WorldWideScience

Sample records for hierarchical architecture composed

  1. Hierarchical architecture of active knits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abel, Julianna; Luntz, Jonathan; Brei, Diann

    2013-01-01

    Nature eloquently utilizes hierarchical structures to form the world around us. Applying the hierarchical architecture paradigm to smart materials can provide a basis for a new genre of actuators which produce complex actuation motions. One promising example of cellular architecture—active knits—provides complex three-dimensional distributed actuation motions with expanded operational performance through a hierarchically organized structure. The hierarchical structure arranges a single fiber of active material, such as shape memory alloys (SMAs), into a cellular network of interlacing adjacent loops according to a knitting grid. This paper defines a four-level hierarchical classification of knit structures: the basic knit loop, knit patterns, grid patterns, and restructured grids. Each level of the hierarchy provides increased architectural complexity, resulting in expanded kinematic actuation motions of active knits. The range of kinematic actuation motions are displayed through experimental examples of different SMA active knits. The results from this paper illustrate and classify the ways in which each level of the hierarchical knit architecture leverages the performance of the base smart material to generate unique actuation motions, providing necessary insight to best exploit this new actuation paradigm. (paper)

  2. An Area Efficient Composed CORDIC Architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AGUIRRE-RAMOS, F.

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a composed architecture for the CORDIC algorithm. CORDIC is a widely used technique to calculate basic trigonometric functions using only additions and shifts. This composed architecture combines an initial coarse stage to approximate sine and cosine functions, and a second stage to finely tune those values while CORDIC operates on rotation mode. Both stages contribute to shorten the algorithmic steps required to fully execute the CORDIC algorithm. For comparison purposes, the Xilinx CORDIC logiCORE IP and previously reported research are used. The proposed architecture aims at reducing hardware resources usage as its key objective.

  3. Hierarchically assembled Au microspheres and sea urchin-like architectures: formation mechanism and SERS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiansong; Yang, Da-Peng; Huang, Peng; Li, Min; Li, Chao; Chen, Di; Cui, Daxiang

    2012-12-21

    The hierarchically assembled Au microspheres/sea urchin-like structures have been synthesized in aqueous solution at room temperature with and without proteins (bovine serum albumin, BSA) as mediators. The average diameter of an individual Au microsphere is 300-600 nm, which is composed of some compact nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 15 nm. Meanwhile, the sea urchin-like Au architecture exhibits an average diameter of 600-800 nm, which is made up of some nanopricks with an average length of 100-200 nm. These products are characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). It is found that the BSA and ascorbic acid (AA) have great effects on the morphology of the resulting products. Two different growth mechanisms are proposed. The study on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities is also carried out between Au microspheres and Au sea urchin-like architectures. It is found that Au urchin-like architectures possess much higher SERS activity than the Au microspheres. Our work may shed light on the design and synthesis of hierarchically self-assembled 3D micro/nano-architectures for SERS, catalysis and biosensors.

  4. Facile synthesis of Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures and their application in lithium storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jia, Tiekun, E-mail: tiekunjia@126.com [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023 (China); Chen, Jian [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023 (China); Deng, Zhao [State Key Lab of Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Fu, Fang; Zhao, Junwei; Wang, Xiaofeng [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023 (China); Long, Fei [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004 (China)

    2014-11-15

    Highlights: • Novel Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach without surfactant. • The Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures were assembled by pronounced needle-like nanorod truncks with highly ordered needle-like nanorod branches. • The as-obtained Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} sample exhibited good electrochemical property. - Abstract: Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures were successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal approach without the use of any surfactants or templates. The as-prepared samples were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The observation of FESEM and HRTEM showed that Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} hierarchical cube-like architectures were composed of numerous oriented dendrites. Each dendrite is assembled by a pronounced trunk with highly ordered branches distributing on the both sides. The as-prepared Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures were used as anode materials for Li-ion battery, and a stable capacity of 488.3 mA h g{sup −1} was achieved after 50 cycles. The results of electrochemical measurements indicated that the as-prepared Zn-doped SnO{sub 2} dendrite-built hierarchical cube-like architectures have potential application in Li-ion battery.

  5. FIA: An Open Forensic Integration Architecture for Composing Digital Evidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raghavan, Sriram; Clark, Andrew; Mohay, George

    The analysis and value of digital evidence in an investigation has been the domain of discourse in the digital forensic community for several years. While many works have considered different approaches to model digital evidence, a comprehensive understanding of the process of merging different evidence items recovered during a forensic analysis is still a distant dream. With the advent of modern technologies, pro-active measures are integral to keeping abreast of all forms of cyber crimes and attacks. This paper motivates the need to formalize the process of analyzing digital evidence from multiple sources simultaneously. In this paper, we present the forensic integration architecture (FIA) which provides a framework for abstracting the evidence source and storage format information from digital evidence and explores the concept of integrating evidence information from multiple sources. The FIA architecture identifies evidence information from multiple sources that enables an investigator to build theories to reconstruct the past. FIA is hierarchically composed of multiple layers and adopts a technology independent approach. FIA is also open and extensible making it simple to adapt to technological changes. We present a case study using a hypothetical car theft case to demonstrate the concepts and illustrate the value it brings into the field.

  6. Hierarchical nitrogen doped bismuth niobate architectures: Controllable synthesis and excellent photocatalytic activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Jungang; Cao, Rui; Wang, Zheng; Jiao, Shuqiang; Zhu, Hongmin

    2012-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts of peony-like nitrogen doped Bi 3 NbO 7 hierarchical architectures and silver-layered Bi 3 NbO 7−x Nx heterostructures were successfully synthesized in this discovery. Highlights: ► N-Bi 3 NbO 7 architectures were synthesized via two-step hydrothermal process. ► Electronic structure calculations indicated that N replaced O in samples. ► Growth mechanism is proposed for transformation of nanoparticles to microflowers. ► Excellent activities of N-Bi 3 NbO 7 architectures were obtained for degradation. ► Enhanced photocatalytic performance was observed for Ag/N-Bi 3 NbO 7 architectures. - Abstract: Nitrogen doped bismuth niobate (N-Bi 3 NbO 7 ) hierarchical architectures were synthesized via a facile two-step hydrothermal process. XRD patterns revealed that the defect fluorite-type crystal structure of Bi 3 NbO 7 remained intact upon nitrogen doping. Electron microscopy showed the N-Bi 3 NbO 7 architecture has a unique peony-like spherical superstructure composed of numerous nanosheets. UV–vis spectra indicated that nitrogen doping in the compound results in a red-shift of the absorption edge from 450 nm to 470 nm. XPS indicated that [Bi/Nb]-N bonds were formed by inducing nitrogen to replace a small amount of oxygen in Bi 3 NbO 7−x N x , which is explained by electronic structure calculations including energy band and density of states. Based on observations of architectures formation, a possible growth mechanism was proposed to explain the transformation of polyhedral-like nanoparticles to peony-like microflowers via an Ostwald riping mechanism followed by self-assembly. The N-Bi 3 NbO 7 architectures due to the large specific surface area and nitrogen doping exhibited higher photocatalytic activities in the decomposition of organic pollutant under visible-light irradiation than Bi 3 NbO 7 nanoparticles. Furthermore, an enhanced photocatalytic performance was also observed for Ag

  7. Recyclable magnetic photocatalysts of Fe2+/TiO2 hierarchical architecture with effective removal of Cr(VI) under UV light from water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, S.C.; Zhang, Y.X.; Pan, S.S.; Ding, H.L.; Li, G.H.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: ► Fe 2+ /TiO 2 catalyst has a three-level hierarchical architecture. ► With a removal effectiveness of 99.3% at Cr(VI) concentration of 10 mg L −1 . ► Two-step reduction: TiO 2 photoreduces Fe 2+ to Fe and Fe reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III). ► Hierarchical architecture serves as both photocatalytic reactor and absorbent. ► Fe 2+ /TiO 2 catalyst can be magnetically separated from wastewater and recycled. - Abstract: We report the synthesis and photocatalytic removal of Cr(VI) from water of hierarchical micro/nanostructured Fe 2+ /TiO 2 tubes. The TiO 2 tubes fabricated by a facile solvothermal approach show a three-level hierarchical architecture assembled from dense nanosheets nearly vertically standing on the surface of TiO 2 microtube. The nanosheets with a thickness of about 20 nm are composed of numerous TiO 2 nanocrystals with size in the range of 15–20 nm. Ferrous ions are doped into the hierarchical architecture by a reduction route. The Fe 2+ /TiO 2 catalyst demonstrates an effective removal of Cr(VI) from water under UV light and the removal effectiveness reaches 99.3% at the initial Cr(VI) concentration of 10 mg L −1 . The ferrous ion in the catalyst serves not as the photo-electron trap but as an intermedium of a two-step reduction. The TiO 2 photoreduces the Fe 2+ ions to Fe atoms firstly, then the Fe atoms reduce the Cr(VI) to Cr(III), and the later is removed by adsorption. The hierarchical architecture of the catalyst serves as a reactor for the photocatalytic reaction of Cr(VI) ions and an effective absorbent for the removal of Cr(III) ions. The catalyst can be easily magnetically separated from the wastewater after photocatalytic reaction and recycled after acid treatment.

  8. Hierarchical model generation for architecture reconstruction using laser-scanned point clouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Xiaojuan; Wang, Yinghui; Zhang, Xiaopeng

    2014-06-01

    Architecture reconstruction using terrestrial laser scanner is a prevalent and challenging research topic. We introduce an automatic, hierarchical architecture generation framework to produce full geometry of architecture based on a novel combination of facade structures detection, detailed windows propagation, and hierarchical model consolidation. Our method highlights the generation of geometric models automatically fitting the design information of the architecture from sparse, incomplete, and noisy point clouds. First, the planar regions detected in raw point clouds are interpreted as three-dimensional clusters. Then, the boundary of each region extracted by projecting the points into its corresponding two-dimensional plane is classified to obtain detailed shape structure elements (e.g., windows and doors). Finally, a polyhedron model is generated by calculating the proposed local structure model, consolidated structure model, and detailed window model. Experiments on modeling the scanned real-life buildings demonstrate the advantages of our method, in which the reconstructed models not only correspond to the information of architectural design accurately, but also satisfy the requirements for visualization and analysis.

  9. A novel snowflake-like SnO2 hierarchical architecture with superior gas sensing properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yanqiong

    2018-02-01

    Snowflake-like SnO2 hierarchical architecture has been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method and followed by calcination. The SnO2 hierarchical structures are assembled with thin nanoflakes blocks, which look like snowflake shape. A possible mechanism for the formation of the SnO2 hierarchical structures is speculated. Moreover, gas sensing tests show that the sensor based on snowflake-like SnO2 architectures exhibited excellent gas sensing properties. The enhancement may be attributed to its unique structures, in which the porous feature on the snowflake surface could further increase the active surface area of the materials and provide facile pathways for the target gas.

  10. Effects of different petal thickness on gas sensing properties of flower-like WO3·H2O hierarchical architectures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeng, Wen; Zhang, He; Wang, Zhongchang

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: In this work, we prepare four different petal thicknesses of hierarchical WO 3 ·H 2 O architectures via a simple hydrothermal process, and systematically report their formation mechanisms and gas-sensing properties. - Highlights: • Flower-like WO 3 ·H 2 O architectures with different petal thickness were reported. • The WO 3 ·H 2 O sheet-flower sensor shows a significantly enhanced gas response. • A possible growth mechanism for the flower-like architectures is proposed. - Abstract: Hierarchical architectures consisting of two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures are of great interest for potential use in recent year. Here, we report the successful synthesis of four hierarchical tungsten oxide flower-like architectures via a simple yet facile hydrothermal method. The as-prepared WO 3 ·H 2 O hierarchical architectures are in fact assembled with numerous nanosheets or nanoplates. Through a comprehensive characterization of microstructures and morphologies of the as-prepared products, we find that petal thickness is a key factor for affecting gas-sensing performances. We further propose a possible growth mechanism for the four flower-like architectures. Moreover, gas-sensing measurements showed that the well-defined sheet-flower WO 3 ·H 2 O hierarchical architectures exhibited the excellent gas-sensing properties to ethanol owing to their largest amount of thin petal structures and pores

  11. Bio-Derived Hierarchical 3D Architecture from Seeds for Supercapacitor Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Intawin, Pratthana; Sayed, Farheen N.; Pengpat, Kamonpan; Joyner, Jarin; Tiwary, Chandra Sekhar; Ajayan, Pulickel M.

    2017-09-01

    The generation and storage of green energy (energy from abundant and nonfossil) is important for a sustainable and clean future. The electrode material in a supercapacitor is a major component. The properties of these materials depend on its inherent architecture and composition. Here, we have chosen sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds with a completely different structure to obtain a carbonaceous product. The product obtained from sunflower seed carbon is a three-dimensional hierarchical macroporous carbon (SSC) composed of many granular nanocrystals of potassium magnesium phosphate dispersed in a matrix. Contrary to this, carbon from pumpkin seeds (PSC) is revealed to be a more rigid structure, with no porous or ordered morphology. The electrochemical supercapacitive behavior was assessed by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge tests. Electrochemical measurements showed that the SSC shows a high specific capacitance of 24.9 Fg-1 as compared with that obtained (2.46 Fg-1) for PSC with a cycling efficiency of 87% and 89%, respectively. On high-temperature cycling for 500 charge-discharge cycles at 0.1 Ag-1, an improved cycling efficiency of 100% and 98% for SSC and PSC, respectively, is observed.

  12. Multi-layered hierarchical nanostructures for transparent monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passoni, Luca; Fumagalli, Francesco; Perego, Andrea; Bellani, Sebastiano; Mazzolini, Piero; Di Fonzo, Fabio

    2017-06-01

    Monolithic dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) architectures hold great potential for building-integrated photovoltaics applications. They indeed benefit from lower weight and manufacturing costs as they avoid the use of a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass counter electrode. In this work, a transparent monolithic DSC comprising a hierarchical 1D nanostructure stack is fabricated by physical vapor deposition techniques. The proof of concept device comprises hyperbranched TiO2 nanostructures, sensitized by the prototypical N719, as photoanode, a hierarchical nanoporous Al2O3 spacer, and a microporous indium tin oxide (ITO) top electrode. An overall 3.12% power conversion efficiency with 60% transmittance outside the dye absorption spectral window is demonstrated. The introduction of a porous TCO layer allows an efficient trade-off between transparency and power conversion. The porous ITO exhibits submicrometer voids and supports annealing temperatures above 400 °C without compromising its optoelectronical properties. After thermal annealing at 500 °C, the resistivity, mobility, and carrier concentration of the 800 nm-thick porous ITO layer are found to be respectively 2.3 × 10-3 Ω cm-1, 11 cm2 V-1 s-1, and 1.62 × 1020 cm-3, resulting in a series resistance in the complete device architecture of 45 Ω. Electrochemical impedance and intensity-modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy give insight into the electronic charge dynamic within the hierarchical monolithic DSCs, paving the way for potential device architecture improvements.

  13. In situ deposition of hierarchical architecture assembly from Sn-filled CNTs for lithium-ion batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Xiaoyu; Jiang, Hao; Hu, Yanjie; Li, Yunfeng; Huo, Junchao; Li, Chunzhong

    2013-07-24

    In this paper, we have demonstrated a hierarchical architecture assembly from Sn-filled CNTs, which was in situ deposited on Cu foils to form binder-free electrode by incorporating flame aerosol deposition (FAD) with chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes. The reversible capacity of Sn-filled CNTs hierarchical architecture anode exhibited above 1000 mA h g(-1) before 30th cycle and stabilized at 437 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g(-1). Even at as high as 2 A g(-1), the capacity still maintained 429 mA h g(-1). The desirable cycling life and rate capacities performance were attributed to great confinement of tin in the interior of CNTs and the superior conducting network constructed by the 3D hierarchical architecture. The novel, rapid and scalable synthetic route was designed to prepare binder-free electrode with high electrochemical performance and avoid long-time mixing of active materials, binder, and carbon black, which is expected to be one of promising preparation of Sn/C anodes in lithium-ion batteries.

  14. SETH: A Hierarchical, Agent-based Architecture for Smart Spaces

    OpenAIRE

    Marsá Maestre, Iván

    2008-01-01

    The ultimate goal of any smart environment is to release users from the tasks they usually perform to achieve comfort, efficiency, and service personalization. To achieve this goal, we propose to use multiagent systems. In this report we describe the SETH architectur: a hierarchical, agent-based solution intended to be applicable to different smart space scenarios, ranging from small environments, like smart homes or smart offices, to large smart spaces like cities.

  15. Bioinspired fabrication of magneto-optic hierarchical architecture by hydrothermal process from butterfly wing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng Wenhong; Hu Xiaobin; Zhang Di

    2011-01-01

    We developed a green solution to incorporate nano-Fe 3 O 4 into the hierarchical architecture of a natural butterfly wing, thus obtaining unique magneto-optic nanocomposites with otherwise unavailable photonic features. Morphological characterization and Fourier Transform Infrared-Raman Spectroscope measurements indicate the assembly of Fe 3 O 4 nanocrystallites. The magnetic and optical responses of Fe 3 O 4 /wing show a coupling effect between the biological structure and magnetic material. The saturation magnetization and coercivity values of the as-prepared magneto-optic architecture varied with change of subtle structure. Such a combination of nano-Fe 3 O 4 and natural butterfly wing might create novel magneto-optic properties, and the relevant ideas could inspire the investigation of magneto-optical devices. - Highlights: → We develop a green, easy controlled hydrothermal process to synthesize magnetite hierarchical architecture. → The optical response of Fe 3 O 4 /wing exhibits a coupling effect between the structure and material. → The saturation magnetization value is mediated by shape anisotropy and the stress of different subtle structure, which has provided unique insights into studying the mysterious magnetic property of magnetite.

  16. Hierarchical Control Architecture for Demand Response in Smart Grid Scenario

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhattarai, Bishnu Prasad; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte; Mahat, Pukar

    2013-01-01

    , a number of issues, including DR enabling technologies, control strategy, and control architecture, are still under discussion. This paper outlines novel control requirements based on the categorization of existing DR techniques. More specifically, the roles and responsibilities of smart grid actors...... effective tool for optimum asset utilization and to avoid or delay the need for new infrastructure investment. Furthermore, most of the power networks are under the process of reconfiguration to realize the concept of smart grid and are at the transforming stage to support various forms of DR. However...... for every DR category are allotted and their mode of interactions to coordinate individual as well as coordinative goals is described. Next, hierarchical control architecture (HCA) is developed for the overall coordination of control strategies for individual DR categories. The involved issues are discussed...

  17. Mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO2) with hierarchically 3D dendrimeric architectures: formation mechanism and highly enhanced photocatalytic activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiao-Yun; Chen, Li-Hua; Rooke, Joanna Claire; Deng, Zhao; Hu, Zhi-Yi; Wang, Shao-Zhuan; Wang, Li; Li, Yu; Krief, Alain; Su, Bao-Lian

    2013-03-15

    Mesoporous TiO(2) with a hierarchically 3D dendrimeric nanostructure comprised of nanoribbon building units has been synthesized via a spontaneous self-formation process from various titanium alkoxides. These hierarchically 3D dendrimeric architectures can be obtained by a very facile, template-free method, by simply dropping a titanium butoxide precursor into methanol solution. The novel configuration of the mesoporous TiO(2) nanostructure in nanoribbon building units yields a high surface area. The calcined samples show significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity and degradation rates owing to the mesoporosity and their improved crystallinity after calcination. Furthermore, the 3D dendrimeric architectures can be preserved after phase transformation from amorphous TiO(2) to anatase or rutile, which occurs during calcination. In addition, the spontaneous self-formation process of mesoporous TiO(2) with hierarchically 3D dendrimeric architectures from the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of titanium butoxide in methanol has been followed by in situ optical microscopy (OM), revealing the secret on the formation of hierarchically 3D dendrimeric nanostructures. Moreover, mesoporous TiO(2) nanostructures with similar hierarchically 3D dendrimeric architectures can also be obtained using other titanium alkoxides. The porosities and nanostructures of the resultant products were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, and N(2) adsorption-desorption measurements. The present work provides a facile and reproducible method for the synthesis of novel mesoporous TiO(2) nanoarchitectures, which in turn could herald the fabrication of more efficient photocatalysts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Hierarchical Communication Network Architectures for Offshore Wind Power Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed A. Ahmed

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, large-scale wind power farms (WPFs bring new challenges for both electric systems and communication networks. Communication networks are an essential part of WPFs because they provide real-time control and monitoring of wind turbines from a remote location (local control center. However, different wind turbine applications have different requirements in terms of data volume, latency, bandwidth, QoS, etc. This paper proposes a hierarchical communication network architecture that consist of a turbine area network (TAN, farm area network (FAN, and control area network (CAN for offshore WPFs. The two types of offshore WPFs studied are small-scale WPFs close to the grid and medium-scale WPFs far from the grid. The wind turbines are modelled based on the logical nodes (LN concepts of the IEC 61400-25 standard. To keep pace with current developments in wind turbine technology, the network design takes into account the extension of the LNs for both the wind turbine foundation and meteorological measurements. The proposed hierarchical communication network is based on Switched Ethernet. Servers at the control center are used to store and process the data received from the WPF. The network architecture is modelled and evaluated via OPNET. We investigated the end-to-end (ETE delay for different WPF applications. The results are validated by comparing the amount of generated sensing data with that of received traffic at servers. The network performance is evaluated, analyzed and discussed in view of end-to-end (ETE delay for different link bandwidths.

  19. A Bayesian Approach to Model Selection in Hierarchical Mixtures-of-Experts Architectures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanner, Martin A.; Peng, Fengchun; Jacobs, Robert A.

    1997-03-01

    There does not exist a statistical model that shows good performance on all tasks. Consequently, the model selection problem is unavoidable; investigators must decide which model is best at summarizing the data for each task of interest. This article presents an approach to the model selection problem in hierarchical mixtures-of-experts architectures. These architectures combine aspects of generalized linear models with those of finite mixture models in order to perform tasks via a recursive "divide-and-conquer" strategy. Markov chain Monte Carlo methodology is used to estimate the distribution of the architectures' parameters. One part of our approach to model selection attempts to estimate the worth of each component of an architecture so that relatively unused components can be pruned from the architecture's structure. A second part of this approach uses a Bayesian hypothesis testing procedure in order to differentiate inputs that carry useful information from nuisance inputs. Simulation results suggest that the approach presented here adheres to the dictum of Occam's razor; simple architectures that are adequate for summarizing the data are favored over more complex structures. Copyright 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

  20. Distributed hierarchical control architecture for integrating smart grid assets during normal and disrupted operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalsi, Karan; Fuller, Jason C.; Somani, Abhishek; Pratt, Robert G.; Chassin, David P.; Hammerstrom, Donald J.

    2017-09-12

    Disclosed herein are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for facilitating operation and control of a resource distribution system (such as a power grid). Among the disclosed embodiments is a distributed hierarchical control architecture (DHCA) that enables smart grid assets to effectively contribute to grid operations in a controllable manner, while helping to ensure system stability and equitably rewarding their contribution. Embodiments of the disclosed architecture can help unify the dispatch of these resources to provide both market-based and balancing services.

  1. Distributed Smart Decision-Making for a Multimicrogrid System Based on a Hierarchical Interactive Architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marzband, Mousa; Parhizi, Narges; Savaghebi, Mehdi

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, a comprehensive real-time interactive EMS framework for the utility and multiple electrically-coupled MGs is proposed. A hierarchical bi-level control scheme-BLCS with primary and secondary level controllers is applied in this regard. The proposed hierarchical architecture consists...... are treated as uncertainties in the proposed structure. In order to handle the uncertainties, Taguchi0s orthogonal array testing-TOAT approach is utilized. Then, the shortage or surplus of the MGs power should be submitted to a central EMS-CEMS in the secondary-level. In order to validate the proposed control...

  2. Synthesis of WO3 flower-like hierarchical architectures and their sensing properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meng, Dan; Wang, Guosheng; San, Xiaoguang; Song, Yinmin; Shen, Yanbai; Zhang, Yajing; Wang, Kangjun; Meng, Fanli

    2015-01-01

    WO 3 flower-like hierarchical architectures were synthesized by hydrothermal process using sodium tungstate (Na 2 WO 4 ·2H 2 O) as tungsten source and citric acid (CA) as an assistant agent. The morphology and crystal structure were investigated using scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer. It is found that CA played a significant role in governing morphologies of product during hydrothermal process. The obtained products were identified as triclinic crystal WO 3 structure. The ethanol gas sensing measurements showed that well-defined WO 3 flower-like structures synthesized at CA/W molar ratio of 1 with large specific surface area exhibited the higher responses compared with others at all operating temperatures. Moreover, the reversible and fast response to ethanol gas at various gas concentrations and good selectivity were obtained. The results indicated that the WO 3 flower-like hierarchical architectures are promising materials for gas sensors. - Highlights: • WO 3 flower-like structures were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. • The effect of citric acid amount on morphologies was investigated. • Good ethanol gas sensing properties of WO 3 flower-like structures were obtained

  3. Energy Management Systems and tertiary regulation in hierarchical control architectures for islanded micro-grids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanseverino, Eleonora Riva; Di Silvestre, Maria Luisa; Quang, Ninh Nguyen

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, the structure of the highest level of a hierarchical control architecture for micro-grids is proposed. Such structure includes two sub-levels: the Energy Management System, EMS, and the tertiary regulation. The first devoted to energy resources allocation in each time slot based...

  4. Co3O4 based non-enzymatic glucose sensor with high sensitivity and reliable stability derived from hollow hierarchical architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Liangliang; He, Gege; Cai, Yanhua; Wu, Shenping; Su, Yongyao; Yan, Hengqing; Yang, Cong; Chen, Yanling; Li, Lu

    2018-02-01

    Inspired by kinetics, the design of hollow hierarchical electrocatalysts through large-scale integration of building blocks is recognized as an effective approach to the achievement of superior electrocatalytic performance. In this work, a hollow, hierarchical Co3O4 architecture (Co3O4 HHA) was constructed using a coordinated etching and precipitation (CEP) method followed by calcination. The resulting Co3O4 HHA electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity in terms of high sensitivity (839.3 μA mM-1 cm-2) and reliable stability in glucose detection. The high sensitivity could be attributed to the large specific surface area (SSA), ample unimpeded penetration diffusion paths and high electron transfer rate originating from the unique two-dimensional (2D) sheet-like character and hollow porous architecture. The hollow hierarchical structure also affords sufficient interspace for accommodation of volume change and structural strain, resulting in enhanced stability. The results indicate that Co3O4 HHA could have potential for application in the design of non-enzymatic glucose sensors, and that the construction of hollow hierarchical architecture provides an efficient way to design highly active, stable electrocatalysts.

  5. Preparation of 3D flower-like NiO hierarchical architectures and their electrochemical properties in lithium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Qing; Chen, Yuejiao; Yang, Ting; Lei, Danni; Zhang, Guanhua; Mei, Lin; Chen, Libao; Li, Qiuhong; Wang, Taihong

    2013-01-01

    3D flower-like NiO hierarchical architectures have been synthesized by a simple ethanolamine (EA)-mediated self-assembly route and subsequent calcination process. The synthesized β-Ni(OH) 2 precursors annealed at 300, 400 and 500 °C exhibit similar morphology by scanning electron microscopy and different crystallinity, surface area, and pore distribution via X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The electrochemical properties indicate that the synthesized NiO hierarchical architectures annealed at 300 °C show the best electrochemical performance, which presents a reversible specific capacity of 713 mAh g −1 at a current density of 100 mA g −1 after 40 cycles. With varying the rate from 100 to 1000 mA g −1 , the capacity still remains 580 mAh g −1 at 500 mA g −1 after 18 cycles and resumes to 470 mAh g −1 at the same rate after 30 cycles. The above results indicate that the 3D flower-like NiO hierarchical architectures are promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries

  6. Formation of 1D hierarchical structures composed of Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets on CNTs backbone for supercapacitors and photocatalytic H{sub 2} production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Ting; Wu, Hao Bin; Wang, Yabo; Xu, Rong; Lou, Xiong Wen [David] [School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 70 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637457 (Singapore)

    2012-12-15

    One-dimensional (1D) hierarchical structures composed of Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets grown on carbon nanotube (CNT) backbone (denoted as CNT rate at Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2}) are fabricated by a rational multi-step transformation route. The first step involves coating the CNT backbone with a layer of silica to form CNT rate at SiO{sub 2}, which serves as the substrate for the growth of nickel silicate (NiSilicate) nanosheets in the second step to form CNT rate at SiO{sub 2} rate at NiSilicate core-double shell 1D structures. Finally the as-formed CNT rate at SiO{sub 2} rate at NiSilicate 1D structures are converted into CNT-supported Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets via hydrothermal treatment in the presence of Na{sub 2}S. Simultaneously the intermediate silica layer is eliminated during the hydrothermal treatment, leading to the formation of CNT rate at Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanostructures. Because of the unique hybrid nano-architecture, the as-prepared 1D hierarchical structure is shown to exhibit excellent performance in both supercapacitors and photocatalytic H{sub 2} production. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  7. Hierarchical Surface Architecture of Plants as an Inspiration for Biomimetic Fog Collectors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azad, M A K; Barthlott, W; Koch, K

    2015-12-08

    Fog collectors can enable us to alleviate the water crisis in certain arid regions of the world. A continuous fog-collection cycle consisting of a persistent capture of fog droplets and their fast transport to the target is a prerequisite for developing an efficient fog collector. In regard to this topic, a biological superior design has been found in the hierarchical surface architecture of barley (Hordeum vulgare) awns. We demonstrate here the highly wettable (advancing contact angle 16° ± 2.7 and receding contact angle 9° ± 2.6) barbed (barb = conical structure) awn as a model to develop optimized fog collectors with a high fog-capturing capability, an effective water transport, and above all an efficient fog collection. We compare the fog-collection efficiency of the model sample with other plant samples naturally grown in foggy habitats that are supposed to be very efficient fog collectors. The model sample, consisting of dry hydrophilized awns (DH awns), is found to be about twice as efficient (fog-collection rate 563.7 ± 23.2 μg/cm(2) over 10 min) as any other samples investigated under controlled experimental conditions. Finally, a design based on the hierarchical surface architecture of the model sample is proposed for the development of optimized biomimetic fog collectors.

  8. Supervisory control in a distributed, hierarchical architecture for a multimodular LMR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otaduy, P.J.; Brittain, C.R.; Rovere, L.A.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the directions and present status of the research in supervisory control for multimodular nuclear plants being conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of US Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Controls Program. First, the hierarchical supervisory control structure envisioned for a Power Reactor Inherently Safe Module (PRISM) multimodular LMR is discussed. Next, the architecture of the supervisory module closest to the process actuators and its implementation for demonstration in a network of CPU's are presented. 12 refs., 3 figs

  9. Constructing hierarchical porous nanospheres for versatile microwave response approaches: the effect of architectural design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quan, Bin; Liang, Xiaohui; Yi, Heng; Gong, He; Ji, Guangbin; Chen, Jiabin; Xu, Guoyue; Du, Youwei

    2017-10-24

    Owing to their immense potential in functionalized applications, tremendous interest has been devoted to the design and synthesis of nanostructures. The introduction of sufficient amount of microwaves into the absorbers on the premise that the dissipation capacity is strong enough remains a key challenge. Pursuing a general methodology to overcome the incompatibility is of great importance. There is widespread interest in designing the materials with specific architectures. Herein, the common absorber candidates were chosen to feature the hierarchical porous Fe 3 O 4 @C@Fe 3 O 4 nanospheres. Due to the reduced skin effect (induced by low-conductivity Fe 3 O 4 outer layer), multiple interfacial polarizations and scattering (due to the ternary hierarchical structures and nanoporous inner core) as well as the improved magnetic dissipation ability (because of multiple magnetic components), the material design enabled a promising microwave absorption performance. This study not only illustrates the primary mechanisms for the improved microwave absorption performance but also underscores the potential in designing the particular architectures as a strategy for achieving the compatibility characteristics.

  10. Controlled lecithin release from a hierarchical architecture on blood-contacting surface to reduce hemolysis of stored red blood cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Qiang; Fan, Qunfu; Ye, Wei; Hou, Jianwen; Wong, Shing-Chung; Xu, Xiaodong; Yin, Jinghua

    2014-06-25

    Hemolysis of red blood cells (RBCs) caused by implant devices in vivo and nonpolyvinyl chloride containers for RBC preservation in vitro has recently gained much attention. To develop blood-contacting biomaterials with long-term antihemolysis capability, we present a facile method to construct a hydrophilic, 3D hierarchical architecture on the surface of styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene elastomer (SEBS) with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/lecithin nano/microfibers. The strategy is based on electrospinning of PEO/lecithin fibers onto the surface of poly [poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] [P(PEGMEMA)]-modified SEBS, which renders SEBS suitable for RBC storage in vitro. We demonstrate that the constructed 3D architecture is composed of hydrophilic micro- and nanofibers, which transforms to hydrogel networks immediately in blood; the controlled release of lecithin is achieved by gradual dissolution of PEO/lecithin hydrogels, and the interaction of lecithin with RBCs maintains the membrane flexibility and normal RBC shape. Thus, the blood-contacting surface reduces both mechanical and oxidative damage to RBC membranes, resulting in low hemolysis of preserved RBCs. This work not only paves new way to fabricate high hemocompatible biomaterials for RBC storage in vitro, but provides basic principles to design and develop antihemolysis biomaterials for implantation in vivo.

  11. Self-Assembled 3D Flower-Like Hierarchical β-Ni(OH2Hollow Architectures and their In Situ Thermal Conversion to NiO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liao Gui-Hong

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Three-dimensional (3D flower-like hierarchicalβ-Ni(OH2hollow architectures were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route. The as-obtained products were well characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM (HRTEM, SAED, and DSC-TGA. It was shown that the 3D flower-like hierarchicalβ-Ni(OH2hollow architectures with a diameter of several micrometers are assembled from nanosheets with a thickness of 10–20 nm and a width of 0.5–2.5 μm. A rational mechanism of formation was proposed on the basis of a range of contrasting experiments. 3D flower-like hierarchical NiO hollow architectures with porous structure were obtained after thermal decomposition at appropriate temperatures. UV–Vis spectra reveal that the band gap of the as-synthesized NiO samples was about 3.57 eV, exhibiting obviously red shift compared with the bulk counterpart.

  12. Complex and hierarchical micelle architectures from diblock copolymers using living, crystallization-driven polymerizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gädt, Torben; Ieong, Nga Sze; Cambridge, Graeme; Winnik, Mitchell A; Manners, Ian

    2009-02-01

    Block copolymers consist of two or more chemically distinct polymer segments, or blocks, connected by a covalent link. In a selective solvent for one of the blocks, core-corona micelle structures are formed. We demonstrate that living polymerizations driven by the epitaxial crystallization of a core-forming metalloblock represent a synthetic tool that can be used to generate complex and hierarchical micelle architectures from diblock copolymers. The use of platelet micelles as initiators enables the formation of scarf-like architectures in which cylindrical micelle tassels of controlled length are grown from specific crystal faces. A similar process enables the fabrication of brushes of cylindrical micelles on a crystalline homopolymer substrate. Living polymerizations driven by heteroepitaxial growth can also be accomplished and are illustrated by the formation of tri- and pentablock and scarf architectures with cylinder-cylinder and platelet-cylinder connections, respectively, that involve different core-forming metalloblocks.

  13. Fabrication of TiO{sub 2} hierarchical architecture assembled by nanowires with anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qiu, Yong; Ouyang, Feng, E-mail: ouyangfh@hit.edu.cn

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • H-titanate nanowires hierarchical architectures (TNH) were prepared by a hydrothermal method. • Calcinations of TNH leads to the formation of anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions. • The hierarchical architecture offered enhanced light harvesting and large specific surface area. • The 1D nanowires and anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions both can enhance the separation of photoinduced electron-hole. • The products calcined at the optimum conditions (450 °C) exhibited a maximum hydrogenproduction rate of 7808 μmol g{sup −1} h{sup −1}. - Abstract: TiO{sub 2} hierarchical architecture assembled by nanowires with anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions was prepared by a hydrothermal process followed by calcinations. The optimum calcination treatment (450 °C) not only led to the formation of anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions, but also kept the morphology of 1D nanowire and hierarchical architecture well. The T-450 load 0.5 wt% Pt cocatalysts showed the best photocatalytic hydrogen production activity, with a maximum hydrogen production rate of 7808 μmol g{sup −1} h{sup −1}. The high photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the combined effects of the following three factors: (1) the hierarchical architecture exhibits better light harvesting; (2) the larger specific surface area provides more surface active sites for the photocatalytic reaction; (3) the 1D nanowires and anatase/TiO{sub 2}(B) phase-junctions both can enhance the separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and inhibit their recombination.

  14. Hierarchically organized architecture of potassium hydrogen phthalate and poly(acrylic acid): toward a general strategy for biomimetic crystal design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oaki, Yuya; Imai, Hiroaki

    2005-12-28

    A hierarchically organized architecture in multiple scales was generated from potassium hydrogen phthalate crystals and poly(acrylic acid) based on our novel biomimetic approach with an exquisite association of polymers on crystallization.

  15. Construction of a Hierarchical Architecture of Covalent Organic Frameworks via a Postsynthetic Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Gen; Tsujimoto, Masahiko; Packwood, Daniel; Duong, Nghia Tuan; Nishiyama, Yusuke; Kadota, Kentaro; Kitagawa, Susumu; Horike, Satoshi

    2018-02-21

    Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) represent an emerging class of crystalline porous materials that are constructed by the assembly of organic building blocks linked via covalent bonds. Several strategies have been developed for the construction of new COF structures; however, a facile approach to fabricate hierarchical COF architectures with controlled domain structures remains a significant challenge, and has not yet been achieved. In this study, a dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC)-based postsynthetic approach was employed at the solid-liquid interface to construct such structures. Two-dimensional imine-bonded COFs having different aromatic groups were prepared, and a homogeneously mixed-linker structure and a heterogeneously core-shell hollow structure were fabricated by controlling the reactivity of the postsynthetic reactions. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the structures. COFs prepared by a postsynthetic approach exhibit several functional advantages compared with their parent phases. Their Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas are 2-fold greater than those of their parent phases because of the higher crystallinity. In addition, the hydrophilicity of the material and the stepwise adsorption isotherms of H 2 O vapor in the hierarchical frameworks were precisely controlled, which was feasible because of the distribution of various domains of the two COFs by controlling the postsynthetic reaction. The approach opens new routes for constructing COF architectures with functionalities that are not possible in a single phase.

  16. A novel 3D structure composed of strings of hierarchical TiO{sub 2} spheres formed on TiO{sub 2} nanobelts with high photocatalytic properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jiang, Yongjian [State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, School of Renewable Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China); Li, Meicheng, E-mail: mcli@ncepu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, School of Renewable Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China); Suzhou Institute, North China Electric Power University, Suzhou 215123 (China); Song, Dandan; Li, Xiaodan; Yu, Yue [State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, School of Renewable Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China)

    2014-03-15

    A novel hierarchical titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) composite nanostructure with strings of anatase TiO{sub 2} hierarchical micro-spheres and rutile nanobelts framework (TiO{sub 2} HSN) is successfully synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method. Particularly, the strings of hierarchical spheres are assembled by very thin TiO{sub 2} nanosheets, which are composed of highly crystallized anatase nanocrystals. Meanwhile, the HSN has a large surface area of 191 m{sup 2}/g, which is about 3 times larger than Degussa P25. More importantly, the photocatalytic activity of HSN and P25 were evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation decomposition of methyl orange (MO) under UV light illumination, and the TiO{sub 2} HSN shows enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with Degussa P25, as result of its continuous hierarchical structures, special conductive channel and large specific surface area. With these features, the hierarchical TiO{sub 2} may have more potential applications in the fields of dye-sensitized solar cells and lithium ion batteries. -- Graphical abstract: Novel TiO{sub 2} with anatase micro-spheres and rutile nanobelts is synthesized. Enhanced photocatalysis is attributed to hierarchical structures (3D spheres), conductive channel (1D nanobelts) and large specific surface area (2D nanosheet). Highlights: • The novel TiO{sub 2} nanostructure (HSN) is fabricated for the first time. • HSN is composed of strings of anatase hierarchical spheres and rutile nanobelt. • HSN presents a larger S{sub BET} of 191 m{sup 2}/g, 3 times larger than the Degussa P25 (59 m{sup 2}/g). • HSN owns three kinds of dimensional TiO{sub 2} (1D, 2D and 3D) simultaneously. • HSN exhibits better photocatalytic performance compared with Degussa P25.

  17. Towards Sustainable Smart Homes by a Hierarchical Hybrid Architecture of an Intelligent Agent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Yang

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available A smart home can be realized by the provision of services, such as building control, automation and security implemented in accordance with a user’s request. One of the important issues is how to respond quickly and appropriately to a user’s request in a “dynamic environment”. An intelligent agent infers the user’s intention and provides the intact service. This paper proposes a smart home agent system based on a hierarchical hybrid architecture of a user intention model, which models the user intention as a hierarchical structure and implements it in a dynamic environment. The conventional rule-based approach needs to obtain all information before it is executed, which requires a large number of rules and is hardly scalable as the control objects are increasing. On the other hand, the proposed system consists of several modules that construct a hierarchical user intention model. The smart home system needs to take account of the information, such as time, state of device and state of the home, in addition to users’ intention. We evaluate the performance of the proposed system in a dynamic environment and conduct a blind test with seven subjects to measure the satisfaction of service, resulting in the average score of 81.46.

  18. Chitin/clay microspheres with hierarchical architecture for highly efficient removal of organic dyes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Rui; Mao, Jie; Peng, Na; Luo, Xiaogang; Chang, Chunyu

    2018-05-15

    Numerous adsorbents have been reported for efficient removal of dye from water, but the high cost raw materials and complicated fabrication process limit their practical applications. Herein, novel nanocomposite microspheres were fabricated from chitin and clay by a simple thermally induced sol-gel transition. Clay nanosheets were uniformly embedded in a nanofiber weaved chitin microsphere matrix, leading to their hierarchical architecture. Benefiting from this unique structure, microspheres could efficiently remove methylene blue (MB) through a spontaneous physic-sorption process which fit well with pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models. The maximal values of adsorption capability obtained by calculation and experiment were 152.2 and 156.7 mg g -1 , respectively. Chitin/clay microspheres (CCM2) could remove 99.99% MB from its aqueous solution (10 mg g -1 ) within 20 min. These findings provide insight into a new strategy for fabrication of dye adsorbents with hierarchical structure from low cost raw materials. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Parallel-hierarchical processing and classification of laser beam profile images based on the GPU-oriented architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yarovyi, Andrii A.; Timchenko, Leonid I.; Kozhemiako, Volodymyr P.; Kokriatskaia, Nataliya I.; Hamdi, Rami R.; Savchuk, Tamara O.; Kulyk, Oleksandr O.; Surtel, Wojciech; Amirgaliyev, Yedilkhan; Kashaganova, Gulzhan

    2017-08-01

    The paper deals with a problem of insufficient productivity of existing computer means for large image processing, which do not meet modern requirements posed by resource-intensive computing tasks of laser beam profiling. The research concentrated on one of the profiling problems, namely, real-time processing of spot images of the laser beam profile. Development of a theory of parallel-hierarchic transformation allowed to produce models for high-performance parallel-hierarchical processes, as well as algorithms and software for their implementation based on the GPU-oriented architecture using GPGPU technologies. The analyzed performance of suggested computerized tools for processing and classification of laser beam profile images allows to perform real-time processing of dynamic images of various sizes.

  20. Parallel hierarchical radiosity rendering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carter, Michael [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    1993-07-01

    In this dissertation, the step-by-step development of a scalable parallel hierarchical radiosity renderer is documented. First, a new look is taken at the traditional radiosity equation, and a new form is presented in which the matrix of linear system coefficients is transformed into a symmetric matrix, thereby simplifying the problem and enabling a new solution technique to be applied. Next, the state-of-the-art hierarchical radiosity methods are examined for their suitability to parallel implementation, and scalability. Significant enhancements are also discovered which both improve their theoretical foundations and improve the images they generate. The resultant hierarchical radiosity algorithm is then examined for sources of parallelism, and for an architectural mapping. Several architectural mappings are discussed. A few key algorithmic changes are suggested during the process of making the algorithm parallel. Next, the performance, efficiency, and scalability of the algorithm are analyzed. The dissertation closes with a discussion of several ideas which have the potential to further enhance the hierarchical radiosity method, or provide an entirely new forum for the application of hierarchical methods.

  1. The Hi-Ring DCN Architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galili, Michael; Kamchevska, Valerija; Ding, Yunhong

    2016-01-01

    We will review recent work on the proposed hierarchical ring-based architecture (HiRing) proposed for data center networks. We will discuss the architecture and initial demonstrations of optical switching performance and time-domain synchronization......We will review recent work on the proposed hierarchical ring-based architecture (HiRing) proposed for data center networks. We will discuss the architecture and initial demonstrations of optical switching performance and time-domain synchronization...

  2. Effect of the sheet thickness of hierarchical SnO_2 on the gas sensing performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Wenlong; Zeng, Wen; BinMiao; Wang, Zhongchang

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • A unique flower-like SnO_2 hierarchical architecture assembled with nanosheets were successfully synthesized. • The thickness of the unique hierarchical nanoflowers was precisely controlled. • The nanoflowers composed of thinner nanosheets show a significantly enhanced gas sensing properties. • A possible growth mechanism for the unique hierarchical SnO_2 nanoflower assembled with nanosheets of different thickness is proposed. - Abstract: A unique hierarchical SnO_2 nanoflower was successfully synthesized via a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The nanoflower was analyzed in detail using X ray diffraction, field-emission electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. It was found that the nanoflowers are all assembled from nanosheets. The nanosheet thickness could be precisely controlled by tuning the dosage of NaOH. Gas sensing tests demonstrated that the thickness of the sheet significantly affects the gas sensing performance. The improved gas sensing properties are attributed to the thinned petals as well as their pores and defects. These results show that the thickness and morphology of hierarchical nanostructures affect the functionality of gas sensors.

  3. Hierarchical tailoring of strut architecture to control permeability of additive manufactured titanium implants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Z. [Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Jones, D. [School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L69 3GH (United Kingdom); Yue, S. [Manchester X-ray Imaging Facility, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Lee, P.D., E-mail: peter.lee@manchester.ac.uk [Manchester X-ray Imaging Facility, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Jones, J.R. [Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Sutcliffe, C.J. [School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L69 3GH (United Kingdom); Jones, E. [Department of Advanced Technology, Stryker Orthopaedics, Raheen Business Park, Limerick (Ireland)

    2013-10-15

    Porous titanium implants are a common choice for bone augmentation. Implants for spinal fusion and repair of non-union fractures must encourage blood flow after implantation so that there is sufficient cell migration, nutrient and growth factor transport to stimulate bone ingrowth. Additive manufacturing techniques allow a large number of pore network designs. This study investigates how the design factors offered by selective laser melting technique can be used to alter the implant architecture on multiple length scales to control and even tailor the flow. Permeability is a convenient parameter that characterises flow, correlating to structure openness (interconnectivity and pore window size), tortuosity and hence flow shear rates. Using experimentally validated computational simulations, we demonstrate how additive manufacturing can be used to tailor implant properties by controlling surface roughness at a microstructual level (microns), and by altering the strut ordering and density at a mesoscopic level (millimetre). Highlights: • Experimentally validated permeability prediction tools for hierarchical implants. • Randomised structures form preferential flow channels with stronger shear flows. • Hierarchical strut structures allow independent tailoring of flow and pore size.

  4. Hierarchical tailoring of strut architecture to control permeability of additive manufactured titanium implants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Z.; Jones, D.; Yue, S.; Lee, P.D.; Jones, J.R.; Sutcliffe, C.J.; Jones, E.

