which are the building blocks in representing objects. In this paper, the authors propose to use principal axes of a 3-D object to establish a reference for the representation. A method of obtaining an inertia matrix from a 3-D range image is developed. The unique set of principal axes is obtained from the inertia matrix of an object with an arbitrary 3-D position and orientation, and the object can be described uniquely on these principal axes. On the principal axes, an object is described by a set of features describing the shape of the object such as spine, section size, section orientation, and section contraction. The features are used for comparing two objects for the validation purpose. The authors also propose a direct measure of similarity between two objects as a mean-squared difference of radii. As an experiment, two 3-D object models are designed through a CAD package, and fabricated objects are compared with the designed models for validation purposes     

Controller for digital audio power amplifier with bit stream input

A new controller for a digital audio amplifier with bit stream input is proposed. The proposed controller has excellent features such as wide error correction range and no limitation on the modulation index. The controller is implemented in the half-bridge class-D amplifier and performance is verified through experiments.