    2013-01-01

    Porous titanium implants are a common choice for bone augmentation. Implants for spinal fusion and repair of non-union fractures must encourage blood flow after implantation so that there is sufficient cell migration, nutrient and growth factor transport to stimulate bone ingrowth. Additive manufacturing techniques allow a large number of pore network designs. This study investigates how the design factors offered by selective laser melting technique can be used to alter the implant architecture on multiple length scales to control and even tailor the flow. Permeability is a convenient parameter that characterises flow, correlating to structure openness (interconnectivity and pore window size), tortuosity and hence flow shear rates. Using experimentally validated computational simulations, we demonstrate how additive manufacturing can be used to tailor implant properties by controlling surface roughness at a microstructual level (microns), and by altering the strut ordering and density at a mesoscopic level (millimetre). Highlights: • Experimentally validated permeability prediction tools for hierarchical implants. • Randomised structures form preferential flow channels with stronger shear flows. • Hierarchical strut structures allow independent tailoring of flow and pore size

  5. Hierarchical ZnO with twinned structure: Morphology evolution, formation mechanism and properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi, Ruixia; Song, Xueling; Li, Jia; Yang, Ping

    2015-01-01

    Various hierarchical ZnO architectures constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized via a trisodium citrate assisted hydrothermal method on a large scale. The probable formation mechanisms of hierarchical ZnO structures with twinned structure were proposed and discussed. The hierarchical ZnO with twinned structures are composed of two hemispheres with a center concave junction to join them together at their waists. The ZnO microspheres with rough surfaces were obtained when the concentration of trisodium citrate is 0.1 M. However, the football-like microspheres consisted of hexagonal nanosheets were formed when adding glycerol into the water, which should be attributed to the slower nucleation and growth rate of nanocrystals. The hamburger-like ZnO with different aspect ratio and nonuniform ZnO microspheres were generated due to the different quantity of initial nuclei and growth units when simply modulating the concentration of trisodium citrate. The surface area of football-like ZnO is about 3.51 times of microspheres composed of irregular particles. However their photocatalytic performances are similar under UV light irradiation, which indicates that pore sizes of the sample have more important influences on the photocatalytic activity. - Highlights: • Hierarchical ZnO constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized. • The formation mechanisms of ZnO with twinned structure were discussed. • Football-like microspheres were obtained due to the slower nucleation and growth. • Hamburger-like ZnO was formed due to the amount of initial nuclei and growth units. • Pore sizes have important effects on the photocatalytic activity of sample

  6. Hierarchical ZnO with twinned structure: Morphology evolution, formation mechanism and properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shi, Ruixia; Song, Xueling; Li, Jia; Yang, Ping, E-mail: mse_yangp@ujn.edu.cn

    2015-04-15

    Various hierarchical ZnO architectures constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized via a trisodium citrate assisted hydrothermal method on a large scale. The probable formation mechanisms of hierarchical ZnO structures with twinned structure were proposed and discussed. The hierarchical ZnO with twinned structures are composed of two hemispheres with a center concave junction to join them together at their waists. The ZnO microspheres with rough surfaces were obtained when the concentration of trisodium citrate is 0.1 M. However, the football-like microspheres consisted of hexagonal nanosheets were formed when adding glycerol into the water, which should be attributed to the slower nucleation and growth rate of nanocrystals. The hamburger-like ZnO with different aspect ratio and nonuniform ZnO microspheres were generated due to the different quantity of initial nuclei and growth units when simply modulating the concentration of trisodium citrate. The surface area of football-like ZnO is about 3.51 times of microspheres composed of irregular particles. However their photocatalytic performances are similar under UV light irradiation, which indicates that pore sizes of the sample have more important influences on the photocatalytic activity. - Highlights: • Hierarchical ZnO constructed by twinned structures have been synthesized. • The formation mechanisms of ZnO with twinned structure were discussed. • Football-like microspheres were obtained due to the slower nucleation and growth. • Hamburger-like ZnO was formed due to the amount of initial nuclei and growth units. • Pore sizes have important effects on the photocatalytic activity of sample.

  7. Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Hong; Wu, Tao

    2017-01-01

    The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced

  8. Design of hierarchical CuS/graphene architectures with enhanced lithium storage capability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ding, Caihua; Su, Dezhi [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China); Ma, Wenxian [State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083 (China); Zhao, Yongjie, E-mail: zhaoyjpeace@gmail.com [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China); Yan, Dong [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Li, Jingbo; Jin, Haibo [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China)

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • A delicate route was proposed for rational design of CuS/graphene composite. • Hierarchical CuS was composed of large amounts of well-arranged nanosheets. • The rationally designed structure of composite offered stable-hosts for Li{sup +} insertion. • The graphene constructed conductive paths and a network for fast transport of Li{sup +}. • The presence of the graphene in the composite reduced the dissolution of polysulfides. - Abstract: Metal-sulfides electrode materials usually suffer from poor cyclability and low rate capability in rechargeable batteries as a result of the pulverization of active materials and the loss of sulfur material induced by polysulfide dissolution. Herein, we reported a delicate and scalable route for rational design of CuS/graphene composites. Hierarchical CuS microparticles comprising of large amounts of self-assembled and well-arranged nanosheets uniformly mixed with flexible graphene layers. The obtained CuS/graphene electrodes exhibited high specific capacities, excellent cycling stability and desirable rate capability when being evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The high specific capacities of 568 mA h g{sup −1} after 100 cycles at 50 mA g{sup −1} and 143 mA h g{sup −1} at 1000 mA g{sup −1} (in rate testing) were achieved, suggesting a very promising candidate for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The rationally designed structures of the CuS/graphene composites offered stable-hosts for Li{sup +} insertion and alleviated the volume changes upon cycling. The presence of the graphene in composite not only constructed conductive paths and a network for fast transport of Li{sup +}, but also effectively reduced the dissolution of polysulfides into electrolyte. This graphene-based composite with hierarchical structure could be used as a safe, low-cost, and versatile material for extensively potential applications.

  9. Design of hierarchical CuS/graphene architectures with enhanced lithium storage capability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Caihua; Su, Dezhi; Ma, Wenxian; Zhao, Yongjie; Yan, Dong; Li, Jingbo; Jin, Haibo

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A delicate route was proposed for rational design of CuS/graphene composite. • Hierarchical CuS was composed of large amounts of well-arranged nanosheets. • The rationally designed structure of composite offered stable-hosts for Li + insertion. • The graphene constructed conductive paths and a network for fast transport of Li + . • The presence of the graphene in the composite reduced the dissolution of polysulfides. - Abstract: Metal-sulfides electrode materials usually suffer from poor cyclability and low rate capability in rechargeable batteries as a result of the pulverization of active materials and the loss of sulfur material induced by polysulfide dissolution. Herein, we reported a delicate and scalable route for rational design of CuS/graphene composites. Hierarchical CuS microparticles comprising of large amounts of self-assembled and well-arranged nanosheets uniformly mixed with flexible graphene layers. The obtained CuS/graphene electrodes exhibited high specific capacities, excellent cycling stability and desirable rate capability when being evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The high specific capacities of 568 mA h g −1 after 100 cycles at 50 mA g −1 and 143 mA h g −1 at 1000 mA g −1 (in rate testing) were achieved, suggesting a very promising candidate for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The rationally designed structures of the CuS/graphene composites offered stable-hosts for Li + insertion and alleviated the volume changes upon cycling. The presence of the graphene in composite not only constructed conductive paths and a network for fast transport of Li + , but also effectively reduced the dissolution of polysulfides into electrolyte. This graphene-based composite with hierarchical structure could be used as a safe, low-cost, and versatile material for extensively potential applications.

  10. Hierarchical architecture of ReS_2/rGO composites with enhanced electrochemical properties for lithium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi, Fei; Chen, Yuanfu; Zheng, Binjie; He, Jiarui; Li, Qian; Wang, Xinqiang; Lin, Jie; Zhou, Jinhao; Yu, Bo; Li, Pingjian; Zhang, Wanli

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The ReS_2/rGO composites have been synthesized by a facile one-pot method. • The ReS_2/rGO composites exhibit hierarchical architecture. • The ReS_2/rGO composites deliver better electrochemical performances than ReS_2. • The enhanced performance is due to porous and conductive structure of ReS_2/rGO. - Abstract: Rhenium disulfide (ReS_2), a two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, has attracted more and more attention due to its unique anisotropic electronic, optical, mechanical properties. However, the facile synthesis and electrochemical property of ReS_2 and its composite are still necessary to be researched. In this study, for the first time, the ReS_2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites have been synthesized through a facile and one-pot hydrothermal method. The ReS_2/rGO composites exhibit a hierarchical, interconnected, and porous architecture constructed by nanosheets. As anode for lithium-ion batteries, the as-synthesized ReS_2/rGO composites deliver a large initial capacity of 918 mAh g"−"1 at 0.2 C. In addition, the ReS_2/rGO composites exhibit much better electrochemical cycling stability and rate capability than that of bare ReS_2. The significant enhancement in electrochemical property can be attributed to its unique architecture constructed by nanosheets and porous structure, which can allow for easy electrolyte infiltration, efficient electron transfer, and ionic diffusion. Furthermore, the graphene with high electronic conductivity can provide good conductive passageways. The facile synthesis approach can be extended to prepare other 2D transition metal dichalcogenides semiconductors for energy storage and catalytic application.

  11. Virtual timers in hierarchical real-time systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heuvel, van den M.M.H.P.; Holenderski, M.J.; Cools, W.A.; Bril, R.J.; Lukkien, J.J.; Zhu, D.

    2009-01-01

    Hierarchical scheduling frameworks (HSFs) provide means for composing complex real-time systems from welldefined subsystems. This paper describes an approach to provide hierarchically scheduled real-time applications with virtual event timers, motivated by the need for integrating priority

  12. Free-standing Hierarchical Porous Assemblies of Commercial TiO_2 Nanocrystals and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes as High-performance Anode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xiong; Xu, Guobao; Xiao, Huaping; Wei, Xiaolin; Yang, Liwen

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Utilization of commercial nanomaterials to freestanding sodium electrode is demonstrated. • Free-standing electrodes composed of TiO_2 and MWCNTs are hierarchically porous. • Hierarchical porous architecture benefits charge transport and interfacial Na"+ adsorption. • Free-standing hierarchical porous electrodes exhibit superior Na storage performance. - Abstract: Freestanding hierarchical porous assemblies of commercial TiO_2 nanocrystals and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as electrode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) are prepared via modified vacuum filtration, free-drying and annealing. Microstructure characterizations reveal that TiO_2 nanocrystals are confined in hierarchically porous, highly electrically conductive and mechanically robust MWCNTs networks with cross-linking of thermally-treated bovine serum albumin. The hierarchical porous architecture not only enables rapid charge transportation and sufficient interaction between electrode and electrolyte, but also guarantees abundant interfacial sites for Na"+ adsorption, which benefits substantial contribution from pseudocapacitive Na storage. When it is used directly as an anode for sodium-ion batteries, the prepared electrode delivers high specific capacity of 100 mA h g"−"1 at a current density of 3000 mA g"−"1, and 150 mA h g"−"1 after 500 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g"−"1. The low-cost TiO_2-based freestanding anode has large potential application in high-performance SIBs for portable, flexible and wearable electronics.

  13. Hierarchical architectures TiO2: Pollen-inducted synthesis, remarkable crystalline-phase stability, tunable size, and reused photo-catalysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dou, Lingling; Gao, Lishuang; Yang, Xiaohui; Song, Xiuqin

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► The synthetic method is much milder and simpler than that of conventional methods. ► The obtained hierarchical TiO 2 shows three interesting hierarchical morphology. ► The products have tunable crystal phase structures. ► The pure phase of anatase can be retained after being annealed at 900 °C. ► The product exhibits higher and reused photo-catalytic activity. - Abstract: TiO 2 with hierarchical architectures, tunable crystalline phase and thermal stability is successfully fabricated on a large scale through a facile hydrolysis process of TiCl 4 combining with inducing of pollen. The structure of the as-prepared TiO 2 is characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results indicate that different phases (anatase, rutile or mixed crystallite) of TiO 2 can be synthesized by controlling the experimental conditions. The pure phase of rutile or anatase can be obtained at 100 °C, while the pure phase of anatase can be retained after being annealed at 900 °C. The hierarchical structures TiO 2 are constitute through self-assembly of nanoparticles or nanorods TiO 2 , which exhibit high and reused photo-catalytic properties for degradation of methylene blue.

  14. 3D Networked Tin Oxide/Graphene Aerogel with a Hierarchically Porous Architecture for High-Rate Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Xiuqiang; Chen, Shuangqiang; Sun, Bing; Wang, Chengyin; Wang, Guoxiu

    2015-09-07

    Low-cost and sustainable sodium-ion batteries are regarded as a promising technology for large-scale energy storage and conversion. The development of high-rate anode materials is highly desirable for sodium-ion batteries. The optimization of mass transport and electron transfer is crucial in the discovery of electrode materials with good high-rate performances. Herein, we report the synthesis of 3 D interconnected SnO2 /graphene aerogels with a hierarchically porous structure as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries. The unique 3 D architecture was prepared by a facile in situ process, during which cross-linked 3 D conductive graphene networks with macro-/meso-sized hierarchical pores were formed and SnO2 nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly on the graphene surface simultaneously. Such a 3 D functional architecture not only facilitates the electrode-electrolyte interaction but also provides an efficient electron pathway within the graphene networks. When applied as anode materials in sodium-ion batteries, the as-prepared SnO2 /graphene aerogel exhibited high reversible capacity, improved cycling performance compared to SnO2 , and promising high-rate capability. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Empirical Bayes Estimation of Semi-parametric Hierarchical Mixture Models for Unbiased Characterization of Polygenic Disease Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jo Nishino

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Genome-wide association studies (GWAS suggest that the genetic architecture of complex diseases consists of unexpectedly numerous variants with small effect sizes. However, the polygenic architectures of many diseases have not been well characterized due to lack of simple and fast methods for unbiased estimation of the underlying proportion of disease-associated variants and their effect-size distribution. Applying empirical Bayes estimation of semi-parametric hierarchical mixture models to GWAS summary statistics, we confirmed that schizophrenia was extremely polygenic [~40% of independent genome-wide SNPs are risk variants, most within odds ratio (OR = 1.03], whereas rheumatoid arthritis was less polygenic (~4 to 8% risk variants, significant portion reaching OR = 1.05 to 1.1. For rheumatoid arthritis, stratified estimations revealed that expression quantitative loci in blood explained large genetic variance, and low- and high-frequency derived alleles were prone to be risk and protective, respectively, suggesting a predominance of deleterious-risk and advantageous-protective mutations. Despite genetic correlation, effect-size distributions for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder differed across allele frequency. These analyses distinguished disease polygenic architectures and provided clues for etiological differences in complex diseases.

  16. Knowledge Uncertainty and Composed Classifier

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Klimešová, Dana; Ocelíková, E.

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 1, č. 2 (2007), s. 101-105 ISSN 1998-0140 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : Boosting architecture * contextual modelling * composed classifier * knowledge management, * knowledge * uncertainty Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  17. Hierarchical Broadcasting in the Future Mobile Internet

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hesselman, C.E.W.; Eertink, E.H.; Fernandez, Milagros; Crnkovic, Ivica; Fohler, Gerhard; Griwodz, Carsten; Plagemann, Thomas; Gruenbacher, Paul

    2002-01-01

    We describe an architecture for the hierarchical distribution of multimedia broadcasts in the future mobile Internet. The architecture supports network as well as application-layer mobility solutions, and uses stream control functions that are influenced by available network resources, user-defined

  18. Skin-Inspired Hierarchical Polymer Architectures with Gradient Stiffness for Spacer-Free, Ultrathin, and Highly Sensitive Triboelectric Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Minjeong; Lim, Seongdong; Cho, Soowon; Lee, Youngoh; Na, Sangyun; Baig, Chunggi; Ko, Hyunhyub

    2018-04-24

    The gradient stiffness between stiff epidermis and soft dermis with interlocked microridge structures in human skin induces effective stress transmission to underlying mechanoreceptors for enhanced tactile sensing. Inspired by skin structure and function, we fabricate hierarchical nanoporous and interlocked microridge structured polymers with gradient stiffness for spacer-free, ultrathin, and highly sensitive triboelectric sensors (TESs). The skin-inspired hierarchical polymers with gradient elastic modulus enhance the compressibility and contact areal differences due to effective transmission of the external stress from stiff to soft layers, resulting in highly sensitive TESs capable of detecting human vital signs and voice. In addition, the microridges in the interlocked polymers provide an effective variation of gap distance between interlocked layers without using the bulk spacer and thus facilitate the ultrathin and flexible design of TESs that could be worn on the body and detect a variety of pressing, bending, and twisting motions even in humid and underwater environments. Our TESs exhibit the highest power density (46.7 μW/cm 2 ), pressure (0.55 V/kPa), and bending (∼0.1 V/°) sensitivities ever reported on flexible TESs. The proposed design of hierarchical polymer architectures for the flexible and wearable TESs can find numerous applications in next-generation wearable electronics.

  19. A distributed hierarchical architecture of expert systems for supervisory control of multimodular nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otaduy, P.J.; Brittain, C.R.; Rovere, L.A.; Gove, N.B.

    1991-01-01

    A hierarchical supervisory control architecture has being implemented at ORNL to coordinate the controllers of a multimodular nuclear plant. The supervisory controller form a network of distributed expert system interfaced with a real-time simulation of the plant, the plant's automatic controllers, and the human operator. The main goal of the supervisory controllers is to maintain the plant operating within safety envelopes while optimizing availability, minimizing stress to components and operators, and facilitating operations. Representative rules implementing strategies for situation dependent reassignment of process goals by embedding diagnostics into the control philosophy are discussed. It should noted that the control philosophies here described use the ALMR concept for illustration purposes and are not part of the official ALMR design at this time. 3 refs., 1 fig

  20. Composing the Layer of Knowledge of Digital Technology in Architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanes Mikhael

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of digital tools in architectural practice has been evolving significantly. In following such developments, architectural practice has been incorporating digital technology not only to meet the current demand but also to pursue the vast amount of possibilities ahead. However, the integration of digital technology in architectural knowledge has been reasonably operative that produces uncritical understanding, and it tends to put architects as a passive user of technology. This paper argues that there are layers of knowledge that nees to be acknowledged and nourished accordingly in embracing the use of computation tools yet avoiding the overly simplistic.understanding. It attempts to explore the methods of digital technology in archietctural design practices as well as dicussions that follow to create a critical evaluation of its roles and potentials. The review is conducted theoretically in which the use of digital in the design process is explored in such a way to reveal its importance in architectural design methods. The review also crosses beyond the disciplines of architecture to construct more comprehensive understanding that bridges the logic of digital technology and architecture. The resulted map of methods of the digital thus can be used to develop a framework for digital discourse that bridge the operative knowledge of technology to the more critical perspectives.

  1. Hierarchical architecture of ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites with enhanced electrochemical properties for lithium-ion batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qi, Fei; Chen, Yuanfu, E-mail: yfchen@uestc.edu.cn; Zheng, Binjie; He, Jiarui; Li, Qian; Wang, Xinqiang; Lin, Jie; Zhou, Jinhao; Yu, Bo; Li, Pingjian; Zhang, Wanli

    2017-08-15

    Highlights: • The ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites have been synthesized by a facile one-pot method. • The ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites exhibit hierarchical architecture. • The ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites deliver better electrochemical performances than ReS{sub 2}. • The enhanced performance is due to porous and conductive structure of ReS{sub 2}/rGO. - Abstract: Rhenium disulfide (ReS{sub 2}), a two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, has attracted more and more attention due to its unique anisotropic electronic, optical, mechanical properties. However, the facile synthesis and electrochemical property of ReS{sub 2} and its composite are still necessary to be researched. In this study, for the first time, the ReS{sub 2}/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites have been synthesized through a facile and one-pot hydrothermal method. The ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites exhibit a hierarchical, interconnected, and porous architecture constructed by nanosheets. As anode for lithium-ion batteries, the as-synthesized ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites deliver a large initial capacity of 918 mAh g{sup −1} at 0.2 C. In addition, the ReS{sub 2}/rGO composites exhibit much better electrochemical cycling stability and rate capability than that of bare ReS{sub 2}. The significant enhancement in electrochemical property can be attributed to its unique architecture constructed by nanosheets and porous structure, which can allow for easy electrolyte infiltration, efficient electron transfer, and ionic diffusion. Furthermore, the graphene with high electronic conductivity can provide good conductive passageways. The facile synthesis approach can be extended to prepare other 2D transition metal dichalcogenides semiconductors for energy storage and catalytic application.

  2. Hybrid Energy Cell with Hierarchical Nano/Micro-Architectured Polymer Film to Harvest Mechanical, Solar, and Wind Energies Individually/Simultaneously.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudem, Bhaskar; Ko, Yeong Hwan; Leem, Jung Woo; Lim, Joo Ho; Yu, Jae Su

    2016-11-09

    We report the creation of hybrid energy cells based on hierarchical nano/micro-architectured polydimethylsiloxane (HNMA-PDMS) films with multifunctionality to simultaneously harvest mechanical, solar, and wind energies. These films consist of nano/micro dual-scale architectures (i.e., nanonipples on inverted micropyramidal arrays) on the PDMS surface. The HNMA-PDMS is replicable by facile and cost-effective soft imprint lithography using a nanoporous anodic alumina oxide film formed on the micropyramidal-structured silicon substrate. The HNMA-PDMS film plays multifunctional roles as a triboelectric layer in nanogenerators and an antireflection layer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as well as a self-cleaning surface. This film is employed in triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices, fabricated by laminating it on indium-tin oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate (ITO/PET) as a bottom electrode. The large effective contact area that emerged from the densely packed hierarchical nano/micro-architectures of the PDMS film leads to the enhancement of TENG device performance. Moreover, the HNMA-PDMS/ITO/PET, with a high transmittance of >90%, also results in highly transparent TENG devices. By placing the HNMA-PDMS/ITO/PET, where the ITO/PET is coated with zinc oxide nanowires, as the top glass substrate of DSSCs, the device is able to add the functionality of TENG devices, thus creating a hybrid energy cell. The hybrid energy cell can successfully convert mechanical, solar, and wind energies into electricity, simultaneously or independently. To specify the device performance, the effects of external pushing frequency and load resistance on the output of TENG devices are also analyzed, including the photovoltaic performance of the hybrid energy cells.

  3. A heterogeneous hierarchical architecture for real-time computing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skroch, D.A.; Fornaro, R.J.

    1988-12-01

    The need for high-speed data acquisition and control algorithms has prompted continued research in the area of multiprocessor systems and related programming techniques. The result presented here is a unique hardware and software architecture for high-speed real-time computer systems. The implementation of a prototype of this architecture has required the integration of architecture, operating systems and programming languages into a cohesive unit. This report describes a Heterogeneous Hierarchial Architecture for Real-Time (H{sup 2} ART) and system software for program loading and interprocessor communication.

  4. Hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Hong

    2017-08-03

    The present invention is a structure, method of making and method of use for a novel macroscopic hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped, nano-porous carbon membrane (HNDCMs) with asymmetric and hierarchical pore architecture that can be produced on a large-scale approach. The unique HNDCM holds great promise as components in separation and advanced carbon devices because they could offer unconventional fluidic transport phenomena on the nanoscale. Overall, the invention set forth herein covers a hierarchically structured, nitrogen-doped carbon membranes and methods of making and using such a membranes.

  5. Loops in hierarchical channel networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katifori, Eleni; Magnasco, Marcelo

    2012-02-01

    Nature provides us with many examples of planar distribution and structural networks having dense sets of closed loops. An archetype of this form of network organization is the vasculature of dicotyledonous leaves, which showcases a hierarchically-nested architecture. Although a number of methods have been proposed to measure aspects of the structure of such networks, a robust metric to quantify their hierarchical organization is still lacking. We present an algorithmic framework that allows mapping loopy networks to binary trees, preserving in the connectivity of the trees the architecture of the original graph. We apply this framework to investigate computer generated and natural graphs extracted from digitized images of dicotyledonous leaves and animal vasculature. We calculate various metrics on the corresponding trees and discuss the relationship of these quantities to the architectural organization of the original graphs. This algorithmic framework decouples the geometric information from the metric topology (connectivity and edge weight) and it ultimately allows us to perform a quantitative statistical comparison between predictions of theoretical models and naturally occurring loopy graphs.

  6. Enhanced cycling stability of Li-rich nanotube cathodes by 3D graphene hierarchical architectures for Li-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Dingtao; Li, Yongliang; Wu, Maosheng; Deng, Libo; Ren, Xiangzhong; Zhang, Peixin

    2016-01-01

    A hybrid composite of Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 nanotubes (LMNCO NTs) wrapped with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets (LMNCO@RGO) was prepared as cathode for lithium-ion batteries. The discharge capacity of the LMNCO@RGO composite is only reducing 3.5% after 100 cycles at 1 C. Such composite which simultaneously combines a high surface area of LMNCO NTs with shorten ionic diffusion pathway and high conductivity of 3D graphene hierarchical architectures as well as structural protection layers, displaying a good cycling stability.

  7. Cooperative self-construction and enhanced optical absorption of nanoplates-assembled hierarchical Bi2WO6 flowers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Shengwei; Yu Jiaguo

    2008-01-01

    Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical multilayered flower-like assemblies are fabricated on a large scale by a simple hydrothermal method in the presence of polymeric poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). Such 3D Bi 2 WO 6 assemblies are constructed from orderly arranged 2D layers, which are further composed of a large number of interconnected nanoplates with a mean side length of ca. 50 nm. The bimodal mesopores associated with such hierarchical assembly exhibit peak mesopore size of ca. 4 nm for the voids within a layer, and peak mesopore size of ca. 40 nm corresponding to the interspaces between stacked layers, respectively. The formation process is discussed on the basis of the results of time-dependent experiments, which support a novel 'coupled cooperative assembly and localized ripening' formation mechanism. More interestingly, we have noticed that the collective effect related to such hierarchical assembly induces a significantly enhanced optical absorbance in the UV-visible region. This work may shed some light on the design of complex architectures and exploitation of their potential applications. - Graphical abstract: Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical multilayered flower-like assemblies are fabricated on a large scale by a simple hydrothermal method in the presence of polymeric poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)

  8. Single-unit-cell layer established Bi 2 WO 6 3D hierarchical architectures: Efficient adsorption, photocatalysis and dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Hongwei; Cao, Ranran; Yu, Shixin; Xu, Kang; Hao, Weichang; Wang, Yonggang; Dong, Fan; Zhang, Tierui; Zhang, Yihe

    2017-12-01

    Single-layer catalysis sparks huge interests and gains widespread attention owing to its high activity. Simultaneously, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical structure can afford large surface area and abundant reactive sites, contributing to high efficiency. Herein, we report an absorbing single-unit-cell layer established Bi2WO6 3D hierarchical architecture fabricated by a sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS)-assisted assembled strategy. The DBS- long chains can adsorb on the (Bi2O2)2+ layers and hence impede stacking of the layers, resulting in the single-unit-cell layer. We also uncovered that SDS with a shorter chain is less effective than SDBS. Due to the sufficient exposure of surface O atoms, single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 shows strong selectivity for adsorption on multiform organic dyes with different charges. Remarkably, the single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 casts profoundly enhanced photodegradation activity and especially a superior photocatalytic H2 evolution rate, which is 14-fold increase in contrast to the bulk Bi2WO6. Systematic photoelectrochemical characterizations disclose that the substantially elevated carrier density and charge separation efficiency take responsibility for the strengthened photocatalytic performance. Additionally, the possibility of single-unit-cell layer 3D Bi2WO6 as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) has also been attempted and it was manifested to be a promising dye-sensitized photoanode for oxygen evolution reaction (ORR). Our work not only furnish an insight into designing single-layer assembled 3D hierarchical architecture, but also offer a multi-functional material for environmental and energy applications.

  9. T-SDN architecture for space and ground integrated optical transport network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nie, Kunkun; Hu, Wenjing; Gao, Shenghua; Chang, Chengwu

    2015-11-01

    Integrated optical transport network is the development trend of the future space information backbone network. The space and ground integrated optical transport network(SGIOTN) may contain a variety of equipment and systems. Changing the network or meeting some innovation missions in the network will be an expensive implement. Software Defined Network(SDN) provides a good solution to flexibly adding process logic, timely control states and resources of the whole network, as well as shielding the differences of heterogeneous equipment and so on. According to the characteristics of SGIOTN, we propose an transport SDN architecture for it, with hierarchical control plane and data plane composed of packet networks and optical transport networks.

  10. Broadband locally resonant metamaterials with graded hierarchical architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chenchen; Reina, Celia

    2018-03-01

    We investigate the effect of hierarchical designs on the bandgap structure of periodic lattice systems with inner resonators. A detailed parameter study reveals various interesting features of structures with two levels of hierarchy as compared with one level systems with identical static mass. In particular: (i) their overall bandwidth is approximately equal, yet bounded above by the bandwidth of the single-resonator system; (ii) the number of bandgaps increases with the level of hierarchy; and (iii) the spectrum of bandgap frequencies is also enlarged. Taking advantage of these features, we propose graded hierarchical structures with ultra-broadband properties. These designs are validated over analogous continuum models via finite element simulations, demonstrating their capability to overcome the bandwidth narrowness that is typical of resonant metamaterials.

  11. Fabrication of a 3D Hierarchical Sandwich Co9 S8 /α-MnS@N-C@MoS2 Nanowire Architectures as Advanced Electrode Material for High Performance Hybrid Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kandula, Syam; Shrestha, Khem Raj; Kim, Nam Hoon; Lee, Joong Hee

    2018-05-10

    Supercapacitors suffer from lack of energy density and impulse the energy density limit, so a new class of hybrid electrode materials with promising architectures is strongly desirable. Here, the rational design of a 3D hierarchical sandwich Co 9 S 8 /α-MnS@N-C@MoS 2 nanowire architecture is achieved during the hydrothermal sulphurization reaction by the conversion of binary mesoporous metal oxide core to corresponding individual metal sulphides core along with the formation of outer metal sulphide shell at the same time. Benefiting from the 3D hierarchical sandwich architecture, Co 9 S 8 /α-MnS@N-C@MoS 2 electrode exhibits enhanced electrochemical performance with high specific capacity/capacitance of 306 mA h g -1 /1938 F g -1 at 1 A g -1 , and excellent cycling stability with a specific capacity retention of 86.9% after 10 000 cycles at 10 A g -1 . Moreover, the fabricated asymmetric supercapacitor device using Co 9 S 8 /α-MnS@N-C@MoS 2 as the positive electrode and nitrogen doped graphene as the negative electrode demonstrates high energy density of 64.2 Wh kg -1 at 729.2 W kg -1 , and a promising energy density of 23.5 Wh kg -1 is still attained at a high power density of 11 300 W kg -1 . The hybrid electrode with 3D hierarchical sandwich architecture promotes enhanced energy density with excellent cyclic stability for energy storage. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. Self-assembly synthesis of 3D graphene-encapsulated hierarchical Fe3O4 nano-flower architecture with high lithium storage capacity and excellent rate capability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yating; Huang, Jian; Lin, Liang; Xie, Qingshui; Yan, Mengyu; Qu, Baihua; Wang, Laisen; Mai, Liqiang; Peng, Dong-Liang

    2017-10-01

    Graphene-encapsulated hierarchical metal oxides architectures can efficiently combine the merits of graphene and hierarchical metal oxides, which are deemed as the potential anode material candidates for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to the synergistic effect between them. Herein, a cationic surfactant induced self-assembly method is developed to construct 3D Fe3O4@reduction graphene oxide (H-Fe3O4@RGO) hybrid architecture in which hierarchical Fe3O4 nano-flowers (H-Fe3O4) are intimately encapsulated by 3D graphene network. Each H-Fe3O4 particle is constituted of rod-shaped skeletons surrounded by petal-like nano-flakes that are made up of enormous nanoparticles. When tested as the anode material in lithium-ion batteries, a high reversible capacity of 2270 mA h g-1 after 460 cycles is achieved under a current density of 0.5 A g-1. More impressively, even tested at a large current density of 10 A g-1, a decent reversible capacity of 490 mA h g-1 can be retained, which is still higher than the theoretical capacity of traditional graphite anode, demonstrating the remarkable lithium storage properties. The reasons for the excellent electrochemical performance of H-Fe3O4@RGO electrode have been discussed in detail.

  13. A software-based technique enabling composable hierarchical preemptive scheduling for time-triggered applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nejad, A.B.; Molnos, A.; Goossens, K.G.W.

    2013-01-01

    Many embedded real-time applications are typically time-triggered and preemptive schedulers are used to execute tasks of such applications. Orthogonally, composable partitioned embedded platforms use preemptive time-division multiplexing mechanism to isolate applications. Existing composable systems

  14. Synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide spheres with high rate capability for lithium-ion batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Wei; Huang, Yudai; Cai, Yanjun; Guo, Yong; Wang, Xingchao; Jia, Dianzeng; Sun, Zhipeng; Pang, Weikong; Guo, Zaiping; Zong, Jun

    2018-01-01

    Hierarchical mesoporous LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 spheres have been synthesized by urea-assisted solvothermal method with adding Triton X-100. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared materials were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and electron microscope. The results show that the as-prepared samples can be indexed as hexagonal layered structure with hierarchical architecture, and the possible formation mechanism is speculated. When evaluated as cathode material, the hierarchical mesoporous LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 spheres show good electrochemical properties with high initial discharge capacity of 129.9 mAh g-1, and remain the discharge capacity of 95.5 mAh g-1 after 160 cycles at 10C. The excellent electrochemical performance of the as-prepared sample can be attributed to its stable hierarchical mesoporous framework in conjunction with large specific surface, low cation mixing and small particle size. They not only provide a large number of reaction sites for surface or interface reaction, but also shorten the diffusion length of Li+ ions. Meanwhile, the mesoporous spheres composed of nanoparticles can contribute to high rate ability and buffer volume changes during charge/discharge process.

  15. Secular dynamics of hierarchical multiple systems composed of nested binaries, with an arbitrary number of bodies and arbitrary hierarchical structure - II. External perturbations: flybys and supernovae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamers, Adrian S.

    2018-05-01

    We extend the formalism of a previous paper to include the effects of flybys and instantaneous perturbations such as supernovae on the long-term secular evolution of hierarchical multiple systems with an arbitrary number of bodies and hierarchy, provided that the system is composed of nested binary orbits. To model secular encounters, we expand the Hamiltonian in terms of the ratio of the separation of the perturber with respect to the barycentre of the multiple system, to the separation of the widest orbit. Subsequently, we integrate over the perturber orbit numerically or analytically. We verify our method for secular encounters and illustrate it with an example. Furthermore, we describe a method to compute instantaneous orbital changes to multiple systems, such as asymmetric supernovae and impulsive encounters. The secular code, with implementation of the extensions described in this paper, is publicly available within AMUSE, and we provide a number of simple example scripts to illustrate its usage for secular and impulsive encounters and asymmetric supernovae. The extensions presented in this paper are a next step towards efficiently modelling the evolution of complex multiple systems embedded in star clusters.

  16. New insight in magnetic saturation behavior of nickel hierarchical structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Ji; Zhang, Jianxing; Liu, Chunting; Chen, Kezheng

    2017-09-01

    It is unanimously accepted that non-ferromagnetic inclusions in a ferromagnetic system will lower down total saturation magnetization in unit of emu/g. In this study, ;lattice strain; was found to be another key factor to have critical impact on magnetic saturation behavior of the system. The lattice strain determined assembling patterns of primary nanoparticles in hierarchical structures and was intimately related with the formation process of these architectures. Therefore, flower-necklace-like and cauliflower-like nickel hierarchical structures were used as prototype systems to evidence the relationship between assembling patterns of primary nanoparticles and magnetic saturation behaviors of these architectures. It was found that the influence of lattice strain on saturation magnetization outperformed that of non-ferromagnetic inclusions in these hierarchical structures. This will enable new insights into fundamental understanding of related magnetic effects.

  17. Hierarchically Nanostructured Materials for Sustainable Environmental Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng eRen

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a comprehensive overview of the hierarchical nanostructured materials with either geometry or composition complexity in environmental applications. The hierarchical nanostructures offer advantages of high surface area, synergistic interactions and multiple functionalities towards water remediation, environmental gas sensing and monitoring as well as catalytic gas treatment. Recent advances in synthetic strategies for various hierarchical morphologies such as hollow spheres and urchin-shaped architectures have been reviewed. In addition to the chemical synthesis, the physical mechanisms associated with the materials design and device fabrication have been discussed for each specific application. The development and application of hierarchical complex perovskite oxide nanostructures have also been introduced in photocatalytic water remediation, gas sensing and catalytic converter. Hierarchical nanostructures will open up many possibilities for materials design and device fabrication in environmental chemistry and technology.

  18. A Time-Composable Operating System for the Patmos Processor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ziccardi, Marco; Schoeberl, Martin; Vardanega, Tullio

    2015-01-01

    -composable operating system, on top of a time-composable processor, facilitates incremental development, which is highly desirable for industry. This paper makes a twofold contribution. First, we present enhancements to the Patmos processor to allow achieving time composability at the operating system level. Second......, we extend an existing time-composable operating system, TiCOS, to make best use of advanced Patmos hardware features in the pursuit of time composability.......In the last couple of decades we have witnessed a steady growth in the complexity and widespread of real-time systems. In order to master the rising complexity in the timing behaviour of those systems, rightful attention has been given to the development of time-predictable computer architectures...

  19. Hierarchical Rhetorical Sentence Categorization for Scientific Papers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rachman, G. H.; Khodra, M. L.; Widyantoro, D. H.

    2018-03-01

    Important information in scientific papers can be composed of rhetorical sentences that is structured from certain categories. To get this information, text categorization should be conducted. Actually, some works in this task have been completed by employing word frequency, semantic similarity words, hierarchical classification, and the others. Therefore, this paper aims to present the rhetorical sentence categorization from scientific paper by employing TF-IDF and Word2Vec to capture word frequency and semantic similarity words and employing hierarchical classification. Every experiment is tested in two classifiers, namely Naïve Bayes and SVM Linear. This paper shows that hierarchical classifier is better than flat classifier employing either TF-IDF or Word2Vec, although it increases only almost 2% from 27.82% when using flat classifier until 29.61% when using hierarchical classifier. It shows also different learning model for child-category can be built by hierarchical classifier.

  20. Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Eunyoung; Lee, Kun-Hong

    2018-03-06

    Hierarchical structures were fabricated on the surfaces of SUS304 plates using a one-step process of direct microwave irradiation under a carbon dioxide atmosphere. The surface nanostructures were composed of chrome-doped hematite single crystals. Superhydrophobic surfaces with a water contact angle up to 169° were obtained by chemical modification of the hierarchical structures. The samples maintained superhydrophobicity under NaCl solution up to 2 weeks.

  1. Hierarchical video surveillance architecture: a chassis for video big data analytics and exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajiboye, Sola O.; Birch, Philip; Chatwin, Christopher; Young, Rupert

    2015-03-01

    There is increasing reliance on video surveillance systems for systematic derivation, analysis and interpretation of the data needed for predicting, planning, evaluating and implementing public safety. This is evident from the massive number of surveillance cameras deployed across public locations. For example, in July 2013, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) reported that over 4 million CCTV cameras had been installed in Britain alone. The BSIA also reveal that only 1.5% of these are state owned. In this paper, we propose a framework that allows access to data from privately owned cameras, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and accuracy of public safety planning, security activities, and decision support systems that are based on video integrated surveillance systems. The accuracy of results obtained from government-owned public safety infrastructure would improve greatly if privately owned surveillance systems `expose' relevant video-generated metadata events, such as triggered alerts and also permit query of a metadata repository. Subsequently, a police officer, for example, with an appropriate level of system permission can query unified video systems across a large geographical area such as a city or a country to predict the location of an interesting entity, such as a pedestrian or a vehicle. This becomes possible with our proposed novel hierarchical architecture, the Fused Video Surveillance Architecture (FVSA). At the high level, FVSA comprises of a hardware framework that is supported by a multi-layer abstraction software interface. It presents video surveillance systems as an adapted computational grid of intelligent services, which is integration-enabled to communicate with other compatible systems in the Internet of Things (IoT).

  2. The Hi-Ring architecture for datacentre networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galili, Michael; Kamchevska, Valerija; Ding, Yunhong

    2016-01-01

    This paper summarizes recent work on a hierarchical ring-based network architecture (Hi-Ring) for datacentre and short-range applications. The architecture allows leveraging benefits of optical switching technologies while maintaining a high level of connection granularity. We discuss results...

  3. Anatase TiO2 hierarchical structures composed of ultra-thin nano-sheets exposing high percentage {0 0 1} facets and their application in quantum-dot sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Dapeng; Zhang, Shuo; Jiang, Shiwei; He, Jinjin; Jiang, Kai

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: TiO 2 hierarchical structures assembled from ultra-thin nanosheets exposing ∼90% {0 0 1} facets were employed as photoanode materials to improve the performance of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells. - Highlights: • THSs composited of nanosheets exposing high percent {0 0 1} facets were prepared. • THSs improve the QDs loading amount and light scattering of the photoanode. • THSs suppress the carrier recombination and finally lead to ∼25% PCE improvement. - Abstract: TiO 2 hierarchical structures (THSs) composed of ultra-thin nano-sheets exposing ∼90% {0 0 1} facets were prepared via a hydrothermal method. Time dependent trails revealed the formation of THSs experienced a self-assemble process. The as-prepared product were used as the photoanode materials for CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells, and the THSs/nanoparticle hybrid photoanode demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 3.47%, indicating ∼25% improvement compared with the nanoparticle cell

  4. Learning with hierarchical-deep models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salakhutdinov, Ruslan; Tenenbaum, Joshua B; Torralba, Antonio

    2013-08-01

    We introduce HD (or “Hierarchical-Deep”) models, a new compositional learning architecture that integrates deep learning models with structured hierarchical Bayesian (HB) models. Specifically, we show how we can learn a hierarchical Dirichlet process (HDP) prior over the activities of the top-level features in a deep Boltzmann machine (DBM). This compound HDP-DBM model learns to learn novel concepts from very few training example by learning low-level generic features, high-level features that capture correlations among low-level features, and a category hierarchy for sharing priors over the high-level features that are typical of different kinds of concepts. We present efficient learning and inference algorithms for the HDP-DBM model and show that it is able to learn new concepts from very few examples on CIFAR-100 object recognition, handwritten character recognition, and human motion capture datasets.

  5. Quantifying loopy network architectures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleni Katifori

    Full Text Available Biology presents many examples of planar distribution and structural networks having dense sets of closed loops. An archetype of this form of network organization is the vasculature of dicotyledonous leaves, which showcases a hierarchically-nested architecture containing closed loops at many different levels. Although a number of approaches have been proposed to measure aspects of the structure of such networks, a robust metric to quantify their hierarchical organization is still lacking. We present an algorithmic framework, the hierarchical loop decomposition, that allows mapping loopy networks to binary trees, preserving in the connectivity of the trees the architecture of the original graph. We apply this framework to investigate computer generated graphs, such as artificial models and optimal distribution networks, as well as natural graphs extracted from digitized images of dicotyledonous leaves and vasculature of rat cerebral neocortex. We calculate various metrics based on the asymmetry, the cumulative size distribution and the Strahler bifurcation ratios of the corresponding trees and discuss the relationship of these quantities to the architectural organization of the original graphs. This algorithmic framework decouples the geometric information (exact location of edges and nodes from the metric topology (connectivity and edge weight and it ultimately allows us to perform a quantitative statistical comparison between predictions of theoretical models and naturally occurring loopy graphs.

  6. Hierarchical architectures of ZnS–In2S3 solid solution onto TiO2 nanofibers with high visible-light photocatalytic activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Chengbin; Meng, Deshui; Li, Yue; Wang, Longlu; Liu, Yutang; Luo, Shenglian

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A unique hierarchical architecture of ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution onto TiO 2 nanofibers was fabricated. The hierarchical heterostructures exhibit high visible light photocatalytic activity and outstanding recycling performance. - Highlights: • Novel hierarchical heterostructure of TiO 2 @ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution. • Efficient inhibition of ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution aggregation. • High visible light photocatalytic activity. • Highly stable recycling performance. - Abstract: A unique hierarchical architecture of ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution nanostructures onto TiO 2 nanofibers (TiO 2 @ZnS–In 2 S 3 ) has been successfully fabricated by simple hydrothermal method. The ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution nanostructures exhibit a diversity of morphologies: nanosheet, nanorod and nanoparticle. The porous TiO 2 nanofiber templates effectively inhibit the aggregation growth of ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution. The formation of ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution is proved by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the intimate contact between TiO 2 nanofibers and ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution favors fast transfer of photogenerated electrons. The trinary TiO 2 @ZnS–In 2 S 3 heterostructures exhibit high adsorption capacity and visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B dye (RhB), remarkably superior to pure TiO 2 nanofibers or binary structures (ZnS/TiO 2 nanofibers, In 2 S 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers and ZnS–In 2 S 3 solid solution). Under visible light irradiation the RhB photocatalytic degradation rate over TiO 2 @ZnS–In 2 S 3 heterostructures is about 16.7, 12.5, 6.3, 5.9, and 2.2 times that over pure TiO 2 nanofibers, ZnS nanoparticles, In 2 S 3 /TiO 2 nanofibers, ZnS/TiO 2 nanofibers, and ZnS-In 2 S 3 solid solution, respectively. Furthermore, the TiO 2 @ZnS–In 2 S 3 heterostructures show highly stable recycling performance

  7. Triple carbon coated LiFePO4 composite with hierarchical conductive architecture as high-performance cathode for Li-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mei, Riguo; Yang, Yanfeng; Song, Xiaorui; An, Zhenguo; Zhang, Jingjie

    2015-01-01

    Triple carbon coated LiFePO 4 composite is prepared by spray drying-carbothermal reduction (SD-CTR) method. The triple carbon sources (viz. graphene oxide, thermoplastic phenolic resin and water-solubility starch) play different roles in constructing the hierarchical conductive architecture. The structure, component and morphology of the as-obtained LiFePO 4 composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate that, compared with double carbon coated LiFePO 4 counterparts, the triple carbon coated LiFePO 4 composite possesses smaller crystallite and high-efficiency of carbon coating such as more complete coating, lower I D /I G ratio, and better conductive architecture. Benefited from the above mentioned superiority, the triple carbon coated LiFePO 4 composite exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance, especially for high-rate capability, which reaches up to 120 mA h g −1 at 10 C

  8. Photoinduced switchable wettability of bismuth coating with hierarchical dendritic structure between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Su, Chunping; Lu, Zhong; Zhao, Huiping; Yang, Hao, E-mail: hyangwit@hotmail.com; Chen, Rong, E-mail: rchenhku@hotmail.com

    2015-10-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Hierarchical bismuth nanostructures were synthesized by galvanic replacement reaction. • The bismuth coating shows superhydrophobicity after being modified by stearic acid. • Wetting transition could be realized by alternation of irradiation and modification. - Abstract: Special wettability such as superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity has aroused considerable attention in recent years, especially for the surface that can be switched between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity. In this work, hierarchical bismuth nanostructures with hyperbranched dendritic architectures were synthesized via the galvanic replacement reaction between zinc plate and BiCl{sub 3} in ethylene glycol solution, which was composed of a trunk, branches (secondary branch), and leaves (tertiary branch). After being modified by stearic acid, the as-prepared bismuth coating shows superhydrophobicity with a high water contact angle of 164.8° and a low sliding angle of 3°. More importantly, a remarkable surface wettability transition between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity could be easily realized by the alternation of UV–vis irradiation and modification with stearic acid. The tunable wetting behavior of bismuth coating could be used as smart materials to make a great application in practice.

  9. Low-Complexity Hierarchical Mode Decision Algorithms Targeting VLSI Architecture Design for the H.264/AVC Video Encoder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guilherme Corrêa

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In H.264/AVC, the encoding process can occur according to one of the 13 intraframe coding modes or according to one of the 8 available interframes block sizes, besides the SKIP mode. In the Joint Model reference software, the choice of the best mode is performed through exhaustive executions of the entire encoding process, which significantly increases the encoder's computational complexity and sometimes even forbids its use in real-time applications. Considering this context, this work proposes a set of heuristic algorithms targeting hardware architectures that lead to earlier selection of one encoding mode. The amount of repetitions of the encoding process is reduced by 47 times, at the cost of a relatively small cost in compression performance. When compared to other works, the fast hierarchical mode decision results are expressively more satisfactory in terms of computational complexity reduction, quality, and bit rate. The low-complexity mode decision architecture proposed is thus a very good option for real-time coding of high-resolution videos. The solution is especially interesting for embedded and mobile applications with support to multimedia systems, since it yields good compression rates and image quality with a very high reduction in the encoder complexity.

  10. Anatase TiO{sub 2} hierarchical structures composed of ultra-thin nano-sheets exposing high percentage {0 0 1} facets and their application in quantum-dot sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Dapeng, E-mail: dpengwu@126.com [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Motive Power and Key Materials, Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007 (China); Zhang, Shuo; Jiang, Shiwei; He, Jinjin [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007 (China); Jiang, Kai [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Motive Power and Key Materials, Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007 (China)

    2015-03-05

    Graphical abstract: TiO{sub 2} hierarchical structures assembled from ultra-thin nanosheets exposing ∼90% {0 0 1} facets were employed as photoanode materials to improve the performance of CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells. - Highlights: • THSs composited of nanosheets exposing high percent {0 0 1} facets were prepared. • THSs improve the QDs loading amount and light scattering of the photoanode. • THSs suppress the carrier recombination and finally lead to ∼25% PCE improvement. - Abstract: TiO{sub 2} hierarchical structures (THSs) composed of ultra-thin nano-sheets exposing ∼90% {0 0 1} facets were prepared via a hydrothermal method. Time dependent trails revealed the formation of THSs experienced a self-assemble process. The as-prepared product were used as the photoanode materials for CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells, and the THSs/nanoparticle hybrid photoanode demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 3.47%, indicating ∼25% improvement compared with the nanoparticle cell.

  11. Hierarchical Ni0.54Co0.46O2 nanowire and nanosheet arrays grown on carbon fiber cloth for high-performance supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yuanzhi; Zhang, Lijuan; Zhang, Hang; Zhang, Cui; Liu, Shuangxi

    2016-10-01

    Hierarchical Ni0.54Co0.46O2 architectures composed by nanowires or nanosheets were successfully grown on bio-mass carbon fiber cloth (CFC) by hydrothermal method. The morphology of Ni0.54Co0.46O2 can be effectively controlled by using different precipitators. The structural effects of the two kinds of morphologies were researched. the results suggest that the Ni0.54Co0.46O2 nanosheet arrays grown on CFC (NCO-NSs/CFC) shows a higher Faradaic areal capacity of 438 μAh cm-2 (238.1 mAh g-1) at a current density of 1 mA cm-2 and still about 90.3% initial capacity retention even at the high current density of 50 mA cm-2. Moreover, an all-solid-state flexible symmetric supercapacitor device has been successfully assembled. The optimized device delivers superior electrochemical performance with an outstanding energy density of 92.4 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 207.2 W kg-1. Such hierarchical nanostructure composed by well-aligned uniform Ni0.54Co0.46O2 nanosheet arrays grown on bio-mass carbon fiber cloth might hold great promise as battery-type electrode material for high-performance supercapacitor.

  12. Tank waste remediation system architecture tree

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    PECK, L.G.

    1999-01-01

    The TWRS Architecture Tree presented in this document is a hierarchical breakdown to support the TWRS systems engineering analysis of the TWRS physical system, including facilities, hardware and software. The purpose for this systems engineering architecture tree is to describe and communicate the system's selected and existing architecture, to provide a common structure to improve the integration of work and resulting products, and to provide a framework as a basis for TWRS Specification Tree development

  13. Hierarchical SAPO‐34 Architectures with Tailored Acid Sites using Sustainable Sugar Templates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miletto, Ivana; Ivaldi, Chiara; Paul, Geo; Chapman, Stephanie; Marchese, Leonardo; Raja, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Abstract In a distinct, bottom‐up synthetic methodology, monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) and disaccharides (sucrose) have been used as mesoporogens to template hierarchical SAPO‐34 catalysts. Detailed materials characterization, which includes solid‐state magic angle spinning NMR and probe‐based FTIR, reveals that, although the mesopore dimensions are modified by the identity of the sugar template, the desirable acid characteristics of the microporous framework are retained. When the activity of the hierarchical SAPO‐34 catalysts was evaluated in the industrially relevant Beckmann rearrangement, under liquid‐phase conditions, the enhanced mass‐transport properties of sucrose‐templated hierarchical SAPO‐34 were found to deliver a superior yield of ϵ‐caprolactam. PMID:29686961

  14. A hierarchical classification scheme of psoriasis images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maletti, Gabriela Mariel; Ersbøll, Bjarne Kjær

    2003-01-01

    A two-stage hierarchical classification scheme of psoriasis lesion images is proposed. These images are basically composed of three classes: normal skin, lesion and background. The scheme combines conventional tools to separate the skin from the background in the first stage, and the lesion from...

  15. Nonlinear robust hierarchical control for nonlinear uncertain systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonessa Alexander

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available A nonlinear robust control-system design framework predicated on a hierarchical switching controller architecture parameterized over a set of moving nominal system equilibria is developed. Specifically, using equilibria-dependent Lyapunov functions, a hierarchical nonlinear robust control strategy is developed that robustly stabilizes a given nonlinear system over a prescribed range of system uncertainty by robustly stabilizing a collection of nonlinear controlled uncertain subsystems. The robust switching nonlinear controller architecture is designed based on a generalized (lower semicontinuous Lyapunov function obtained by minimizing a potential function over a given switching set induced by the parameterized nominal system equilibria. The proposed framework robustly stabilizes a compact positively invariant set of a given nonlinear uncertain dynamical system with structured parametric uncertainty. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated on a jet engine propulsion control problem with uncertain pressure-flow map data.

  16. Enterprise architecture, a blueprint for enterprise logistics rollout

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Coetzee, J

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper it is proposed that Enterprise architecture in principle develops the Logistic Support model for systems on System Hierarchical Level 6 and higher. The Enterprise architectural model is a blue print, like the DNA for biological systems...

  17. A computational architecture for social agents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bond, A.H. [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This article describes a new class of information-processing models for social agents. They axe derived from primate brain architecture, the processing in brain regions, the interactions among brain regions, and the social behavior of primates. In another paper, we have reviewed the neuroanatomical connections and functional involvements of cortical regions. We reviewed the evidence for a hierarchical architecture in the primate brain. By examining neuroanatomical evidence for connections among neural areas, we were able to establish anatomical regions and connections. We then examined evidence for specific functional involvements of the different neural axeas and found some support for hierarchical functioning, not only for the perception hierarchies but also for the planning and action hierarchy in the frontal lobes.

  18. A self-defining hierarchical data system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, J.

    1992-01-01

    The Self-Defining Data System (SDS) is a system which allows the creation of self-defining hierarchical data structures in a form which allows the data to be moved between different machine architectures. Because the structures are self-defining they can be used for communication between independent modules in a distributed system. Unlike disk-based hierarchical data systems such as Starlink's HDS, SDS works entirely in memory and is very fast. Data structures are created and manipulated as internal dynamic structures in memory managed by SDS itself. A structure may then be exported into a caller supplied memory buffer in a defined external format. This structure can be written as a file or sent as a message to another machine. It remains static in structure until it is reimported into SDS. SDS is written in portable C and has been run on a number of different machine architectures. Structures are portable between machines with SDS looking after conversion of byte order, floating point format, and alignment. A Fortran callable version is also available for some machines.

  19. Hierarchical Recurrent Neural Hashing for Image Retrieval With Hierarchical Convolutional Features.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xiaoqiang; Chen, Yaxiong; Li, Xuelong

    Hashing has been an important and effective technology in image retrieval due to its computational efficiency and fast search speed. The traditional hashing methods usually learn hash functions to obtain binary codes by exploiting hand-crafted features, which cannot optimally represent the information of the sample. Recently, deep learning methods can achieve better performance, since deep learning architectures can learn more effective image representation features. However, these methods only use semantic features to generate hash codes by shallow projection but ignore texture details. In this paper, we proposed a novel hashing method, namely hierarchical recurrent neural hashing (HRNH), to exploit hierarchical recurrent neural network to generate effective hash codes. There are three contributions of this paper. First, a deep hashing method is proposed to extensively exploit both spatial details and semantic information, in which, we leverage hierarchical convolutional features to construct image pyramid representation. Second, our proposed deep network can exploit directly convolutional feature maps as input to preserve the spatial structure of convolutional feature maps. Finally, we propose a new loss function that considers the quantization error of binarizing the continuous embeddings into the discrete binary codes, and simultaneously maintains the semantic similarity and balanceable property of hash codes. Experimental results on four widely used data sets demonstrate that the proposed HRNH can achieve superior performance over other state-of-the-art hashing methods.Hashing has been an important and effective technology in image retrieval due to its computational efficiency and fast search speed. The traditional hashing methods usually learn hash functions to obtain binary codes by exploiting hand-crafted features, which cannot optimally represent the information of the sample. Recently, deep learning methods can achieve better performance, since deep

  20. Hierarchical structure of the otolith of adult wild carp

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Zhuo; Gao Yonghua; Feng Qingling

    2009-01-01

    The otolith of adult wild carp contains a pair of asterisci, a pair of lappilli and a pair of sagittae. Current research works are mainly restricted to the field of the daily ring structure. The purpose of this work is to explore the structural characteristics of carp's otolith in terms of hierarchy from nanometer to millimeter scale by transmission election microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the observation, carp's lapillus is composed of ordered aragonite crystals. Seven hierarchical levels of the microstructure were proposed and described with the scheme representing a complete organization in detail. SEM studies show not only the clear daily growth increment, but also the morphology within the single daily increment. The domain structure of crystal orientation in otolith was observed for the first time. Furthermore, TEM investigation displays that the lapillus is composed of aragonite crystals with nanometer scale. Four hierarchical levels of the microstructure of the sagitta are also proposed. The asteriscus which is composed of nanometer scale vaterite crystals is considered to have a uniform structure.

  1. Hierarchical structure of the otolith of adult wild carp

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li Zhuo; Gao Yonghua [State key laboratory of new ceramics and fine processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Feng Qingling, E-mail: biomater@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn [State key laboratory of new ceramics and fine processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2009-04-30

    The otolith of adult wild carp contains a pair of asterisci, a pair of lappilli and a pair of sagittae. Current research works are mainly restricted to the field of the daily ring structure. The purpose of this work is to explore the structural characteristics of carp's otolith in terms of hierarchy from nanometer to millimeter scale by transmission election microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the observation, carp's lapillus is composed of ordered aragonite crystals. Seven hierarchical levels of the microstructure were proposed and described with the scheme representing a complete organization in detail. SEM studies show not only the clear daily growth increment, but also the morphology within the single daily increment. The domain structure of crystal orientation in otolith was observed for the first time. Furthermore, TEM investigation displays that the lapillus is composed of aragonite crystals with nanometer scale. Four hierarchical levels of the microstructure of the sagitta are also proposed. The asteriscus which is composed of nanometer scale vaterite crystals is considered to have a uniform structure.

  2. Creating 3D Hierarchical Carbon Architectures with Micro-, Meso-, and Macropores via a Simple Self-Blowing Strategy for a Flow-through Deionization Capacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Shanshan; Yan, Tingting; Wang, Hui; Zhang, Jianping; Shi, Liyi; Zhang, Dengsong

    2016-07-20

    In this work, 3D hierarchical carbon architectures (3DHCAs) with micro-, meso-, and macropores were prepared via a simple self-blowing strategy as highly efficient electrodes for a flow-through deionization capacitor (FTDC). The obtained 3DHCAs have a hierarchically porous structure, large accessible specific surface area (2061 m(2) g(-1)), and good wettability. The electrochemical tests show that the 3DHCA electrode has a high specific capacitance and good electric conductivity. The deionization experiments demonstrate that the 3DHCA electrodes possess a high deionization capacity of 17.83 mg g(-1) in a 500 mg L(-1) NaCl solution at 1.2 V. Moreover, the 3DHCA electrodes present a fast deionization rate in 100-500 mg L(-1) NaCl solutions at 0.8-1.4 V. The 3DHCA electrodes also present a good regeneration behavior in the reiterative regeneration test. These above factors render the 3DHCAs a promising FTDC electrode material.

  3. Tank waste remediation system architecture tree; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    PECK, L.G.

    1999-01-01

    The TWRS Architecture Tree presented in this document is a hierarchical breakdown to support the TWRS systems engineering analysis of the TWRS physical system, including facilities, hardware and software. The purpose for this systems engineering architecture tree is to describe and communicate the system's selected and existing architecture, to provide a common structure to improve the integration of work and resulting products, and to provide a framework as a basis for TWRS Specification Tree development

  4. Accelerated Hierarchical Collision Detection for Simulation using CUDA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Jimmy Alison; Fugl, Andreas Rune; Petersen, Henrik Gordon

    2011-01-01

    . The hierarchical nature of the bounding volume structure complicates an efficient implementation on massively parallel architectures such as modern graphics cards and we therefore propose a hybrid method where only box and triangle overlap tests and transformations are offloaded to the graphics card. When...

  5. Implications of Services-Oriented Architecture and Open Architecture Composable Systems on the Acquisition Organizations and Processes

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Brummett, Cory S; Finney, Benjamin H

    2008-01-01

    .... Many systems, systems-of-systems and families of systems with different software architectures are acquired and often have difficulty operating together, which causes delays, increases costs, and limits re-use...

  6. Hierarchical unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maik Hadorn

    Full Text Available Eukaryotic life contains hierarchical vesicular architectures (i.e. organelles that are crucial for material production and trafficking, information storage and access, as well as energy production. In order to perform specific tasks, these compartments differ among each other in their membrane composition and their internal cargo and also differ from the cell membrane and the cytosol. Man-made structures that reproduce this nested architecture not only offer a deeper understanding of the functionalities and evolution of organelle-bearing eukaryotic life but also allow the engineering of novel biomimetic technologies. Here, we show the newly developed vesicle-in-water-in-oil emulsion transfer preparation technique to result in giant unilamellar vesicles internally compartmentalized by unilamellar vesicles of different membrane composition and internal cargo, i.e. hierarchical unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity. The compartmentalized giant unilamellar vesicles were subsequently isolated by a separation step exploiting the heterogeneity of the membrane composition and the encapsulated cargo. Due to the controlled, efficient, and technically straightforward character of the new preparation technique, this study allows the hierarchical fabrication of compartmentalized giant unilamellar vesicles of controlled compositional heterogeneity and will ease the development of eukaryotic cell mimics that resemble their natural templates as well as the fabrication of novel multi-agent drug delivery systems for combination therapies and complex artificial microreactors.

  7. Blood and interstitial flow in the hierarchical pore space architecture of bone tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowin, Stephen C; Cardoso, Luis

    2015-03-18

    There are two main types of fluid in bone tissue, blood and interstitial fluid. The chemical composition of these fluids varies with time and location in bone. Blood arrives through the arterial system containing oxygen and other nutrients and the blood components depart via the venous system containing less oxygen and reduced nutrition. Within the bone, as within other tissues, substances pass from the blood through the arterial walls into the interstitial fluid. The movement of the interstitial fluid carries these substances to the cells within the bone and, at the same time, carries off the waste materials from the cells. Bone tissue would not live without these fluid movements. The development of a model for poroelastic materials with hierarchical pore space architecture for the description of blood flow and interstitial fluid flow in living bone tissue is reviewed. The model is applied to the problem of determining the exchange of pore fluid between the vascular porosity and the lacunar-canalicular porosity in bone tissue due to cyclic mechanical loading and blood pressure. These results are basic to the understanding of interstitial flow in bone tissue that, in turn, is basic to understanding of nutrient transport from the vasculature to the bone cells buried in the bone tissue and to the process of mechanotransduction by these cells. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Performance Estimation for Hardware/Software codesign using Hierarchical Colored Petri Nets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grode, Jesper Nicolai Riis; Madsen, Jan; Jerraya, Ahmed-Amine

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents an approach for abstract modeling of the functional behavior of hardware architectures using Hierarchical Colored Petri Nets (HCPNs). Using HCPNs as architectural models has several advantages such as higher estimation accuracy, higher flexibility, and the need for only one...... estimation tool. This makes the approach very useful for designing component models used for performance estimation in Hardware/Software Codesign frameworks such as the LYCOS system. The paper presents the methodology and rules for designing component models using HCPNs. Two examples of architectural models...

  9. The COMPOSE Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balletta, P.; Biagini, M.; Gallinaro, G.; Vernucci, A.

    2003-07-01

    This paper provides an overview of the on-going project COMPOSE, an EC co-funded project aiming to define, specify and validate an innovative mobile-services scenario in support of travellers, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new proposed location-based value-added services. COMPOSE is supported by organisations belonging to numerous categories covering, as a whole, the entire value-chain of infomobility services provision to the final user. The project team comprises, in addition to the affiliations of the authors, also Teleatlas (NL), ARS T&TT (NL), Alcatel-Bell Space (B), Skysoft (P), Hitech Marketing (A) and MobileGis (IR). The paper describes the services that will be offered to users, encompassing both the pre-trip and the on-trip framework, presents the overall hybrid system architecture also including a via-satellite component based upon the Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) technique adopted in UMTS, discusses the access solutions envisaged for that component permitting multiple feeder-link stations to share the CDMA multiplex capacity by directly transmitting their codes to the satellite, and illustrates the results of some computer simulations intended to assess the performance of said access solutions, with regard to the effects of the inevitable up- link frequency errors and transponder non-linearity.

  10. Deep hierarchical attention network for video description

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuohao; Tang, Min; Zhang, Jun

    2018-03-01

    Pairing video to natural language description remains a challenge in computer vision and machine translation. Inspired by image description, which uses an encoder-decoder model for reducing visual scene into a single sentence, we propose a deep hierarchical attention network for video description. The proposed model uses convolutional neural network (CNN) and bidirectional LSTM network as encoders while a hierarchical attention network is used as the decoder. Compared to encoder-decoder models used in video description, the bidirectional LSTM network can capture the temporal structure among video frames. Moreover, the hierarchical attention network has an advantage over single-layer attention network on global context modeling. To make a fair comparison with other methods, we evaluate the proposed architecture with different types of CNN structures and decoders. Experimental results on the standard datasets show that our model has a more superior performance than the state-of-the-art techniques.

  11. Asymmetric ZnO panel-like hierarchical architectures with highly interconnected pathways for free-electron transport and photovoltaic improvements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yantao; Zhu, Chao; Wang, Lin; Li, Wei; Fung, Kwok Kwong; Wang, Ning

    2013-01-02

    Through a rapid and template-free precipitation approach, we synthesized an asymmetric panel-like ZnO hierarchical architecture (PHA) for photoanodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The two sides of the PHA are constructed differently using densely interconnected, mono-crystalline and ultrathin ZnO nanosheets. By mixing these PHAs with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), we developed an effective and feasible strategy to improve the electrical transport and photovoltaic performance of the composite photoanodes of DSCs. The highly crystallized and interconnected ZnO nanosheets largely minimized the total grain boundaries within the composite photoanodes and thus served as direct pathways for the transport and effective collection of free electrons. Through low-temperature (200 °C) annealing, these novel composite photoanodes achieved high conversion efficiencies of up to 5.59% for ZnO-based quasi-solid DSCs. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. Three Ways to Link Merge with Hierarchical Concept-Combination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Thornton

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In the Minimalist Program, language competence is seen to stem from a fundamental ability to construct hierarchical structure, an operation dubbed ‘Merge’. This raises the problem of how to view hierarchical concept-combination. This is a conceptual operation which also builds hierarchical structure. We can conceive of a garden that consists of a lawn and a flower-bed, for example, or a salad consisting of lettuce, fennel and rocket, or a crew consisting of a pilot and engineer. In such cases, concepts are put together in a way that makes one the accommodating element with respect to the others taken in combination. The accommodating element becomes the root of a hierarchical unit. Since this unit is itself a concept, the operation is inherently recursive. Does this mean the mind has two independent systems of hierarchical construction? Or is some form of integration more likely? Following a detailed examination of the operations involved, this paper shows there are three main ways in which Merge might be linked to hierarchical concept-combination. Also examined are the architectural implications that arise in each case.

  13. Protocol-transparent resource sharing in hierarchically scheduled real-time systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heuvel, van den M.M.H.P.; Bril, R.J.; Lukkien, J.J.

    2010-01-01

    Hierarchical scheduling frameworks (HSFs) provide means for composing complex real-time systems from well-defined, independently analyzed subsystems. To support resource sharing within two-level HSFs, three synchronization protocols based on the stack resource policy (SRP) have recently been

  14. A Hierarchical Security Architecture for Cyber-Physical Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quanyan Zhu; Tamer Basar

    2011-08-01

    Security of control systems is becoming a pivotal concern in critical national infrastructures such as the power grid and nuclear plants. In this paper, we adopt a hierarchical viewpoint to these security issues, addressing security concerns at each level and emphasizing a holistic cross-layer philosophy for developing security solutions. We propose a bottom-up framework that establishes a model from the physical and control levels to the supervisory level, incorporating concerns from network and communication levels. We show that the game-theoretical approach can yield cross-layer security strategy solutions to the cyber-physical systems.

  15. Hierarchically Structured Electrospun Fibers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole E. Zander

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Traditional electrospun nanofibers have a myriad of applications ranging from scaffolds for tissue engineering to components of biosensors and energy harvesting devices. The generally smooth one-dimensional structure of the fibers has stood as a limitation to several interesting novel applications. Control of fiber diameter, porosity and collector geometry will be briefly discussed, as will more traditional methods for controlling fiber morphology and fiber mat architecture. The remainder of the review will focus on new techniques to prepare hierarchically structured fibers. Fibers with hierarchical primary structures—including helical, buckled, and beads-on-a-string fibers, as well as fibers with secondary structures, such as nanopores, nanopillars, nanorods, and internally structured fibers and their applications—will be discussed. These new materials with helical/buckled morphology are expected to possess unique optical and mechanical properties with possible applications for negative refractive index materials, highly stretchable/high-tensile-strength materials, and components in microelectromechanical devices. Core-shell type fibers enable a much wider variety of materials to be electrospun and are expected to be widely applied in the sensing, drug delivery/controlled release fields, and in the encapsulation of live cells for biological applications. Materials with a hierarchical secondary structure are expected to provide new superhydrophobic and self-cleaning materials.

  16. Fabrication and good ethanol sensing of biomorphic SnO2 with architecture hierarchy of butterfly wings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Fang; Su, Huilan; Han, Jie; Zhang, Di; Chen, Zhixin

    2009-12-09

    Using super-hydrophobic butterfly wings as templates, we developed an aqueous sol-gel soakage process assisted by ethanol-wetting and followed by calcination to fabricate well-organized porous hierarchical SnO(2) with connective hollow interiors and thin mesoporous walls. The exquisite hierarchical architecture of SnO(2) is faithfully replicated from the lightweight skeleton of butterfly wings at the level from nano- to macro-scales. On the basis of the self-assembly of SnO(2) nanocrystallites with diameter around 7.0 nm, the interconnected tubes (lamellas), the fastigiated hollow tubers (pillars) and the double-layered substrates further construct the biomorphic hierarchical architecture. Benefiting from the small grain size and the unique hierarchical architecture, the biomorphic SnO(2) as an ethanol sensor exhibits high sensitivity (49.8 to 50 ppm ethanol), and fast response/recovery time (11/31 s to 50 ppm ethanol) even at relatively low working temperature (170 degrees C).

  17. Fabrication and good ethanol sensing of biomorphic SnO2 with architecture hierarchy of butterfly wings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song Fang; Su Huilan; Han Jie; Zhang Di; Chen Zhixin

    2009-01-01

    Using super-hydrophobic butterfly wings as templates, we developed an aqueous sol-gel soakage process assisted by ethanol-wetting and followed by calcination to fabricate well-organized porous hierarchical SnO 2 with connective hollow interiors and thin mesoporous walls. The exquisite hierarchical architecture of SnO 2 is faithfully replicated from the lightweight skeleton of butterfly wings at the level from nano- to macro-scales. On the basis of the self-assembly of SnO 2 nanocrystallites with diameter around 7.0 nm, the interconnected tubes (lamellas), the fastigiated hollow tubers (pillars) and the double-layered substrates further construct the biomorphic hierarchical architecture. Benefiting from the small grain size and the unique hierarchical architecture, the biomorphic SnO 2 as an ethanol sensor exhibits high sensitivity (49.8 to 50 ppm ethanol), and fast response/recovery time (11/31 s to 50 ppm ethanol) even at relatively low working temperature (170 0 C).

  18. Supervisory Control System Architecture for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cetiner, Sacit M [ORNL; Cole, Daniel L [University of Pittsburgh; Fugate, David L [ORNL; Kisner, Roger A [ORNL; Melin, Alexander M [ORNL; Muhlheim, Michael David [ORNL; Rao, Nageswara S [ORNL; Wood, Richard Thomas [ORNL

    2013-08-01

    This technical report was generated as a product of the Supervisory Control for Multi-Modular SMR Plants project within the Instrumentation, Control and Human-Machine Interface technology area under the Advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Research and Development Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. The report documents the definition of strategies, functional elements, and the structural architecture of a supervisory control system for multi-modular advanced SMR (AdvSMR) plants. This research activity advances the state-of-the art by incorporating decision making into the supervisory control system architectural layers through the introduction of a tiered-plant system approach. The report provides a brief history of hierarchical functional architectures and the current state-of-the-art, describes a reference AdvSMR to show the dependencies between systems, presents a hierarchical structure for supervisory control, indicates the importance of understanding trip setpoints, applies a new theoretic approach for comparing architectures, identifies cyber security controls that should be addressed early in system design, and describes ongoing work to develop system requirements and hardware/software configurations.

  19. A bioscaffolding strategy for hierarchical zeolites with a nanotube-trimodal network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Guannan; Huang, Haibo; Yu, Bowen; Wang, Yun; Tao, Jiawei; Wei, Yingxu; Li, Shougui; Liu, Zhongmin; Xu, Yan; Xu, Ruren

    2016-02-01

    Hierarchical zeolite monoliths with multimodal porosity are of paramount importance as they open up new horizons for advanced applications. So far, hierarchical zeolites based on nanotube scaffolds have never been reported. Inspired by the organization of biominerals, we have developed a novel precursor scaffolding-solid phase crystallization strategy for hierarchical zeolites with a unique nanotube scaffolding architecture and nanotube-trimodal network, where biomolecular self-assembly (BSA) provides a scaffolding blueprint. By vapor-treating Sil-1 seeded precursor scaffolds, zeolite MFI nanotube scaffolds are self-generated, during which evolution phenomena such as segmented voids and solid bridges are observed, in agreement with the Kirkendall effect in a solid-phase crystallization system. The nanotube walls are made of intergrown single crystals rendering good mechanical stability. The inner diameter of the nanotube is tunable between 30 and 90 nm by varying the thickness of the precursor layers. Macropores enclosed by cross-linked nanotubes can be modulated by the choice of BSA. Narrow mesopores are formed by intergrown nanocrystals. Hierarchical ZSM-5 monoliths with nanotube (90 nm), micropore (0.55 nm), mesopore (2 nm) and macropore (700 nm) exhibit superior catalytic performance in the methanol-to-hydrocarbon (MTH) conversion compared to conventional ZSM-5. BSA remains intact after crystallization, allowing a higher level of organization and functionalization of the zeolite nanotube scaffolds. The current work may afford a versatile strategy for hierarchical zeolite monoliths with nanotube scaffolding architectures and a nanotube-multimodal network leading to self-supporting and active zeolite catalysts, and for applications beyond.

  20. Synthesis and formation process of SrSO{sub 4}:Sm{sup 3+} phosphors with hierarchical structures and its electron trapping luminescence properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Jiayue, E-mail: jiayue_sun@126.com; Sun, Guangchao; Xue, Bing; Cui, Dianpeng

    2013-10-15

    Highlights: •SrSO{sub 4} flower-like structures were synthesized by a aqueous solution route. •The as-prepared SrSO{sub 4} crystals have high crystalline. •The flower-like structures are composed of well aligned microtablets. •SrSO{sub 4} nuclei spontaneous attach by an “oriented attachment” process. •The SrSO{sub 4} crystals have excellent electron trapping luminescence properties. -- Abstract: Novel three-dimensional (3D) flower-like Strontium sulfate (SrSO{sub 4}) microstructures with hierarchical architecture were successfully fabricated by using Sr(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} react with Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4} aqueous solution under ambient conditions at room temperature. The SrSO{sub 4} flower-like microcrystals have a uniform diameter of about 10 μm, which are composed of numerous well-aligned single tablet-like SrSO{sub 4} crystals oriented radially to their center. The growth mechanism of the flower-like hierarchical celestine particles is discussed to obtain a better understanding on their formation process. XRD patterns confirm the single crystal phase of SrSO{sub 4}. In the photoluminescence property investigations of SrSO{sub 4}:Sm{sup 3+}, narrow bands observed are well identified with the electronic transition configurations of Sm{sup 3+}. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra show that the temperature of maximum emission intensity is 25 °C. The thermal stability and electron trapping luminescence properties were also characterized.

  1. Holey Nanocarbon Architectures for High-Performance Lithium-Air Batteries

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of this proposal is to develop 3-dimensional hierarchical mesoporous nanocarbon architecture using primarily our unique holey nanocarbon platforms...

  2. Modern Conditions and the Impacts of the Creation of Architectural Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abyzov, Vadym

    2017-10-01

    The purpose of this research is an attempt to identify and analyse the modern conditions and impacts of the creation of architectural environment and on this basis to determine the main directions and tasks of the development of architecture at the appropriate hierarchical levels. A comprehensive review and structural analysis of all impact factors and different current conditions that lead to the sustainable architecture design are conducted in the proposal. The main groups of factors and conditions such as social-economical, natural-geographic, urban, ergonomics, ecological, typological, technical, cultural, and aesthetics are determined in accordance with their contemporary specifics. This analysis provides an opportunity to define the appropriative hierarchical levels of the modern trends and prospects of creation an effective, attractive and friendly architectural environment. Some examples of author’s projects and implementations is presented in the article. Such methodological approach will help to create a holistic view of the creation architectural environment, will allow to systematize existing knowledges and concepts, practices and prospects of the means and methods of its formation and development.

  3. Fabrication and good ethanol sensing of biomorphic SnO{sub 2} with architecture hierarchy of butterfly wings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song Fang; Su Huilan; Han Jie; Zhang Di [State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China); Chen Zhixin, E-mail: hlsu@sjtu.edu.c, E-mail: zhangdi@sjtu.edu.c [Engineering Materials Institute, Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW2522 (Australia)

    2009-12-09

    Using super-hydrophobic butterfly wings as templates, we developed an aqueous sol-gel soakage process assisted by ethanol-wetting and followed by calcination to fabricate well-organized porous hierarchical SnO{sub 2} with connective hollow interiors and thin mesoporous walls. The exquisite hierarchical architecture of SnO{sub 2} is faithfully replicated from the lightweight skeleton of butterfly wings at the level from nano- to macro-scales. On the basis of the self-assembly of SnO{sub 2} nanocrystallites with diameter around 7.0 nm, the interconnected tubes (lamellas), the fastigiated hollow tubers (pillars) and the double-layered substrates further construct the biomorphic hierarchical architecture. Benefiting from the small grain size and the unique hierarchical architecture, the biomorphic SnO{sub 2} as an ethanol sensor exhibits high sensitivity (49.8 to 50 ppm ethanol), and fast response/recovery time (11/31 s to 50 ppm ethanol) even at relatively low working temperature (170 {sup 0}C).

  4. Hierarchical Ag mesostructures for single particle SERS substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Minwei, E-mail: xuminwei@xjtu.edu.cn; Zhang, Yin

    2017-01-30

    Highlights: • Hierarchical Ag mesostructures with the size of 250, 360 and 500 nm are synthesized via a seed-mediated approach. • The Ag mesostructures present the tailorable size and highly roughened surfaces. • The average enhancement factors for individual Ag mesostructures were estimated to be as high as 10{sup 6}. - Abstract: Hierarchical Ag mesostructures with highly rough surface morphology have been synthesized at room temperature through a simple seed-mediated approach. Electron microscopy characterizations indicate that the obtained Ag mesostructures exhibit a textured surface morphology with the flower-like architecture. Moreover, the particle size can be tailored easily in the range of 250–500 nm. For the growth process of the hierarchical Ag mesostructures, it is believed that the self-assembly mechanism is more reasonable rather than the epitaxial overgrowth of Ag seed. The oriented attachment of nanoparticles is revealed during the formation of Ag mesostructures. Single particle surface enhanced Raman spectra (sp-SERS) of crystal violet adsorbed on the hierarchical Ag mesostructures were measured. Results reveal that the hierarchical Ag mesostructures can be highly sensitive sp-SERS substrates with good reproducibility. The average enhancement factors for individual Ag mesostructures are estimated to be about 10{sup 6}.

  5. Mobile Multicast in Hierarchical Proxy Mobile IPV6

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hafizah Mohd Aman, Azana; Hashim, Aisha Hassan A.; Mustafa, Amin; Abdullah, Khaizuran

    2013-12-01

    Mobile Internet Protocol Version 6 (MIPv6) environments have been developing very rapidly. Many challenges arise with the fast progress of MIPv6 technologies and its environment. Therefore the importance of improving the existing architecture and operations increases. One of the many challenges which need to be addressed is the need for performance improvement to support mobile multicast. Numerous approaches have been proposed to improve mobile multicast performance. This includes Context Transfer Protocol (CXTP), Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6), Fast Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6) and Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6). This document describes multicast context transfer in hierarchical proxy mobile IPv6 (H-PMIPv6) to provide better multicasting performance in PMIPv6 domain.

  6. On the national characteristics of Chinese ancient architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Jun; Shan, Xiaoxian

    2018-03-01

    architecture is a complex composed of technology and art. It is a concrete reflection of everything in the local society at that time. The architecture is basically consistent with the social content and historical development. This paper analyzes the formation, characteristics and style of ancient Chinese architecture and expounds its national spirit and characteristics.

  7. Experimental and Numerical Identification of a Monolithic Articulated Concentrated Strain Elastic Structure's (MACSES's) Properties

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Pollard, Eric L; Murphey, Thomas W; Sanford, Gregory E

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this research is to identify the effective continuum properties of a recently developed, deployable hierarchical truss architecture composed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP...

  8. Self-assembly and optically triggered disassembly of hierarchical dendron-virus complexes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kostiainen, Mauri A.; Kasyutich, Oksana; Cornelissen, Jeroen Johannes Lambertus Maria; Nolte, Roeland J.M.

    2010-01-01

    Nature offers a vast array of biological building blocks that can be combined with synthetic materials to generate a variety of hierarchical architectures. Viruses are particularly interesting in this respect because of their structure and the possibility of them functioning as scaffolds for the

  9. A computer architecture for intelligent machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lefebvre, D. R.; Saridis, G. N.

    1992-01-01

    The theory of intelligent machines proposes a hierarchical organization for the functions of an autonomous robot based on the principle of increasing precision with decreasing intelligence. An analytic formulation of this theory using information-theoretic measures of uncertainty for each level of the intelligent machine has been developed. The authors present a computer architecture that implements the lower two levels of the intelligent machine. The architecture supports an event-driven programming paradigm that is independent of the underlying computer architecture and operating system. Execution-level controllers for motion and vision systems are briefly addressed, as well as the Petri net transducer software used to implement coordination-level functions. A case study illustrates how this computer architecture integrates real-time and higher-level control of manipulator and vision systems.

  10. Self-Assembly of Hierarchical DNA Nanotube Architectures with Well-Defined Geometries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorgenson, Tyler D; Mohammed, Abdul M; Agrawal, Deepak K; Schulman, Rebecca

    2017-02-28

    An essential motif for the assembly of biological materials such as actin at the scale of hundreds of nanometers and beyond is a network of one-dimensional fibers with well-defined geometry. Here, we demonstrate the programmed organization of DNA filaments into micron-scale architectures where component filaments are oriented at preprogrammed angles. We assemble L-, T-, and Y-shaped DNA origami junctions that nucleate two or three micron length DNA nanotubes at high yields. The angles between the nanotubes mirror the angles between the templates on the junctions, demonstrating that nanoscale structures can control precisely how micron-scale architectures form. The ability to precisely program filament orientation could allow the assembly of complex filament architectures in two and three dimensions, including circuit structures, bundles, and extended materials.

  11. Robust Real-Time Music Transcription with a Compositional Hierarchical Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pesek, Matevž; Leonardis, Aleš; Marolt, Matija

    2017-01-01

    The paper presents a new compositional hierarchical model for robust music transcription. Its main features are unsupervised learning of a hierarchical representation of input data, transparency, which enables insights into the learned representation, as well as robustness and speed which make it suitable for real-world and real-time use. The model consists of multiple layers, each composed of a number of parts. The hierarchical nature of the model corresponds well to hierarchical structures in music. The parts in lower layers correspond to low-level concepts (e.g. tone partials), while the parts in higher layers combine lower-level representations into more complex concepts (tones, chords). The layers are learned in an unsupervised manner from music signals. Parts in each layer are compositions of parts from previous layers based on statistical co-occurrences as the driving force of the learning process. In the paper, we present the model's structure and compare it to other hierarchical approaches in the field of music information retrieval. We evaluate the model's performance for the multiple fundamental frequency estimation. Finally, we elaborate on extensions of the model towards other music information retrieval tasks.

  12. A service based component model for composing and exploring MPSoC platforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tranberg-Hansen, Anders Sejer; Madsen, Jan

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents an abstract service based modelling method for use in performance estimation and design space exploration of Multi Processor System On Chip (MPSoC) based systems. The method provides the infrastructure for composing abstract hardware and software models of stream based systems...... which can be used to produce detailed quantitative information regarding runtime properties of a given system through simulations. The method is based on a service oriented model of computation which is a modified version of Hierarchical Coloured Petri Nets.......This paper presents an abstract service based modelling method for use in performance estimation and design space exploration of Multi Processor System On Chip (MPSoC) based systems. The method provides the infrastructure for composing abstract hardware and software models of stream based systems...

  13. Hierarchical synthesis of corrugated photocatalytic TiO{sub 2} microsphere architectures on natural pollen surfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erdogan, Deniz Altunoz; Ozensoy, Emrah, E-mail: ozensoy@fen.bilkent.edu.tr

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • Biotemplate-based photocatalytic material was synthesized in the form of corrugated TiO{sub 2} microspheres. • Characterization of photocatalysts as a function of temperature. • Photocatalytic activities studied in the gas and solution phases. - Abstract: Biomaterials are challenging, yet vastly promising templates for engineering unusual inorganic materials with unprecedented surface and structural properties. In the current work, a novel biotemplate-based photocatalytic material was synthesized in the form of corrugated TiO{sub 2} microspheres by utilizing a sol-gel methodology where Ambrosia trifida (Ab, Giant ragweed) pollen was exploited as the initial biological support surface. Hierarchically synthesized TiO{sub 2} microspheres were structurally characterized in detail via SEM-EDX, Raman spectroscopy, XRD and BET techniques in order to shed light on the surface chemistry, crystal structure, chemical composition and morphology of these novel material architectures. Photocatalytic functionality of the synthesized materials was demonstrated both in gas phase as well as in liquid phase. Along these lines, air and water purification capabilities of the synthesized TiO{sub 2} microspheres were established by performing photocatalytic oxidative NOx(g) storage and Rhodamine B(aq) degradation experiments; respectively. The synthetic approach presented herein offers new opportunities to design and create sophisticated functional materials that can be used in micro reactor systems, adsorbents, drug delivery systems, catalytic processes, and sensor technologies.

  14. Preparation of hierarchical porous Zn-salt particles and their superhydrophobic performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, Dahai; Jia, Mengqiu, E-mail: jiamq@mail.buct.edu.cn

    2015-12-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Hierarchical particles with high roughness were prepared by modified hydrothermal route. • The high roughness is provided by extremely low thickness of sheet crystals. • FEVE polymer derivative was used for surface treatment of hierarchical surface. • The novel particles via surface treatment were firstly used as superhydrophobic materials. • The product properties were compared with multi-scale ZnO particles via conventional route. - Abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces arranged by hierarchical porous particles were prepared using modified hydrothermal routes under the effect of sodium citrate. Two particle samples were generated in the medium of hexamethylenetetramine (P1) and urea (P2), respectively. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscope were adopted for the investigation, and results revealed that the P1 and P2 particles are porous microspheres with crosslinked extremely thin (10–30 nm) sheet crystals composed of Zn{sub 5}(OH){sub 8}Ac{sub 2}·2H{sub 2}O and Zn{sub 5}(CO{sub 3}){sub 2}(OH){sub 6}, respectively. The prepared particles were treated with a fluoroethylene vinyl ether derivative and studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Results showed that the hierarchical surfaces of these particles were combined with low-wettable fluorocarbon layers. Moreover, the fabricated surface composed of the prepared hierarchical particles displayed considerably high contact angles, indicating great superhydrophobicity for the products. The wetting behavior of the particles was analyzed with a theoretical wetting model in comparison with that of chestnut-like ZnO products obtained through a conventional hydrothermal route. Correspondingly, this study provided evidence that high roughness surface plays a great role in superhydrophobic behavior.

  15. Hierarchical carbon nanopetal/polypyrrole nanocomposite electrodes with brush-like architecture for supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherusseri, Jayesh; Kar, Kamal K

    2016-03-28

    Hierarchical 3D nanocomposite electrodes with tube brush-like morphology are synthesized by electrochemically depositing polypyrrole (PPY) on carbon nanopetal (CNP) coated carbon fibers (CFs). Initially CNPs are synthesized on CF substrate by chemical vapour deposition. The CNPs synthesized on CF (CNPCF) are further used as an electrically conducting large surface area bearing template for the electropolymerization of PPY in order to fabricate CNPCF-PPY nanocomposite electrodes for supercapacitors (SCs). The CF in CNPCF-PPY nanocomposite functions as (i) a mechanical support for the CNPs, (ii) a current collector for the SC cell and also (iii) to prevent the agglomeration of CNPs within the CNPCF-PPY nanocomposite. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy are used to examine the surface morphology of CNPCF-PPY nanocomposites. The chemical structure of the nanocomposites is analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to understand the chemical bonding states of the hierarchical CNPCF-PPY nanocomposites. The electrochemical properties of symmetric type CNPCF-PPY SC cells are examined by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. The hierarchical CNPCF-PPY SC exhibits a maximum gravimetric capacitance of 280.4 F g(-1) and an area specific capacitance of 210.3 mF cm(-2) at a current density of 0.42 mA cm(-2). The CNPCF-PPY SC cell exhibits good cycling stability of more than 5000 cycles. The present study proclaims the development of a novel lightweight SC with high-performance.

  16. The architecture of a video image processor for the space station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yalamanchili, S.; Lee, D.; Fritze, K.; Carpenter, T.; Hoyme, K.; Murray, N.

    1987-01-01

    The architecture of a video image processor for space station applications is described. The architecture was derived from a study of the requirements of algorithms that are necessary to produce the desired functionality of many of these applications. Architectural options were selected based on a simulation of the execution of these algorithms on various architectural organizations. A great deal of emphasis was placed on the ability of the system to evolve and grow over the lifetime of the space station. The result is a hierarchical parallel architecture that is characterized by high level language programmability, modularity, extensibility and can meet the required performance goals.

  17. Advanced control architecture for autonomous vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maurer, Markus; Dickmanns, Ernst D.

    1997-06-01

    An advanced control architecture for autonomous vehicles is presented. The hierarchical architecture consists of four levels: a vehicle level, a control level, a rule-based level and a knowledge-based level. A special focus is on forms of internal representation, which have to be chosen adequately for each level. The control scheme is applied to VaMP, a Mercedes passenger car which autonomously performs missions on German freeways. VaMP perceives the environment with its sense of vision and conventional sensors. It controls its actuators for locomotion and attention focusing. Modules for perception, cognition and action are discussed.

  18. Sustained Activity in Hierarchical Modular Neural Networks: Self-Organized Criticality and Oscillations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Sheng-Jun; Hilgetag, Claus C.; Zhou, Changsong

    2010-01-01

    Cerebral cortical brain networks possess a number of conspicuous features of structure and dynamics. First, these networks have an intricate, non-random organization. In particular, they are structured in a hierarchical modular fashion, from large-scale regions of the whole brain, via cortical areas and area subcompartments organized as structural and functional maps to cortical columns, and finally circuits made up of individual neurons. Second, the networks display self-organized sustained activity, which is persistent in the absence of external stimuli. At the systems level, such activity is characterized by complex rhythmical oscillations over a broadband background, while at the cellular level, neuronal discharges have been observed to display avalanches, indicating that cortical networks are at the state of self-organized criticality (SOC). We explored the relationship between hierarchical neural network organization and sustained dynamics using large-scale network modeling. Previously, it was shown that sparse random networks with balanced excitation and inhibition can sustain neural activity without external stimulation. We found that a hierarchical modular architecture can generate sustained activity better than random networks. Moreover, the system can simultaneously support rhythmical oscillations and SOC, which are not present in the respective random networks. The mechanism underlying the sustained activity is that each dense module cannot sustain activity on its own, but displays SOC in the presence of weak perturbations. Therefore, the hierarchical modular networks provide the coupling among subsystems with SOC. These results imply that the hierarchical modular architecture of cortical networks plays an important role in shaping the ongoing spontaneous activity of the brain, potentially allowing the system to take advantage of both the sensitivity of critical states and the predictability and timing of oscillations for efficient information

  19. Sustained activity in hierarchical modular neural networks: self-organized criticality and oscillations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheng-Jun Wang

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Cerebral cortical brain networks possess a number of conspicuous features of structure and dynamics. First, these networks have an intricate, non-random organization. They are structured in a hierarchical modular fashion, from large-scale regions of the whole brain, via cortical areas and area subcompartments organized as structural and functional maps to cortical columns, and finally circuits made up of individual neurons. Second, the networks display self-organized sustained activity, which is persistent in the absence of external stimuli. At the systems level, such activity is characterized by complex rhythmical oscillations over a broadband background, while at the cellular level, neuronal discharges have been observed to display avalanches, indicating that cortical networks are at the state of self-organized criticality. We explored the relationship between hierarchical neural network organization and sustained dynamics using large-scale network modeling. It was shown that sparse random networks with balanced excitation and inhibition can sustain neural activity without external stimulation. We find that a hierarchical modular architecture can generate sustained activity better than random networks. Moreover, the system can simultaneously support rhythmical oscillations and self-organized criticality, which are not present in the respective random networks. The underlying mechanism is that each dense module cannot sustain activity on its own, but displays self-organized criticality in the presence of weak perturbations. The hierarchical modular networks provide the coupling among subsystems with self-organized criticality. These results imply that the hierarchical modular architecture of cortical networks plays an important role in shaping the ongoing spontaneous activity of the brain, potentially allowing the system to take advantage of both the sensitivityof critical state and predictability and timing of oscillations for efficient

  20. A Hierarchical Algorithm for Integrated Scheduling and Control With Applications to Power Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sokoler, Leo Emil; Dinesen, Peter Juhler; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

    2016-01-01

    The contribution of this paper is a hierarchical algorithm for integrated scheduling and control via model predictive control of hybrid systems. The controlled system is a linear system composed of continuous control, state, and output variables. Binary variables occur as scheduling decisions in ...

  1. Architecture-Based Reliability Analysis of Web Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmani, Cobra Mariam

    2012-01-01

    In a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), the hierarchical complexity of Web Services (WS) and their interactions with the underlying Application Server (AS) create new challenges in providing a realistic estimate of WS performance and reliability. The current approaches often treat the entire WS environment as a black-box. Thus, the sensitivity…

  2. Definition of an Object-Oriented Modeling Language for Enterprise Architecture

    OpenAIRE

    Lê, Lam Son; Wegmann, Alain

    2005-01-01

    In enterprise architecture, the goal is to integrate business resources and IT resources in order to improve an enterprises competitiveness. In an enterprise architecture project, the development team usually constructs a model that represents the enterprise: the enterprise model. In this paper, we present a modeling language for building such enterprise models. Our enterprise models are hierarchical object-oriented representations of the enterprises. This paper presents the foundations of o...

  3. Simultaneous formation of multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies through sequential wrinkling and folding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yu; Sun, Qingyang; Xiao, Jianliang

    2018-02-01

    Highly organized hierarchical surface morphologies possess various intriguing properties that could find important potential applications. In this paper, we demonstrate a facile approach to simultaneously form multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies through sequential wrinkling. This method combines surface wrinkling induced by thermal expansion and mechanical strain on a three-layer structure composed of an aluminum film, a hard Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, and a soft PDMS substrate. Deposition of the aluminum film on hard PDMS induces biaxial wrinkling due to thermal expansion mismatch, and recovering the prestrain in the soft PDMS substrate leads to wrinkling of the hard PDMS film. In total, three orders of wrinkling patterns form in this process, with wavelength and amplitude spanning 3 orders of magnitude in length scale. By increasing the prestrain in the soft PDMS substrate, a hierarchical wrinkling-folding structure was also obtained. This approach can be easily extended to other thin films for fabrication of multiscale hierarchical surface morphologies with potential applications in different areas.

  4. Towards recovering the software architecture of microservice-based systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Granchelli, Giona; Cardarelli, Mario; Francesco, Paolo Di; Malavolta, Ivano; Iovino, Ludovico; Salle, Amleto Di

    2017-01-01

    Today the microservice architectural style is being adopted by many key technological players such as Netflix, Amazon, The Guardian. A microservice architecture is composed of a large set of small services, each running in its own process and communicating with lightweight mechanisms (often via REST

  5. Distributed and decentralized control architectures for converter-interfaced microgrids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dragicevic, Tomislav; Wu, Dan; Shafiee, Qobad

    2017-01-01

    This paper gives a summary on recently available technologies for decentralized and distributed control of microgrids. They can be classified into two general categories: 1) power line communication based architectures and 2) multi-agent based architectures. The essential control methods and info......This paper gives a summary on recently available technologies for decentralized and distributed control of microgrids. They can be classified into two general categories: 1) power line communication based architectures and 2) multi-agent based architectures. The essential control methods...... and information sharing algorithms applied in these architectures are reviewed and examined in a hierarchical manner, in order to point out benefits they will bring to future microgrid applications. The paper is concluded with a summary on existing methods and a discussion on future development trends....

  6. Virtual Prototyping and Performance Analysis of Two Memory Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huda S. Muhammad

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The gap between CPU and memory speed has always been a critical concern that motivated researchers to study and analyze the performance of memory hierarchical architectures. In the early stages of the design cycle, performance evaluation methodologies can be used to leverage exploration at the architectural level and assist in making early design tradeoffs. In this paper, we use simulation platforms developed using the VisualSim tool to compare the performance of two memory architectures, namely, the Direct Connect architecture of the Opteron, and the Shared Bus of the Xeon multicore processors. Key variations exist between the two memory architectures and both design approaches provide rich platforms that call for the early use of virtual system prototyping and simulation techniques to assess performance at an early stage in the design cycle.

  7. Hierarchical processing in the prefrontal cortex in a variety of cognitive domains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyeon-Ae eJeon

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This review scrutinizes several findings on human hierarchical processing within the prefrontal cortex (PFC in diverse cognitive domains. Converging evidence from previous studies has shown that the PFC, specifically Brodmann area (BA 44, may function as the essential region for hierarchical processing across the domains. In language fMRI studies, BA 44 was significantly activated for the hierarchical processing of center-embedded sentences and this pattern of activations was also observed in artificial grammar. The same pattern was observed in the visuo-spatial domain where BA44 was actively involved in the processing of hierarchy for the visual symbol. Musical syntax, which is the rule-based arrangement of musical sets, has also been construed as hierarchical processing as in the language domain such that the activation in BA44 was observed in a chord sequence paradigm. P600 ERP was also engendered during the processing of musical hierarchy. Along with a longstanding idea that a human’s number faculty is developed as a by-product of language faculty, BA44 was closely involved in hierarchical processing in mental arithmetic. This review extended its discussion of hierarchical processing to hierarchical behavior, that is, human action which has been referred to as being hierarchically composed. Several lesion and TMS studies supported the involvement of BA44 for hierarchical processing in the action domain. Lastly, the hierarchical organization of cognitive controls was discussed within the PFC, forming a cascade of top-down hierarchical processes operating along a posterior-to-anterior axis of the lateral PFC including BA44 within the network. It is proposed that PFC is actively involved in different forms of hierarchical processing and specifically BA44 may play an integral role in the process. Taking levels of proficiency and subcortical areas into consideration may provide further insight into the functional role of BA44 for hierarchical

  8. Communication-Oriented Design Space Exploration for Reconfigurable Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gogniat Guy

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Many academic works in computer engineering focus on reconfigurable architectures and associated tools. Fine-grain architectures, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs, are the most well-known structures of reconfigurable hardware. Dedicated tools (generic or specific allow for the exploration of their design space to choose the best architecture characteristics and/or to explore the application characteristics. The aim is to increase the synergy between the application and the architecture in order to get the best performance. However, there is no generic tool to perform such an exploration for coarse-grain or heterogeneous-grain architectures, just a small number of very specific tools are able to explore a limited set of architectures. To address this major lack, in this paper we propose a new design space exploration approach adapted to fine- and coarse-grain granularities. Our approach combines algorithmic and architecture explorations. It relies on an automatic estimation tool which computes the communication hierarchical distribution and the architectural processing resources use rate for the architecture under exploration. Such an approach forwards the rapid definition of efficient reconfigurable architectures dedicated to one or several applications.

  9. Heterogeneous network architectures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Henrik Lehrmann

    2006-01-01

    is flexibility. This thesis investigates such heterogeneous network architectures and how to make them flexible. A survey of algorithms for network design is presented, and it is described how using heuristics can increase the speed. A hierarchical, MPLS based network architecture is described......Future networks will be heterogeneous! Due to the sheer size of networks (e.g., the Internet) upgrades cannot be instantaneous and thus heterogeneity appears. This means that instead of trying to find the olution, networks hould be designed as being heterogeneous. One of the key equirements here...... and it is discussed that it is advantageous to heterogeneous networks and illustrated by a number of examples. Modeling and simulation is a well-known way of doing performance evaluation. An approach to event-driven simulation of communication networks is presented and mixed complexity modeling, which can simplify...

  10. Hierarchical Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} architectures decorated with Pd nanoparticles for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Jinniu; Chen, Tianhua [School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062 (China); Lu, Hongbing, E-mail: hblu@snnu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062 (China); Yang, Zhibo; Yin, Feng; Gao, Jianzhi; Liu, Qianru [School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062 (China); Tu, Yafang [Department of Physics, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056 (China)

    2017-05-15

    Highlights: • A new kind of Pd decorated Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} hierarchical microarchitecture was synthesized. • Pd nanoparticles remarkably improved the photocatalytic activity of Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6}. • The photo-generated holes and ·O{sub 2}{sup −} played a crucial role in the degradation of RhB. • The photocatalytic enhancement mechanism of the Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} composites was proposed. - Abstract: A new kind of hierarchical Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} architecture decorated with different molar ratios of Pd to Bi, has been fabricated by a hydrothermal process, followed by a chemical deposition method. The photocatalytic activities of the pure Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} and Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} nanocatalyst were examined in the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes and phenol under visible light. The photocatalytic results showed that the Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} nanocomposites possessed observably enhanced photocatalytic activities. Particularly, the 2.0% Pd loaded Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} had the highest photocatalytic activity, exhibiting a nearly complete degradation of 30 mg/L RhB and 10 mg/L phenol within only 50 and 60 min, respectively. In addition, the trapping experiment results indicated that the photo-generated holes (h{sup +}) and ·O{sub 2}{sup −} played a crucial role in the degradation of RhB. According to the experimental results, the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} was also proposed. The enhanced photocatalytic activities were ascribed to the combined effects of the highly efficient separation of electrons and holes, improved visible light utilization and increased BET specific surface areas of the Pd-Bi{sub 2}WO{sub 6} nanocomposites.

  11. Hierarchical VOOH hollow spheres for symmetrical and asymmetrical supercapacitor devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, Xuyang; Wang, Cong; Feng, Wenjing; Xing, Na; Jiang, Hanmei; Lu, Xiangyu; Zhang, Yifu; Meng, Changgong

    2018-01-01

    Hierarchical VOOH hollow spheres with low crystallinity composed of nanoparticles were prepared by a facile and template-free method, which involved a precipitation of precursor microspheres in aqueous solution at room temperature and subsequent hydrothermal reaction. Quasi-solid-state symmetric and asymmetric supercapacitor (SSC and ASC) devices were fabricated using hierarchical VOOH hollow spheres as the electrodes, and the electrochemical properties of the VOOH//VOOH SSC device and the VOOH//AC ASC device were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of the VOOH//AC ASC device was better than that of the VOOH//VOOH SSC device. After 3000 cycles, the specific capacitance of the VOOH//AC ASC device retains 83% of the initial capacitance, while the VOOH//VOOH SSC device retains only 7.7%. Findings in this work proved that hierarchical VOOH hollow spheres could be a promising candidate as an ideal electrode material for supercapacitor devices.

  12. Communication and Memory Architecture Design of Application-Specific High-End Multiprocessors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahya Jan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is devoted to the design of communication and memory architectures of massively parallel hardware multiprocessors necessary for the implementation of highly demanding applications. We demonstrated that for the massively parallel hardware multiprocessors the traditionally used flat communication architectures and multi-port memories do not scale well, and the memory and communication network influence on both the throughput and circuit area dominates the processors influence. To resolve the problems and ensure scalability, we proposed to design highly optimized application-specific hierarchical and/or partitioned communication and memory architectures through exploring and exploiting the regularity and hierarchy of the actual data flows of a given application. Furthermore, we proposed some data distribution and related data mapping schemes in the shared (global partitioned memories with the aim to eliminate the memory access conflicts, as well as, to ensure that our communication design strategies will be applicable. We incorporated these architecture synthesis strategies into our quality-driven model-based multi-processor design method and related automated architecture exploration framework. Using this framework, we performed a large series of experiments that demonstrate many various important features of the synthesized memory and communication architectures. They also demonstrate that our method and related framework are able to efficiently synthesize well scalable memory and communication architectures even for the high-end multiprocessors. The gains as high as 12-times in performance and 25-times in area can be obtained when using the hierarchical communication networks instead of the flat networks. However, for the high parallelism levels only the partitioned approach ensures the scalability in performance.

  13. Neural codes of seeing architectural styles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choo, Heeyoung; Nasar, Jack L; Nikrahei, Bardia; Walther, Dirk B

    2017-01-10

    Images of iconic buildings, such as the CN Tower, instantly transport us to specific places, such as Toronto. Despite the substantial impact of architectural design on people's visual experience of built environments, we know little about its neural representation in the human brain. In the present study, we have found patterns of neural activity associated with specific architectural styles in several high-level visual brain regions, but not in primary visual cortex (V1). This finding suggests that the neural correlates of the visual perception of architectural styles stem from style-specific complex visual structure beyond the simple features computed in V1. Surprisingly, the network of brain regions representing architectural styles included the fusiform face area (FFA) in addition to several scene-selective regions. Hierarchical clustering of error patterns further revealed that the FFA participated to a much larger extent in the neural encoding of architectural styles than entry-level scene categories. We conclude that the FFA is involved in fine-grained neural encoding of scenes at a subordinate-level, in our case, architectural styles of buildings. This study for the first time shows how the human visual system encodes visual aspects of architecture, one of the predominant and longest-lasting artefacts of human culture.

  14. Hierarchically Nanostructured Transition Metal Oxides for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Mingbo; Tang, Hao; Li, Lulu; Hu, Qin; Zhang, Li; Xue, Huaiguo

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used in the field of portable electric devices because of their high energy density and long cycling life. To further improve the performance of LIBs, it is of great importance to develop new electrode materials. Various transition metal oxides (TMOs) have been extensively investigated as electrode materials for LIBs. According to the reaction mechanism, there are mainly two kinds of TMOs, one is based on conversion reaction and the other is based on intercalation/deintercalation reaction. Recently, hierarchically nanostructured TMOs have become a hot research area in the field of LIBs. Hierarchical architecture can provide numerous accessible electroactive sites for redox reactions, shorten the diffusion distance of Li‐ion during the reaction, and accommodate volume expansion during cycling. With rapid research progress in this field, a timely account of this advanced technology is highly necessary. Here, the research progress on the synthesis methods, morphological characteristics, and electrochemical performances of hierarchically nanostructured TMOs for LIBs is summarized and discussed. Some relevant prospects are also proposed. PMID:29593962

  15. On Converting Software Systems to Object Oriented Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela Czibula

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Object-oriented concepts are useful concerning the reuse of existing software. Therefore a transformation of procedural programs to objectoriented architectures becomes an important process to enhance the reuse of procedural programs. Moreover, it would be useful to assist by automatic methods the software developers in transforming procedural code into an equivalent
    object-oriented one. In this paper we aim at introducing a hierarchical clustering algorithm that can be used for assisting software developers in the process of transforming procedural code into an object-oriented architecture.

  16. Constructive Epistemic Modeling: A Hierarchical Bayesian Model Averaging Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, F. T. C.; Elshall, A. S.

    2014-12-01

    Constructive epistemic modeling is the idea that our understanding of a natural system through a scientific model is a mental construct that continually develops through learning about and from the model. Using the hierarchical Bayesian model averaging (HBMA) method [1], this study shows that segregating different uncertain model components through a BMA tree of posterior model probabilities, model prediction, within-model variance, between-model variance and total model variance serves as a learning tool [2]. First, the BMA tree of posterior model probabilities permits the comparative evaluation of the candidate propositions of each uncertain model component. Second, systemic model dissection is imperative for understanding the individual contribution of each uncertain model component to the model prediction and variance. Third, the hierarchical representation of the between-model variance facilitates the prioritization of the contribution of each uncertain model component to the overall model uncertainty. We illustrate these concepts using the groundwater modeling of a siliciclastic aquifer-fault system. The sources of uncertainty considered are from geological architecture, formation dip, boundary conditions and model parameters. The study shows that the HBMA analysis helps in advancing knowledge about the model rather than forcing the model to fit a particularly understanding or merely averaging several candidate models. [1] Tsai, F. T.-C., and A. S. Elshall (2013), Hierarchical Bayesian model averaging for hydrostratigraphic modeling: Uncertainty segregation and comparative evaluation. Water Resources Research, 49, 5520-5536, doi:10.1002/wrcr.20428. [2] Elshall, A.S., and F. T.-C. Tsai (2014). Constructive epistemic modeling of groundwater flow with geological architecture and boundary condition uncertainty under Bayesian paradigm, Journal of Hydrology, 517, 105-119, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.05.027.

  17. Facile synthesis and optical property of SnO2 flower-like architectures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Qingrui; Li Zhengquan; Wu Changzheng; Bai Xue; Xie Yi

    2006-01-01

    Two-dimensional (2D) hierarchical tin dioxide (SnO 2 ) flower-like architectures consisting of sheet-like nanoparticles have been successfully prepared by a simply mild hydrothermal method based on the reaction between tin foil, NaOH and KBrO 3 . The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum exhibit that the flower-like architectures of SnO 2 have strong PL emission, which suggest its possible applications in nanoscaled optoelectronic devices. The formation process of SnO 2 architectures is investigated and the corresponding mechanism is also proposed

  18. Research and Design in Unified Coding Architecture for Smart Grids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gang Han

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Standardized and sharing information platform is the foundation of the Smart Grids. In order to improve the dispatching center information integration of the power grids and achieve efficient data exchange, sharing and interoperability, a unified coding architecture is proposed. The architecture includes coding management layer, coding generation layer, information models layer and application system layer. Hierarchical design makes the whole coding architecture to adapt to different application environments, different interfaces, loosely coupled requirements, which can realize the integration model management function of the power grids. The life cycle and evaluation method of survival of unified coding architecture is proposed. It can ensure the stability and availability of the coding architecture. Finally, the development direction of coding technology of the Smart Grids in future is prospected.

  19. Architecturing hierarchical function layers on self-assembled viral templates as 3D nano-array electrodes for integrated Li-ion microbatteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yihang; Zhang, Wei; Zhu, Yujie; Luo, Yanting; Xu, Yunhua; Brown, Adam; Culver, James N; Lundgren, Cynthia A; Xu, Kang; Wang, Yuan; Wang, Chunsheng

    2013-01-09

    This work enables an elegant bottom-up solution to engineer 3D microbattery arrays as integral power sources for microelectronics. Thus, multilayers of functional materials were hierarchically architectured over tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) templates that were genetically modified to self-assemble in a vertical manner on current-collectors, so that optimum power and energy densities accompanied with excellent cycle-life could be achieved on a minimum footprint. The resultant microbattery based on self-aligned LiFePO(4) nanoforests of shell-core-shell structure, with precise arrangement of various auxiliary material layers including a central nanometric metal core as direct electronic pathway to current collector, delivers excellent energy density and stable cycling stability only rivaled by the best Li-ion batteries of conventional configurations, while providing rate performance per foot-print and on-site manufacturability unavailable from the latter. This approach could open a new avenue for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications, which would significantly benefit from the concept that electrochemically active components be directly engineered and fabricated as an integral part of the integrated circuit (IC).

  20. Memory controllers for real-time embedded systems predictable and composable real-time systems

    CERN Document Server

    Akesson, Benny

    2012-01-01

      Verification of real-time requirements in systems-on-chip becomes more complex as more applications are integrated. Predictable and composable systems can manage the increasing complexity using formal verification and simulation.  This book explains the concepts of predictability and composability and shows how to apply them to the design and analysis of a memory controller, which is a key component in any real-time system. This book is generally intended for readers interested in Systems-on-Chips with real-time applications.   It is especially well-suited for readers looking to use SDRAM memories in systems with hard or firm real-time requirements. There is a strong focus on real-time concepts, such as predictability and composability, as well as a brief discussion about memory controller architectures for high-performance computing. Readers will learn step-by-step how to go from an unpredictable SDRAM memory, offering highly variable bandwidth and latency, to a predictable and composable shared memory...

  1. Predicting and Modeling RNA Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westhof, Eric; Masquida, Benoît; Jossinet, Fabrice

    2011-01-01

    SUMMARY A general approach for modeling the architecture of large and structured RNA molecules is described. The method exploits the modularity and the hierarchical folding of RNA architecture that is viewed as the assembly of preformed double-stranded helices defined by Watson-Crick base pairs and RNA modules maintained by non-Watson-Crick base pairs. Despite the extensive molecular neutrality observed in RNA structures, specificity in RNA folding is achieved through global constraints like lengths of helices, coaxiality of helical stacks, and structures adopted at the junctions of helices. The Assemble integrated suite of computer tools allows for sequence and structure analysis as well as interactive modeling by homology or ab initio assembly with possibilities for fitting within electronic density maps. The local key role of non-Watson-Crick pairs guides RNA architecture formation and offers metrics for assessing the accuracy of three-dimensional models in a more useful way than usual root mean square deviation (RMSD) values. PMID:20504963

  2. Hierarchical video summarization based on context clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tseng, Belle L.; Smith, John R.

    2003-11-01

    A personalized video summary is dynamically generated in our video personalization and summarization system based on user preference and usage environment. The three-tier personalization system adopts the server-middleware-client architecture in order to maintain, select, adapt, and deliver rich media content to the user. The server stores the content sources along with their corresponding MPEG-7 metadata descriptions. In this paper, the metadata includes visual semantic annotations and automatic speech transcriptions. Our personalization and summarization engine in the middleware selects the optimal set of desired video segments by matching shot annotations and sentence transcripts with user preferences. Besides finding the desired contents, the objective is to present a coherent summary. There are diverse methods for creating summaries, and we focus on the challenges of generating a hierarchical video summary based on context information. In our summarization algorithm, three inputs are used to generate the hierarchical video summary output. These inputs are (1) MPEG-7 metadata descriptions of the contents in the server, (2) user preference and usage environment declarations from the user client, and (3) context information including MPEG-7 controlled term list and classification scheme. In a video sequence, descriptions and relevance scores are assigned to each shot. Based on these shot descriptions, context clustering is performed to collect consecutively similar shots to correspond to hierarchical scene representations. The context clustering is based on the available context information, and may be derived from domain knowledge or rules engines. Finally, the selection of structured video segments to generate the hierarchical summary efficiently balances between scene representation and shot selection.

  3. SiC: An Agent Based Architecture for Preventing and Detecting Attacks to Ubiquitous Databases

    OpenAIRE

    Pinzón, Cristian; de Paz Santana, Yanira; Bajo Pérez, Javier; Abraham, Ajith P.; Corchado Rodríguez, Juan M.

    2009-01-01

    One of the main attacks to ubiquitous databases is the structure query language (SQL) injection attack, which causes severe damages both in the commercial aspect and in the user’s confidence. This chapter proposes the SiC architecture as a solution to the SQL injection attack problem. This is a hierarchical distributed multiagent architecture, which involves an entirely new approach with respect to existing architectures for the prevention and detection of SQL injections. SiC incorporates a k...

  4. Hierarchical electrode architectures for electrical energy storage & conversion.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zavadil, Kevin Robert; Missert, Nancy A.; Shelnutt, John Allen; van Swol, Frank B.

    2012-01-01

    The integration and stability of electrocatalytic nanostructures, which represent one level of porosity in a hierarchical structural scheme when combined with a three-dimensional support scaffold, has been studied using a combination of synthetic processes, characterization techniques, and computational methods. Dendritic platinum nanostructures have been covalently linked to common electrode surfaces using a newly developed chemical route; a chemical route equally applicable to a range of metals, oxides, and semiconductive materials. Characterization of the resulting bound nanostructure system confirms successful binding, while electrochemistry and microscopy demonstrate the viability of these electroactive particles. Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to image and validate the short-term stability of several electrode-bound platinum dendritic sheet structures toward Oswald ripening. Kinetic Monte Carlo methods have been applied to develop an understanding of the stability of the basic nano-scale porous platinum sheets as they transform from an initial dendrite to hole containing sheets. Alternate synthetic strategies were pursued to grow dendritic platinum structures directly onto subunits (graphitic particles) of the electrode scaffold. A two-step photocatalytic seeding process proved successful at generating desirable nano-scale porous structures. Growth in-place is an alternate strategy to the covalent linking of the electrocatalytic nanostructures.

  5. Control system architecture: The standard and non-standard models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thuot, M.E.; Dalesio, L.R.

    1993-01-01

    Control system architecture development has followed the advances in computer technology through mainframes to minicomputers to micros and workstations. This technology advance and increasingly challenging accelerator data acquisition and automation requirements have driven control system architecture development. In summarizing the progress of control system architecture at the last International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems (ICALEPCS) B. Kuiper asserted that the system architecture issue was resolved and presented a ''standard model''. The ''standard model'' consists of a local area network (Ethernet or FDDI) providing communication between front end microcomputers, connected to the accelerator, and workstations, providing the operator interface and computational support. Although this model represents many present designs, there are exceptions including reflected memory and hierarchical architectures driven by requirements for widely dispersed, large channel count or tightly coupled systems. This paper describes the performance characteristics and features of the ''standard model'' to determine if the requirements of ''non-standard'' architectures can be met. Several possible extensions to the ''standard model'' are suggested including software as well as the hardware architectural feature

  6. Priority-Based Hierarchical Operational Management for Multiagent-Based Microgrids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takumi Kato

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Electricity consumption in the world is constantly increasing, making our lives become more and more dependent on electricity. There are several new paradigms proposed in the field of power grids. In Japan, especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, the new power grid paradigms are expected to be more resilient to survive several difficulties during disasters. In this paper, we focus on microgrids and propose priority-based hierarchical operational management for multiagent-based microgrids. The proposed management is a new multiagent-based load shedding scheme and multiagent-based hierarchical architecture to realize such resilient microgrids. We developed a prototype system and performed an evaluation of the proposed management using the developed system. The result of the evaluation shows the effectiveness of our proposal in power shortage situations, such as disasters.

  7. Hierarchical modular structure enhances the robustness of self-organized criticality in neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Shengjun; Zhou Changsong

    2012-01-01

    One of the most prominent architecture properties of neural networks in the brain is the hierarchical modular structure. How does the structure property constrain or improve brain function? It is thought that operating near criticality can be beneficial for brain function. Here, we find that networks with modular structure can extend the parameter region of coupling strength over which critical states are reached compared to non-modular networks. Moreover, we find that one aspect of network function—dynamical range—is highest for the same parameter region. Thus, hierarchical modularity enhances robustness of criticality as well as function. However, too much modularity constrains function by preventing the neural networks from reaching critical states, because the modular structure limits the spreading of avalanches. Our results suggest that the brain may take advantage of the hierarchical modular structure to attain criticality and enhanced function. (paper)

  8. My Career: Composer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morganelli, Patrick

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the author talks about his career as a composer and offers some advice for aspiring composers. The author works as a composer in the movie industry, creating music that supports a film's story. Other composers work on television shows, and some do both television and film. The composer uses music to tell the audience what kind of…

  9. Method of moments solution of volume integral equations using higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Jørgensen, Erik; Meincke, Peter

    2004-01-01

    An efficient higher-order method of moments (MoM) solution of volume integral equations is presented. The higher-order MoM solution is based on higher-order hierarchical Legendre basis functions and higher-order geometry modeling. An unstructured mesh composed of 8-node trilinear and/or curved 27...... of magnitude in comparison to existing higher-order hierarchical basis functions. Consequently, an iterative solver can be applied even for high expansion orders. Numerical results demonstrate excellent agreement with the analytical Mie series solution for a dielectric sphere as well as with results obtained...

  10. Fabrication and properties of dual-level hierarchical structures mimicking gecko foot hairs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Peng; Liu, Shiyuan; Lv, Hao

    2013-02-01

    In nature, geckos have extraordinary adhesive capabilities. The multi-scale hierarchical structure of the gecko foot hairs, especially the high-aspect-ratio structure of its micro-scale seta and nano-scale spatulae is the critical factor of the gecko's ability to adopt and stick to any different surface with powerful adhesion force. In this paper, we present a simple and effective approach to fabricate dual-level hierarchical structures mimicking gecko foot hairs. Polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) hierarchical arrays were fabricated by demolding from a double stack mold that was composed of an SU-8 mold by thick film photolithography and a silicon mold by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching. Top pillars of the fabricated structures have 3 micom diameter and 18 microm in height, while base pillars have 25 microm diameter and 40 microm in height. The water droplet contact angle tests indicate that the hierarchical structures increase the hydrophobic property significantly compared with the single-level arrays and the unstructured polymers, exhibiting superhydrophobicity (154.2 degrees) like the Tokay gecko's (160.9 degrees). The shear force tests show that the top pillars make attachment through side contact with a value of about 0.25 N/cm2, and moreover, the hierarchical structures are demonstrated to be more suitable for contacting with rough surfaces.

  11. A top-down approach for the prediction of hardness and toughness of hierarchical materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carpinteri, Alberto; Paggi, Marco

    2009-01-01

    Many natural and man-made materials exhibit structure over more than one length scale. In this paper, we deal with hierarchical grained composite materials that have recently been designed to achieve superior hardness and toughness as compared to their traditional counterparts. Their nested structure, where meso-grains are recursively composed of smaller and smaller micro-grains at the different scales with a fractal-like topology, is herein studied from a hierarchical perspective. Considering a top-down approach, i.e. from the largest to the smallest scale, we propose a recursive micromechanical model coupled with a generalized fractal mixture rule for the prediction of hardness and toughness of a grained material with n hierarchical levels. A relationship between hardness and toughness is also derived and the analytical predictions are compared with experimental data.

  12. A hypercrosslinking-induced self-assembly strategy for preparation of advanced hierarchical porous polymers with customizable functional components.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Hongji; Wu, Jinlun; Zheng, Bingna; Mai, Weicong; Xu, Fei; Chen, Luyi; Liu, Hao; Fu, Ruowen; Wu, Dingcai; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof

    2017-05-09

    The fabrication of advanced hierarchical porous polymers with a unique 3D nanonetwork structure composed of functional core-microporous shell nanoparticles was reported based on the development of a simple and efficient hypercrosslinking-induced self-assembly strategy.

  13. HyperCell : A Bio-inspired Design Framework for Real-time Interactive Architectures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chang, J.R.

    2018-01-01

    This pioneering research focuses on Biomimetic Interactive Architecture using “Computation”, “Embodiment”, and “Biology” to generate an intimate embodied convergence to propose a novel rule-based design framework for creating organic architectures composed of swarm-based intelligent components.

  14. Passion fruit-like nano-architectures: a general synthesis route

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassano, D.; David, J.; Luin, S.; Voliani, V.

    2017-03-01

    Noble metal nanostructures have demonstrated a number of intriguing features for both medicine and catalysis. However, accumulation issues have prevented their clinical translation, while their use in catalysis has shown serious efficiency and stability hurdles. Here we introduce a simple and robust synthetic protocol for passion fruit-like nano-architectures composed by a silica shell embedding polymeric arrays of ultrasmall noble metal nanoparticles. These nano-architectures show interesting features for both oncology and catalysis. They avoid the issue of persistence in organism thanks to their fast biodegradation in renal clearable building blocks. Furthermore, their calcination results in yolk-shell structures composed by naked metal or alloy nanospheres shielded from aggregation by a silica shell.

  15. High-performance supercapacitors based on hierarchically porous graphite particles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Zheng; Wen, Jing; Yan, Chunzhu; Rice, Lynn; Sohn, Hiesang; Lu, Yunfeng [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Shen, Meiqing [School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 (China); Cai, Mei [General Motor R and D Center, Warren, MI 48090 (United States); Dunn, Bruce [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)

    2011-07-15

    Hierarchically porous graphite particles are synthesized using a continuous, scalable aerosol approach. The unique porous graphite architecture provides the particles with high surface area, fast ion transportation, and good electronic conductivity, which endows the resulting supercapacitors with high energy and power densities. This work provides a new material platform for high-performance supercapacitors with high packing density, and is adaptable to battery electrodes, fuel-cell catalyst supports, and other applications. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  16. Applying macromolecular crowding to 3D bioprinting: fabrication of 3D hierarchical porous collagen-based hydrogel constructs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Wei Long; Goh, Min Hao; Yeong, Wai Yee; Naing, May Win

    2018-02-27

    Native tissues and/or organs possess complex hierarchical porous structures that confer highly-specific cellular functions. Despite advances in fabrication processes, it is still very challenging to emulate the hierarchical porous collagen architecture found in most native tissues. Hence, the ability to recreate such hierarchical porous structures would result in biomimetic tissue-engineered constructs. Here, a single-step drop-on-demand (DOD) bioprinting strategy is proposed to fabricate hierarchical porous collagen-based hydrogels. Printable macromolecule-based bio-inks (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) have been developed and printed in a DOD manner to manipulate the porosity within the multi-layered collagen-based hydrogels by altering the collagen fibrillogenesis process. The experimental results have indicated that hierarchical porous collagen structures could be achieved by controlling the number of macromolecule-based bio-ink droplets printed on each printed collagen layer. This facile single-step bioprinting process could be useful for the structural design of collagen-based hydrogels for various tissue engineering applications.

  17. Hierarchical Swarm Model: A New Approach to Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanning Chen

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a novel optimization model called hierarchical swarm optimization (HSO, which simulates the natural hierarchical complex system from where more complex intelligence can emerge for complex problems solving. This proposed model is intended to suggest ways that the performance of HSO-based algorithms on complex optimization problems can be significantly improved. This performance improvement is obtained by constructing the HSO hierarchies, which means that an agent in a higher level swarm can be composed of swarms of other agents from lower level and different swarms of different levels evolve on different spatiotemporal scale. A novel optimization algorithm (named PS2O, based on the HSO model, is instantiated and tested to illustrate the ideas of HSO model clearly. Experiments were conducted on a set of 17 benchmark optimization problems including both continuous and discrete cases. The results demonstrate remarkable performance of the PS2O algorithm on all chosen benchmark functions when compared to several successful swarm intelligence and evolutionary algorithms.

  18. Disruptive Logic Architectures and Technologies From Device to System Level

    CERN Document Server

    Gaillardon, Pierre-Emmanuel; Clermidy, Fabien

    2012-01-01

    This book discusses the opportunities offered by disruptive technologies to overcome the economical and physical limits currently faced by the electronics industry. It provides a new methodology for the fast evaluation of an emerging technology from an architectural perspective and discusses the implications from simple circuits to complex architectures. Several technologies are discussed, ranging from 3-D integration of devices (Phase Change Memories, Monolithic 3-D, Vertical NanoWires-based transistors) to dense 2-D arrangements (Double-Gate Carbon Nanotubes, Sublithographic Nanowires, Lithographic Crossbar arrangements). Novel architectural organizations, as well as the associated tools, are presented in order to explore this freshly opened design space. Describes a novel architectural organization for future reconfigurable systems; Includes a complete benchmarking toolflow for emerging technologies; Generalizes the description of reconfigurable circuits in terms of hierarchical levels; Assesses disruptive...

  19. Synthesis of belt-like BiOBr hierarchical nanostructure with high photocatalytic performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Haiping [National Engineering Technology Research Center for Colloidal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Liu, Jingyi; Hu, Tingxia [Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Du, Na; Song, Shue [Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Hou, Wanguo, E-mail: wghou@sdu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China)

    2016-05-15

    Highlights: • BiOBr hierarchical nanobelts (NBs) were solvothermally prepared. • NBs show higher specific surface area and photoabsorption than BiOBr nanosheets. • NBs exhibit higher photoactivity than the nanosheets. - Abstract: One-dimensional (1D) bismuth oxyhalide (BiOX) hierarchical nanostructures are always difficult to prepare. Herein, we report, for the first time, a simple synthesis of BiOBr nanobelts (NBs) via a facile solvothermal route, using bismuth subsalicylate as the template and bismuth source. The BiOBr nanobelts are composed of irregular single crystal nanoparticles with highly exposed (0 1 0) facets. Compared with the BiOBr nanosheets (NSs) with dominant exposed (0 0 1) facets, they exhibit higher photocatalytic activity toward degradation of Rhodamine B and Methylene Blue under visible light irradiation. The higher photocatalytic performance of BiOBr NBs arises from their larger specific surface area and higher photoabsorption capability. This study provides a simple route for synthesis of belt-like Bi-based hierarchical nanostructures.

  20. Teaching Composing with an Identity as a Teacher-Composer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francis, Jennie

    2012-01-01

    I enjoy composing and feel able to write songs that I like and which feel significant to me. This has not always been the case and the change had nothing to do with my school education or my degree. Composing at secondary school did not move beyond Bach and Handel pastiche. I did not take any composing courses during my degree. What did influence…

  1. A Multi-Time Scale Morphable Software Milieu for Polymorphous Computing Architectures (PCA) - Composable, Scalable Systems

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Skjellum, Anthony

    2004-01-01

    Polymorphous Computing Architectures (PCA) rapidly "morph" (reorganize) software and hardware configurations in order to achieve high performance on computation styles ranging from specialized streaming to general threaded applications...

  2. Proposed hardware architectures of particle filter for object tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Halym, Howida A.; Mahmoud, Imbaby Ismail; Habib, SED

    2012-12-01

    In this article, efficient hardware architectures for particle filter (PF) are presented. We propose three different architectures for Sequential Importance Resampling Filter (SIRF) implementation. The first architecture is a two-step sequential PF machine, where particle sampling, weight, and output calculations are carried out in parallel during the first step followed by sequential resampling in the second step. For the weight computation step, a piecewise linear function is used instead of the classical exponential function. This decreases the complexity of the architecture without degrading the results. The second architecture speeds up the resampling step via a parallel, rather than a serial, architecture. This second architecture targets a balance between hardware resources and the speed of operation. The third architecture implements the SIRF as a distributed PF composed of several processing elements and central unit. All the proposed architectures are captured using VHDL synthesized using Xilinx environment, and verified using the ModelSim simulator. Synthesis results confirmed the resource reduction and speed up advantages of our architectures.

  3. Hierarchical structure observation and nanoindentation size effect characterization for a limnetic shell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jingru; Fan, Cuncai; Ma, Hansong; Wei, Yueguang

    2015-06-01

    In the present research, hierarchical structure observation and mechanical property characterization for a type of biomaterial are carried out. The investigated biomaterial is Hyriopsis cumingii, a typical limnetic shell, which consists of two different structural layers, a prismatic "pillar" structure and a nacreous "brick and mortar" structure. The prismatic layer looks like a "pillar forest" with variation-section pillars sized on the order of several tens of microns. The nacreous material looks like a "brick wall" with bricks sized on the order of several microns. Both pillars and bricks are composed of nanoparticles. The mechanical properties of the hierarchical biomaterial are measured by using the nanoindentation test. Hardness and modulus are measured for both the nacre layer and the prismatic layer, respectively. The nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are investigated experimentally. The results show that the prismatic nanostructured material has a higher stiffness and hardness than the nacre nanostructured material. In addition, the nanoindentation size effects for the hierarchical structural materials are described theoretically, by using the trans-scale mechanics theory considering both strain gradient effect and the surface/interface effect. The modeling results are consistent with experimental ones.

  4. A proof-of-concept implementation of persistence in a hierarchical storage system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grossman, R.; Qin, Xiao; Lifka, D.

    1992-01-01

    The concept of providing transparent access to a collection of files in a mass storage system is a familiar one. The goal of this project was to investigate the feasibility of providing similar access to a collection of persistent, complex objects. We describe an architecture for interfacing a persistent store of complex objects to a hierarchical storage system. Persistent object stores support the uniform creation, storage, and access of complex objects, regardless of their lifetimes. In other words, a mechanism is provided so that persistent objects outlive the processes which create them and can be accessed in a uniform manner by other processes. We validated this architecture by implementing a proof-of-concept system and testing the system on two stores of data. These tests indicate that this architecture supports the creation. storage and access of very large persistent object stores

  5. Biomolecule-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Self-Assembly of Bi2Te3 Nanostring-Cluster Hierarchical Structure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mi, Jianli; Lock, Nina; Sun, Ting

    2010-01-01

    A simple biomolecule-assisted hydrothermal approach has been developed for the fabrication of Bi2Te3 thermoelectric nanomaterials. The product has a nanostring-cluster hierarchical structure which is composed of ordered and aligned platelet-like crystals. The platelets are100 nm in diameter...

  6. Different micromanipulation applications based on common modular control architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sipola, Risto; Vallius, Tero; Pudas, Marko; Röning, Juha

    2010-01-01

    This paper validates a previously introduced scalable modular control architecture and shows how it can be used to implement research equipment. The validation is conducted by presenting different kinds of micromanipulation applications that use the architecture. Conditions of the micro-world are very different from those of the macro-world. Adhesive forces are significant compared to gravitational forces when micro-scale objects are manipulated. Manipulation is mainly conducted by automatic control relying on haptic feedback provided by force sensors. The validated architecture is a hierarchical layered hybrid architecture, including a reactive layer and a planner layer. The implementation of the architecture is modular, and the architecture has a lot in common with open architectures. Further, the architecture is extensible, scalable, portable and it enables reuse of modules. These are the qualities that we validate in this paper. To demonstrate the claimed features, we present different applications that require special control in micrometer, millimeter and centimeter scales. These applications include a device that measures cell adhesion, a device that examines properties of thin films, a device that measures adhesion of micro fibers and a device that examines properties of submerged gel produced by bacteria. Finally, we analyze how the architecture is used in these applications.

  7. Neural Architectures for Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, James K.

    1991-01-01

    The cerebellar model articulated controller (CMAC) neural architectures are shown to be viable for the purposes of real-time learning and control. Software tools for the exploration of CMAC performance are developed for three hardware platforms, the MacIntosh, the IBM PC, and the SUN workstation. All algorithm development was done using the C programming language. These software tools were then used to implement an adaptive critic neuro-control design that learns in real-time how to back up a trailer truck. The truck backer-upper experiment is a standard performance measure in the neural network literature, but previously the training of the controllers was done off-line. With the CMAC neural architectures, it was possible to train the neuro-controllers on-line in real-time on a MS-DOS PC 386. CMAC neural architectures are also used in conjunction with a hierarchical planning approach to find collision-free paths over 2-D analog valued obstacle fields. The method constructs a coarse resolution version of the original problem and then finds the corresponding coarse optimal path using multipass dynamic programming. CMAC artificial neural architectures are used to estimate the analog transition costs that dynamic programming requires. The CMAC architectures are trained in real-time for each obstacle field presented. The coarse optimal path is then used as a baseline for the construction of a fine scale optimal path through the original obstacle array. These results are a very good indication of the potential power of the neural architectures in control design. In order to reach as wide an audience as possible, we have run a seminar on neuro-control that has met once per week since 20 May 1991. This seminar has thoroughly discussed the CMAC architecture, relevant portions of classical control, back propagation through time, and adaptive critic designs.

  8. One-Pot and Facile Fabrication of Hierarchical Branched Pt-Cu Nanoparticles as Excellent Electrocatalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yanqin; Yang, Yong; Shan, Yufeng; Huang, Zhengren

    2016-03-09

    Hierarchical branched nanoparticles are one promising nanostructure with three-dimensional open porous structure composed of integrated branches for superior catalysis. We have successfully synthesized Pt-Cu hierarchical branched nanoparticles (HBNDs) with small size of about 30 nm and composed of integrated ultrathin branches by using a modified polyol process with introduction of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and HCl. This strategy is expected to be a general strategy to prepare various metallic nanostructures for catalysis. Because of the special open porous structure, the as-prepared Pt-Cu HBNDs exhibit greatly enhanced specific activity toward the methanol oxidation reaction as much as 2.5 and 1.7 times compared with that of the commercial Pt-Ru and Pt-Ru/C catalysts, respectively. Therefore, they are potentially applicable as electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells.

  9. Control system architecture: The standard and non-standard models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thuot, M.E.; Dalesio, L.R.

    1993-01-01

    Control system architecture development has followed the advances in computer technology through mainframes to minicomputers to micros and workstations. This technology advance and increasingly challenging accelerator data acquisition and automation requirements have driven control system architecture development. In summarizing the progress of control system architecture at the last International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems (ICALEPCS) B. Kuiper asserted that the system architecture issue was resolved and presented a open-quotes standard modelclose quotes. The open-quotes standard modelclose quotes consists of a local area network (Ethernet or FDDI) providing communication between front end microcomputers, connected to the accelerator, and workstations, providing the operator interface and computational support. Although this model represents many present designs, there are exceptions including reflected memory and hierarchical architectures driven by requirements for widely dispersed, large channel count or tightly coupled systems. This paper describes the performance characteristics and features of the open-quotes standard modelclose quotes to determine if the requirements of open-quotes non-standardclose quotes architectures can be met. Several possible extensions to the open-quotes standard modelclose quotes are suggested including software as well as the hardware architectural features

  10. Multiphase static droplet simulations in hierarchically structured super-hydrophobic surfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jung Shin; Lee, Joon Sang [School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-08-15

    The surface of first part of study is textured with microscopic pillars of prototypical top geometries as a rectangle. The second one is textured with a hierarchical structure, composed of secondary pillar structures added on the primary texture. The length ratio between two scales of texture is 1:16. We evaluated the non-wetting characteristics of two types of surfaces by measuring CAs as well as the transition from the Wenzel's to Cassie's regimes. We measure the Contact angles (CAs), using the Lattice Boltzmann model (LBM), for two different surface configurations. We evaluated the effect of the hierarchical structure; the robustness of the Cassie regime is enhanced and the apparent contact angle is increased by the secondary structures. This is achieved by increasing the energy barrier against the transition between wetting and non-wetting regimes.

  11. Drawing-Based Procedural Modeling of Chinese Architectures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fei Hou; Yue Qi; Hong Qin

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a novel modeling framework to build 3D models of Chinese architectures from elevation drawing. Our algorithm integrates the capability of automatic drawing recognition with powerful procedural modeling to extract production rules from elevation drawing. First, different from the previous symbol-based floor plan recognition, based on the novel concept of repetitive pattern trees, small horizontal repetitive regions of the elevation drawing are clustered in a bottom-up manner to form architectural components with maximum repetition, which collectively serve as building blocks for 3D model generation. Second, to discover the global architectural structure and its components' interdependencies, the components are structured into a shape tree in a top-down subdivision manner and recognized hierarchically at each level of the shape tree based on Markov Random Fields (MRFs). Third, shape grammar rules can be derived to construct 3D semantic model and its possible variations with the help of a 3D component repository. The salient contribution lies in the novel integration of procedural modeling with elevation drawing, with a unique application to Chinese architectures.

  12. Outline of a novel architecture for cortical computation

    OpenAIRE

    Majumdar, Kaushik

    2007-01-01

    In this paper a novel architecture for cortical computation has been proposed. This architecture is composed of computing paths consisting of neurons and synapses only. These paths have been decomposed into lateral, longitudinal and vertical components. Cortical computation has then been decomposed into lateral computation (LaC), longitudinal computation (LoC) and vertical computation (VeC). It has been shown that various loop structures in the cortical circuit play important roles in cortica...

  13. A novel hierarchical ZnO disordered/ordered bilayer nanostructured film for dye sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, Yamin, E-mail: yaminfengccnuphy@outlook.com; Wu, Fei; Jiang, Jian; Zhu, Jianhui; Fodjouong, Ghislain Joel; Meng, Gaoxiang; Xing, Yanmin; Wang, Wenwu; Huang, Xintang, E-mail: xthuang@phy.ccnu.edu.cn

    2013-12-25

    Graphical abstract: A novel hierarchical disordered/ordered bilayer ZnO nanostructured film in the length of 18 μm have been successfully synthesized on the FTO substrate; the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film electrodes applied in DSSCs exhibit photoelectric conversion efficiency as high as 5.16%. Highlights: •A novel hierarchical ZnO structure film was fabricated on a FTO substrate. •Hierarchical ZnO film is applied as the electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells. •The film possess high specific surface area and fast electron transport effect. •The light-scattering effect of the hierarchical film is pronounced. •The energy conversion efficiency of hierarchical ZnO electrode reaches to 5.16%. -- Abstract: A novel hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is synthesized via a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method followed by a treatment of thermal decomposition onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. This hierarchical film is composed of disordered ZnO nanorods (NRs) (top layer) and ordered ZnO nanowires (NWs) (bottom layer). The products possess the following features such as high specific surface area, fast electron transport, and pronounced light-scattering effect, which are quite suitable for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications. A light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.16% is achieved when the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is used as the photoanode under 100 mW cm{sup −2} illumination. This efficiency is found to be much higher than that of the DSSCs with pure ordered ZnO NWs (1.45%) and disordered ZnO NRs (3.31%) photoanodes.

  14. A novel hierarchical ZnO disordered/ordered bilayer nanostructured film for dye sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng, Yamin; Wu, Fei; Jiang, Jian; Zhu, Jianhui; Fodjouong, Ghislain Joel; Meng, Gaoxiang; Xing, Yanmin; Wang, Wenwu; Huang, Xintang

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A novel hierarchical disordered/ordered bilayer ZnO nanostructured film in the length of 18 μm have been successfully synthesized on the FTO substrate; the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film electrodes applied in DSSCs exhibit photoelectric conversion efficiency as high as 5.16%. Highlights: •A novel hierarchical ZnO structure film was fabricated on a FTO substrate. •Hierarchical ZnO film is applied as the electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells. •The film possess high specific surface area and fast electron transport effect. •The light-scattering effect of the hierarchical film is pronounced. •The energy conversion efficiency of hierarchical ZnO electrode reaches to 5.16%. -- Abstract: A novel hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is synthesized via a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method followed by a treatment of thermal decomposition onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. This hierarchical film is composed of disordered ZnO nanorods (NRs) (top layer) and ordered ZnO nanowires (NWs) (bottom layer). The products possess the following features such as high specific surface area, fast electron transport, and pronounced light-scattering effect, which are quite suitable for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications. A light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.16% is achieved when the hierarchical ZnO nanostructured film is used as the photoanode under 100 mW cm −2 illumination. This efficiency is found to be much higher than that of the DSSCs with pure ordered ZnO NWs (1.45%) and disordered ZnO NRs (3.31%) photoanodes

  15. Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic flower-like polyaniline architectures by using valine as a dopant in polymerization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Jun; Bi, Hong

    2012-03-01

    A facile method was developed to fabricate superhydrophobic, flower-like polyanline (PANI) architectures with hierarchical nanostructures by adding valine in polymerization as a dopant. The water contact angle of the prepared PANI film was measured to be 155.3°, and the hydrophobic surface of the PANI architectures can be tuned easily by varying the polymerization time as well as valine doping quantity. It is believed that valine plays an important role in not only growth of the hierarchical PANI structures but also formation of the superhydrophobic surface, for it provides functional groups such as sbnd COOH, sbnd NH2 and a hydrophobic terminal group which may further increase intra-/inter-molecular interactions including hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking and hydrophobic properties. Similar flower-like PANI architectures have been prepared successfully by employing other amino acids such as threonine, proline and arginine. This method makes it possible for widespread applications of superhydrophobic PANI film due to its simplicity and practicability.

  16. Developing a real-time emulation of multiresolutional control architectures for complex, discrete-event systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, W.J.; Macro, J.G.; Brook, A.L. [Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States)] [and others

    1996-12-31

    This paper first discusses an object-oriented, control architecture and then applies the architecture to produce a real-time software emulator for the Rapid Acquisition of Manufactured Parts (RAMP) flexible manufacturing system (FMS). In specifying the control architecture, the coordinated object is first defined as the primary modeling element. These coordinated objects are then integrated into a Recursive, Object-Oriented Coordination Hierarchy. A new simulation methodology, the Hierarchical Object-Oriented Programmable Logic Simulator, is then employed to model the interactions among the coordinated objects. The final step in implementing the emulator is to distribute the models of the coordinated objects over a network of computers and to synchronize their operation to a real-time clock. The paper then introduces the Hierarchical Subsystem Controller as an intelligent controller for the coordinated object. The proposed approach to intelligent control is then compared to the concept of multiresolutional semiosis that has been developed by Dr. Alex Meystel. Finally, the plans for implementing an intelligent controller for the RAMP FMS are discussed.

  17. Hierarchical organization of brain functional networks during visual tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuo, Zhao; Cai, Shi-Min; Fu, Zhong-Qian; Zhang, Jie

    2011-09-01

    The functional network of the brain is known to demonstrate modular structure over different hierarchical scales. In this paper, we systematically investigated the hierarchical modular organizations of the brain functional networks that are derived from the extent of phase synchronization among high-resolution EEG time series during a visual task. In particular, we compare the modular structure of the functional network from EEG channels with that of the anatomical parcellation of the brain cortex. Our results show that the modular architectures of brain functional networks correspond well to those from the anatomical structures over different levels of hierarchy. Most importantly, we find that the consistency between the modular structures of the functional network and the anatomical network becomes more pronounced in terms of vision, sensory, vision-temporal, motor cortices during the visual task, which implies that the strong modularity in these areas forms the functional basis for the visual task. The structure-function relationship further reveals that the phase synchronization of EEG time series in the same anatomical group is much stronger than that of EEG time series from different anatomical groups during the task and that the hierarchical organization of functional brain network may be a consequence of functional segmentation of the brain cortex.

  18. Self-assembly of Fe3O4 nanocrystal-clusters into cauliflower-like architectures: Synthesis and characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Luping; Liao Guihong; Bing Naici; Wang Linlin; Xie Hongyong

    2011-01-01

    Large-scale cauliflower-like Fe 3 O 4 architectures consist of well-assembled magnetite nanocrystal clusters have been synthesized by a simple solvothermal process. The as-synthesized Fe 3 O 4 samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, etc. The results show that the samples exhibit cauliflower-like hierarchical microstructures. The influences of synthesis parameters on the morphology of the samples were experimentally investigated. Magnetic properties of the Fe 3 O 4 cauliflower-like hierarchical microstructures have been detected by VSM at room temperature, showing a relatively low saturation magnetization of 65 emu/g and an enhanced coercive force of 247 Oe. - Graphical Abstract: Cauliflower-like Fe 3 O 4 architectures consist of well-assembled magnetite nanocrystal clusters have been synthesized by a simple solvothermal process, using FeCl 3 .6H 2 O and EDA as the starting materials. Highlights: → Cauliflower-like Fe 3 O 4 architectures were successfully prepared by a simple solvothermal route. → The cauliflower-like Fe 3 O 4 architectures have a size in the range of 200-300 nm. → They show a low saturation magnetization of 65 emu/g and an enhanced coercive force of 247 Oe. → These Fe 3 O 4 architectures may have potential applications in catalysis and biological fields.

  19. Nanomechanical strength mechanisms of hierarchical biological materials and tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buehler, Markus J; Ackbarow, Theodor

    2008-12-01

    Biological protein materials (BPMs), intriguing hierarchical structures formed by assembly of chemical building blocks, are crucial for critical functions of life. The structural details of BPMs are fascinating: They represent a combination of universally found motifs such as alpha-helices or beta-sheets with highly adapted protein structures such as cytoskeletal networks or spider silk nanocomposites. BPMs combine properties like strength and robustness, self-healing ability, adaptability, changeability, evolvability and others into multi-functional materials at a level unmatched in synthetic materials. The ability to achieve these properties depends critically on the particular traits of these materials, first and foremost their hierarchical architecture and seamless integration of material and structure, from nano to macro. Here, we provide a brief review of this field and outline new research directions, along with a review of recent research results in the development of structure-property relationships of biological protein materials exemplified in a study of vimentin intermediate filaments.

  20. A Hierarchical Communication Architecture for Oceanic Surveillance Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macias, Elsa; Suarez, Alvaro; Chiti, Francesco; Sacco, Andrea; Fantacci, Romano

    2011-01-01

    The interest in monitoring applications using underwater sensor networks has been growing in recent years. The severe communication restrictions imposed by underwater channels make that efficient monitoring be a challenging task. Though a lot of research has been conducted on underwater sensor networks, there are only few concrete applications to a real-world case study. In this work, hence, we propose a general three tier architecture leveraging low cost wireless technologies for acoustic communications between underwater sensors and standard technologies, Zigbee and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), for water surface communications. We have selected a suitable Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, after making a comparison with some common MAC protocols. Thus the performance of the overall system in terms of Signals Discarding Rate (SDR), signalling delay at the surface gateway as well as the percentage of true detection have been evaluated by simulation, pointing out good results which give evidence in applicability’s favour. PMID:22247669

  1. An Intelligent Propulsion Control Architecture to Enable More Autonomous Vehicle Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litt, Jonathan S.; Sowers, T. Shane; Simon, Donald L.; Owen, A. Karl; Rinehart, Aidan W.; Chicatelli, Amy K.; Acheson, Michael J.; Hueschen, Richard M.; Spiers, Christopher W.

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes an intelligent propulsion control architecture that coordinates with the flight control to reduce the amount of pilot intervention required to operate the vehicle. Objectives of the architecture include the ability to: automatically recognize the aircraft operating state and flight phase; configure engine control to optimize performance with knowledge of engine condition and capability; enhance aircraft performance by coordinating propulsion control with flight control; and recognize off-nominal propulsion situations and to respond to them autonomously. The hierarchical intelligent propulsion system control can be decomposed into a propulsion system level and an individual engine level. The architecture is designed to be flexible to accommodate evolving requirements, adapt to technology improvements, and maintain safety.

  2. Construction of hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks through linker labilization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Shuai; Zou, Lanfang; Qin, Jun-Sheng; Li, Jialuo; Huang, Lan; Feng, Liang; Wang, Xuan; Bosch, Mathieu; Alsalme, Ali; Cagin, Tahir; Zhou, Hong-Cai

    2017-05-01

    A major goal of metal-organic framework (MOF) research is the expansion of pore size and volume. Although many approaches have been attempted to increase the pore size of MOF materials, it is still a challenge to construct MOFs with precisely customized pore apertures for specific applications. Herein, we present a new method, namely linker labilization, to increase the MOF porosity and pore size, giving rise to hierarchical-pore architectures. Microporous MOFs with robust metal nodes and pro-labile linkers were initially synthesized. The mesopores were subsequently created as crystal defects through the splitting of a pro-labile-linker and the removal of the linker fragments by acid treatment. We demonstrate that linker labilization method can create controllable hierarchical porous structures in stable MOFs, which facilitates the diffusion and adsorption process of guest molecules to improve the performances of MOFs in adsorption and catalysis.

  3. Visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag2O coated Bi2WO6 hierarchical microspheres assembled by nanosheets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Lin; Hua, Hao; Yang, Qi; Hu, Chenguo

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical microspheres assembled by nanosheets and dispersed nanosheets are synthesized. • Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 heterostuctures exhibites an enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with the Bi 2 WO 6 nanostructures. • Photocatalytic activity of the Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 microspheres is higher than that of the nanosheets. • Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical structure is an excellent architecture for loading of Ag 2 O nanoparticles. - Abstract: Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical microspheres assembled by nanosheets and dispersed nanosheets were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction in different conditions. Ag 2 O nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of Bi 2 WO 6 microspheres and nanosheets by the chemical precipitation method. The photocatalytic performance of pure Bi 2 WO 6 nanostructures and Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructures were evaluated by the photocatalytic decolorization of RhB solution under visible-light irradiation. Compared with the pure Bi 2 WO 6 nanostructures, the Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructures exhibited an obviously enhanced photocatalytic activity. And photocatalytic activity of the Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 microspheres is higher than that of the Ag 2 O/Bi 2 WO 6 nanosheets. This work demonstrates that the Bi 2 WO 6 hierarchical three-dimensional structure is an excellent architecture for the loading of Ag 2 O nanoparticles to build a highly efficient photocatalyst

  4. Visual question answering using hierarchical dynamic memory networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shang, Jiayu; Li, Shiren; Duan, Zhikui; Huang, Junwei

    2018-04-01

    Visual Question Answering (VQA) is one of the most popular research fields in machine learning which aims to let the computer learn to answer natural language questions with images. In this paper, we propose a new method called hierarchical dynamic memory networks (HDMN), which takes both question attention and visual attention into consideration impressed by Co-Attention method, which is the best (or among the best) algorithm for now. Additionally, we use bi-directional LSTMs, which have a better capability to remain more information from the question and image, to replace the old unit so that we can capture information from both past and future sentences to be used. Then we rebuild the hierarchical architecture for not only question attention but also visual attention. What's more, we accelerate the algorithm via a new technic called Batch Normalization which helps the network converge more quickly than other algorithms. The experimental result shows that our model improves the state of the art on the large COCO-QA dataset, compared with other methods.

  5. Regulatory switches for hierarchical use of carbon sources in E. coli

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth S. Perez-Alfaro

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In this work we study the preferential use of carbon sources in the bacterium Escherichia coli. To that end we engineered transcriptional fusions of the reporter gene gfpmut2, downstream of transcription-factor promoters, and analyzed their activity under several conditions. The chosen transcription factors are known to regulate catabolic operons associated to the consumption of alternative sugars. The obtained results indicate the following hierarchical order of sugar preference in this bacterium: glucose > arabinose > sorbitol > galactose. Further dynamical results allowed us to conjecture that this hierarchical behavior might be operated by at least the following three regulatory strategies: 1 the coordinated activation of the corresponding operons by the global regulator catabolic repressor protein (CRP, 2 their asymmetrical responses to specific and unspecific sugars and, 3 the architecture of the associated gene regulatory networks.

  6. MOF-5 decorated hierarchical ZnO nanorod arrays and its photoluminescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yinmin; Lan, Ding; Wang, Yuren; Cao, He; Jiang, Heng

    2011-04-01

    The strategy to manipulate nanoscale materials into well-organized hierarchical architectures is very important to both material synthesis and nanodevice applications. Here, nanoscale MOF-5 crystallites were successfully fabricated onto ordered hierarchical ZnO arrays based on aqueous chemical synthesis and molecule self-assembly technology guided room temperature diffusion method, which has the advantages of energy saving and simple operation. The structures and morphologies of the samples were performed by X-ray powder diffraction and field emission scanning electronic microscopy. The MOF-5 crystallites have good quality and bind well to the hexagonal-patterned ZnO arrays. The photoluminescence spectrum shows that the emission of hybrid MOF-5-ZnO films displays a blue shift in green emission and intensity reduction in UV emission. This ordered hybrid semiconductor material is expected to exploit the great potentiality in sensors, micro/nanodevices, and screen displays.

  7. Hierarchically porous MgCo2O4 nanochain networks: template-free synthesis and catalytic application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Xiangfeng; Yu, Yunlong; Li, Xiaoyan; Chen, Dagui; Luo, Peihui; Zhang, Yu; Guo, Shanxin

    2018-01-01

    In this work, hierarchically porous MgCo2O4 nanochain networks were successfully synthesized by a novel template-free method realized via a facile solvothermal synthesis followed by a heat treatment. The morphologies of MgCo2O4 precursor could be adjusted from nanosheets to nanobelts and finally to interwoven nanowires, depending on the volume ratio of diethylene glycol to deionized water in the solution. After calcination, the interwoven precursor nanowires were transformed to hierarchical MgCo2O4 nanochain networks with marco-/meso-porosity, which are composed of 10-20 nm nanoparticles connected one by one. Moreover, the relative formation mechanism of the MgCo2O4 nanochain networks was discussed. More importantly, when evaluated as catalytic additive for AP thermal decomposition, the MgCo2O4 nanochain networks show excellent accelerating effect. It is benefited from the unique hierarchically porous network structure and multicomponent effect, which effectively accelerates ammonia oxidation and {{{{ClO}}}4}- species dissociation. This approach opens the way to design other hierarchically porous multicomponent metal oxides.

  8. Composing and Arranging Careers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Elliott; And Others

    1977-01-01

    With the inspiration, the originality, the skill and craftsmanship, the business acumen, the patience, and the luck, it's possible to become a classical composer, pop/rock/country composer, jingle composer, or educational composer. Describes these careers. (Editor/RK)

  9. Investigation on Reliability and Scalability of an FBG-Based Hierarchical AOFSN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li-Mei Peng

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The reliability and scalability of large-scale based optical fiber sensor networks (AOFSN are considered in this paper. The AOFSN network consists of three-level hierarchical sensor network architectures. The first two levels consist of active interrogation and remote nodes (RNs and the third level, called the sensor subnet (SSN, consists of passive Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs and a few switches. The switch architectures in the RN and various SSNs to improve the reliability and scalability of AOFSN are studied. Two SSNs with a regular topology are proposed to support simple routing and scalability in AOFSN: square-based sensor cells (SSC and pentagon-based sensor cells (PSC. The reliability and scalability are evaluated in terms of the available sensing coverage in the case of one or multiple link failures.

  10. Outline of a novel architecture for cortical computation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majumdar, Kaushik

    2008-03-01

    In this paper a novel architecture for cortical computation has been proposed. This architecture is composed of computing paths consisting of neurons and synapses. These paths have been decomposed into lateral, longitudinal and vertical components. Cortical computation has then been decomposed into lateral computation (LaC), longitudinal computation (LoC) and vertical computation (VeC). It has been shown that various loop structures in the cortical circuit play important roles in cortical computation as well as in memory storage and retrieval, keeping in conformity with the molecular basis of short and long term memory. A new learning scheme for the brain has also been proposed and how it is implemented within the proposed architecture has been explained. A few mathematical results about the architecture have been proposed, some of which are without proof.

  11. Flower-Like CuO/ZnO Hybrid Hierarchical Nanostructures Grown on Copper Substrate: Glycothermal Synthesis, Characterization, Hydrophobic and Anticorrosion Properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beshkar, Farshad; Khojasteh, Hossein; Salavati-Niasari, Masoud

    2017-06-25

    In this work we have demonstrated a facile formation of CuO nanostructures on copper substrates by the oxidation of copper foil in ethylene glycol (EG) at 80 °C. On immersing a prepared CuO film into a solution containing 0.1 g Zn(acac)₂ in 20 mL EG for 8 h, ZnO flower-like microstructures composed of hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) aggregated nanoparticles and spherical architectures were spontaneously formed at 100 °C. The as-synthesized thin films and 3D microstructures were characterized using XRD, SEM, and EDS techniques. The effects of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 as surfactants and stabilizers on the morphology of the CuO and ZnO structures were discussed. Possible growth mechanisms for the controlled organization of primary building units into CuO nanostructures and 3D flower-like ZnO architectures were proposed. The hydrophobic property of the products was characterized by means of water contact angle measurement. After simple surface modification with stearic acid and PDMS, the resulting films showed hydrophobic and even superhydrophobic characteristics due to their special surface energy and nano-microstructure morphology. Importantly, stable superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 153.5° was successfully observed for CuO-ZnO microflowers after modification with PDMS. The electrochemical impedance measurements proved that the anticorrosion efficiency for the CuO/ZnO/PDMS sample was about 99%.

  12. Flower-Like CuO/ZnO Hybrid Hierarchical Nanostructures Grown on Copper Substrate: Glycothermal Synthesis, Characterization, Hydrophobic and Anticorrosion Properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farshad Beshkar

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this work we have demonstrated a facile formation of CuO nanostructures on copper substrates by the oxidation of copper foil in ethylene glycol (EG at 80 °C. On immersing a prepared CuO film into a solution containing 0.1 g Zn(acac2 in 20 mL EG for 8 h, ZnO flower-like microstructures composed of hierarchical three-dimensional (3D aggregated nanoparticles and spherical architectures were spontaneously formed at 100 °C. The as-synthesized thin films and 3D microstructures were characterized using XRD, SEM, and EDS techniques. The effects of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB, and polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000 as surfactants and stabilizers on the morphology of the CuO and ZnO structures were discussed. Possible growth mechanisms for the controlled organization of primary building units into CuO nanostructures and 3D flower-like ZnO architectures were proposed. The hydrophobic property of the products was characterized by means of water contact angle measurement. After simple surface modification with stearic acid and PDMS, the resulting films showed hydrophobic and even superhydrophobic characteristics due to their special surface energy and nano-microstructure morphology. Importantly, stable superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 153.5° was successfully observed for CuO-ZnO microflowers after modification with PDMS. The electrochemical impedance measurements proved that the anticorrosion efficiency for the CuO/ZnO/PDMS sample was about 99%.

  13. Program Execution on Reconfigurable Multicore Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjiva Prasad

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on the two observations that diverse applications perform better on different multicore architectures, and that different phases of an application may have vastly different resource requirements, Pal et al. proposed a novel reconfigurable hardware approach for executing multithreaded programs. Instead of mapping a concurrent program to a fixed architecture, the architecture adaptively reconfigures itself to meet the application's concurrency and communication requirements, yielding significant improvements in performance. Based on our earlier abstract operational framework for multicore execution with hierarchical memory structures, we describe execution of multithreaded programs on reconfigurable architectures that support a variety of clustered configurations. Such reconfiguration may not preserve the semantics of programs due to the possible introduction of race conditions arising from concurrent accesses to shared memory by threads running on the different cores. We present an intuitive partial ordering notion on the cluster configurations, and show that the semantics of multithreaded programs is always preserved for reconfigurations "upward" in that ordering, whereas semantics preservation for arbitrary reconfigurations can be guaranteed for well-synchronised programs. We further show that a simple approximate notion of efficiency of execution on the different configurations can be obtained using the notion of amortised bisimulations, and extend it to dynamic reconfiguration.

  14. Performances of multiprocessor multidisk architectures for continuous media storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gennart, Benoit A.; Messerli, Vincent; Hersch, Roger D.

    1996-03-01

    Multimedia interfaces increase the need for large image databases, capable of storing and reading streams of data with strict synchronicity and isochronicity requirements. In order to fulfill these requirements, we consider a parallel image server architecture which relies on arrays of intelligent disk nodes, each disk node being composed of one processor and one or more disks. This contribution analyzes through bottleneck performance evaluation and simulation the behavior of two multi-processor multi-disk architectures: a point-to-point architecture and a shared-bus architecture similar to current multiprocessor workstation architectures. We compare the two architectures on the basis of two multimedia algorithms: the compute-bound frame resizing by resampling and the data-bound disk-to-client stream transfer. The results suggest that the shared bus is a potential bottleneck despite its very high hardware throughput (400Mbytes/s) and that an architecture with addressable local memories located closely to their respective processors could partially remove this bottleneck. The point- to-point architecture is scalable and able to sustain high throughputs for simultaneous compute- bound and data-bound operations.

  15. Art of Film – A Way of Architectural Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliana Petrovici

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The art of film, the most popular art of the 20th century, can represent for architecture a means of teaching and promoting its specific values, an inspirational source and a good example of efficient and accessible cultural communication. The architecture presents many resemblances with the world of film regarding the concept and space exploring for communicating some ideas or concepts. Both film and architecture have narrative qualities, work with the world of illusions and representations and compose various elements in order to carry on certain significances. The film makers are making available the suggestive and semantic potential of architecture to render states and attitudes, to outline certain meanings or to emit opinions and comments on political, psychological and social issues.

  16. Model architecture of intelligent data mining oriented urban transportation information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bogang; Tao, Yingchun; Sui, Jianbo; Zhang, Feizhou

    2007-06-01

    Aiming at solving practical problems in urban traffic, the paper presents model architecture of intelligent data mining from hierarchical view. With artificial intelligent technologies used in the framework, the intelligent data mining technology improves, which is more suitable for the change of real-time road condition. It also provides efficient technology support for the urban transport information distribution, transmission and display.

  17. Hierarchical ordering with partial pairwise hierarchical relationships on the macaque brain data sets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Woosang Lim

    Full Text Available Hierarchical organizations of information processing in the brain networks have been known to exist and widely studied. To find proper hierarchical structures in the macaque brain, the traditional methods need the entire pairwise hierarchical relationships between cortical areas. In this paper, we present a new method that discovers hierarchical structures of macaque brain networks by using partial information of pairwise hierarchical relationships. Our method uses a graph-based manifold learning to exploit inherent relationship, and computes pseudo distances of hierarchical levels for every pair of cortical areas. Then, we compute hierarchy levels of all cortical areas by minimizing the sum of squared hierarchical distance errors with the hierarchical information of few cortical areas. We evaluate our method on the macaque brain data sets whose true hierarchical levels are known as the FV91 model. The experimental results show that hierarchy levels computed by our method are similar to the FV91 model, and its errors are much smaller than the errors of hierarchical clustering approaches.

  18. Facile Fabrication of a Hierarchical Superhydrophobic Coating with Aluminate Coupling Agent Modified Kaolin

    OpenAIRE

    Hui Li; Mengnan Qu; Zhe Sun; Jinmei He; Anning Zhou

    2013-01-01

    A superhydrophobic coating was fabricated from the dispersion of unmodified kaolin particles and aluminate coupling agent in anhydrous ethanol. Through surface modification, water contact angle of the coating prepared by modified kaolin particles increased dramatically from 0° to 152°, and the sliding angle decreased from 90° to 3°. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the surface morphology. A structure composed of micro-nano hierarchical component, combined with the surface modi...

  19. Hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical WO3 nanostructures for dye-sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashad, M.M.; Shalan, A.E.

    2014-01-01

    Hierarchical architectures consisting of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures are of great interest for potential use in energy and environmental applications in recent years. In this work, hierarchical tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) has been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route from ammonium metatungstate hydrate and implemented as photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. The urchin-like WO 3 micro-patterns are constructed by self-organized nanoscale length 1D building blocks, which are single crystalline in nature, grown along (001) direction and confirm an orthorhombic crystal phase. The obtained powders were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM and UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on WO 3 photoanodes was investigated. With increasing the calcination temperature of the prepared nanopowders, the light-electricity conversion efficiency (η) was increased. The results were attributed to increase the crystallinity of the particles and ease of electron movement. The DSSC based on hierarchical WO 3 showed a short-circuit current, an open-circuit voltage, a fill factor, and a conversion efficiency of 4.241 mA/cm 2 , 0.656 V, 66.74, and 1.85 %, respectively. (orig.)

  20. A highly conspicuous mineralized composite photonic architecture in the translucent shell of the blue-rayed limpet

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Ling; Kolle, Stefan; Weaver, James C.; Ortiz, Christine; Aizenberg, Joanna; Kolle, Mathias

    2015-01-01

    Many species rely on diverse selections of entirely organic photonic structures for the manipulation of light and the display of striking colours. Here we report the discovery of a mineralized hierarchical photonic architecture embedded within the translucent shell of the blue-rayed limpet Patella pellucida. The bright colour of the limpet’s stripes originates from light interference in a periodically layered zig-zag architecture of crystallographically co-oriented calcite lamellae. Beneath t...

  1. Hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array for millimeter wavelengths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cukierman, Ari; Lee, Adrian T.; Raum, Christopher; Suzuki, Aritoki; Westbrook, Benjamin

    2018-03-01

    We present the design, fabrication, and measured performance of a hierarchical sinuous-antenna phased array coupled to superconducting transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers for millimeter wavelengths. The architecture allows for dual-polarization wideband sensitivity with a beam width that is approximately frequency-independent. We report on measurements of a prototype device, which uses three levels of triangular phased arrays to synthesize beams that are approximately constant in width across three frequency bands covering a 3:1 bandwidth. The array element is a lens-coupled sinuous antenna. The device consists of an array of hemispherical lenses coupled to a lithographed wafer, which integrates TESs, planar sinuous antennas, and microwave circuitry including band-defining filters. The approximately frequency-independent beam widths improve coupling to telescope optics and keep the sensitivity of an experiment close to optimal across a broad frequency range. The design can be straightforwardly modified for use with non-TES lithographed cryogenic detectors such as kinetic inductance detectors. Additionally, we report on the design and measurements of a broadband 180° hybrid that can simplify the design of future multichroic focal planes including but not limited to hierarchical phased arrays.

  2. SiC: An Agent Based Architecture for Preventing and Detecting Attacks to Ubiquitous Databases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinzón, Cristian; de Paz, Yanira; Bajo, Javier; Abraham, Ajith; Corchado, Juan M.

    One of the main attacks to ubiquitous databases is the structure query language (SQL) injection attack, which causes severe damages both in the commercial aspect and in the user’s confidence. This chapter proposes the SiC architecture as a solution to the SQL injection attack problem. This is a hierarchical distributed multiagent architecture, which involves an entirely new approach with respect to existing architectures for the prevention and detection of SQL injections. SiC incorporates a kind of intelligent agent, which integrates a case-based reasoning system. This agent, which is the core of the architecture, allows the application of detection techniques based on anomalies as well as those based on patterns, providing a great degree of autonomy, flexibility, robustness and dynamic scalability. The characteristics of the multiagent system allow an architecture to detect attacks from different types of devices, regardless of the physical location. The architecture has been tested on a medical database, guaranteeing safe access from various devices such as PDAs and notebook computers.

  3. A thick hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanomaterial with multilayered structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Shengli; Xie, Guoqiang; Yang, Xianjin; Cui, Zhenduo

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► We synthesized a new rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial with a hierarchical nanostructure. ► The nano architecture structure consist of nanorods and nanoflower arrays. ► The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial is thick in size (several 10 μm). ► The TiO 2 nanomaterials present a multilayer structure. - Abstract: In the present paper, we synthesized a new type of rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial with a hierarchical nanostructure using a novel method, which combined dealloying process with chemical synthesis. The structure characters were examined using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial is thick in size (several 10 μm). The hierarchical structure of the rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial consists of large quantities nanorods and nanoflower arrays. The nanoflowers consist of serveral nanopetals with diameter of 100–200 nm. The cross section of TiO 2 nanomaterials presents a multilayer structure with the layer thickness of about 3–5 μm. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial has high specific surface area. The formation mechanism of the rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial was discussed according to the experimental results. The rutile TiO 2 nanomaterial has potential applications in catalysis, photocatalysis and solar cells

  4. Bottom-up-then-up-down Route for Multi-level Construction of Hierarchical Bi2S3 Superstructures with Magnetism Alteration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Chengzhen; Wang, Lanfang; Dang, Liyun; Chen, Qun; Lu, Qingyi; Gao, Feng

    2015-01-01

    A bottom-up-then-up-down route was proposed to construct multi-level Bi2S3 hierarchical architectures assembled by two-dimensional (2D) Bi2S3 sheet-like networks. BiOCOOH hollow spheres and flower-like structures, which are both assembled by 2D BiOCOOH nanosheets, were prepared first by a “bottom-up” route through a “quasi-emulsion” mechanism. Then the BiOCOOH hierarchical structures were transferred to hierarchical Bi2S3 architectures through an “up-down” route by an ion exchange method. The obtained Bi2S3 nanostructures remain hollow-spherical and flower-like structures of the precursors but the constructing blocks are changed to 2D sheet-like networks interweaving by Bi2S3 nanowires. The close matching of crystal lattices between Bi2S3 and BiOCOOH was believed to be the key reason for the topotactic transformation from BiOCOOH nanosheets to 2D Bi2S3 sheet-like nanowire networks. Magnetism studies reveal that unlike diamagnetism of comparative Bi2S3 nanostructures, the obtained multi-level Bi2S3 structures display S-type hysteresis and ferromagnetism at low field which might result from ordered structure of 2D networks. PMID:26028331

  5. Flexible System Integration and Advanced Hierarchical Control Architectures in the Microgrid Research Laboratory of Aalborg University

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meng, Lexuan; Hernández, Adriana Carolina Luna; Diaz, Enrique Rodriguez

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents the system integration and hierarchical control implementation in an inverter-based microgrid research laboratory (MGRL) in Aalborg University, Denmark. MGRL aims to provide a flexible experimental platform for comprehensive studies of microgrids. The structure of the laborato...

  6. A Mobile Service Oriented Multiple Object Tracking Augmented Reality Architecture for Education and Learning Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rattanarungrot, Sasithorn; White, Martin; Newbury, Paul

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the design of our service-oriented architecture to support mobile multiple object tracking augmented reality applications applied to education and learning scenarios. The architecture is composed of a mobile multiple object tracking augmented reality client, a web service framework, and dynamic content providers. Tracking of…

  7. Hierarchical Li1.2 Ni0.2 Mn0.6 O2 nanoplates with exposed {010} planes as high-performance cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lai; Su, Yuefeng; Chen, Shi; Li, Ning; Bao, Liying; Li, Weikang; Wang, Zhao; Wang, Meng; Wu, Feng

    2014-10-22

    Hierarchical Li1.2 Ni0.2 Mn0.6 O2 nanoplates with exposed {010} planes are designed and synthesized. In combination with the advantages from the hierarchical archi-tecture and the exposed electrochemically active {010} planes of layered materials, this material satisfies both efficient ion and electron transport and thus shows superior rate capability and excellent cycling stability. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Flexible Near-Field Nanopatterning with Ultrathin, Conformal Phase Masks on Nonplanar Substrates for Biomimetic Hierarchical Photonic Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Young Woo; Park, Junyong; Kim, Taehoon; Kang, Seok Hee; Kim, Hyowook; Shin, Jonghwa; Jeon, Seokwoo; Hong, Suck Won

    2016-04-26

    Multilevel hierarchical platforms that combine nano- and microstructures have been intensively explored to mimic superior properties found in nature. However, unless directly replicated from biological samples, desirable multiscale structures have been challenging to efficiently produce to date. Departing from conventional wafer-based technology, new and efficient techniques suitable for fabricating bioinspired structures are highly desired to produce three-dimensional architectures even on nonplanar substrates. Here, we report a facile approach to realize functional nanostructures on uneven microstructured platforms via scalable optical fabrication techniques. The ultrathin form (∼3 μm) of a phase grating composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) makes the material physically flexible and enables full-conformal contact with rough surfaces. The near-field optical effect can be identically generated on highly curved surfaces as a result of superior conformality. Densely packed nanodots with submicron periodicity are uniformly formed on microlens arrays with a radius of curvature that is as low as ∼28 μm. Increasing the size of the gratings causes the production area to be successfully expanded by up to 16 in(2). The "nano-on-micro" structures mimicking real compound eyes are transferred to flexible and stretchable substrates by sequential imprinting, facilitating multifunctional optical films applicable to antireflective diffusers for large-area sheet-illumination displays.

  9. Hydrothermal synthesis of lindgrenite with a hollow and prickly sphere-like architecture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Jiasheng; Xue Dongfeng

    2007-01-01

    Lindgrenite [Cu 3 (OH) 2 (MoO 4 ) 2 ] with a hollow and prickly sphere-like architecture has been synthesized via a simple and mild hydrothermal route in the absence of any external inorganic additives or organic structure-directing templates. The hierarchical lindgrenite particles are hollow and prickly spheres, which are comprised of numerous small crystal strips that are aligned perpendicularly to the spherical surface. Two factors are important for the formation of hollow and prickly architecture in the present process. One is the general phenomenon of Ostwald ripening in solution, which can be responsible for the hollow structure; the other is that lindgrenite crystals have a rhombic growth habit, which plays an important role in the formation of prickly surface. Furthermore, Cu 3 Mo 2 O 9 with the similar size and morphology can be easily obtained by a simple thermal treatment of the as-prepared lindgrenite in air atmosphere. - Graphical abstract: Lindgrenite [Cu 3 (OH) 2 (MoO 4 ) 2 ] with a hollow and prickly sphere-like architecture has been synthesized via a hydrothermal route. The hierarchical lindgrenite particles are hollow and prickly spheres, which are comprised of numerous crystal strips that are aligned perpendicularly to the spherical surface. Cu 3 Mo 2 O 9 with the similar size and morphology can be easily obtained by a thermal treatment of the as-prepared lindgrenite

  10. Synergistic effects from graphene and carbon nanotubes endow ordered hierarchical structure foams with a combination of compressibility, super-elasticity and stability and potential application as pressure sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuang, Jun; Dai, Zhaohe; Liu, Luqi; Yang, Zhou; Jin, Ming; Zhang, Zhong

    2015-01-01

    Nanostructured carbon material based three-dimensional porous architectures have been increasingly developed for various applications, e.g. sensors, elastomer conductors, and energy storage devices. Maintaining architectures with good mechanical performance, including elasticity, load-bearing capacity, fatigue resistance and mechanical stability, is prerequisite for realizing these functions. Though graphene and CNT offer opportunities as nanoscale building blocks, it still remains a great challenge to achieve good mechanical performance in their microarchitectures because of the need to precisely control the structure at different scales. Herein, we fabricate a hierarchical honeycomb-like structured hybrid foam based on both graphene and CNT. The resulting materials possess excellent properties of combined high specific strength, elasticity and mechanical stability, which cannot be achieved in neat CNT and graphene foams. The improved mechanical properties are attributed to the synergistic-effect-induced highly organized, multi-scaled hierarchical architectures. Moreover, with their excellent electrical conductivity, we demonstrated that the hybrid foams could be used as pressure sensors in the fields related to artificial skin.

  11. Fabrication of hierarchical porous N-doping carbon membrane by using ;confined nanospace deposition; method for supercapacitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guoxu; Liu, Meng; Du, Juan; Liu, Lei; Yu, Yifeng; Sha, Jitong; Chen, Aibing

    2018-03-01

    The membrane carbon materials with hierarchical porous architecture are attractive because they can provide more channels for ion transport and shorten the ions transport path. Herein, we develop a facile way based on "confined nanospace deposition" to fabricate N-dopi-ng three dimensional hierarchical porous membrane carbon material (N-THPMC) via coating the nickel nitrate, silicate oligomers and triblock copolymer P123 on the branches of commercial polyamide membrane (PAM). During high temperature treatment, the mesoporous silica layer and Ni species serve as a "confined nanospace" and catalyst respectively, which are indispensable elements for formation of carbon framework, and the gas-phase carbon precursors which derive from the decomposition of PAM are deposited into the "confined nanospace" forming carbon framework. The N-THPMC with hierarchical macro/meso/microporous structure, N-doping (2.9%) and large specific surface area (994m2 g-1) well inherits the membrane morphology and hierarchical porous structure of PAM. The N-THPMC as electrode without binder exhibits a specific capacitance of 252 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1 in 6 M KOH electrolyte and excellent cycling stability of 92.7% even after 5000 cycles.

  12. Multimode multidrop serial coalescence effects during condensation on hierarchical superhydrophobic surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rykaczewski, Konrad; Paxson, Adam T; Anand, Sushant; Chen, Xuemei; Wang, Zuankai; Varanasi, Kripa K

    2013-01-22

    The prospect of enhancing the condensation rate by decreasing the maximum drop departure diameter significantly below the capillary length through spontaneous drop motion has generated significant interest in condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS). The mobile coalescence leading to spontaneous drop motion was initially reported to occur only on hierarchical SHS, consisting of both nanoscale and microscale topological features. However, subsequent studies have shown that mobile coalescence also occurs on solely nanostructured SHS. Thus, recent focus has been on understanding the condensation process on nanostructured surfaces rather than on hierarchical SHS. In this work, we investigate the impact of microscale topography of hierarchical SHS on the droplet coalescence dynamics and wetting states during the condensation process. We show that isolated mobile and immobile coalescence between two drops, almost exclusively focused on in previous studies, are rare. We identify several new droplet shedding modes, which are aided by tangential propulsion of mobile drops. These droplet shedding modes comprise of multiple droplets merging during serial coalescence events, which culminate in formation of a drop that either departs or remains anchored to the surface. We directly relate postmerging drop adhesion to formation of drops in nanoscale as well as microscale Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter wetting states. We identify the optimal microscale feature spacing of the hierarchical SHS, which promotes departure of the highest number of microdroplets. This optimal surface architecture consists of microscale features spaced close enough to enable transition of larger droplets into micro-Cassie state yet, at the same time, provides sufficient spacing in-between the features for occurrence of mobile coalescence.

  13. Nova control system: goals, architecture, and system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suski, G.J.; Duffy, J.M.; Gritton, D.G.; Holloway, F.W.; Krammen, J.R.; Ozarski, R.G.; Severyn, J.R.; Van Arsdall, P.J.

    1982-01-01

    The control system for the Nova laser must operate reliably in a harsh pulse power environment and satisfy requirements of technical functionality, flexibility, maintainability and operability. It is composed of four fundamental subsystems: Power Conditioning, Alignment, Laser Diagnostics, and Target Diagnostics, together with a fifth, unifying subsystem called Central Controls. The system architecture utilizes a collection of distributed microcomputers, minicomputers, and components interconnected through high speed fiber optic communications systems. The design objectives, development strategy and architecture of the overall control system and each of its four fundamental subsystems are discussed. Specific hardware and software developments in several areas are also covered

  14. A MCIN-based architecture of smart agriculture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Gu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – Material conscious and information network (MCIN is a kind of cyber physics social system. This paper aims to study the MCIN modeling method and design the MCIN-based architecture of smart agriculture (MCIN-ASA which is different from current vertical architecture and involves production, management and commerce. Architecture is composed of three MCIN-ASA participants which are MCIN-ASA enterprises, individuals and commodity. Design/methodology/approach – Architecture uses enterprises and individuals personalized portals as the carriers which are linked precisely with each other through a peer-to-peer network called six-degrees-of-separation block-chain. The authors want to establish a self-organization, open and ecological operational system which includes active, personalized consumption, direct, centralized distribution, distributed and smart production. Findings – The paper models three main MCIN-ASA participants, namely, design the smart supply, demand and management functions, which show the feasibility innovation and high efficiency of implementing MCIN on agriculture. At the same time, the paper presents a prototype system based on the architecture. Originality/value – The authors think that MCIN-ASA improves current agriculture greatly and inspires a lot in production-marketing-combined electronic commerce.

  15. Developments in architecture for real-time data systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heath, R.L.; Myers, W.R.

    1975-01-01

    Real-time data systems typically operate at two levels: a fast-response instrument-oriented level for data acquisition and control, and a slow human-oriented level for interaction and computation. Traditional minicomputer data systems support real-time applications by implementation of background/foreground software. Recent developments in computer technology including microprocessors enable the functional organization of hardware in distributed or hierarchical form to provide new system structures for real-time requirements. Examples of systems with distributed architecture will be discussed in detail

  16. A Persistent Structured Hierarchical Overlay Network to Counter Intentional Churn Attack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramanpreet Kaur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The increased use of structured overlay network for a variety of applications has attracted a lot of attention from both research community and attackers. However, the structural constraints, open nature (anybody can join and anybody may leave, and unreliability of its participant nodes significantly affect the performance of these applications and make it vulnerable to a variety of attacks such as eclipse, Sybil, and churn. One attack to compromise the service availability in overlay network is intentional churn (join/leave attack, where a large number of malicious users will join and leave the overlay network so frequently that the entire structure collapses and becomes unavailable. The focus of this paper is to provide a new robust, efficient, and scalable hierarchical overlay architecture that will counter these attacks by providing a structure that can accommodate the fleeting behaviour of nodes without causing much structural inconsistencies. The performance evaluation showed that the proposed architecture has more failure resilience and self-organization as compared to chord based architecture. Experimental results have demonstrated that the effect of failures on an overlay is proportional to the size of failure.

  17. A NEW OS ARCHITECTURE FOR IOT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean Y. Astier

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Current computer operating systems architectures are not well suited for the coming world of connected objects, known as the Internet of Things (IoT for multiple reasons: poor communication performances in both point-to-point and broadcast cases, poor operational reliability and network security, excessive requirements both in terms of processor power and memory size leading to excessive electrical power consumption. We introduce a new computer operating system architecture well adapted to IoT, from the most modest to the most complex, and more generally able to significantly raise the input/output capacities of any communicating computer. This architecture rests on the principles of the Von Neumann hardware model, and is composed of two types of asymmetric distributed containers, which communicate by message passing. We describe the sub-systems of both of these types of containers, where each sub-system has its own scheduler, and a dedicated execution level.

  18. Hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical WO{sub 3} nanostructures for dye-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rashad, M.M. [Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Helwan, P.O. Box 87, Cairo (Egypt); Shalan, A.E. [Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Helwan, P.O. Box 87, Cairo (Egypt); Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET), Erlangen (Germany)

    2014-08-15

    Hierarchical architectures consisting of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures are of great interest for potential use in energy and environmental applications in recent years. In this work, hierarchical tungsten oxide (WO{sub 3}) has been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route from ammonium metatungstate hydrate and implemented as photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. The urchin-like WO{sub 3} micro-patterns are constructed by self-organized nanoscale length 1D building blocks, which are single crystalline in nature, grown along (001) direction and confirm an orthorhombic crystal phase. The obtained powders were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM and UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on WO{sub 3} photoanodes was investigated. With increasing the calcination temperature of the prepared nanopowders, the light-electricity conversion efficiency (η) was increased. The results were attributed to increase the crystallinity of the particles and ease of electron movement. The DSSC based on hierarchical WO{sub 3} showed a short-circuit current, an open-circuit voltage, a fill factor, and a conversion efficiency of 4.241 mA/cm{sup 2}, 0.656 V, 66.74, and 1.85 %, respectively. (orig.)

  19. Ethernet-based mobility architecture for 5G

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cattoni, Andrea Fabio; Mogensen, Preben; Vesterinen, Seppo

    2014-01-01

    of mobile devices and sensors. In this paper we propose a paradigm shift for the evolved Packet Core for the future 5G system. By leveraging on the economy of scale of software–based ICT technologies, namely Software Defined Networking and cloud computing, we propose a hierarchically cloudified mobile...... network. In particular, in this paper we focus on the mobility aspects within such new architecture, proposing low latency Layer 2 solutions for the Access Network, while exploiting aggregating Layer 3 mobility functionalities in the regional and national clouds....

  20. Rice husks as a sustainable silica source for hierarchical flower-like metal silicate architectures assembled into ultrathin nanosheets for adsorption and catalysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shouwei; Gao, Huihui; Li, Jiaxing; Huang, Yongshun; Alsaedi, Ahmed; Hayat, Tasawar; Xu, Xijin; Wang, Xiangke

    2017-01-05

    Metal silicates have attracted extensive interests due to their unique structure and promising properties in adsorption and catalysis. However, their applications were hampered by the complex and expensive synthesis. In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical flower-like metal silicate, including magnesium silicate, zinc silicate, nickel silicate and cobalt silicate, were for the first time prepared by using rice husks as a sustainable silicon source. The flower-like morphology, interconnected ultrathin nanosheets structure and high specific surface area endowed them with versatile applications. Magnesium silicate was used as an adsorbent with the maximum adsorption capacities of 557.9, 381.3, and 482.8mg/g for Pb 2+ , tetracycline (TC), and UO 2 2+ , respectively. Ni nanoparticles/silica (Ni NPs/SiO 2 ) exhibited high catalytic activity and good stability for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction within only ∼160s, which can be attributed to the ultra-small particle size (∼6.8nm), good dispersion and high loading capacity of Ni NPs. Considering the abundance and renewability of rice husks, metal silicate with complex architecture can be easily produced at a large scale and become a sustainable and reliable resource for multifunctional applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Unsupervised active learning based on hierarchical graph-theoretic clustering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Weiming; Hu, Wei; Xie, Nianhua; Maybank, Steve

    2009-10-01

    Most existing active learning approaches are supervised. Supervised active learning has the following problems: inefficiency in dealing with the semantic gap between the distribution of samples in the feature space and their labels, lack of ability in selecting new samples that belong to new categories that have not yet appeared in the training samples, and lack of adaptability to changes in the semantic interpretation of sample categories. To tackle these problems, we propose an unsupervised active learning framework based on hierarchical graph-theoretic clustering. In the framework, two promising graph-theoretic clustering algorithms, namely, dominant-set clustering and spectral clustering, are combined in a hierarchical fashion. Our framework has some advantages, such as ease of implementation, flexibility in architecture, and adaptability to changes in the labeling. Evaluations on data sets for network intrusion detection, image classification, and video classification have demonstrated that our active learning framework can effectively reduce the workload of manual classification while maintaining a high accuracy of automatic classification. It is shown that, overall, our framework outperforms the support-vector-machine-based supervised active learning, particularly in terms of dealing much more efficiently with new samples whose categories have not yet appeared in the training samples.

  2. Biotemplating of Luffa cylindrica sponges to self-supporting hierarchical zeolite macrostructures for bio-inspired structured catalytic reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zampieri, Alessandro; Mabande, Godwin T.P.; Selvam, Thangaraj; Schwieger, Wilhelm; Rudolph, Alexander; Hermann, Ralph; Sieber, Heino; Greil, Peter

    2006-01-01

    Biomorphic self-supporting MFI-type zeolite frameworks with hierarchical porosity and complex architecture were prepared using a 2-step (in-situ seeding and secondary crystal growth) hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of a biological template (Luffa sponge), employed as a macroscale sacrificial structure builder. The bio-inspired zeolitic replica inherited the complex spongy morphology and the intricate open-porous architecture of the biotemplate. Moreover, it exhibited reasonable mechanical stability in order to study the applicability of the biomorphic catalyst in a technical catalytic process. A bio-inspired catalytic reactor utilising the self-supporting ZSM-5 scaffold in monolithic configuration was developed in order to test the catalytic performance of the material

  3. Rational design of anatase TiO2 architecture with hierarchical nanotubes and hollow microspheres for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Jiuwang; Khan, Javid; Chai, Zhisheng; Yuan, Yufei; Yu, Xiang; Liu, Pengyi; Wu, Mingmei; Mai, Wenjie

    2016-01-01

    Large surface area, sufficient light-harvesting and superior electron transport property are the major factors for an ideal photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which requires rational design of the nanoarchitectures and smart integration of state-of-the-art technologies. In this work, a 3D anatase TiO2 architecture consisting of vertically aligned 1D hierarchical TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) with ultra-dense branches (HTNTs, bottom layer) and 0D hollow TiO2 microspheres with rough surface (HTS, top layer) is first successfully constructed on transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide glass through a series of facile processes. When used as photoanodes, the DSSCs achieve a very large short-current density of 19.46 mA cm-2 and a high overall power conversion efficiency of 8.38%. The remarkable photovoltaic performance is predominantly ascribed to the enhanced charge transport capacity of the NTs (function as the electron highway), the large surface area of the branches (act as the electron branch lines), the pronounced light harvesting efficiency of the HTS (serve as the light scattering centers), and the engineered intimate interfaces between all of them (minimize the recombination effect). Our work demonstrates a possibility of fabricating superior photoanodes for high-performance DSSCs by rational design of nanoarchitectures and smart integration of multi-functional components.

  4. Considerations for control system software verification and validation specific to implementations using distributed processor architectures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munro, J.K. Jr.

    1993-01-01

    Until recently, digital control systems have been implemented on centralized processing systems to function in one of several ways: (1) as a single processor control system; (2) as a supervisor at the top of a hierarchical network of multiple processors; or (3) in a client-server mode. Each of these architectures uses a very different set of communication protocols. The latter two architectures also belong to the category of distributed control systems. Distributed control systems can have a central focus, as in the cases just cited, or be quite decentralized in a loosely coupled, shared responsibility arrangement. This last architecture is analogous to autonomous hosts on a local area network. Each of the architectures identified above will have a different set of architecture-associated issues to be addressed in the verification and validation activities during software development. This paper summarizes results of efforts to identify, describe, contrast, and compare these issues

  5. The Double-System Architecture for Trusted OS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yong; Li, Yu; Zhan, Jing

    With the development of computer science and technology, current secure operating systems failed to respond to many new security challenges. Trusted operating system (TOS) is proposed to try to solve these problems. However, there are no mature, unified architectures for the TOS yet, since most of them cannot make clear of the relationship between security mechanism and the trusted mechanism. Therefore, this paper proposes a double-system architecture (DSA) for the TOS to solve the problem. The DSA is composed of the Trusted System (TS) and the Security System (SS). We constructed the TS by establishing a trusted environment and realized related SS. Furthermore, we proposed the Trusted Information Channel (TIC) to protect the information flow between TS and SS. In a word, the double system architecture we proposed can provide reliable protection for the OS through the SS with the supports provided by the TS.

  6. Quantification of complex modular architecture in plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeb, Catherine; Kaandorp, Jaap; Jansson, Fredrik; Puillandre, Nicolas; Dubuisson, Jean-Yves; Cornette, Raphaël; Jabbour, Florian; Coudert, Yoan; Patiño, Jairo; Flot, Jean-François; Vanderpoorten, Alain

    2018-04-01

    Morphometrics, the assignment of quantities to biological shapes, is a powerful tool to address taxonomic, evolutionary, functional and developmental questions. We propose a novel method for shape quantification of complex modular architecture in thalloid plants, whose extremely reduced morphologies, combined with the lack of a formal framework for thallus description, have long rendered taxonomic and evolutionary studies extremely challenging. Using graph theory, thalli are described as hierarchical series of nodes and edges, allowing for accurate, homologous and repeatable measurements of widths, lengths and angles. The computer program MorphoSnake was developed to extract the skeleton and contours of a thallus and automatically acquire, at each level of organization, width, length, angle and sinuosity measurements. Through the quantification of leaf architecture in Hymenophyllum ferns (Polypodiopsida) and a fully worked example of integrative taxonomy in the taxonomically challenging thalloid liverwort genus Riccardia, we show that MorphoSnake is applicable to all ramified plants. This new possibility of acquiring large numbers of quantitative traits in plants with complex modular architectures opens new perspectives of applications, from the development of rapid species identification tools to evolutionary analyses of adaptive plasticity. © 2018 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust.

  7. Hierarchically porous carbon membranes containing designed nanochannel architectures obtained by pyrolysis of ion-track etched polyimide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muench, Falk; Seidl, Tim; Rauber, Markus; Peter, Benedikt; Brötz, Joachim; Krause, Markus; Trautmann, Christina; Roth, Christina; Katusic, Stipan; Ensinger, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    Well-defined, porous carbon monoliths are highly promising materials for electrochemical applications, separation, purification and catalysis. In this work, we present an approach allowing to transfer the remarkable degree of synthetic control given by the ion-track etching technology to the fabrication of carbon membranes with porosity structured on multiple length scales. The carbonization and pore formation processes were examined with Raman, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, while model experiments demonstrated the viability of the carbon membranes as catalyst support and pollutant adsorbent. Using ion-track etching, specifically designed, continuous channel-shaped pores were introduced into polyimide foils with precise control over channel diameter, orientation, density and interconnection. At a pyrolysis temperature of 950 °C, the artificially created channels shrunk in size, but their shape was preserved, while the polymer was transformed to microporous, amorphous carbon. Channel diameters ranging from ∼10 to several 100 nm could be achieved. The channels also gave access to previously closed micropore volume. Substantial surface increase was realized, as it was shown by introducing a network consisting of 1.4 × 10 10 channels per cm 2 of 30 nm diameter, which more than tripled the mass-normalized surface of the pyrolytic carbon from 205 m 2  g −1 to 732 m 2  g −1 . At a pyrolysis temperature of 3000 °C, membranes consisting of highly ordered graphite were obtained. In this case, the channel shape was severely altered, resulting in a pronounced conical geometry in which the channel diameter quickly decreased with increasing distance to the membrane surface. - Highlights: • Pyrolysis of ion-track etched polyimide yields porous carbon membranes. • Hierarchic porosity: continuous nanochannels embedded in a microporous carbon matrix. • Freely adjustable meso- or

  8. Hierarchically porous carbon membranes containing designed nanochannel architectures obtained by pyrolysis of ion-track etched polyimide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muench, Falk, E-mail: muench@ca.tu-darmstadt.de [Department of Material- and Geoscience, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Seidl, Tim; Rauber, Markus [Department of Material- and Geoscience, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Material Research Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Peter, Benedikt; Brötz, Joachim [Department of Material- and Geoscience, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Krause, Markus; Trautmann, Christina [Department of Material- and Geoscience, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Material Research Department, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Roth, Christina [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 3, 14195 Berlin (Germany); Katusic, Stipan [Evonik Industries AG, Rodenbacher Chaussee 4, 63457 Hanau (Germany); Ensinger, Wolfgang [Department of Material- and Geoscience, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany)

    2014-12-15

    Well-defined, porous carbon monoliths are highly promising materials for electrochemical applications, separation, purification and catalysis. In this work, we present an approach allowing to transfer the remarkable degree of synthetic control given by the ion-track etching technology to the fabrication of carbon membranes with porosity structured on multiple length scales. The carbonization and pore formation processes were examined with Raman, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, while model experiments demonstrated the viability of the carbon membranes as catalyst support and pollutant adsorbent. Using ion-track etching, specifically designed, continuous channel-shaped pores were introduced into polyimide foils with precise control over channel diameter, orientation, density and interconnection. At a pyrolysis temperature of 950 °C, the artificially created channels shrunk in size, but their shape was preserved, while the polymer was transformed to microporous, amorphous carbon. Channel diameters ranging from ∼10 to several 100 nm could be achieved. The channels also gave access to previously closed micropore volume. Substantial surface increase was realized, as it was shown by introducing a network consisting of 1.4 × 10{sup 10} channels per cm{sup 2} of 30 nm diameter, which more than tripled the mass-normalized surface of the pyrolytic carbon from 205 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} to 732 m{sup 2} g{sup −1}. At a pyrolysis temperature of 3000 °C, membranes consisting of highly ordered graphite were obtained. In this case, the channel shape was severely altered, resulting in a pronounced conical geometry in which the channel diameter quickly decreased with increasing distance to the membrane surface. - Highlights: • Pyrolysis of ion-track etched polyimide yields porous carbon membranes. • Hierarchic porosity: continuous nanochannels embedded in a microporous carbon matrix.

  9. Hierarchical energy management system for stand-alone hybrid system based on generation costs and cascade control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torreglosa, J.P.; García, P.; Fernández, L.M.; Jurado, F.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We present an energy management system for a stand-alone WT/PV/hydrogen/battery hybrid system. • Hierarchical control composed by master and slave control strategies. • Control assures reliable electricity support for stand-alone applications subject to technical and economic criteria. - Abstract: This paper presents an energy management system (EMS) for stand-alone hybrid systems composed by photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and a wind turbine (WT) as primary energy sources and two energy storage systems, which are a hydrogen system and a battery. The hydrogen system is composed of fuel cell (FC), electrolyzer and hydrogen storage tank. The EMS is a hierarchical control composed by a master control strategy and a slave control strategy. On the one hand, the master control generates the reference powers to meet several premises (such as to satisfy the load power demand, and to maintain the hydrogen tank level and the state of charge (SOC) of the battery between their target margins), taking also into account economic aspects to discriminate between using the battery or hydrogen system. On the other hand, the slave control modifies the reference powers generated by the master control according to the energy sources dynamic limitations, and maintains the DC bus voltage at its reference value. The models, implemented in MATLAB-Simulink environment, have been developed from commercially available components. To check the viability of the proposed EMS, two kinds of simulations were carried out: (1) A long-term simulation of 25 years (expected lifetime of the system) with a sample time of one hour to validate the master control of the EMS; and (2) A short-term simulation with sudden net power variations to validate the slave control of the EMS

  10. Scalable Hierarchical Algorithms for stochastic PDEs and UQ

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander

    2015-01-07

    H-matrices and Fast Multipole (FMM) are powerful methods to approximate linear operators coming from partial differential and integral equations as well as speed up computational cost from quadratic or cubic to log-linear (O(n log n)), where n number of degrees of freedom in the discretization. The storage is reduced to the log-linear as well. This hierarchical structure is a good starting point for parallel algorithms. Parallelization on shared and distributed memory systems was pioneered by Kriemann [1,2]. Since 2005, the area of parallel architectures and software is developing very fast. Progress in GPUs and Many-Core Systems (e.g. XeonPhi with 64 cores) motivated us to extend work started in [1,2,7,8].

  11. Comparison of Three Smart Camera Architectures for Real-Time Machine Vision System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Waheed Malik

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a machine vision system for real-time computation of distance and angle of a camera from a set of reference points located on a target board. Three different smart camera architectures were explored to compare performance parameters such as power consumption, frame speed and latency. Architecture 1 consists of hardware machine vision modules modeled at Register Transfer (RT level and a soft-core processor on a single FPGA chip. Architecture 2 is commercially available software based smart camera, Matrox Iris GT. Architecture 3 is a two-chip solution composed of hardware machine vision modules on FPGA and an external microcontroller. Results from a performance comparison show that Architecture 2 has higher latency and consumes much more power than Architecture 1 and 3. However, Architecture 2 benefits from an easy programming model. Smart camera system with FPGA and external microcontroller has lower latency and consumes less power as compared to single FPGA chip having hardware modules and soft-core processor.

  12. Hierarchical TiO{sub 2} submicron-sized spheres for enhanced power conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Hao [Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062 (China); State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Guo, Zhiguang, E-mail: zguo@licp.cas.cn [Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062 (China); State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China)

    2015-10-15

    Hierarchical TiO{sub 2} submicron-sized sphere scattering layer, with relatively large surface area and effective light scattering, shows enhanced power conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells. - Highlights: • Hierarchical TiO{sub 2} submicron-sized spheres (TiO{sub 2} HSSs) with diameters of 400–600 nm were synthesized. • The HSSs composed of nanoparticles of ∼14 nm have a relatively large surface area of ∼35 m{sup 2}/g. • DSC exhibited the highest cell efficiency (6.23%) compared with ones with pure P25 (5.50%) or HSS (2.00%) photoanodes. - Abstract: Hierarchical TiO{sub 2} submicron-sized spheres (TiO{sub 2} HSSs) with diameters of 400–600 nm were synthesized by a facile one-step solvothermal method in ethanol solvent. The HSSs composed of nanoparticles of ∼14 nm have a relatively large surface area of ∼35 m{sup 2}/g. When applied as the scattering overlayer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), such TiO{sub 2} HSSs effectively improved light harvesting and led to the increase of photocurrent in DSCs. Furthermore, bilayer-structured photoanode also provided fast electron transportation and long electron lifetime as confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectra. As a result, DSC based on P25 nanoparticle underlayer and HSS-2 overlayer exhibited the highest cell efficiency (6.23%) compared with ones with pure P25 (5.50%) or HSS-2 (2.00%) photoanodes.

  13. Hierarchical self-assembly of two-length-scale multiblock copolymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brinke, Gerrit ten; Loos, Katja; Vukovic, Ivana; Du Sart, Gerrit Gobius

    2011-01-01

    The self-assembly in diblock copolymer-based supramolecules, obtained by hydrogen bonding short side chains to one of the blocks, as well as in two-length-scale linear terpolymers results in hierarchical structure formation. The orientation of the different domains, e.g. layers in the case of a lamellar-in-lamellar structure, is determined by the molecular architecture, graft-like versus linear, and the relative magnitude of the interactions involved. In both cases parallel and perpendicular arrangements have been observed. The comb-shaped supramolecules approach is ideally suited for the preparation of nanoporous structures. A bicontinuous morphology with the supramolecular comb block forming the channels was finally achieved by extending the original approach to suitable triblock copolymer-based supramolecules.

  14. Simultaneous modulation of surface composition, oxygen vacancies and assembly in hierarchical Co3O4 mesoporous nanostructures for lithium storage and electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sun, Hongyu; Zhao, Yanyan; Mølhave, Kristian

    2017-01-01

    in superior electrochemical properties when used as the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries and as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of novel hierarchical morphology, crystal structure of the active...... materials, the improvement of intrinsic conductivity and inner surface area induced by the oxygen vacancies. The present strategy not only provides a facile method to assemble novel hierarchical architectures, but also paves a way to control surface structures (chemical composition and crystal defects...

  15. Three-Dimensional-Moldable Nanofiber-Reinforced Transparent Composites with a Hierarchically Self-Assembled "Reverse" Nacre-like Architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biswas, Subir K; Sano, Hironari; Shams, Md Iftekhar; Yano, Hiroyuki

    2017-09-06

    Achieving a structural hierarchy and a uniform nanofiller dispersion simultaneously remains highly challenging for obtaining a robust polymer nanocomposite of immiscible components. In this study, a remarkably facile Pickering emulsification approach is developed to fabricate hierarchical composites of immiscible acrylic polymer and native cellulose nanofibers by taking advantage of the dual role of the nanofibers as both emulsion stabilizer and polymer reinforcement. The composites feature a unique "reverse" nacre-like microstructure reinforced with a well-dispersed two-tier hierarchical nanofiber network, leading to a synergistic high strength, modulus, and toughness (20, 50, and 53 times that of neat polymer, respectively), high optical transparency (89%), high flexibility, and a drastically low thermal expansion (13 ppm K -1 , 1/15th of the neat polymer). The nanocomposites have a three-dimensional-shape moldability, also their surface can be patterned with micro/nanoscale features with high fidelity by in situ compression molding, making them attractive as the substrate for flexible displays, smart contact lens devices, and photovoltaics. The Pickering emulsification approach should be broadly applicable for the fabrication of novel functional materials of various immiscible components.

  16. Modeling and Verification of Dependable Electronic Power System Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Ling; Fan, Ping; Zhang, Xiao-fang

    The electronic power system can be viewed as a system composed of a set of concurrently interacting subsystems to generate, transmit, and distribute electric power. The complex interaction among sub-systems makes the design of electronic power system complicated. Furthermore, in order to guarantee the safe generation and distribution of electronic power, the fault tolerant mechanisms are incorporated in the system design to satisfy high reliability requirements. As a result, the incorporation makes the design of such system more complicated. We propose a dependable electronic power system architecture, which can provide a generic framework to guide the development of electronic power system to ease the development complexity. In order to provide common idioms and patterns to the system *designers, we formally model the electronic power system architecture by using the PVS formal language. Based on the PVS model of this system architecture, we formally verify the fault tolerant properties of the system architecture by using the PVS theorem prover, which can guarantee that the system architecture can satisfy high reliability requirements.

  17. EcoGrid.dk Phase 1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lind, Morten; Ackermann, T.; Bach, P.F.

    components offer to the energy system as a whole and to its own internal subsystems and the intelligence provided by the data acquisition, coordination, communication and control subsystems. The architecture does not presuppose a particular technological solution for subsystems. Rather, power system...... architectures may be implemented by alternative technologies and composed of different technologies serving different purposes (e.g. markets for coordination and protection schemes based on a hierarchical command structure). According to the abovementioned definition, the market based power system architecture...... is an architecture which uses market mechanisms as a technology to manage energy generation, transmission, distribution and consumption resources in the power system. Definition of a system architecture requires a combination of analysis of possible solutions and a top down approach to solution independent system...

  18. Risk Assessment for Mobile Systems Through a Multilayered Hierarchical Bayesian Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shancang; Tryfonas, Theo; Russell, Gordon; Andriotis, Panagiotis

    2016-08-01

    Mobile systems are facing a number of application vulnerabilities that can be combined together and utilized to penetrate systems with devastating impact. When assessing the overall security of a mobile system, it is important to assess the security risks posed by each mobile applications (apps), thus gaining a stronger understanding of any vulnerabilities present. This paper aims at developing a three-layer framework that assesses the potential risks which apps introduce within the Android mobile systems. A Bayesian risk graphical model is proposed to evaluate risk propagation in a layered risk architecture. By integrating static analysis, dynamic analysis, and behavior analysis in a hierarchical framework, the risks and their propagation through each layer are well modeled by the Bayesian risk graph, which can quantitatively analyze risks faced to both apps and mobile systems. The proposed hierarchical Bayesian risk graph model offers a novel way to investigate the security risks in mobile environment and enables users and administrators to evaluate the potential risks. This strategy allows to strengthen both app security as well as the security of the entire system.

  19. QoSS Hierarchical NoC-Based Architecture for MPSoC Dynamic Protection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Sepulveda

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available As electronic systems are pervading our lives, MPSoC (multiprocessor system-on-chip security is becoming an important requirement. MPSoCs are able to support multiple applications on the same chip. The challenge is to provide MPSoC security that makes possible a trustworthy system that meets the performance and security requirements of all the applications. The network-on-chip (NoC can be used to efficiently incorporate security. Our work proposes the implementation of QoSS (quality of security service to overcome present MPSoC vulnerabilities. QoSS is a novel concept for data protection that introduces security as a dimension of QoS. QoSS takes advantage of the NoC wide system visibility and critical role in enabling system operation, exploiting the NoC components to detect and prevent a wide range of attacks. In this paper, we present the implementation of a layered dynamic security NoC architecture that integrates agile and dynamic security firewalls in order to detect attacks based on different security rules. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach over several MPSoCs scenarios and estimate their impact on the overall performance. We show that our architecture can perform a fast detection of a wide range of attacks and a fast configuration of different security policies for several MPSoC applications.

  20. Large-scale model of flow in heterogeneous and hierarchical porous media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chabanon, Morgan; Valdés-Parada, Francisco J.; Ochoa-Tapia, J. Alberto; Goyeau, Benoît

    2017-11-01

    Heterogeneous porous structures are very often encountered in natural environments, bioremediation processes among many others. Reliable models for momentum transport are crucial whenever mass transport or convective heat occurs in these systems. In this work, we derive a large-scale average model for incompressible single-phase flow in heterogeneous and hierarchical soil porous media composed of two distinct porous regions embedding a solid impermeable structure. The model, based on the local mechanical equilibrium assumption between the porous regions, results in a unique momentum transport equation where the global effective permeability naturally depends on the permeabilities at the intermediate mesoscopic scales and therefore includes the complex hierarchical structure of the soil. The associated closure problem is numerically solved for various configurations and properties of the heterogeneous medium. The results clearly show that the effective permeability increases with the volume fraction of the most permeable porous region. It is also shown that the effective permeability is sensitive to the dimensionality spatial arrangement of the porous regions and in particular depends on the contact between the impermeable solid and the two porous regions.

  1. Enhanced high-frequency microwave absorption of Fe3O4 architectures based on porous nanoflake

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Xiaoliang; Liu, Yanguo; Han, Hongyan

    2017-01-01

    Hierarchical Fe3O4 architectures assembled with porous nanoplates (p-Fe3O4) were synthesized. Due to the strong shape anisotropy of the nanoplates, the p-Fe3O4 exhibits increased microwave resonance towards high frequency range. The improved microwave absorption properties of the p-Fe3O4, including...

  2. Enhanced high-frequency microwave absorption of Fe3O4 architectures based on porous nanoflake

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Xiaoliang; Liu, Yanguo; Han, Hongyan

    2017-01-01

    Hierarchical Fe3O4 architectures assembled with porous nanoplates (p-Fe3O4) were synthesized. Due to the strong shape anisotropy of the nanoplates, the p-Fe3O4 exhibits increased microwave resonance towards high frequency range. The improved microwave absorption properties of the p-Fe3O4, includi...

  3. Centaure: an heterogeneous parallel architecture for computer vision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peythieux, Marc

    1997-01-01

    This dissertation deals with the architecture of parallel computers dedicated to computer vision. In the first chapter, the problem to be solved is presented, as well as the architecture of the Sympati and Symphonie computers, on which this work is based. The second chapter is about the state of the art of computers and integrated processors that can execute computer vision and image processing codes. The third chapter contains a description of the architecture of Centaure. It has an heterogeneous structure: it is composed of a multiprocessor system based on Analog Devices ADSP21060 Sharc digital signal processor, and of a set of Symphonie computers working in a multi-SIMD fashion. Centaure also has a modular structure. Its basic node is composed of one Symphonie computer, tightly coupled to a Sharc thanks to a dual ported memory. The nodes of Centaure are linked together by the Sharc communication links. The last chapter deals with a performance validation of Centaure. The execution times on Symphonie and on Centaure of a benchmark which is typical of industrial vision, are presented and compared. In the first place, these results show that the basic node of Centaure allows a faster execution than Symphonie, and that increasing the size of the tested computer leads to a better speed-up with Centaure than with Symphonie. In the second place, these results validate the choice of running the low level structure of Centaure in a multi- SIMD fashion. (author) [fr

  4. Hierarchical Network Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomadsen, Tommy

    2005-01-01

    Communication networks are immensely important today, since both companies and individuals use numerous services that rely on them. This thesis considers the design of hierarchical (communication) networks. Hierarchical networks consist of layers of networks and are well-suited for coping...... with changing and increasing demands. Two-layer networks consist of one backbone network, which interconnects cluster networks. The clusters consist of nodes and links, which connect the nodes. One node in each cluster is a hub node, and the backbone interconnects the hub nodes of each cluster and thus...... the clusters. The design of hierarchical networks involves clustering of nodes, hub selection, and network design, i.e. selection of links and routing of ows. Hierarchical networks have been in use for decades, but integrated design of these networks has only been considered for very special types of networks...

  5. A Facile Method to Fabricate Anisotropic Hydrogels with Perfectly Aligned Hierarchical Fibrous Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mredha, Md Tariful Islam; Guo, Yun Zhou; Nonoyama, Takayuki; Nakajima, Tasuku; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Gong, Jian Ping

    2018-03-01

    Natural structural materials (such as tendons and ligaments) are comprised of multiscale hierarchical architectures, with dimensions ranging from nano- to macroscale, which are difficult to mimic synthetically. Here a bioinspired, facile method to fabricate anisotropic hydrogels with perfectly aligned multiscale hierarchical fibrous structures similar to those of tendons and ligaments is reported. The method includes drying a diluted physical hydrogel in air by confining its length direction. During this process, sufficiently high tensile stress is built along the length direction to align the polymer chains and multiscale fibrous structures (from nano- to submicro- to microscale) are spontaneously formed in the bulk material, which are well-retained in the reswollen gel. The method is useful for relatively rigid polymers (such as alginate and cellulose), which are susceptible to mechanical signal. By controlling the drying with or without prestretching, the degree of alignment, size of superstructures, and the strength of supramolecular interactions can be tuned, which sensitively influence the strength and toughness of the hydrogels. The mechanical properties are comparable with those of natural ligaments. This study provides a general strategy for designing hydrogels with highly ordered hierarchical structures, which opens routes for the development of many functional biomimetic materials for biomedical applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Hierarchically structured transparent hybrid membranes by in situ growth of mesostructured organosilica in host polymer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallé, Karine; Belleville, Philippe; Pereira, Franck; Sanchez, Clément

    2006-02-01

    The elaborate performances characterizing natural materials result from functional hierarchical constructions at scales ranging from nanometres to millimetres, each construction allowing the material to fit the physical or chemical demands occurring at these different levels. Hierarchically structured materials start to demonstrate a high input in numerous promising applied domains such as sensors, catalysis, optics, fuel cells, smart biologic and cosmetic vectors. In particular, hierarchical hybrid materials permit the accommodation of a maximum of elementary functions in a small volume, thereby optimizing complementary possibilities and properties between inorganic and organic components. The reported strategies combine sol-gel chemistry, self-assembly routes using templates that tune the material's architecture and texture with the use of larger inorganic, organic or biological templates such as latex, organogelator-derived fibres, nanolithographic techniques or controlled phase separation. We propose an approach to forming transparent hierarchical hybrid functionalized membranes using in situ generation of mesostructured hybrid phases inside a non-porogenic hydrophobic polymeric host matrix. We demonstrate that the control of the multiple affinities existing between organic and inorganic components allows us to design the length-scale partitioning of hybrid nanomaterials with tuned functionalities and desirable size organization from ångström to centimetre. After functionalization of the mesoporous hybrid silica component, the resulting membranes have good ionic conductivity offering interesting perspectives for the design of solid electrolytes, fuel cells and other ion-transport microdevices.

  7. Hydrothermal synthesis of copper sulfide with novel hierarchical structures and its application in lithium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Guang-Yi; Wei, Zhi-Yong; Jin, Bo; Zhong, Xiao-Bin; Wang, Heng; Zhang, Wan-Xi; Liang, Ji-Cai; Jiang, Qing

    2013-01-01

    Novel stick-like CuS hierarchical structures have been fabricated by a hydrothermal approach use β-cyclodextrin as ligand and structure-directing agent. SEM and TEM characterizations show that the CuS stick-like structures are composed of tens to hundreds of well-arranged and self-assembled nanoplates with a thickness of about 25 nm. The mechanism for the formation of the final stick-like hierarchical structures is proposed and discussed. β-cyclodextrin is found to be the key factor in controlling the morphologies. Meanwhile, the possibility of using CuS as the electrode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is studied. Electrochemical measurements reveal that the as-prepared CuS exhibits outstanding cycle stability, indicating that it might find possible application as a cathode material for LIBs in the long term.

  8. The well-designed hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Kaiwen; Fan, Xiaorong; Mao, Yingzhu; Lin, Jingkai; Dai, Wenxuan; Zhang, Junying; Cheng, Jue

    2016-01-01

    Application of biological structure is one of the hottest topics in the field of science and technology. The unimaginable and excellent architectures of living beings supporting their vital activities have attracted the interests of worldwide researchers. An intriguing example is Musa basjoo which belongs to the herb, while appears like a tree. The profound mystery of structure and potential application of Musa basjoo have not been probed. Here we show the finding of the hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo and the outstanding electrochemical performance of the super-capacitors fabricated through the simple carbonization of Musa basjoo followed by KOH activation. Musa basjoo has three layers of structure: nanometer-level, micrometer-level and millimeter-level. The nanometer-level structure constructs the micrometer-level structure, while the micrometer-level structure constructs the millimeter-level structure. Based on this hierarchical structure, Musa basjoo reduces the unnecessary weight and therefore supports its huge body. The super-capacitors derived from Musa basjoo display a high specific capacitance and a good cycling stability. This enlightening work opens a window for the applications of the natural structure and we hope that more and more people could pay attention to the bio-inspired materials. PMID:26842714

  9. The well-designed hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo for supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Kaiwen; Fan, Xiaorong; Mao, Yingzhu; Lin, Jingkai; Dai, Wenxuan; Zhang, Junying; Cheng, Jue

    2016-02-01

    Application of biological structure is one of the hottest topics in the field of science and technology. The unimaginable and excellent architectures of living beings supporting their vital activities have attracted the interests of worldwide researchers. An intriguing example is Musa basjoo which belongs to the herb, while appears like a tree. The profound mystery of structure and potential application of Musa basjoo have not been probed. Here we show the finding of the hierarchical structure of Musa basjoo and the outstanding electrochemical performance of the super-capacitors fabricated through the simple carbonization of Musa basjoo followed by KOH activation. Musa basjoo has three layers of structure: nanometer-level, micrometer-level and millimeter-level. The nanometer-level structure constructs the micrometer-level structure, while the micrometer-level structure constructs the millimeter-level structure. Based on this hierarchical structure, Musa basjoo reduces the unnecessary weight and therefore supports its huge body. The super-capacitors derived from Musa basjoo display a high specific capacitance and a good cycling stability. This enlightening work opens a window for the applications of the natural structure and we hope that more and more people could pay attention to the bio-inspired materials.

  10. Biomedical laboratories: architecture and radioprotection principles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lapa, Renata

    2005-01-01

    In institutions where biological research are made and some technologies make use of radioisotope, the radiation protection is an issue of biosecurity for conceptual reasons. In the process of architectural design of Biomedical Laboratories, engineering and architecture reveal interfaces with other areas of knowledge and specific concepts. Exploring the role of architectural design in favor of personal and environmental protection in biological containment laboratories that handle non-sealed sources in research, the work discusses the triad that compose the principle of containment in health environments: best practices, protective equipment, physical facilities, with greater emphasis on the latter component. The shortcomings of the design process are reflected in construction and in use-operation and maintenance of these buildings, with direct consequences on the occupational health and safety, environmental and credibility of work processes. In this context, the importance of adoption of alternatives to improve the design process is confirmed, taking into account the early consideration of several variables involved and providing subsidies to the related laboratories . The research, conducted at FIOCRUZ - a Brazilian health institution, developed from the analysis of the participants in the architectural project, aiming at the formulation of design guidelines which could contribute to the rationalisation of this kind of building construction

  11. Composability in quantum cryptography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller-Quade, Joern; Renner, Renato

    2009-01-01

    If we combine two secure cryptographic systems, is the resulting system still secure? Answering this question is highly nontrivial and has recently sparked a considerable research effort, in particular, in the area of classical cryptography. A central insight was that the answer to the question is yes, but only within a well-specified composability framework and for carefully chosen security definitions. In this article, we review several aspects of composability in the context of quantum cryptography. The first part is devoted to key distribution. We discuss the security criteria that a quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol must fulfill to allow its safe use within a larger security application (e.g. for secure message transmission); and we demonstrate-by an explicit example-what can go wrong if conventional (non-composable) security definitions are used. Finally, to illustrate the practical use of composability, we show how to generate a continuous key stream by sequentially composing rounds of a QKD protocol. In the second part, we take a more general point of view, which is necessary for the study of cryptographic situations involving, for example, mutually distrustful parties. We explain the universal composability (UC) framework and state the composition theorem that guarantees that secure protocols can securely be composed to larger applications. We focus on the secure composition of quantum protocols into unconditionally secure classical protocols. However, the resulting security definition is so strict that some tasks become impossible without additional security assumptions. Quantum bit commitment is impossible in the UC framework even with mere computational security. Similar problems arise in the quantum bounded storage model and we observe a trade-off between the UC and the use of the weakest possible security assumptions.

  12. A COMPUTER APPLICATION FOR THE ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT IN DESIGN EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel de Carvalho Moreira

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The development of the architectural program in the design studio faces several difficulties. The purpose of the program is to describe the conditions where the building being designed will operate; this requires a lot of information and organization. Due to its complexity, the architetural program definition in the disciplines of design is often simplified. This article discusses such issue and proposes a computer application (SINFORMA that gathers information about the building and the theme of the project in order to develop the architectural program based on structures proposed by bibliographic references. The SINFORMA is composed by a framework which includes a data base and modules which analyze and organize functional requirements, according to the Problem Seeking method and the contemporary values of architecture enumerated by Hershberger. It is discussed how the application can be applied in design education and how it offers students a practical approach and a comprehensive data analysis for the design of built environment. Keywords: Architectural programming, Architectural design, Education.

  13. A Comprehensive Survey on Hierarchical-Based Routing Protocols for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks: Review, Taxonomy, and Future Directions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nabil Sabor

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introducing mobility to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs puts new challenges particularly in designing of routing protocols. Mobility can be applied to the sensor nodes and/or the sink node in the network. Many routing protocols have been developed to support the mobility of WSNs. These protocols are divided depending on the routing structure into hierarchical-based, flat-based, and location-based routing protocols. However, the hierarchical-based routing protocols outperform the other routing types in saving energy, scalability, and extending lifetime of Mobile WSNs (MWSNs. Selecting an appropriate hierarchical routing protocol for specific applications is an important and difficult task. Therefore, this paper focuses on reviewing some of the recently hierarchical-based routing protocols that are developed in the last five years for MWSNs. This survey divides the hierarchical-based routing protocols into two broad groups, namely, classical-based and optimized-based routing protocols. Also, we present a detailed classification of the reviewed protocols according to the routing approach, control manner, mobile element, mobility pattern, network architecture, clustering attributes, protocol operation, path establishment, communication paradigm, energy model, protocol objectives, and applications. Moreover, a comparison between the reviewed protocols is investigated in this survey depending on delay, network size, energy-efficiency, and scalability while mentioning the advantages and drawbacks of each protocol. Finally, we summarize and conclude the paper with future directions.

  14. Leaf-architectured 3D Hierarchical Artificial Photosynthetic System of Perovskite Titanates Towards CO2 Photoreduction Into Hydrocarbon Fuels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Han; Guo, Jianjun; Li, Peng; Fan, Tongxiang; Zhang, Di; Ye, Jinhua

    2013-01-01

    The development of an “artificial photosynthetic system” (APS) having both the analogous important structural elements and reaction features of photosynthesis to achieve solar-driven water splitting and CO2 reduction is highly challenging. Here, we demonstrate a design strategy for a promising 3D APS architecture as an efficient mass flow/light harvesting network relying on the morphological replacement of a concept prototype-leaf's 3D architecture into perovskite titanates for CO2 photoreduction into hydrocarbon fuels (CO and CH4). The process uses artificial sunlight as the energy source, water as an electron donor and CO2 as the carbon source, mimicking what real leaves do. To our knowledge this is the first example utilizing biological systems as “architecture-directing agents” for APS towards CO2 photoreduction, which hints at a more general principle for APS architectures with a great variety of optimized biological geometries. This research would have great significance for the potential realization of global carbon neutral cycle. PMID:23588925

  15. Scalable Hierarchical Algorithms for stochastic PDEs and Uncertainty Quantification

    KAUST Repository

    Litvinenko, Alexander

    2015-01-05

    H-matrices and Fast Multipole (FMM) are powerful methods to approximate linear operators coming from partial differential and integral equations as well as speed up computational cost from quadratic or cubic to log-linear (O(n log n)), where n number of degrees of freedom in the discretization. The storage is reduced to the log-linear as well. This hierarchical structure is a good starting point for parallel algorithms. Parallelization on shared and distributed memory systems was pioneered by R. Kriemann, 2005. Since 2005, the area of parallel architectures and software is developing very fast. Progress in GPUs and Many-Core Systems (e.g. XeonPhi with 64 cores) motivated us to extend work started in [1,2,7,8].

  16. Detecting Hierarchical Structure in Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herlau, Tue; Mørup, Morten; Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard

    2012-01-01

    Many real-world networks exhibit hierarchical organization. Previous models of hierarchies within relational data has focused on binary trees; however, for many networks it is unknown whether there is hierarchical structure, and if there is, a binary tree might not account well for it. We propose...... a generative Bayesian model that is able to infer whether hierarchies are present or not from a hypothesis space encompassing all types of hierarchical tree structures. For efficient inference we propose a collapsed Gibbs sampling procedure that jointly infers a partition and its hierarchical structure....... On synthetic and real data we demonstrate that our model can detect hierarchical structure leading to better link-prediction than competing models. Our model can be used to detect if a network exhibits hierarchical structure, thereby leading to a better comprehension and statistical account the network....

  17. Direct large-scale synthesis of 3D hierarchical mesoporous NiO microspheres as high-performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    bai, Zhongchao; Ju, Zhicheng; Guo, Chunli; Qian, Yitai; Tang, Bin; Xiong, Shenglin

    2014-03-21

    Hierarchically porous materials are an ideal material platform for constructing high performance Li-ion batteries (LIBs), offering great advantages such as large contact area between the electrode and the electrolyte, fast and flexible transport pathways for the electrolyte ions and the space for buffering the strain caused by repeated Li insertion/extraction. In this work, NiO microspheres with hierarchically porous structures have been synthesized via a facile thermal decomposition method by only using a simple precursor. The superstructures are composed of nanocrystals with high specific surface area, large pore volume, and broad pore size distribution. The electrochemical properties of 3D hierarchical mesoporous NiO microspheres were examined by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge studies. The results demonstrate that the as-prepared NiO nanospheres are excellent electrode materials in LIBs with high specific capacity, good retention and rate performance. The 3D hierarchical mesoporous NiO microspheres can retain a reversible capacity of 800.2 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles at a high current density of 500 mA g(-1).

  18. Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO3 thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

    2012-01-01

    Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO 3 films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO 3 films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: ► Ordered WO 3 nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. ► Two hierarchical WO 3 structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. ► Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO 3 films is proposed.

  19. Hierarchical core-shell structure of ZnO nanorod@NiO/MoO₂ composite nanosheet arrays for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Sucheng; Zhang, Guanhua; Zeng, Wei; Zhu, Jian; Gong, Feilong; Li, Feng; Duan, Huigao

    2014-08-27

    A hierarchical core-shell structure of ZnO nanorod@NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheet arrays on nickel foam substrate for high-performance supercapacitors was constructed by a two-step solution-based method involving two hydrothermal processes followed by a calcination treatment. Compared to one composed of pure NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheets, the hierarchical core-shell structure electrode displays better pseudocapacitive behaviors in 2 M KOH, including high areal specific capacitance values of 1.18 F cm(-2) at 5 mA cm(-2) and 0.6 F cm(-2) at 30 mA cm(-2) as well as relatively good rate capability at high current densities. Furthermore, it also shows remarkable cycle stability, remaining at 91.7% of the initial value even after 4000 cycles at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2). The enhanced pseudocapacitive behaviors are mainly due to the unique hierarchical core-shell structure and the synergistic effect of combining ZnO nanorod arrays and NiO/MoO2 composite nanosheets. This novel hierarchical core-shell structure shows promise for use in next-generation supercapacitors.

  20. Functional annotation of hierarchical modularity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kanchana Padmanabhan

    Full Text Available In biological networks of molecular interactions in a cell, network motifs that are biologically relevant are also functionally coherent, or form functional modules. These functionally coherent modules combine in a hierarchical manner into larger, less cohesive subsystems, thus revealing one of the essential design principles of system-level cellular organization and function-hierarchical modularity. Arguably, hierarchical modularity has not been explicitly taken into consideration by most, if not all, functional annotation systems. As a result, the existing methods would often fail to assign a statistically significant functional coherence score to biologically relevant molecular machines. We developed a methodology for hierarchical functional annotation. Given the hierarchical taxonomy of functional concepts (e.g., Gene Ontology and the association of individual genes or proteins with these concepts (e.g., GO terms, our method will assign a Hierarchical Modularity Score (HMS to each node in the hierarchy of functional modules; the HMS score and its p-value measure functional coherence of each module in the hierarchy. While existing methods annotate each module with a set of "enriched" functional terms in a bag of genes, our complementary method provides the hierarchical functional annotation of the modules and their hierarchically organized components. A hierarchical organization of functional modules often comes as a bi-product of cluster analysis of gene expression data or protein interaction data. Otherwise, our method will automatically build such a hierarchy by directly incorporating the functional taxonomy information into the hierarchy search process and by allowing multi-functional genes to be part of more than one component in the hierarchy. In addition, its underlying HMS scoring metric ensures that functional specificity of the terms across different levels of the hierarchical taxonomy is properly treated. We have evaluated our

  1. Flexible supercapacitors with high areal capacitance based on hierarchical carbon tubular nanostructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Haitao; Su, Hai; Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Binbin; Chun, Fengjun; Chu, Xiang; He, Weidong; Yang, Weiqing

    2016-11-01

    Hierarchical structure design can greatly enhance the unique properties of primary material(s) but suffers from complicated preparation process and difficult self-assembly of materials with different dimensionalities. Here we report on the growth of single carbon tubular nanostructures with hierarchical structure (hCTNs) through a simple method based on direct conversion of carbon dioxide. Resorting to in-situ transformation and self-assembly of carbon micro/nano-structures, the obtained hCTNs are blood-like multichannel hierarchy composed of one large channel across the hCTNs and plenty of small branches connected to each other. Due to the unique pore structure and high surface area, these hCTN-based flexible supercapacitors possess the highest areal capacitance of ∼320 mF cm-2, as well as good rate-capability and excellent cycling stability (95% retention after 2500 cycles). It was established that this method can control the morphology, size, and density of hCTNs and effectively construct hCTNs well anchored to the various substrates. Our work unambiguously demonstrated the potential of hCTNs for large flexible supercapacitors and integrated energy management electronics.

  2. Composing the Curriculum: Teacher Identity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Rebecca

    2012-01-01

    What is composing and how is it valued? What does a good education in composing look like; what constraints hinder it and is it possible to overcome such constraints? Can composing be a personal, creative and valuable activity for the school student? What role does the teacher play in all of this? These are questions that I discuss in this…

  3. A System Architecture for Autonomous Demand Side Load Management in Smart Buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Costanzo, Giuseppe Tommaso; Zhu, Guchuan; Anjos, Miguel F.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a system architecture for load management in smart buildings which enables autonomous demand side load management in the smart grid. Being of a layered structure composed of three main modules for admission control, load balancing, and demand response management...... in multiple time-scales and allows seamless integration of diverse techniques for online operation control, optimal scheduling, and dynamic pricing. The design of a home energy manager based on this architecture is illustrated and the simulation results with Matlab/Simulink confirm the viability...

  4. The hierarchical cobalt oxide-porous carbons composites and their high performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries enhanced by the excellent synergistic effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Shuping; Liu, Wei; Liu, Shuang; Zhang, Yuan; Wang, Huanlei; Chen, Shougang

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The CoO/PBCs composites with unique hierarchical architecture by utilizing porous biocarbons derived from kapok fibers (KFs) have been successfully synthesized. • The unique structure is aggregated by CoO rods anchored on the surface or inside the porous carbons. • The CoO/PBCs composites exhibit excellent electrochemical performances. - Abstract: The designed metal oxide-carbon composites are always considered as a potential candidate for high-performance electrode materials. In this work, we fabricated the CoO rods-porous carbon composites with a unique hierarchical architecture by utilizing porous biocarbons derived from kapok fibers (KFs). As the composites of CoO nanocrystals with the mean size of 10 nm and graphene-like carbon sheets, the CoO rods are homogeneously anchored on or inside the porous carbons, thus achieving a 3D hierarchical porous structure. When tested as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the as-obtained composites exhibit the high lithium storage of 1057 mAh g"−"1. More importantly, the CoO rods/porous biocarbons composites display a superior long-term stable reversible capacity of about 550 mAh g"−"1 at the high current density of 5 A g"−"1 after 600 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance of the obtained composites has been attributed to the synergistic effect between CoO nanoparticles and porous biocarbons, which makes the composites favorable for fast electronic and ionic transfer, and superior stable structure. Therefore, we believe that the designed preparation of metal oxide architectures in low-cost and renewable porous biocarbons will be a valuable direction for exploring advanced electrode materials.

  5. Fabrication of hydrophobic surface with hierarchical structure on Mg alloy and its corrosion resistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Jun; Li Dandan; Liu Qi; Yin Xi; Zhang Ying; Jing Xiaoyan; Zhang Milin

    2010-01-01

    A hydrotalcite/hydromagnesite conversion coating with hierarchical structure has been fabricated on a Mg alloy substrate by in situ hydrothermal crystallization method. A MgO layer existing between the hydrotalcite/hydromagnesite film and the substrate was formed prior to the hydrotalcite/hydromagnesite film during the crystallization process. After surface treatment with silane coupling agent, the surface of conversion coating changes from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the silylated conversion coating with hierarchical structure maintains the original rough surface of which was composed of numerous micro-scale flakes and beautiful flower-like protrusions. Polarization measurements have shown that the hydrophobic conversion coating exhibited a low corrosion current density value of 0.432 μA/cm 2 , which means that the hydrophobic conversion coating can effectively protect Mg alloy from corrosion. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the impedance of the hydrophobic conversion coating was 9000 Ω. It means that the coating served as a passive layer with high charge transfer resistance.

  6. Catalysis with hierarchical zeolites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holm, Martin Spangsberg; Taarning, Esben; Egeblad, Kresten

    2011-01-01

    Hierarchical (or mesoporous) zeolites have attracted significant attention during the first decade of the 21st century, and so far this interest continues to increase. There have already been several reviews giving detailed accounts of the developments emphasizing different aspects of this research...... topic. Until now, the main reason for developing hierarchical zeolites has been to achieve heterogeneous catalysts with improved performance but this particular facet has not yet been reviewed in detail. Thus, the present paper summaries and categorizes the catalytic studies utilizing hierarchical...... zeolites that have been reported hitherto. Prototypical examples from some of the different categories of catalytic reactions that have been studied using hierarchical zeolite catalysts are highlighted. This clearly illustrates the different ways that improved performance can be achieved with this family...

  7. A Hierarchical Feature Extraction Model for Multi-Label Mechanical Patent Classification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Hu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Various studies have focused on feature extraction methods for automatic patent classification in recent years. However, most of these approaches are based on the knowledge from experts in related domains. Here we propose a hierarchical feature extraction model (HFEM for multi-label mechanical patent classification, which is able to capture both local features of phrases as well as global and temporal semantics. First, a n-gram feature extractor based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs is designed to extract salient local lexical-level features. Next, a long dependency feature extraction model based on the bidirectional long–short-term memory (BiLSTM neural network model is proposed to capture sequential correlations from higher-level sequence representations. Then the HFEM algorithm and its hierarchical feature extraction architecture are detailed. We establish the training, validation and test datasets, containing 72,532, 18,133, and 2679 mechanical patent documents, respectively, and then check the performance of HFEMs. Finally, we compared the results of the proposed HFEM and three other single neural network models, namely CNN, long–short-term memory (LSTM, and BiLSTM. The experimental results indicate that our proposed HFEM outperforms the other compared models in both precision and recall.

  8. Hierarchical prisoner’s dilemma in hierarchical game for resource competition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujimoto, Yuma; Sagawa, Takahiro; Kaneko, Kunihiko

    2017-07-01

    Dilemmas in cooperation are one of the major concerns in game theory. In a public goods game, each individual cooperates by paying a cost or defecting without paying it, and receives a reward from the group out of the collected cost. Thus, defecting is beneficial for each individual, while cooperation is beneficial for the group. Now, groups (say, countries) consisting of individuals also play games. To study such a multi-level game, we introduce a hierarchical game in which multiple groups compete for limited resources by utilizing the collected cost in each group, where the power to appropriate resources increases with the population of the group. Analyzing this hierarchical game, we found a hierarchical prisoner’s dilemma, in which groups choose the defecting policy (say, armament) as a Nash strategy to optimize each group’s benefit, while cooperation optimizes the total benefit. On the other hand, for each individual, refusing to pay the cost (say, tax) is a Nash strategy, which turns out to be a cooperation policy for the group, thus leading to a hierarchical dilemma. Here the group reward increases with the group size. However, we find that there exists an optimal group size that maximizes the individual payoff. Furthermore, when the population asymmetry between two groups is large, the smaller group will choose a cooperation policy (say, disarmament) to avoid excessive response from the larger group, and the prisoner’s dilemma between the groups is resolved. Accordingly, the relevance of this hierarchical game on policy selection in society and the optimal size of human or animal groups are discussed.

  9. Fabrication and electrochemical capacitance of hierarchical graphene/polyaniline/carbon nanotube ternary composite film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Xiangjun; Dou Hui; Yang Sudong; Hao Liang; Zhang Luojiang; Shen Laifa; Zhang Fang; Zhang Xiaogang

    2011-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A hierarchical film with coaxial polyaniline/carbon nanotube (PANI/CNT) nanocables uniformly sandwiched between graphene (GN) sheets was prepared by filtration of the complex dispersion of graphite oxide (GO) and PANI/CNT. Highlights: → A film composed of GN sheets, PANI and CNTs was fabricated. → The coaxial PANI/CNT nanocables uniformly sandwiched between the GN sheets. → The unique structure facilitates contact between electrolyte and electrode materials. → Each component provides unique function to achieve superior electrochemical properties. - Abstract: A film composed of graphene (GN) sheets, polyaniline (PANI) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been fabricated by reducing a graphite oxide (GO)/PANI/CNT precursor prepared by flow-directed assembly from a complex dispersion of GO and PANI/CNT, followed by reoxidation and redoping of the reduced PANI in the composite to restore the conducting PANI structure. Scanning electron microscope images indicate that the ternary composite film is a layered structure with coaxial PANI/CNT nanocables uniformly sandwiched between the GN sheets. Such novel hierarchical structure with high electrical conductivity perfectly facilitates contact between electrolyte ions and PANI for faradaic energy storage and efficiently utilizes the double-layer capacitance at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. The specific capacitance of the GN/PANI/CNT estimated by galvanostatic charge/discharge measurement is 569 F g -1 (or 188 F cm -3 for volumetric capacitance) at a current density of 0.1 A g -1 . In addition, the GN/PANI/CNT exhibits good rate capability (60% capacity retention at 10 A g -1 ) and superior cycling stability (4% fade after 5000 continuous charge/discharge cycles).

  10. Hierarchical NiO-SiO2 composite hollow microspheres with enhanced adsorption affinity towards Congo red in water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Chunsheng; Zhu, Xiaofeng; Zhu, Bicheng; Yu, Jiaguo; Ho, Wingkei

    2016-03-15

    Hollow microspheres and hierarchical porous nanostructured materials with desired morphologies have gained remarkable attention for their potential applications in environmental technology. In this study, NiO-SiO2 hollow microspheres were prepared by co-precipitation with SiO2 and nickel salt as precursors, followed by dipping in alkaline solution and calcination. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The synthesized hollow spheres were composed of a SiO2 shell and hierarchical porous NiO nanosheets on the surface. Adsorption experiments suggested that NiO-SiO2 composite particles were powerful adsorbents for removal of Congo red from water, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 204.1 mg/g. The high specific surface areas, hollow structures, and hierarchical porous surfaces of the hollow composite particles are suitable for various applications, including adsorption of pollutants, chemical separation, and water purification. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Hydrothermal deposition and photochromic performances of three kinds of hierarchical structure arrays of WO{sub 3} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ding, Defang; Shen, Yi, E-mail: sysy7373@163.com; Ouyang, Yali; Li, Zhen

    2012-10-01

    Three kinds of tungsten oxide (WO{sub 3}) thin films have been fabricated by a simple hydrothermal deposition method. Scanning electron microscopy images of the products revealed that the capping agents did impact the microstructure of WO{sub 3} films. Films prepared without capping agents were ordered nanorod arrays, while the ones obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid revealed peeled-orange-like and cauliflower-like hierarchical structure arrays, respectively. Both of the two hierarchical structures were composed of much thinner nanorods compared with the one obtained without capping agents. All the WO{sub 3} films exhibited good photochromic properties and the two with inducers performed even better, which could be due to the changes in the microstructure that increased the amount of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the proton diffusion rates. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ordered WO{sub 3} nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal deposition process. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Two hierarchical WO{sub 3} structure arrays were obtained with ethanol and oxalic acid. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mechanism for the improved photochromic performances of WO{sub 3} films is proposed.

  12. Micromechanics of hierarchical materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mishnaevsky, Leon, Jr.

    2012-01-01

    A short overview of micromechanical models of hierarchical materials (hybrid composites, biomaterials, fractal materials, etc.) is given. Several examples of the modeling of strength and damage in hierarchical materials are summarized, among them, 3D FE model of hybrid composites...... with nanoengineered matrix, fiber bundle model of UD composites with hierarchically clustered fibers and 3D multilevel model of wood considered as a gradient, cellular material with layered composite cell walls. The main areas of research in micromechanics of hierarchical materials are identified, among them......, the investigations of the effects of load redistribution between reinforcing elements at different scale levels, of the possibilities to control different material properties and to ensure synergy of strengthening effects at different scale levels and using the nanoreinforcement effects. The main future directions...

  13. Understanding to Hierarchical Microstructures of Crab (Chinese hairy) Shell as a Natural Architecture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chuanqiang, Zhou [Testing Center, Yangzhou University, No. 48 Wenhui East Road, Yangzhou (China); Xiangxiang, Gong [Testing Center, Yangzhou University, No. 48 Wenhui East Road, Yangzhou (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou (China); Jie, Han [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou (China)

    2016-03-07

    This work was done to better understand the microstructures, composition and mechanical properties of Chinese hairy crab shell. For fully revealing its hierarchical microstructure, the crab shell was observed with electron microscope under different magnifications from different facets. XRD, EDS, FTIR and TGA techniques have been used to characterize the untreated and chemically-treated crab shells, which provided enough information to determine the species and relative content of components in this biomaterial. Combined the microstructures with constituents analysis, the structural principles of crab shell was detailedly realized from different structural levels beyond former reports. To explore the relationship between structure and function, the mechanical properties of shell have been measured through performing tensile tests. The contributions of organics and minerals in shell to the mechanical properties were also discussed by measuring the tensile strength of de-calcification samples treated with HCl solution.

  14. Understanding to Hierarchical Microstructures of Crab (Chinese hairy) Shell as a Natural Architecture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chuanqiang, Zhou; Xiangxiang, Gong; Jie, Han

    2016-01-01

    This work was done to better understand the microstructures, composition and mechanical properties of Chinese hairy crab shell. For fully revealing its hierarchical microstructure, the crab shell was observed with electron microscope under different magnifications from different facets. XRD, EDS, FTIR and TGA techniques have been used to characterize the untreated and chemically-treated crab shells, which provided enough information to determine the species and relative content of components in this biomaterial. Combined the microstructures with constituents analysis, the structural principles of crab shell was detailedly realized from different structural levels beyond former reports. To explore the relationship between structure and function, the mechanical properties of shell have been measured through performing tensile tests. The contributions of organics and minerals in shell to the mechanical properties were also discussed by measuring the tensile strength of de-calcification samples treated with HCl solution

  15. A multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible microgrid based on sliding-mode direct voltage and hierarchical controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qinjin; Liu, Yancheng; Zhao, Youtao; Wang, Ning

    2016-03-01

    Multi-mode operation and transient stability are two problems that significantly affect flexible microgrid (MG). This paper proposes a multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible MG based on a three-layer hierarchical structure. The proposed structure is composed of autonomous, cooperative, and scheduling controllers. Autonomous controller is utilized to control the performance of the single micro-source inverter. An adaptive sliding-mode direct voltage loop and an improved droop power loop based on virtual negative impedance are presented respectively to enhance the system disturbance-rejection performance and the power sharing accuracy. Cooperative controller, which is composed of secondary voltage/frequency control and phase synchronization control, is designed to eliminate the voltage/frequency deviations produced by the autonomous controller and prepare for grid connection. Scheduling controller manages the power flow between the MG and the grid. The MG with the improved hierarchical control scheme can achieve seamless transitions from islanded to grid-connected mode and have a good transient performance. In addition the presented work can also optimize the power quality issues and improve the load power sharing accuracy between parallel VSIs. Finally, the transient performance and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme are evaluated by theoretical analysis and simulation results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Automation Hooks Architecture for Flexible Test Orchestration - Concept Development and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lansdowne, C. A.; Maclean, John R.; Winton, Chris; McCartney, Pat

    2011-01-01

    The Automation Hooks Architecture Trade Study for Flexible Test Orchestration sought a standardized data-driven alternative to conventional automated test programming interfaces. The study recommended composing the interface using multicast DNS (mDNS/SD) service discovery, Representational State Transfer (Restful) Web Services, and Automatic Test Markup Language (ATML). We describe additional efforts to rapidly mature the Automation Hooks Architecture candidate interface definition by validating it in a broad spectrum of applications. These activities have allowed us to further refine our concepts and provide observations directed toward objectives of economy, scalability, versatility, performance, severability, maintainability, scriptability and others.

  17. Development of the nuclear weapons complex EP architecture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murray, C.; Halbleib, L.

    1996-07-01

    The Nuclear Weapons Guidance Team is an interagency committee led by Earl Whiteman, DOE that chartered the generation of EP40100, Concurrent Qualification and its successor EP401099, Concurrent Engineering and Qualification. As this new philosophy of concurrent operations has evolved and as implementation has been initiated, conflicts and insufficiencies in the remaining Engineering Procedures (EPs) have become more apparent. At the Guidance Team meeting in November 1995, this issue was explored and several approaches were considered. It was concluded at this meeting, that a smaller set of interagency EPs described in a hierarchical system could provide the necessary interagency direction to support complex-wide implementation. This set consolidates many existing EP processes where consistency and commonality are critical to success of the extended enterprise. The Guidance Team subsequently chartered an interagency team to initiate development activity associated with the envisioned new EP set. This team had participation from seven Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) sites as well as DOE/AL and DP-14 (team members are acknowledged later in this report). Per the Guidance Team, this team, referred to as the Architecture Subcommittee, was to map out and define an EP Architecture for the interagency EPs, make recommendations regarding a more agile process for EP approval and suggest an aggressive timeline to develop the combined EPs. The Architecture Subcommittee was asked to brief their output at the February Guidance Team meeting. This SAND report documents the results of the Architecture Subcommittee`s recommendations.

  18. SABRE: a bio-inspired fault-tolerant electronic architecture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bremner, P; Samie, M; Dragffy, G; Pipe, A G; Liu, Y; Tempesti, G; Timmis, J; Tyrrell, A M

    2013-01-01

    As electronic devices become increasingly complex, ensuring their reliable, fault-free operation is becoming correspondingly more challenging. It can be observed that, in spite of their complexity, biological systems are highly reliable and fault tolerant. Hence, we are motivated to take inspiration for biological systems in the design of electronic ones. In SABRE (self-healing cellular architectures for biologically inspired highly reliable electronic systems), we have designed a bio-inspired fault-tolerant hierarchical architecture for this purpose. As in biology, the foundation for the whole system is cellular in nature, with each cell able to detect faults in its operation and trigger intra-cellular or extra-cellular repair as required. At the next level in the hierarchy, arrays of cells are configured and controlled as function units in a transport triggered architecture (TTA), which is able to perform partial-dynamic reconfiguration to rectify problems that cannot be solved at the cellular level. Each TTA is, in turn, part of a larger multi-processor system which employs coarser grain reconfiguration to tolerate faults that cause a processor to fail. In this paper, we describe the details of operation of each layer of the SABRE hierarchy, and how these layers interact to provide a high systemic level of fault tolerance. (paper)

  19. Joint stiffness identification of body structure using neural network. Jointed part composed of 2 beams; Neural network ni yoru shatai kozo no ketsugo gosei dotei. Buzai 2 hon kara naru ketsugobu no baai

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okabe, A; Tomioka, N [Nihon University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    The method to obtain a joint stiffness value from displacements of jointed part using hierarchical neural networks in case of a jointed part composed of two beams were proposed. First, the sample data of displacements of jointed part vs. joint stiffness are prepared as learned data. Second, the relations between displacements of jointed part and joint stiffness are constructed from these learned data using a hierarchical neural networks. It was found that the value of joint stiffness can be obtained from displacement of jointed part by the trained neural network. 4 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.

  20. Hierarchical nanoporous platinum-copper alloy for simultaneous electrochemical determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Dianyun; Fan, Dawei; Wang, Jinping; Xu, Caixia

    2015-01-01

    A hierarchical nanoporous PtCu alloy was fabricated by two-step dealloying of a PtCuAl precursor alloy followed by annealing. The new alloy possesses interconnected hierarchical network architecture with bimodal distributions of ligaments and pores. It exhibits high electrochemical activity towards the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA), and uric acid (UA) at working potentials of 0.32, 0.47 and 0.61 V (vs. a mercury sulfate reference electrode), respectively. The new alloy was placed on a glassy carbon electrode and then displayed a wide linear response to AA, DA, and UA in the concentration ranges from 25 to 800 μM, 4 to 20 μM, and 10 to 70 μM, respectively. The lower detection limits are 17.5 μM, 2.8 µM and 5.7 μM at an S/N ratio of 3. (author)

  1. How hierarchical is language use?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Stefan L.; Bod, Rens; Christiansen, Morten H.

    2012-01-01

    It is generally assumed that hierarchical phrase structure plays a central role in human language. However, considerations of simplicity and evolutionary continuity suggest that hierarchical structure should not be invoked too hastily. Indeed, recent neurophysiological, behavioural and computational studies show that sequential sentence structure has considerable explanatory power and that hierarchical processing is often not involved. In this paper, we review evidence from the recent literature supporting the hypothesis that sequential structure may be fundamental to the comprehension, production and acquisition of human language. Moreover, we provide a preliminary sketch outlining a non-hierarchical model of language use and discuss its implications and testable predictions. If linguistic phenomena can be explained by sequential rather than hierarchical structure, this will have considerable impact in a wide range of fields, such as linguistics, ethology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology and computer science. PMID:22977157

  2. A modeling process to understand complex system architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Santiago Balestrini

    2009-12-01

    In recent decades, several tools have been developed by the armed forces, and their contractors, to test the capability of a force. These campaign level analysis tools, often times characterized as constructive simulations are generally expensive to create and execute, and at best they are extremely difficult to verify and validate. This central observation, that the analysts are relying more and more on constructive simulations to predict the performance of future networks of systems, leads to the two central objectives of this thesis: (1) to enable the quantitative comparison of architectures in terms of their ability to satisfy a capability without resorting to constructive simulations, and (2) when constructive simulations must be created, to quantitatively determine how to spend the modeling effort amongst the different system classes. The first objective led to Hypothesis A, the first main hypotheses, which states that by studying the relationships between the entities that compose an architecture, one can infer how well it will perform a given capability. The method used to test the hypothesis is based on two assumptions: (1) the capability can be defined as a cycle of functions, and that it (2) must be possible to estimate the probability that a function-based relationship occurs between any two types of entities. If these two requirements are met, then by creating random functional networks, different architectures can be compared in terms of their ability to satisfy a capability. In order to test this hypothesis, a novel process for creating representative functional networks of large-scale system architectures was developed. The process, named the Digraph Modeling for Architectures (DiMA), was tested by comparing its results to those of complex constructive simulations. Results indicate that if the inputs assigned to DiMA are correct (in the tests they were based on time-averaged data obtained from the ABM), DiMA is able to identify which of any two

  3. ePix: a class of architectures for second generation LCLS cameras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dragone, A; Caragiulo, P; Markovic, B; Herbst, R; Reese, B; Herrmann, S C; Hart, P A; Segal, J; Carini, G A; Kenney, C J; Haller, G

    2014-01-01

    ePix is a novel class of ASIC architectures, based on a common platform, optimized to build modular scalable detectors for LCLS. The platform architecture is composed of a random access analog matrix of pixel with global shutter, fast parallel column readout, and dedicated sigma-delta analog-to-digital converters per column. It also implements a dedicated control interface and all the required support electronics to perform configuration, calibration and readout of the matrix. Based on this platform a class of front-end ASICs and several camera modules, meeting different requirements, can be developed by designing specific pixel architectures. This approach reduces development time and expands the possibility of integration of detector modules with different size, shape or functionality in the same camera. The ePix platform is currently under development together with the first two integrating pixel architectures: ePix100 dedicated to ultra low noise applications and ePix10k for high dynamic range applications.

  4. Hierarchical Chitin Fibers with Aligned Nanofibrillar Architectures: A Nonwoven-Mat Separator for Lithium Metal Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Joong-Kwon; Kim, Do Hyeong; Joo, Se Hun; Choi, Byeongwook; Cha, Aming; Kim, Kwang Min; Kwon, Tae-Hyuk; Kwak, Sang Kyu; Kang, Seok Ju; Jin, Jungho

    2017-06-27

    Here, we introduce regenerated fibers of chitin (Chiber), the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose, and propose its utility as a nonwoven fiber separator for lithium metal batteries (LMBs) that exhibits an excellent electrolyte-uptaking capability and Li-dendrite-mitigating performance. Chiber is produced by a centrifugal jet-spinning technique, which allows a simple and fast production of Chibers consisting of hierarchically aligned self-assembled chitin nanofibers. Following the scrutinization on the Chiber-Li-ion interaction via computational methods, we demonstrate the potential of Chiber as a nonwoven mat-type separator by monitoring it in Li-O 2 and Na-O 2 cells.

  5. 3D self-supported hierarchical Ni−Co architectures with integrated capacitive performance and enhanced electronic conductivity for supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, YanRu; Cheng, Baohai

    2016-01-01

    3D self-supported hierarchical Ni and Co co-hydroxide architectures are promising electrode materials for supercapacitor application attributed to their prominent properties such as binder-free electrode fabrication process and high power density. However, the intrinsic conductivity of Ni and Co co-hydroxide is poor. How to develop a new type of supercapacitors exhibiting enhanced electronic conductivity and involving pseudocapacitive performance and electric double-layer capacitive performance is still challenging. Herein, we present a facile co-electrodeposition method to fabricate self-standing Ni_xCo_2_x(OH)_y@Ni/ITO monolithic electrode by growing a layer of Ni_xCo_2_x(OH)_y with layered structure on surface of conductive Ni nanotube, which increases specific surface area and prompts fast ion adsorption/de-adsotption (electrochemical double layer capacitance performance) and fast surface redox reactions (pseudo-capacitance performance). With the conductive Ni nanotube as current collector and electronic conductor, the binder-free Ni_xCo_2_x(OH)_y@Ni/ITO electrode exhibits high specific capacitance (92.4 mF cm"−"2 at 0.1 mA cm"−"2, the mass of active material per cm"−"2 is typically in 100 s μg). Moreover, Ni_xCo_2_x(OH)_y@Ni/ITO hybrids display excellent cycling stability with 93.3% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. The results suggest Ni_xCo_2_x(OH)_y@Ni/ITO nanostructure constructed based on integrated features of pseudocapacitive performance and electric double-layer capacitive performance and enhanced electronic conductivity is expected to be a type of excellent electrode material for supercapacitor. - Highlights: • Ni−Co electrode is fabricated by growing layered structure on Ni nanotube surface. • The layered structure prompts fast ion adsorption/de-adsotption and redox reactions. • The Ni nanotube serves as nanostructured current collector and electronic conductor. • The Ni−Co hybrids display 93.3% capacitance retention

  6. The synthesis of hierarchical nanostructured MoS_2/Graphene composites with enhanced visible-light photo-degradation property

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Yongjie; Zhang, Xiaowei; Wang, Chengzhi; Zhao, Yuzhen; Zhou, Heping; Li, Jingbo; Jin, HaiBo

    2017-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Introducing graphene layer into MoS_2 could construct the steady hierarchical structure which could efficiently separate the photo-induced electrons so as to enhance the photo- degradation behavior. - Highlights: • The MoS_2 and MoS_2/Graphene nanocomposite have been synthesized via a solvothermal process. • The scrolled nanosheets of MoS_2 combining with interconnected graphene network promoted the formation of steady hierarchical architecture. • Comparing with MoS_2, the hierarchical MoS_2/Graphene nanocomposite achieved relatively higher degradation rate. • The synergistic effect mechanism for excellent photo-degradation activity was proposed. - Abstract: Novel two-dimensional materials with a layered structure are of special interest for a variety of promising applications. Herein, MoS_2 and MoS_2/Graphene nanocomposite with hierarchical nanostructure were successfully synthesized employing a one-step hydrothermal method. Photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine (RHB) were adopted to assess the photo-degradation ability of the products. Comparing with bare MoS_2, the hierarchical MoS_2/Graphene nanocomposite achieved relatively higher degradation rate of 99% in 28 min for MB as well in 50 min for RHB. These results verified that this proposed hierarchical nanocomposite is a good photo-degradation semiconductor. The excellent performance was mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect of MoS_2 and graphene layers. The MoS_2 possessing a band gap of 1.9 eV would provide abundant electron-hole pairs. The graphene layers with excellent electro-conductivity could realize the quick transport of electrons via its extended π-conjugation structure, consequently benefiting the separation of photo-generated carriers. These findings indicate that the graphene layer is a promising candidate as a co-catalyst for MoS_2 photo-catalyst, and also provide useful information for understanding the observed enhanced photocatalytic mechanism

  7. Hierarchical trigger of the ALICE calorimeters

    CERN Document Server

    Muller, Hans; Novitzky, Norbert; Kral, Jiri; Rak, Jan; Schambach, Joachim; Wang, Ya-Ping; Wang, Dong; Zhou, Daicui

    2010-01-01

    The trigger of the ALICE electromagnetic calorimeters is implemented in 2 hierarchically connected layers of electronics. In the lower layer, level-0 algorithms search shower energy above threshold in locally confined Trigger Region Units (TRU). The top layer is implemented as a single, global trigger unit that receives the trigger data from all TRUs as input to the level-1 algorithm. This architecture was first developed for the PHOS high pT photon trigger before it was adopted by EMCal also for the jet trigger. TRU units digitize up to 112 analogue input signals from the Front End Electronics (FEE) and concentrate their digital stream in a single FPGA. A charge and time summing algorithm is combined with a peakfinder that suppresses spurious noise and is precise to single LHC bunches. With a peak-to-peak noise level of 150 MeV the linear dynamic range above threshold spans from MIP energies at 215 up to 50 GeV. Local level-0 decisions take less than 600 ns after LHC collisions, upon which all TRUs transfer ...

  8. Nested and Hierarchical Archimax copulas

    KAUST Repository

    Hofert, Marius

    2017-07-03

    The class of Archimax copulas is generalized to nested and hierarchical Archimax copulas in several ways. First, nested extreme-value copulas or nested stable tail dependence functions are introduced to construct nested Archimax copulas based on a single frailty variable. Second, a hierarchical construction of d-norm generators is presented to construct hierarchical stable tail dependence functions and thus hierarchical extreme-value copulas. Moreover, one can, by itself or additionally, introduce nested frailties to extend Archimax copulas to nested Archimax copulas in a similar way as nested Archimedean copulas extend Archimedean copulas. Further results include a general formula for the density of Archimax copulas.

  9. Nested and Hierarchical Archimax copulas

    KAUST Repository

    Hofert, Marius; Huser, Raphaë l; Prasad, Avinash

    2017-01-01

    The class of Archimax copulas is generalized to nested and hierarchical Archimax copulas in several ways. First, nested extreme-value copulas or nested stable tail dependence functions are introduced to construct nested Archimax copulas based on a single frailty variable. Second, a hierarchical construction of d-norm generators is presented to construct hierarchical stable tail dependence functions and thus hierarchical extreme-value copulas. Moreover, one can, by itself or additionally, introduce nested frailties to extend Archimax copulas to nested Archimax copulas in a similar way as nested Archimedean copulas extend Archimedean copulas. Further results include a general formula for the density of Archimax copulas.

  10. Study on Global GIS architecture and its key technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Chengqi; Guan, Li; Lv, Xuefeng

    2010-11-01

    Global GIS (G2IS) is a system, which supports the huge data process and the global direct manipulation on global grid based on spheroid or ellipsoid surface. Based on global subdivision grid (GSG), Global GIS architecture is presented in this paper, taking advantage of computer cluster theory, the space-time integration technology and the virtual reality technology. Global GIS system architecture is composed of five layers, including data storage layer, data representation layer, network and cluster layer, data management layer and data application layer. Thereinto, it is designed that functions of four-level protocol framework and three-layer data management pattern of Global GIS based on organization, management and publication of spatial information in this architecture. Three kinds of core supportive technologies, which are computer cluster theory, the space-time integration technology and the virtual reality technology, and its application pattern in the Global GIS are introduced in detail. The primary ideas of Global GIS in this paper will be an important development tendency of GIS.

  11. New optical architecture for holographic data storage system compatible with Blu-ray Disc™ system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Ken-ichi; Ide, Tatsuro; Shimano, Takeshi; Anderson, Ken; Curtis, Kevin

    2014-02-01

    A new optical architecture for holographic data storage system which is compatible with a Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) system is proposed. In the architecture, both signal and reference beams pass through a single objective lens with numerical aperture (NA) 0.85 for realizing angularly multiplexed recording. The geometry of the architecture brings a high affinity with an optical architecture in the BD system because the objective lens can be placed parallel to a holographic medium. Through the comparison of experimental results with theory, the validity of the optical architecture was verified and demonstrated that the conventional objective lens motion technique in the BD system is available for angularly multiplexed recording. The test-bed composed of a blue laser system and an objective lens of the NA 0.85 was designed. The feasibility of its compatibility with BD is examined through the designed test-bed.

  12. Scalable 2D Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets for Flexible Supercapacitors with Ultrahigh Energy Density.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Lei; Wu, Qin; Zhang, Peixin; Zhang, Junmin; Wang, Dongrui; Li, Yongliang; Ren, Xiangzhong; Mi, Hongwei; Deng, Libo; Zheng, Zijian

    2018-03-01

    2D carbon nanomaterials such as graphene and its derivatives, have gained tremendous research interests in energy storage because of their high capacitance and chemical stability. However, scalable synthesis of ultrathin carbon nanosheets with well-defined pore architectures remains a great challenge. Herein, the first synthesis of 2D hierarchical porous carbon nanosheets (2D-HPCs) with rich nitrogen dopants is reported, which is prepared with high scalability through a rapid polymerization of a nitrogen-containing thermoset and a subsequent one-step pyrolysis and activation into 2D porous nanosheets. 2D-HPCs, which are typically 1.5 nm thick and 1-3 µm wide, show a high surface area (2406 m 2 g -1 ) and with hierarchical micro-, meso-, and macropores. This 2D and hierarchical porous structure leads to robust flexibility and good energy-storage capability, being 139 Wh kg -1 for a symmetric supercapacitor. Flexible supercapacitor devices fabricated by these 2D-HPCs also present an ultrahigh volumetric energy density of 8.4 mWh cm -3 at a power density of 24.9 mW cm -3 , which is retained at 80% even when the power density is increased by 20-fold. The devices show very high electrochemical life (96% retention after 10000 charge/discharge cycles) and excellent mechanical flexibility. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. The NA60 experiment readout architecture

    CERN Document Server

    Floris, M; Usai, G L; David, A; Rosinsky, P; Ohnishi, H

    2004-01-01

    The NA60 experiment was designed to identify signatures of a new state of matter, the Quark Gluon Plasma, in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN Super Proton Synchroton. The apparatus is composed of four main detectors: a muon spectrometer (MS), a zero degree calorimeter (ZDC), a silicon vertex telescope (VT), and a silicon microstrip beam tracker (BT). The readout of the whole experiment is based on a PCI architecture. The basic unit is a general purpose PCI card, interfaced to the different subdetectors via custom mezzanine cards. This allowed us to successfully implement several completely different readout protocols (from the VME like protocol of the MS to the custom protocol of the pixel telescope). The system was fully tested with proton and ion beams, and several million events were collected in 2002 and 2003. This paper presents the readout architecture of NA60, with particular emphasis on the PCI layer common to all the subdetectors. (16 refs).

  14. Hierarchical functional model for automobile development; Jidosha kaihatsu no tame no kaisogata kino model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sumida, S [U-shin Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Nagamatsu, M; Maruyama, K [Hokkaido Institute of Technology, Sapporo (Japan); Hiramatsu, S [Mazda Motor Corp., Hiroshima (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    A new approach on modeling is put forward in order to compose the virtual prototype which is indispensable for fully computer integrated concurrent development of automobile product. A basic concept of the hierarchical functional model is proposed as the concrete form of this new modeling technology. This model is used mainly for explaining and simulating functions and efficiencies of both the parts and the total product of automobile. All engineers who engage themselves in design and development of automobile can collaborate with one another using this model. Some application examples are shown, and usefulness of this model is demonstrated. 5 refs., 5 figs.

  15. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-02-01

    ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot`s own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup.

  16. ALLIANCE: An architecture for fault tolerant multi-robot cooperation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.

    1995-02-01

    ALLIANCE is a software architecture that facilitates the fault tolerant cooperative control of teams of heterogeneous mobile robots performing missions composed of loosely coupled, largely independent subtasks. ALLIANCE allows teams of robots, each of which possesses a variety of high-level functions that it can perform during a mission, to individually select appropriate actions throughout the mission based on the requirements of the mission, the activities of other robots, the current environmental conditions, and the robot's own internal states. ALLIANCE is a fully distributed, behavior-based architecture that incorporates the use of mathematically modeled motivations (such as impatience and acquiescence) within each robot to achieve adaptive action selection. Since cooperative robotic teams usually work in dynamic and unpredictable environments, this software architecture allows the robot team members to respond robustly, reliably, flexibly, and coherently to unexpected environmental changes and modifications in the robot team that may occur due to mechanical failure, the learning of new skills, or the addition or removal of robots from the team by human intervention. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated in an implementation on a team of mobile robots performing a laboratory version of hazardous waste cleanup

  17. Extraocular muscle architecture in hawks and owls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plochocki, Jeffrey H; Segev, Tamar; Grow, Wade; Hall, Margaret I

    2018-02-06

    A complete and accurate understanding of extraocular muscle function is important to the veterinary care of the avian eye. This is especially true for birds of prey, which rely heavily on vision for survival and yet are prone to ocular injury and disease. To better understand the function of extraocular muscles in birds of prey, we studied extraocular muscle architecture grossly and histologically. This sample was composed of two each of the following species: red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Harris's hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), and barn owl (Tyto alba). All extraocular muscles were dissected and weighed. To analyze muscle fiber architecture, the superior oblique and quadratus muscles were dissected, weighed, and sectioned at 5 μm thickness in the transverse plane. We calculated the physiologic cross-sectional area and the ratio of muscle mass to predicted effective maximum tetanic tension. Hawk and owl extraocular muscles exhibit significant physiological differences that play roles in ocular movements and closure of the nictitating membrane. Owls, which do not exhibit extraocular movement, have muscle architecture suited to stabilize the position of a massive, tubular eye that protrudes significantly from the orbit. Hawks, which have a more globose eye that is largely contained within the orbit, do not require as much muscular stability and instead have muscle architecture that facilitates rapid eye movement. © 2018 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  18. From green architecture to architectural green

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Earon, Ofri

    2011-01-01

    that describes the architectural exclusivity of this particular architecture genre. The adjective green expresses architectural qualities differentiating green architecture from none-green architecture. Currently, adding trees and vegetation to the building’s facade is the main architectural characteristics...... they have overshadowed the architectural potential of green architecture. The paper questions how a green space should perform, look like and function. Two examples are chosen to demonstrate thorough integrations between green and space. The examples are public buildings categorized as pavilions. One......The paper investigates the topic of green architecture from an architectural point of view and not an energy point of view. The purpose of the paper is to establish a debate about the architectural language and spatial characteristics of green architecture. In this light, green becomes an adjective...

  19. A convergent functional architecture of the insula emerges across imaging modalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Clare; Toro, Roberto; Di Martino, Adriana; Cox, Christine L; Bellec, Pierre; Castellanos, F Xavier; Milham, Michael P

    2012-07-16

    Empirical evidence increasingly supports the hypothesis that patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) are sculpted by a history of evoked coactivation within distinct neuronal networks. This, together with evidence of strong correspondence among the networks defined by iFC and those delineated using a variety of other neuroimaging techniques, suggests a fundamental brain architecture detectable across multiple functional and structural imaging modalities. Here, we leverage this insight to examine the functional organization of the human insula. We parcellated the insula on the basis of three distinct neuroimaging modalities - task-evoked coactivation, intrinsic (i.e., task-independent) functional connectivity, and gray matter structural covariance. Clustering of these three different covariance-based measures revealed a convergent elemental organization of the insula that likely reflects a fundamental brain architecture governing both brain structure and function at multiple spatial scales. While not constrained to be hierarchical, our parcellation revealed a pseudo-hierarchical, multiscale organization that was consistent with previous clustering and meta-analytic studies of the insula. Finally, meta-analytic examination of the cognitive and behavioral domains associated with each of the insular clusters obtained elucidated the broad functional dissociations likely underlying the topography observed. To facilitate future investigations of insula function across healthy and pathological states, the insular parcels have been made freely available for download via http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org, along with the analytic scripts used to perform the parcellations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Neurally and mathematically motivated architecture for language and thought.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perlovsky, L I; Ilin, R

    2010-01-01

    Neural structures of interaction between thinking and language are unknown. This paper suggests a possible architecture motivated by neural and mathematical considerations. A mathematical requirement of computability imposes significant constraints on possible architectures consistent with brain neural structure and with a wealth of psychological knowledge. How language interacts with cognition. Do we think with words, or is thinking independent from language with words being just labels for decisions? Why is language learned by the age of 5 or 7, but acquisition of knowledge represented by learning to use this language knowledge takes a lifetime? This paper discusses hierarchical aspects of language and thought and argues that high level abstract thinking is impossible without language. We discuss a mathematical technique that can model the joint language-thought architecture, while overcoming previously encountered difficulties of computability. This architecture explains a contradiction between human ability for rational thoughtful decisions and irrationality of human thinking revealed by Tversky and Kahneman; a crucial role in this contradiction might be played by language. The proposed model resolves long-standing issues: how the brain learns correct words-object associations; why animals do not talk and think like people. We propose the role played by language emotionality in its interaction with thought. We relate the mathematical model to Humboldt's "firmness" of languages; and discuss possible influence of language grammar on its emotionality. Psychological and brain imaging experiments related to the proposed model are discussed. Future theoretical and experimental research is outlined.

  1. Micro- and nanophase separations in hierarchical self-assembly of strongly amphiphilic block copolymer-based ionic supramolecules

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ayoubi, Mehran Asad; Zhu, Kaizheng; Nyström, Bo

    2013-01-01

    block), a class of ionic supramolecules are successfully synthesized whose molecular architecture consists of a poly(styrene) PS block (Linear block) covalently connected to a strongly amphiphilic comb-like block (AmphComb block), i.e. Linear-b-AmphComb. In the melt state, these ionic supramolecules can.......20 (SLL/C and SBCC/C) and ∼0.28 (C/L). Finally, the specific influences of the strongly amphiphilic nature of the AmphComb blocks on the observed morphological and hierarchical behaviours of our system are discussed. For reference, stoichiometric strongly amphiphilic comb-like (AmphComb) ionic...

  2. Architectural protein subclasses shape 3-D organization of genomes during lineage commitment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips-Cremins, Jennifer E.; Sauria, Michael E. G.; Sanyal, Amartya; Gerasimova, Tatiana I.; Lajoie, Bryan R.; Bell, Joshua S. K.; Ong, Chin-Tong; Hookway, Tracy A.; Guo, Changying; Sun, Yuhua; Bland, Michael J.; Wagstaff, William; Dalton, Stephen; McDevitt, Todd C.; Sen, Ranjan; Dekker, Job; Taylor, James; Corces, Victor G.

    2013-01-01

    Summary Understanding the topological configurations of chromatin may reveal valuable insights into how the genome and epigenome act in concert to control cell fate during development. Here we generate high-resolution architecture maps across seven genomic loci in embryonic stem cells and neural progenitor cells. We observe a hierarchy of 3-D interactions that undergo marked reorganization at the sub-Mb scale during differentiation. Distinct combinations of CTCF, Mediator, and cohesin show widespread enrichment in looping interactions at different length scales. CTCF/cohesin anchor long-range constitutive interactions that form the topological basis for invariant sub-domains. Conversely, Mediator/cohesin together with pioneer factors bridge shortrange enhancer-promoter interactions within and between larger sub-domains. Knockdown of Smc1 or Med12 in ES cells results in disruption of spatial architecture and down-regulation of genes found in cohesin-mediated interactions. We conclude that cell type-specific chromatin organization occurs at the sub-Mb scale and that architectural proteins shape the genome in hierarchical length scales. PMID:23706625

  3. Architecture on Architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Karen

    2016-01-01

    that is not scientific or academic but is more like a latent body of data that we find embedded in existing works of architecture. This information, it is argued, is not limited by the historical context of the work. It can be thought of as a virtual capacity – a reservoir of spatial configurations that can...... correlation between the study of existing architectures and the training of competences to design for present-day realities.......This paper will discuss the challenges faced by architectural education today. It takes as its starting point the double commitment of any school of architecture: on the one hand the task of preserving the particular knowledge that belongs to the discipline of architecture, and on the other hand...

  4. Synthesis of Mn-doped ZnS architectures in ternary solution and their optical properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang Xinjuan, E-mail: wangxj@hnu.edu.cn [State Key lab of CBSC, Micronano Research Center, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Zhang Qinglin [State Key lab of CBSC, Micronano Research Center, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Zou Bingsuo, E-mail: zoubs@bit.edu.cn [State Key lab of CBSC, Micronano Research Center, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Micro-nano Technology Center and School of MSE, BIT, Beijing 100081 (China); Lei Aihua; Ren Pinyun [State Key lab of CBSC, Micronano Research Center, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China)

    2011-10-01

    Mn-doped ZnS sea urchin-like architectures were fabricated by a one-pot solvothermal route in a ternary solution made of ethylenediamine, ethanolamine and distilled water. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). It was demonstrated that the as-prepared sea urchin-like architectures with diameter of 0.5-1.5 {mu}m were composed of nanorods, possessing a wurtzite structures. The preferred growth orientation of nanorods was found to be the [0 0 2] direction. The PL spectra of the Mn-doped ZnS sea urchin-like architectures show a strong orange emission at 587 nm, indicating the successful doping of Mn{sup 2+} ions into ZnS host. Ethanolamine played the role of oriented-assembly agent in the formation of sea urchin-like architectures. A possible growth mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of sea urchin-like architectures.

  5. Synthesis of Mn-doped ZnS architectures in ternary solution and their optical properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xinjuan; Zhang Qinglin; Zou Bingsuo; Lei Aihua; Ren Pinyun

    2011-01-01

    Mn-doped ZnS sea urchin-like architectures were fabricated by a one-pot solvothermal route in a ternary solution made of ethylenediamine, ethanolamine and distilled water. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). It was demonstrated that the as-prepared sea urchin-like architectures with diameter of 0.5-1.5 μm were composed of nanorods, possessing a wurtzite structures. The preferred growth orientation of nanorods was found to be the [0 0 2] direction. The PL spectra of the Mn-doped ZnS sea urchin-like architectures show a strong orange emission at 587 nm, indicating the successful doping of Mn 2+ ions into ZnS host. Ethanolamine played the role of oriented-assembly agent in the formation of sea urchin-like architectures. A possible growth mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of sea urchin-like architectures.

  6. A Very Compact AES-SPIHT Selective Encryption Computer Architecture Design with Improved S-Box

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia Hao Kong

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The “S-box” algorithm is a key component in the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES due to its nonlinear property. Various implementation approaches have been researched and discussed meeting stringent application goals (such as low power, high throughput, low area, but the ultimate goal for many researchers is to find a compact and small hardware footprint for the S-box circuit. In this paper, we present our version of minimized S-box with two separate proposals and improvements in the overall gate count. The compact S-box is adopted with a compact and optimum processor architecture specifically tailored for the AES, namely, the compact instruction set architecture (CISA. To further justify and strengthen the purpose of the compact crypto-processor’s application, we have also presented a selective encryption architecture (SEA which incorporates the CISA as a part of the encryption core, accompanied by the set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT algorithm as a complete selective encryption system.

  7. Attentional Bias to Beauty with Evolutionary Benefits: Evidence from Aesthetic Appraisal of Landscape Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; Tang, Xiaoxiang; He, Xianyou; Lai, Shuxian

    2018-01-01

    Substantial evidence suggests that beauty is associated with the survival and reproduction of organisms. Landscape architecture is composed of a series of natural elements that have significant evolutionary implications. The present study used one pilot material ratings and three experiments to examine the mechanisms of aesthetic appraisals of landscape architecture. The results confirmed that landscape architecture elicited a sense of beauty and captured visual attention more easily than other types of architecture during explicit aesthetic rating task (Experiment 1) and implicit aesthetic perception task (dot-probe paradigm, Experiment 2). Furthermore, the spatial cueing paradigm revealed that response latencies were significantly faster for landscape architecture than non-landscape architecture on valid trials, but there was no significant difference in this contrast on invalid trials at 150-ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA, Experiment 3a). At 500-ms SOA (Experiment 3b), participants responded significantly faster for landscape architecture on valid trials, but reacted significantly slower for landscape architecture on invalid trials. The findings indicated that the beauty of landscape architecture can be perceived implicitly, and only faster orienting of attention, but not delayed disengagement of attention was generated at early stages of the processing of landscape architecture. However, the attentional bias at later stages of attentional processes may be resulted from both faster orienting of attention and delayed disengagement of attention from landscape architecture photographs. PMID:29467696

  8. Attentional Bias to Beauty with Evolutionary Benefits: Evidence from Aesthetic Appraisal of Landscape Architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; Tang, Xiaoxiang; He, Xianyou; Lai, Shuxian

    2018-01-01

    Substantial evidence suggests that beauty is associated with the survival and reproduction of organisms. Landscape architecture is composed of a series of natural elements that have significant evolutionary implications. The present study used one pilot material ratings and three experiments to examine the mechanisms of aesthetic appraisals of landscape architecture. The results confirmed that landscape architecture elicited a sense of beauty and captured visual attention more easily than other types of architecture during explicit aesthetic rating task (Experiment 1) and implicit aesthetic perception task (dot-probe paradigm, Experiment 2). Furthermore, the spatial cueing paradigm revealed that response latencies were significantly faster for landscape architecture than non-landscape architecture on valid trials, but there was no significant difference in this contrast on invalid trials at 150-ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA, Experiment 3a). At 500-ms SOA (Experiment 3b), participants responded significantly faster for landscape architecture on valid trials, but reacted significantly slower for landscape architecture on invalid trials. The findings indicated that the beauty of landscape architecture can be perceived implicitly, and only faster orienting of attention, but not delayed disengagement of attention was generated at early stages of the processing of landscape architecture. However, the attentional bias at later stages of attentional processes may be resulted from both faster orienting of attention and delayed disengagement of attention from landscape architecture photographs.

  9. Hierarchically structured Co₃O₄@Pt@MnO₂ nanowire arrays for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Hui; Zhu, Dongdong; Luo, Zhentao; Yu, Yue; Shi, Xiaoqin; Yuan, Guoliang; Xie, Jianping

    2013-10-17

    Here we proposed a novel architectural design of a ternary MnO2-based electrode - a hierarchical Co3O4@Pt@MnO2 core-shell-shell structure, where the complemental features of the three key components (a well-defined Co3O4 nanowire array on the conductive Ti substrate, an ultrathin layer of small Pt nanoparticles, and a thin layer of MnO2 nanoflakes) are strategically combined into a single entity to synergize and construct a high-performance electrode for supercapacitors. Owing to the high conductivity of the well-defined Co3O4 nanowire arrays, in which the conductivity was further enhanced by a thin metal (Pt) coating layer, in combination with the large surface area provided by the small MnO2 nanoflakes, the as-fabricated Co3O4@Pt@MnO2 nanowire arrays have exhibited high specific capacitances, good rate capability, and excellent cycling stability. The architectural design demonstrated in this study provides a new approach to fabricate high-performance MnO2-based nanowire arrays for constructing next-generation supercapacitors.

  10. Microfabrication of hierarchical structures for engineered mechanical materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vera Canudas, Marc

    Materials found in nature present, in some cases, unique properties from their constituents that are of great interest in engineered materials for applications ranging from structural materials for the construction of bridges, canals and buildings to the fabrication of new lightweight composites for airplane and automotive bodies, to protective thin film coatings, amongst other fields. Research in the growing field of biomimetic materials indicates that the micro-architectures present in natural materials are critical to their macroscopic mechanical properties. A better understanding of the effect that structure and hierarchy across scales have on the material properties will enable engineered materials with enhanced properties. At the moment, very few theoretical models predict mechanical properties of simple materials based on their microstructures. Moreover these models are based on observations from complex biological systems. One way to overcome this challenge is through the use of microfabrication techniques to design and fabricate simple materials, more appropriate for the study of hierarchical organizations and microstructured materials. Arrays of structures with controlled geometry and dimension can be designed and fabricated at different length scales, ranging from a few hundred nanometers to centimeters, in order to mimic similar systems found in nature. In this thesis, materials have been fabricated in order to gain fundamental insight into the complex hierarchical materials found in nature and to engineer novel materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The materials fabricated here were mechanically characterized and compared to simple mechanics models to describe their behavior with the goal of applying the knowledge acquired to the design and synthesis of future engineered materials with novel properties.

  11. An integrated architecture for the ITER RH control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, David Thomas; Tesini, Alessandro

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Control system architecture integrating ITER remote handling equipment systems. ► Standard control system architecture for remote handling equipment systems. ► Research and development activities to validate control system architecture. ► Standardization studies to select standard parts for control system architecture. - Abstract: The ITER remote handling (RH) system has been divided into 7 major equipment system procurements that deliver complete systems (operator interfaces, equipment controllers, and equipment) according to task oriented functional specifications. Each equipment system itself is an assembly of transporters, power manipulators, telemanipulators, vehicular systems, cameras, and tooling with a need for controllers and operator interfaces. From an operational perspective, the ITER RH systems are bound together by common control rooms, operations team, and maintenance team; and will need to achieve, to a varying degree, synchronization of operations, co-operation on tasks, hand-over of components, and sharing of data and resources. The separately procured RH systems must, therefore, be integrated to form a unified RH system for operation from the RH control rooms. The RH system will contain a heterogeneous mix of specially developed RH systems and off-the-shelf RH equipment and parts. The ITER Organization approach is to define a control system architecture that supports interoperable heterogeneous modules, and to specify a standard set of modules for each system to implement within this architecture. Compatibility with standard parts for selected modules is required to limit the complexity for operations and maintenance. A key requirement for integrating the control system modules is interoperability, and no module should have dependencies on the implementation details of other modules. The RH system is one of the ITER Plant systems that are integrated and coordinated through the hierarchical structure of the ITER CODAC system

  12. Modular Power Architectures for Microgrid Clusters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lin, Hengwei; Liu, Leo; Guerrero, Josep M.

    2014-01-01

    One of the most important elements in microgrids is the configuration architecture which includes installed capacity, devices location, converter topologies, as well as system control and management strategies. Reliability, security and stability in microgrids require global communication systems...... in order to provide information for management, supervision, and protection purposes. In this paper, the main objective is to reveal the reasons leading to unreliability and insecurity in microgrids systems, and to propose a generic modular concept which is conceived from the viewpoint of a unified system....... The user-frame concept proposed here when designing microgrids considers that the end-user is the basis for the geographical deployment. Meanwhile, a modular user-oriented approach is adopted in order to enhance reliability and expansibility. Finally, a unified dispatching and hierarchical management...

  13. DART: A Functional-Level Reconfigurable Architecture for High Energy Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Raphaël

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Flexibility becomes a major concern for the development of multimedia and mobile communication systems, as well as classical high-performance and low-energy consumption constraints. The use of general-purpose processors solves flexibility problems but fails to cope with the increasing demand for energy efficiency. This paper presents the DART architecture based on the functional-level reconfiguration paradigm which allows a significant improvement in energy efficiency. DART is built around a hierarchical interconnection network allowing high flexibility while keeping the power overhead low. To enable specific optimizations, DART supports two modes of reconfiguration. The compilation framework is built using compilation and high-level synthesis techniques. A 3G mobile communication application has been implemented as a proof of concept. The energy distribution within the architecture and the physical implementation are also discussed. Finally, the VLSI design of a 0.13  m CMOS SoC implementing a specialized DART cluster is presented.

  14. DART: A Functional-Level Reconfigurable Architecture for High Energy Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sébastien Pillement

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Flexibility becomes a major concern for the development of multimedia and mobile communication systems, as well as classical high-performance and low-energy consumption constraints. The use of general-purpose processors solves flexibility problems but fails to cope with the increasing demand for energy efficiency. This paper presents the DART architecture based on the functional-level reconfiguration paradigm which allows a significant improvement in energy efficiency. DART is built around a hierarchical interconnection network allowing high flexibility while keeping the power overhead low. To enable specific optimizations, DART supports two modes of reconfiguration. The compilation framework is built using compilation and high-level synthesis techniques. A 3G mobile communication application has been implemented as a proof of concept. The energy distribution within the architecture and the physical implementation are also discussed. Finally, the VLSI design of a 0.13 μm CMOS SoC implementing a specialized DART cluster is presented.

  15. Utilizing a multiprocessor architecture - The performance of MIDAS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maples, C.; Logan, D.; Meng, J.; Rathbun, W.; Weaver, D.

    1983-01-01

    The MIDAS architecture organizes multiple CPUs into clusters called distributed subsystems. Each subsystem consists of an array of processors controlled by a supervisory CPU. The multiprocessor array is composed of commercial CPUs (with floating point hardware) and specialized processing elements. Interprocessor communication within the array may occur either through switched memory modules or common shared memory. The architecture permits multiple processors to be focused on single problems. A distributed subsystem has been constructed and tested. It currently consists of a supervisor CPU; 16 blocks of independently switchable memory; 9 general purpose, VAX-class CPUs; and 2 specialized pipelined processors to handle I/O. Results on a variety of problems indicate that the subsystem performs 8 to 15 times faster than a standard computer with an identical CPU. The difference in performance represents the effect of differing CPU and I/O requirements

  16. Colin Rowe: Space as well-composed illusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoph Schnoor

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Architectural historian Colin Rowe, although well known for his intriguing analytical writings on modern architecture, rarely examined architectural space as a scholarly subject-matter. Historians examining Rowe’s writings rarely refer to the issue of space, either. Anthony Vidler, Werner Oechslin, Alexander Caragonne and others have examined Rowe’s investigations into urban space, his analyses of formal principles in architecture, or his critical stance towards the myths of modernism, but have not singled out architectural space as subject matter. Nevertheless, this paper argues that Rowe is indeed one of the few post-war historians writing in the English language to have conveyed analyses of architectural space, particularly in the volume The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa (1976. The paper examines how Rowe understood architectural space as relevant only when not seen as ‘pure’ but ‘contaminated’ with ambiguity and active character: notions of flatness versus depth and horizontal versus vertical, as well as the overlapping of conflicting scales or whole structural or spatial systems are central for Rowe’s reading of architectural space, which is also always infused with an idea of movement. Further, the paper traces influences of Rowe’s approach beyond the obvious influence by Rudolf Wittkower to Heinrich Wölfflin’s style and method, partially conveyed through the translation of Sigfried Giedion’s writings.

  17. Hierarchical porous microspheres of the Co3O4@graphene with enhanced electrocatalytic performance for electrochemical biosensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, MinHo; Jeong, Jae-Min; Lee, Kyoung G; Kim, Do Hyun; Lee, Seok Jae; Choi, Bong Gill

    2017-03-15

    The integration of organic and inorganic building blocks into hierarchical porous architectures makes potentially desirable electrocatalytic materials in many electrochemical applications due to their combination of attractive qualities of dissimilar components and well-constructed charge transfer pathways. Herein, we demonstrate the preparation of the hierarchical porous Co 3 O 4 @graphene (Co 3 O 4 @G) microspheres by one-step hydrothermal method to achieve high electrocatalytic performance for enzyme-free biosensor applications. The obtained Co 3 O 4 @G microspheres are consisted of the interconnected networks of Co 3 O 4 and graphene sheets, and thus provide large accessible active sites through porous structure, while graphene sheets offer continuous electron pathways for efficient electrocatalytic reaction of Co 3 O 4 . These structural merits with synergy effect of Co 3 O 4 and graphene lead to a high performance of enzyme-free detection for glucose: high sensitivity, good selectivity, and remarkable stability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. A Behaviour-Based Architecture for Mapless Navigation Using Vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Serdar Guzel

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Autonomous robots operating in an unknown and uncertain environment must be able to cope with dynamic changes to that environment. For a mobile robot in a cluttered environment to navigate successfully to a goal while avoiding obstacles is a challenging problem. This paper presents a new behaviour-based architecture design for mapless navigation. The architecture is composed of several modules and each module generates behaviours. A novel method, inspired from a visual homing strategy, is adapted to a monocular vision-based system to overcome goal-based navigation problems. A neural network-based obstacle avoidance strategy is designed using a 2-D scanning laser. To evaluate the performance of the proposed architecture, the system has been tested using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS, which is a very powerful 3D simulation environment. In addition, real experiments to guide a Pioneer 3-DX mobile robot, equipped with a pan-tilt-zoom camera in a cluttered environment are presented. The analysis of the results allows us to validate the proposed behaviour-based navigation strategy.

  19. Neutrosophic Hierarchical Clustering Algoritms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rıdvan Şahin

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Interval neutrosophic set (INS is a generalization of interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS, whose the membership and non-membership values of elements consist of fuzzy range, while single valued neutrosophic set (SVNS is regarded as extension of intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS. In this paper, we extend the hierarchical clustering techniques proposed for IFSs and IVIFSs to SVNSs and INSs respectively. Based on the traditional hierarchical clustering procedure, the single valued neutrosophic aggregation operator, and the basic distance measures between SVNSs, we define a single valued neutrosophic hierarchical clustering algorithm for clustering SVNSs. Then we extend the algorithm to classify an interval neutrosophic data. Finally, we present some numerical examples in order to show the effectiveness and availability of the developed clustering algorithms.

  20. Business Architecture Development at Public Administration - Insights from Government EA Method Engineering Project in Finland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valtonen, Katariina; Leppänen, Mauri

    Governments worldwide are concerned for efficient production of services to customers. To improve quality of services and to make service production more efficient, information and communication technology (ICT) is largely exploited in public administration (PA). Succeeding in this exploitation calls for large-scale planning which embraces issues from strategic to technological level. In this planning the notion of enterprise architecture (EA) is commonly applied. One of the sub-architectures of EA is business architecture (BA). BA planning is challenging in PA due to a large number of stakeholders, a wide set of customers, and solid and hierarchical structures of organizations. To support EA planning in Finland, a project to engineer a government EA (GEA) method was launched. In this chapter, we analyze the discussions and outputs of the project workshops and reflect emerged issues on current e-government literature. We bring forth insights into and suggestions for government BA and its development.

  1. Surfactant-free synthesis of hierarchical niobic acid microflowers assembled from ultrathin nanosheets with efficient photoactivities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dong, Wenhao [Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 (Singapore); Singapore-Peking University Research Centre, Centre for Research Excellence & Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, 138602 (Singapore); Pan, Feng, E-mail: phypf2012@163.com [Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 (Singapore); Singapore-Peking University Research Centre, Centre for Research Excellence & Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, 138602 (Singapore); Wang, Yanyan [Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 (Singapore); Singapore-Peking University Research Centre, Centre for Research Excellence & Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, 138602 (Singapore); Xiao, Shuning [Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 (Singapore); International Joint Lab on Resource Chemistry SHNU-NUS-PU, Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234 (China); Wu, Kai [Singapore-Peking University Research Centre, Centre for Research Excellence & Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, 138602 (Singapore); BNLMS, SKLSCUSS, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 (China); Xu, Guo Qin [Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore, 117543 (Singapore); Singapore-Peking University Research Centre, Centre for Research Excellence & Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, 138602 (Singapore); National University of Singapore (Suzhou) Research Institute, 377 Lin Quan Street, Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu Prov., 215123 (China); and others

    2017-01-15

    Highlights: • 3D hierarchical niobic acid microflower was synthesized by a surfactant-free method. • The microflower was composed of ultrathin nanosheets with ∼5 nm thickness. • The microflower showed high photoactivity owing to the 3D structural features. • This microflower was converted to Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} without significant structural alteration. • Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} nanoneedles can also be obtained by adjusting the pH value during synthesis. - Abstract: Hierarchical niobic acid (Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}·nH{sub 2}O) microflowers are synthesized by a surfactant-free hydrothermal approach. The three-dimensional microflowers are assembled from two-dimensional ultrathin nanosheets with thickness of ∼5 nm. Using rhodamine B as a probe, the Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}·nH{sub 2}O microflowers exhibit high photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation. Furthermore, the Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}·nH{sub 2}O microflowers are easily converted to niobium pentoxide without significant structural alteration.

  2. The Hierarchical Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Sofron

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper is focused on the hierarchical perspective, one of the methods for representing space that was used before the discovery of the Renaissance linear perspective. The hierarchical perspective has a more or less pronounced scientific character and its study offers us a clear image of the way the representatives of the cultures that developed it used to perceive the sensitive reality. This type of perspective is an original method of representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface, which characterises the art of Ancient Egypt and much of the art of the Middle Ages, being identified in the Eastern European Byzantine art, as well as in the Western European Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art. At the same time, the hierarchical perspective is also present in naive painting and infantile drawing. Reminiscences of this method can be recognised also in the works of some precursors of the Italian Renaissance. The hierarchical perspective can be viewed as a subjective ranking criterion, according to which the elements are visually represented by taking into account their relevance within the image while perception is ignored. This paper aims to show how the main objective of the artists of those times was not to faithfully represent the objective reality, but rather to emphasize the essence of the world and its perennial aspects. This may represent a possible explanation for the refusal of perspective in the Egyptian, Romanesque and Byzantine painting, characterised by a marked two-dimensionality.

  3. Turkish Architectural Works in Cyprus: “Lodges”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zihni Turkan

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Architectural works from the Ottoman period in Cyprus (1571-1878, still exist in various settlements as samples of Turkish architecture on the island, and leave their mark on the historical textures.  Among the religious structures in the island belonging to the Ottoman period, lodges have a significant place with “Mevlevi, Aziziye, Kırklar, Kutup Osman, Hala Sultan, Zuhuri, Hz. Ömer and Hasan Ağa Lodges” constituting important examples to this style.  These structures were each planned as complexes and they are all composed of mosque/masjid, tomb, and residential rooms.  Lodges were built using local smooth cut stones and load-bearing wall system.  The roofs were made of domes and slanted roofs of wooden structures. Pointed arches were used as traditional bearing, covering openings.  Lodges, where restoration works are completed, are open for visit, and they preserve their place of importance as cultural heritage, transferring the traits of Ottoman period to the future.

  4. Comparisons of Flow Patterns over a Hierarchical and a Non-hierarchical Surface in Relation to Biofouling Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Ahmad Fawzan Mohammed Ridha

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Biofouling can be defined as unwanted deposition and development of organisms on submerged surfaces. It is a major problem as it causes water contamination, infrastructures damage and increase in maintenance and operational cost especially in the shipping industry. There are a few methods that can prevent this problem. One of the most effective methods which is using chemicals particularly Tributyltin has been banned due to adverse effects on the environment. One of the non-toxic methods found to be effective is surface modification which involves altering the surface topography so that it becomes a low-fouling or a non-stick surface to biofouling organisms. Current literature suggested that non-hierarchical topographies has lower antifouling performance compared to hierarchical topographies. It is still unclear if the effects of the flow on these topographies could have aided in their antifouling properties. This research will use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD simulations to study the flow on these two topographies which also involves comparison study of the topographies used. According to the results obtained, it is shown that hierarchical topography has higher antifouling performance compared to non-hierarchical topography. This is because the fluid characteristics at the hierarchical topography is more favorable in controlling biofouling. In addition, hierarchical topography has higher wall shear stress distribution compared to non-hierarchical topography

  5. Tectonic inheritance and continental rift architecture: Numerical and analogue models of the East African Rift System.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Corti, G.; van Wijk, J.W.; Cloetingh, S.A.P.L.; Morley, C.

    2007-01-01

    The western branch of the East African Rift is composed of an arcuate succession of elongate asymmetric basins, which differ in terms of interaction geometry, fault architecture and kinematics, and patterns of uplift/subsidence and erosion/sedimentation. The basins are located within Proterozoic

  6. Hierarchical neural network model of the visual system determining figure/ground relation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Masayuki

    2017-07-01

    One of the most important functions of the visual perception in the brain is figure/ground interpretation from input images. Figural region in 2D image corresponding to object in 3D space are distinguished from background region extended behind the object. Previously the author proposed a neural network model of figure/ground separation constructed on the standpoint that local geometric features such as curvatures and outer angles at corners are extracted and propagated along input contour in a single layer network (Kikuchi & Akashi, 2001). However, such a processing principle has the defect that signal propagation requires manyiterations despite the fact that actual visual system determines figure/ground relation within the short period (Zhou et al., 2000). In order to attain speed-up for determining figure/ground, this study incorporates hierarchical architecture into the previous model. This study confirmed the effect of the hierarchization as for the computation time by simulation. As the number of layers increased, the required computation time reduced. However, such speed-up effect was saturatedas the layers increased to some extent. This study attempted to explain this saturation effect by the notion of average distance between vertices in the area of complex network, and succeeded to mimic the saturation effect by computer simulation.

  7. Comparison of Classifier Architectures for Online Neural Spike Sorting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeed, Maryam; Khan, Amir Ali; Kamboh, Awais Mehmood

    2017-04-01

    High-density, intracranial recordings from micro-electrode arrays need to undergo Spike Sorting in order to associate the recorded neuronal spikes to particular neurons. This involves spike detection, feature extraction, and classification. To reduce the data transmission and power requirements, on-chip real-time processing is becoming very popular. However, high computational resources are required for classifiers in on-chip spike-sorters, making scalability a great challenge. In this review paper, we analyze several popular classifiers to propose five new hardware architectures using the off-chip training with on-chip classification approach. These include support vector classification, fuzzy C-means classification, self-organizing maps classification, moving-centroid K-means classification, and Cosine distance classification. The performance of these architectures is analyzed in terms of accuracy and resource requirement. We establish that the neural networks based Self-Organizing Maps classifier offers the most viable solution. A spike sorter based on the Self-Organizing Maps classifier, requires only 7.83% of computational resources of the best-reported spike sorter, hierarchical adaptive means, while offering a 3% better accuracy at 7 dB SNR.

  8. Optimization of workflow scheduling in Utility Management System with hierarchical neural network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srdjan Vukmirovic

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Grid computing could be the future computing paradigm for enterprise applications, one of its benefits being that it can be used for executing large scale applications. Utility Management Systems execute very large numbers of workflows with very high resource requirements. This paper proposes architecture for a new scheduling mechanism that dynamically executes a scheduling algorithm using feedback about the current status Grid nodes. Two Artificial Neural Networks were created in order to solve the scheduling problem. A case study is created for the Meter Data Management system with measurements from the Smart Metering system for the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. Performance tests show that significant improvement of overall execution time can be achieved by Hierarchical Artificial Neural Networks.

  9. Adaptive hierarchical multi-agent organizations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ghijsen, M.; Jansweijer, W.N.H.; Wielinga, B.J.; Babuška, R.; Groen, F.C.A.

    2010-01-01

    In this chapter, we discuss the design of adaptive hierarchical organizations for multi-agent systems (MAS). Hierarchical organizations have a number of advantages such as their ability to handle complex problems and their scalability to large organizations. By introducing adaptivity in the

  10. Facile Fabrication of a Hierarchical Superhydrophobic Coating with Aluminate Coupling Agent Modified Kaolin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hui Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A superhydrophobic coating was fabricated from the dispersion of unmodified kaolin particles and aluminate coupling agent in anhydrous ethanol. Through surface modification, water contact angle of the coating prepared by modified kaolin particles increased dramatically from 0° to 152°, and the sliding angle decreased from 90° to 3°. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the surface morphology. A structure composed of micro-nano hierarchical component, combined with the surface modification by aluminate coupling agent which reduced the surface energy greatly, was found to be responsible for the superhydrophobicity. The method adopted is relatively simple, facile, and cost-effective and can potentially be applied to large water-repellent surface coatings.

  11. Multistack integration of three-dimensional hyperbranched anatase titania architectures for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Wu-Qiang; Xu, Yang-Fan; Rao, Hua-Shang; Su, Cheng-Yong; Kuang, Dai-Bin

    2014-04-30

    An unprecedented attempt was conducted on suitably functionalized integration of three-dimensional hyperbranched titania architectures for efficient multistack photoanode, constructed via layer-by-layer assembly of hyperbranched hierarchical tree-like titania nanowires (underlayer), branched hierarchical rambutan-like titania hollow submicrometer-sized spheres (intermediate layer), and hyperbranched hierarchical urchin-like titania micrometer-sized spheres (top layer). Owing to favorable charge-collection, superior light harvesting efficiency and extended electron lifetime, the multilayered TiO2-based devices showed greater J(sc) and V(oc) than those of a conventional TiO2 nanoparticle (TNP), and an overall power conversion efficiency of 11.01% (J(sc) = 18.53 mA cm(-2); V(oc) = 827 mV and FF = 0.72) was attained, which remarkably outperformed that of a TNP-based reference cell (η = 7.62%) with a similar film thickness. Meanwhile, the facile and operable film-fabricating technique (hydrothermal and drop-casting) provides a promising scheme and great simplicity for high performance/cost ratio photovoltaic device processability in a sustainable way.

  12. One-Pot Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Graphene/Carbon Nanotube/SnO2 Hybrid Architectures with Enhanced Lithium Storage Properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zheye; Wang, Lu; Xiao, Jian; Xiao, Fei; Wang, Shuai

    2015-08-19

    Three-dimensional (3D) graphene/carbon nanotube (CNT)/SnO2 (GCS) hybrid architectures were constructed by a facile and cost-effective self-assembly method through hydrothermal treatment of a mixture of Sn(2+), CNTs, and graphene oxide (GO). The resultant GCS displayed a 3D hierarchically porous structure with large surface area and excellent electrical conductivity, which could effectively prevent the aggregation and volume variation of SnO2 and accelerate the transport of ions and electrons through 3D pathways. Benefiting from the unique structure and the synergistic effect of different components in the hybrid architectures, the GCS exhibited a remarkably improved reversible capacity of 842 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g(-1) and excellent rate performance for lithium storage compared with that of graphene/SnO2 (GS) hybrid architectures. Hence, the impressive results presented here could provide a universal platform for fabricating graphene/CNT-based hybrid architectures with promising applications in various fields.

  13. Exceptionally stable and hierarchically porous self-standing zeolite monolith based on a solution-mediated and solid-state transformation synergistic mechanism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Do, Manh Huy [Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China); College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China); Institute of Chemical Technology, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, 01 Mac Dinh Chi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh (Viet Nam); Cheng, Dang-guo, E-mail: dgcheng@zju.edu.cn [College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China); Chen, Fengqiu [Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China); College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China); Zhan, Xiaoli [College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang (China)

    2015-11-15

    Although many strategies exist for fabricating hierarchical zeolite monolith, it is still challenging to synthesize pure hierarchical zeolite monolith with intracrystalline meso-/macropores and stability suitable for industrial application in a general and efficient process. Here we describe a simple quasi-solid gel crystallization route to prepare hierarchical self-standing ZSM-5 zeolite monolith via the use of Na{sup +} and OH{sup −} as counterions to modify the breaking and remaking of T–O–T (T = Si or Al) bonds. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microcopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), laser scan confocal microscopy (LSCM), N{sub 2} adsorption–desorption, mercury porosimetry, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and compression mechanical testing were applied to elucidate the structure and mechanical stability of the obtained monolith. The self-standing monolith is composed of self-interconnected meso-/macroporous MFI crystals with tunable intracrystalline meso-/macropores and possesses an unusually mechanical stability with a crushing strength of 5.01 MPa. Combined with controllable structure of the defect-free membrane layer on the monolith top, the self-standing zeolite monolith should widen their potential applications. - Highlights: • Hierarchical self-standing MFI zeolite monoliths were synthesized via a facile method. • Na{sup +} and OH{sup −} are used as counterions for breaking and remaking of T–O–T (T = Si or Al) bonds. • Hierarchical self-standing MFI zeolite monoliths result from zeolite crystal intergrowth. • Self-standing zeolite monolith has an excellent mechanical stability with tunable intracrystalline meso-/macropores.

  14. Statistical modeling of nitrogen-dependent modulation of root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araya, Takao; Kubo, Takuya; von Wirén, Nicolaus; Takahashi, Hideki

    2016-03-01

    Plant root development is strongly affected by nutrient availability. Despite the importance of structure and function of roots in nutrient acquisition, statistical modeling approaches to evaluate dynamic and temporal modulations of root system architecture in response to nutrient availability have remained as widely open and exploratory areas in root biology. In this study, we developed a statistical modeling approach to investigate modulations of root system architecture in response to nitrogen availability. Mathematical models were designed for quantitative assessment of root growth and root branching phenotypes and their dynamic relationships based on hierarchical configuration of primary and lateral roots formulating the fishbone-shaped root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana. Time-series datasets reporting dynamic changes in root developmental traits on different nitrate or ammonium concentrations were generated for statistical analyses. Regression analyses unraveled key parameters associated with: (i) inhibition of primary root growth under nitrogen limitation or on ammonium; (ii) rapid progression of lateral root emergence in response to ammonium; and (iii) inhibition of lateral root elongation in the presence of excess nitrate or ammonium. This study provides a statistical framework for interpreting dynamic modulation of root system architecture, supported by meta-analysis of datasets displaying morphological responses of roots to diverse nitrogen supplies. © 2015 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  15. Decentralized and Modular Electrical Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elisabelar, Christian; Lebaratoux, Laurence

    2014-08-01

    This paper presents the studies made on the definition and design of a decentralized and modular electrical architecture that can be used for power distribution, active thermal control (ATC), standard inputs-outputs electrical interfaces.Traditionally implemented inside central unit like OBC or RTU, these interfaces can be dispatched in the satellite by using MicroRTU.CNES propose a similar approach of MicroRTU. The system is based on a bus called BRIO (Bus Réparti des IO), which is composed, by a power bus and a RS485 digital bus. BRIO architecture is made with several miniature terminals called BTCU (BRIO Terminal Control Unit) distributed in the spacecraft.The challenge was to design and develop the BTCU with very little volume, low consumption and low cost. The standard BTCU models are developed and qualified with a configuration dedicated to ATC, while the first flight model will fly on MICROSCOPE for PYRO actuations and analogue acquisitions. The design of the BTCU is made in order to be easily adaptable for all type of electric interface needs.Extension of this concept is envisaged for power conditioning and distribution unit, and a Modular PCDU based on BRIO concept is proposed.

  16. Extrusion-Based 3D Printing of Hierarchically Porous Advanced Battery Electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacey, Steven D; Kirsch, Dylan J; Li, Yiju; Morgenstern, Joseph T; Zarket, Brady C; Yao, Yonggang; Dai, Jiaqi; Garcia, Laurence Q; Liu, Boyang; Gao, Tingting; Xu, Shaomao; Raghavan, Srinivasa R; Connell, John W; Lin, Yi; Hu, Liangbing

    2018-03-01

    A highly porous 2D nanomaterial, holey graphene oxide (hGO), is synthesized directly from holey graphene powder and employed to create an aqueous 3D printable ink without the use of additives or binders. Stable dispersions of hydrophilic hGO sheets in water (≈100 mg mL -1 ) can be readily achieved. The shear-thinning behavior of the aqueous hGO ink enables extrusion-based printing of fine filaments into complex 3D architectures, such as stacked mesh structures, on arbitrary substrates. The freestanding 3D printed hGO meshes exhibit trimodal porosity: nanoscale (4-25 nm through-holes on hGO sheets), microscale (tens of micrometer-sized pores introduced by lyophilization), and macroscale (benefit of (nano)porosity and structurally conscious designs, the additive-free architectures are demonstrated as the first 3D printed lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) cathodes and characterized alongside 3D printed GO-based materials without nanoporosity as well as nanoporous 2D vacuum filtrated films. The results indicate the synergistic effect between 2D nanomaterials, hierarchical porosity, and overall structural design, as well as the promise of a freeform generation of high-energy-density battery systems. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Hierarchical video summarization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratakonda, Krishna; Sezan, M. Ibrahim; Crinon, Regis J.

    1998-12-01

    We address the problem of key-frame summarization of vide in the absence of any a priori information about its content. This is a common problem that is encountered in home videos. We propose a hierarchical key-frame summarization algorithm where a coarse-to-fine key-frame summary is generated. A hierarchical key-frame summary facilitates multi-level browsing where the user can quickly discover the content of the video by accessing its coarsest but most compact summary and then view a desired segment of the video with increasingly more detail. At the finest level, the summary is generated on the basis of color features of video frames, using an extension of a recently proposed key-frame extraction algorithm. The finest level key-frames are recursively clustered using a novel pairwise K-means clustering approach with temporal consecutiveness constraint. We also address summarization of MPEG-2 compressed video without fully decoding the bitstream. We also propose efficient mechanisms that facilitate decoding the video when the hierarchical summary is utilized in browsing and playback of video segments starting at selected key-frames.

  18. THE BAGATELLE GENRE AND ITS REALIZATION IN THE CREATION OF COMPOSER NICOLAE CIOLAC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ANDRONOVICI-RUSU ADELA

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In the present paper there is an excursion into the history of the bagatelle genre. Initially conceived as a piece of minor importance, with a moderate instrumental-technical aspect that belongs to „easy” pieces for interpretation, the bagatelle dur­ing its evolution, obtained a status of an aphoristic musical genre in which a profound ideative content is essentially conveyed in a laconic, concentrated form. Further are analyzed five Bagatelles for piano written by composer Nicolae Ciolac. The author considers the thematic and architectural problems of the opus, as well as some speciic interpretative peculiarities. In conclu­sion it is affirmed that the analyzed bagatelles represent s group of pieces novel for Moldovan composition that has at its base a logic characteristic of the miniature genre.

  19. High-energy lithium-ion hybrid supercapacitors composed of hierarchical urchin-like WO3/C anodes and MOF-derived polyhedral hollow carbon cathodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Juan; Li, Yuanyuan; Wang, Lei; Cai, Qifa; Li, Qingwei; Gao, Biao; Zhang, Xuming; Huo, Kaifu; Chu, Paul K

    2016-09-22

    A lithium-ion hybrid supercapacitor (Li-HSC) comprising a Li-ion battery type anode and an electrochemical double layer capacitance (EDLC) type cathode has attracted much interest because it accomplishes a large energy density without compromising the power density. In this work, hierarchical carbon coated WO 3 (WO 3 /C) with a unique mesoporous structure and metal-organic framework derived nitrogen-doped carbon hollow polyhedra (MOF-NC) are prepared and adopted as the anode and the cathode for Li-HSCs. The hierarchical mesoporous WO 3 /C microspheres assembled by radially oriented WO 3 /C nanorods along the (001) plane enable effective Li + insertion, thus exhibit high capacity, excellent rate performance and a long cycling life due to their high Li + conductivity, electronic conductivity and structural robustness. The WO 3 /C structure shows a reversible specific capacity of 508 mA h g -1 at a 0.1 C rate (1 C = 696 mA h g -1 ) after 160 discharging-charging cycles with excellent rate capability. The MOF-NC achieved the specific capacity of 269.9 F g -1 at a current density of 0.2 A g -1 . At a high current density of 6 A g -1 , 92.4% of the initial capacity could be retained after 2000 discharging-charging cycles, suggesting excellent cycle stability. The Li-HSC comprising a WO 3 /C anode and a MOF-NC cathode boasts a large energy density of 159.97 W h kg -1 at a power density of 173.6 W kg -1 and 88.3% of the capacity is retained at a current density of 5 A g -1 after 3000 charging-discharging cycles, which are better than those previously reported for Li-HSCs. The high energy and power densities of the Li-HSCs of WO 3 /C//MOF-NC render large potential in energy storage.

  20. Managing changes in the enterprise architecture modelling context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khanh Dam, Hoa; Lê, Lam-Son; Ghose, Aditya

    2016-07-01

    Enterprise architecture (EA) models the whole enterprise in various aspects regarding both business processes and information technology resources. As the organisation grows, the architecture of its systems and processes must also evolve to meet the demands of the business environment. Evolving an EA model may involve making changes to various components across different levels of the EA. As a result, an important issue before making a change to an EA model is assessing the ripple effect of the change, i.e. change impact analysis. Another critical issue is change propagation: given a set of primary changes that have been made to the EA model, what additional secondary changes are needed to maintain consistency across multiple levels of the EA. There has been however limited work on supporting the maintenance and evolution of EA models. This article proposes an EA description language, namely ChangeAwareHierarchicalEA, integrated with an evolution framework to support both change impact analysis and change propagation within an EA model. The core part of our framework is a technique for computing the impact of a change and a new method for generating interactive repair plans from Alloy consistency rules that constrain the EA model.

  1. A proposal for a global task planning architecture using the RoboEarth cloud based framework

    OpenAIRE

    Janssen, R.J.M.; Molengraft, van de, M.J.G.; Steinbuch, M.; Di Marco, D.; Zweigle, O.; Levi, P.; Py, F.; Musliner, D.

    2012-01-01

    As robotic systems become more and more capable of assisting in human domains, methods are sought to compose robot executable plans from abstract human instructions. To cope with the semantically rich and highly expressive nature of human instructions, Hierarchical Task Network planning is often being employed along with domain knowledge to solve planning problems in a pragmatic way. Commonly, the domain knowledge is specific to the planning problem at hand, impeding re-use. Therefore this pa...

  2. The synthesis of hierarchical nanostructured MoS{sub 2}/Graphene composites with enhanced visible-light photo-degradation property

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Yongjie, E-mail: zhaoyjpeace@gmail.com [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China); Zhang, Xiaowei; Wang, Chengzhi [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China); Zhao, Yuzhen; Zhou, Heping [State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China); Li, Jingbo; Jin, HaiBo [Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081 (China)

    2017-08-01

    Graphical abstract: Introducing graphene layer into MoS{sub 2} could construct the steady hierarchical structure which could efficiently separate the photo-induced electrons so as to enhance the photo- degradation behavior. - Highlights: • The MoS{sub 2} and MoS{sub 2}/Graphene nanocomposite have been synthesized via a solvothermal process. • The scrolled nanosheets of MoS{sub 2} combining with interconnected graphene network promoted the formation of steady hierarchical architecture. • Comparing with MoS{sub 2}, the hierarchical MoS{sub 2}/Graphene nanocomposite achieved relatively higher degradation rate. • The synergistic effect mechanism for excellent photo-degradation activity was proposed. - Abstract: Novel two-dimensional materials with a layered structure are of special interest for a variety of promising applications. Herein, MoS{sub 2} and MoS{sub 2}/Graphene nanocomposite with hierarchical nanostructure were successfully synthesized employing a one-step hydrothermal method. Photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine (RHB) were adopted to assess the photo-degradation ability of the products. Comparing with bare MoS{sub 2}, the hierarchical MoS{sub 2}/Graphene nanocomposite achieved relatively higher degradation rate of 99% in 28 min for MB as well in 50 min for RHB. These results verified that this proposed hierarchical nanocomposite is a good photo-degradation semiconductor. The excellent performance was mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect of MoS{sub 2} and graphene layers. The MoS{sub 2} possessing a band gap of 1.9 eV would provide abundant electron-hole pairs. The graphene layers with excellent electro-conductivity could realize the quick transport of electrons via its extended π-conjugation structure, consequently benefiting the separation of photo-generated carriers. These findings indicate that the graphene layer is a promising candidate as a co-catalyst for MoS{sub 2} photo-catalyst, and also provide useful information

  3. Research on fine management and visualization of ancient architectures based on integration of 2D and 3D GIS technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Yan; Shaohua, Wang; Jiayuan, Li; Qingwu, Hu

    2014-01-01

    Aimed at ancient architectures which own the characteristics of huge data quantity, fine-grained and high-precise, a 3D fine management and visualization method for ancient architectures based on the integration of 2D and 3D GIS is proposed. Firstly, after analysing various data types and characters of digital ancient architectures, main problems and key technologies existing in the 2D and 3D data management are discussed. Secondly, data storage and indexing model of digital ancient architecture based on 2D and 3D GIS integration were designed and the integrative storage and management of 2D and 3D data were achieved. Then, through the study of data retrieval method based on the space-time indexing and hierarchical object model of ancient architecture, 2D and 3D interaction of fine-grained ancient architectures 3D models was achieved. Finally, take the fine database of Liangyi Temple belonging to Wudang Mountain as an example, fine management and visualization prototype of 2D and 3D integrative digital ancient buildings of Liangyi Temple was built and achieved. The integrated management and visual analysis of 10GB fine-grained model of the ancient architecture was realized and a new implementation method for the store, browse, reconstruction, and architectural art research of ancient architecture model was provided

  4. The assessment of pore connectivity in hierarchical zeolites using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy: instrumental and morphological aspects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zubiaga, Asier; Warringham, Robbie; Boltz, Marilyne; Cooke, David; Crivelli, Paolo; Gidley, David; Pérez-Ramírez, Javier; Mitchell, Sharon

    2016-04-07

    Recent studies demonstrated the power of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) to characterise the connectivity and corresponding effectiveness of hierarchical pore networks in zeolites. This was based on the fractional escape of ortho-positronium (Ps), formed within the micropore framework, to vacuum. To further develop this technique, here we assess the impact of the positron implantation energy and of the zeolite crystal size and the particle morphology. Conventional measurements using fast positrons and beam measurements applying moderated positrons both readily distinguish purely microporous ZSM-5 zeolites comprised of single crystals or crystal aggregates. Unlike beam measurements, however, conventional measurements fail to discriminate model hierarchical zeolites with open or constricted mesopore architectures. Several steps are taken to rationalise these observations. The dominant contribution of Ps diffusion to the PALS response is confirmed by capping the external surface of the zeolite crystals with tetraethylorthosilicate, which greatly enhances the sensitivity to the micropore network. A one-dimensional model is constructed to predict the out-diffusion of Ps from a zeolite crystal, which is validated experimentally by comparing coffin-shaped single crystals of varying size. Calculation of the trends expected on the application of fast or moderated positrons indicates that the distinctions in the initial distribution of Ps at the crystal level cannot explain the limited sensitivity of the former to the mesopore architecture. Instead, we propose that the greater penetration of fast positrons within the sample increases the probability of Ps re-entry from intercrystalline voids into mesopores connected with the external surface of zeolite crystals, thereby reducing their fractional escape.

  5. Creating bio-inspired hierarchical 3D–2D photonic stacks via planar lithography on self-assembled inverse opals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgess, Ian B; Aizenberg, Joanna; Lončar, Marko

    2013-01-01

    Structural hierarchy and complex 3D architecture are characteristics of biological photonic designs that are challenging to reproduce in synthetic materials. Top–down lithography allows for designer patterning of arbitrary shapes, but is largely restricted to planar 2D structures. Self-assembly techniques facilitate easy fabrication of 3D photonic crystals, but controllable defect-integration is difficult. In this paper we combine the advantages of top–down and bottom–up fabrication, developing two techniques to deposit 2D-lithographically-patterned planar layers on top of or in between inverse-opal 3D photonic crystals and creating hierarchical structures that resemble the architecture of the bright green wing scales of the butterfly, Parides sesostris. These fabrication procedures, combining advantages of both top–down and bottom–up fabrication, may prove useful in the development of omnidirectional coloration elements and 3D–2D photonic crystal devices. (paper)

  6. Evaluating Hierarchical Structure in Music Annotations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFee, Brian; Nieto, Oriol; Farbood, Morwaread M; Bello, Juan Pablo

    2017-01-01

    Music exhibits structure at multiple scales, ranging from motifs to large-scale functional components. When inferring the structure of a piece, different listeners may attend to different temporal scales, which can result in disagreements when they describe the same piece. In the field of music informatics research (MIR), it is common to use corpora annotated with structural boundaries at different levels. By quantifying disagreements between multiple annotators, previous research has yielded several insights relevant to the study of music cognition. First, annotators tend to agree when structural boundaries are ambiguous. Second, this ambiguity seems to depend on musical features, time scale, and genre. Furthermore, it is possible to tune current annotation evaluation metrics to better align with these perceptual differences. However, previous work has not directly analyzed the effects of hierarchical structure because the existing methods for comparing structural annotations are designed for "flat" descriptions, and do not readily generalize to hierarchical annotations. In this paper, we extend and generalize previous work on the evaluation of hierarchical descriptions of musical structure. We derive an evaluation metric which can compare hierarchical annotations holistically across multiple levels. sing this metric, we investigate inter-annotator agreement on the multilevel annotations of two different music corpora, investigate the influence of acoustic properties on hierarchical annotations, and evaluate existing hierarchical segmentation algorithms against the distribution of inter-annotator agreement.

  7. Evaluating Hierarchical Structure in Music Annotations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian McFee

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Music exhibits structure at multiple scales, ranging from motifs to large-scale functional components. When inferring the structure of a piece, different listeners may attend to different temporal scales, which can result in disagreements when they describe the same piece. In the field of music informatics research (MIR, it is common to use corpora annotated with structural boundaries at different levels. By quantifying disagreements between multiple annotators, previous research has yielded several insights relevant to the study of music cognition. First, annotators tend to agree when structural boundaries are ambiguous. Second, this ambiguity seems to depend on musical features, time scale, and genre. Furthermore, it is possible to tune current annotation evaluation metrics to better align with these perceptual differences. However, previous work has not directly analyzed the effects of hierarchical structure because the existing methods for comparing structural annotations are designed for “flat” descriptions, and do not readily generalize to hierarchical annotations. In this paper, we extend and generalize previous work on the evaluation of hierarchical descriptions of musical structure. We derive an evaluation metric which can compare hierarchical annotations holistically across multiple levels. sing this metric, we investigate inter-annotator agreement on the multilevel annotations of two different music corpora, investigate the influence of acoustic properties on hierarchical annotations, and evaluate existing hierarchical segmentation algorithms against the distribution of inter-annotator agreement.

  8. VLSI and system architecture-the new development of system 5G

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sakamura, K.; Sekino, A.; Kodaka, T.; Uehara, T.; Aiso, H.

    1982-01-01

    A research and development proposal is presented for VLSI CAD systems and for a hardware environment called system 5G on which the VLSI CAD systems run. The proposed CAD systems use a hierarchically organized design language to enable design of anything from basic architectures of VLSI to VLSI mask patterns in a uniform manner. The cad systems will eventually become intelligent cad systems that acquire design knowledge and perform automatic design of VLSI chips when the characteristic requirements of VLSI chip is given. System 5G will consist of superinference machines and the 5G communication network. The superinference machine will be built based on a functionally distributed architecture connecting inferommunication network. The superinference machine will be built based on a functionally distributed architecture connecting inference machines and relational data base machines via a high-speed local network. The transfer rate of the local network will be 100 mbps at the first stage of the project and will be improved to 1 gbps. Remote access to the superinference machine will be possible through the 5G communication network. Access to system 5G will use the 5G network architecture protocol. The users will access the system 5G using standardized 5G personal computers. 5G personal logic programming stations, very high intelligent terminals providing an instruction set that supports predicate logic and input/output facilities for audio and graphical information.

  9. Hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres architectured with sub-nanoparticles as a high performance anode for lithium ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rong, Haibo; Xie, Guiting; Cheng, Si; Zhen, Zihao; Jiang, Zhongqing; Huang, Jianlin; Jiang, Yu; Chen, Bohong; Jiang, Zhong-Jie

    2016-01-01

    A simple two-step procedure, which involves the synthesis of the Zn_0_._3_3Mn_0_._6_7CO_3 microspheres through a hydrothermal process and the subsequent calcination, has been used to synthesize the ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), these hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres could exhibit a stable reversible capability of ∼723.7 mAh g"−"1 at the current density of 400 mA g"−"1, which is much higher than those of the ZnMn_2O_4 based materials reported previously, indicating the great potential of using them as the anode for the LIBs. This is further supported by their better rate capability and higher cycling stability. Careful analysis has shown that the unique porous structure of the hierarchical porous ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres which consists of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles plays an important role in their higher electrochemical performance, since it allows the accommodation of the volume expansion during the repeated discharge–charge cycles, preventing them from the structural destruction, and increase the accessibility of the electrode material to the Li"+ storage, making a better utilization of active materials and an easy diffusion of electrolytes in and out of the electrode material. - Graphical abstract: The ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn_2O_4 sub-nanoparticles have been synthesized by the calcination of the Zn_0_._3_3Mn_0_._6_7CO_3 microspheres and could exhibit superior electrochemical performance when used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. - Highlights: • A simple procedure has been used to synthesize the ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres. • The ZnMn_2O_4 microspheres exhibit excellent performance when used in LIBs. • The porous structure plays a crucial role in their high performance. • These spheres exhibit a good morphology retention

  10. Order from the disorder: hierarchical nanostructures self-assembled from the gas phase (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Fonzo, Fabio

    2017-02-01

    The assembly of nanoscale building blocks in engineered mesostructures is one of the fundamental goals of nanotechnology. Among the various processes developed to date, self-assembly emerges as one of the most promising, since it relays solely on basic physico-chemical forces. Our research is focused on a new type of self-assembly strategy from the gas-phase: Scattered Ballistic Deposition (SBD). SBD arises from the interaction of a supersonic molecular beam with a static gas and enables the growth of quasi-1D hierarchical mesostructures. Overall, they resemble a forest composed of individual, high aspect-ratio, tree-like structures, assembled from amorphous or crystalline nanoparticles. SBD is a general occurring phenomenon and can be obtained with different vapour or cluster sources. In particular, SBD by Pulsed Laser Deposition is a convenient physical vapor technique that allows the generation of supersonic plasma jets from any inorganic material irrespective of melting temperature, preserving even the most complex stoichiometries. One of the advantages of PLD over other vapour deposition techniques is extremely wide operational pressure range, from UHV to ambient pressure. These characteristics allowed us to develop quasi-1D hierarchical nanostructures from different transition metal oxides, semiconductors and metals. The precise control offered by the SBD-PLD technique over material properties at the nanoscale allowed us to fabricate ultra-thin, high efficiency hierarchical porous photonic crystals with Bragg reflectivity up to 85%. In this communication we will discuss the application of these materials to solar energy harvesting and storage, stimuli responsive photonic crystals and smart surfaces with digital control of their wettability behaviour.

  11. ELISA, a demonstrator environment for information systems architecture design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panem, Chantal

    1994-01-01

    This paper describes an approach of reusability of software engineering technology in the area of ground space system design. System engineers have lots of needs similar to software developers: sharing of a common data base, capitalization of knowledge, definition of a common design process, communication between different technical domains. Moreover system designers need to simulate dynamically their system as early as possible. Software development environments, methods and tools now become operational and widely used. Their architecture is based on a unique object base, a set of common management services and they host a family of tools for each life cycle activity. In late '92, CNES decided to develop a demonstrative software environment supporting some system activities. The design of ground space data processing systems was chosen as the application domain. ELISA (Integrated Software Environment for Architectures Specification) was specified as a 'demonstrator', i.e. a sufficient basis for demonstrations, evaluation and future operational enhancements. A process with three phases was implemented: system requirements definition, design of system architectures models, and selection of physical architectures. Each phase is composed of several activities that can be performed in parallel, with the provision of Commercial Off the Shelves Tools. ELISA has been delivered to CNES in January 94, currently used for demonstrations and evaluations on real projects (e.g. SPOT4 Satellite Control Center). It is on the way of new evolutions.

  12. Multiple-Time-Scales Hierarchical Frequency Stability Control Strategy of Medium-Voltage Isolated Microgrid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhao, Zhuoli; Yang, Ping; Guerrero, Josep M.

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, an islanded medium-voltage (MV) microgrid placed in Dongao Island is presented, which integrates renewable-energy-based distributed generations (DGs), energy storage system (ESS), and local loads. In an isolated microgrid without connection to the main grid to support the frequency......, it is more complex to control and manage. Thus in order to maintain the frequency stability in multiple-time-scales, a hierarchical control strategy is proposed. The proposed control architecture divides the system frequency in three zones: (A) stable zone, (B) precautionary zone and (C) emergency zone...... of Zone B. Theoretical analysis, time-domain simulation and field test results under various conditions and scenarios in the Dongao Island microgrid are presented to prove the validity of the introduced control strategy....

  13. Graded effects in hierarchical figure-ground organization: reply to Peterson (1999).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vecera, S P; O'Reilly, R C

    2000-06-01

    An important issue in vision research concerns the order of visual processing. S. P. Vecera and R. C. O'Reilly (1998) presented an interactive, hierarchical model that placed figure-ground segregation prior to object recognition. M. A. Peterson (1999) critiqued this model, arguing that because it used ambiguous stimulus displays, figure-ground processing did not precede object processing. In the current article, the authors respond to Peterson's (1999) interpretation of ambiguity in the model and her interpretation of what it means for figure-ground processing to come before object recognition. The authors argue that complete stimulus ambiguity is not critical to the model and that figure-ground precedes object recognition architecturally in the model. The arguments are supported with additional simulation results and an experiment, demonstrating that top-down inputs can influence figure-ground organization in displays that contain stimulus cues.

  14. Molecular architecture of electroactive and biodegradable copolymers composed of polylactide and carboxyl-capped aniline trimer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Baolin; Finne-Wistrand, Anna; Albertsson, Ann-Christine

    2010-04-12

    Two-, four-, and six-armed branched copolymers with electroactive and biodegradable properties were synthesized by coupling reactions between poly(l-lactides) (PLLAs) with different architecture and carboxyl-capped aniline trimer (CCAT). The aniline oligomer CCAT was prepared from amino-capped aniline trimer and succinic anhydride. FT-IR, NMR, and SEC analyses confirmed the structure of the branched copolymers. UV-vis spectra and cyclic voltammetry of CCAT and copolymer solution showed good electroactive properties, similar to those of polyaniline. The water contact angle of the PLLAs was the highest, followed by the undoped copolymer and the doped copolymers. The values of doped four-armed copolymers were 54-63 degrees . Thermal properties of the polymers were studied by DSC and TGA. The copolymers had better thermal stability than the pure PLLAs, and the T(g) between 48-58 degrees C and T(m) between 146-177 degrees C of the copolymers were lower than those of the pure PLLA counterparts. This kind of electroactive and biodegradable copolymer has a great potential for applications in cardiovascular or neuronal tissue engineering.

  15. A brick-architecture-based mobile under-vehicle inspection system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Cheng; Page, David; Koschan, Andreas; Abidi, Mongi

    2005-05-01

    In this paper, a mobile scanning system for real-time under-vehicle inspection is presented, which is founded on a "Brick" architecture. In this "Brick" architecture, the inspection system is basically decomposed into bricks of three kinds: sensing, mobility, and computing. These bricks are physically and logically independent and communicate with each other by wireless communication. Each brick is mainly composed by five modules: data acquisition, data processing, data transmission, power, and self-management. These five modules can be further decomposed into submodules where the function and the interface are well-defined. Based on this architecture, the system is built by four bricks: two sensing bricks consisting of a range scanner and a line CCD, one mobility brick, and one computing brick. The sensing bricks capture geometric data and texture data of the under-vehicle scene, while the mobility brick provides positioning data along the motion path. Data of these three modalities are transmitted to the computing brick where they are fused and reconstruct a 3D under-vehicle model for visualization and danger inspection. This system has been successfully used in several military applications and proved to be an effective safer method for national security.

  16. FPGA-based architecture for motion recovering in real-time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arias-Estrada, Miguel; Maya-Rueda, Selene E.; Torres-Huitzil, Cesar

    2002-03-01

    A key problem in the computer vision field is the measurement of object motion in a scene. The main goal is to compute an approximation of the 3D motion from the analysis of an image sequence. Once computed, this information can be used as a basis to reach higher level goals in different applications. Motion estimation algorithms pose a significant computational load for the sequential processors limiting its use in practical applications. In this work we propose a hardware architecture for motion estimation in real time based on FPGA technology. The technique used for motion estimation is Optical Flow due to its accuracy, and the density of velocity estimation, however other techniques are being explored. The architecture is composed of parallel modules working in a pipeline scheme to reach high throughput rates near gigaflops. The modules are organized in a regular structure to provide a high degree of flexibility to cover different applications. Some results will be presented and the real-time performance will be discussed and analyzed. The architecture is prototyped in an FPGA board with a Virtex device interfaced to a digital imager.

  17. Microscopy of hierarchically organized TiO{sub 2} photoelectrode for dye solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eskandar, A., E-mail: aeska07@gmail.com [Department of Electrical and Electronics, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Tronoh, Perak (Malaysia); Mohamed, N. M., E-mail: noranimuti-mohamed@petronas.com.my [Centre of Innovative Nanostructures and Nanodevices, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Tronoh, Perak (Malaysia)

    2015-07-22

    Research on improving the performance of dye solar cells has various aspects of the device being investigated. This paper analyzes the deliberately hierarchized photoelectrode configuration for DSC applications to improve the performance of DSCs. Multiple layers of differently composed TiO{sub 2} particle types namely aggregates and nanoparticles were deposited to form a photoelectrode with thickness of about 12 µm. The photoelectrodes were assembled into working DSCs with an active area of 1 cm{sup 2}. Measurement for solar power conversion performance was measured under 1 sun at AM1.5 spectrum simulated sunlight. Electron microscopy for photoelectrode analysis was conducted using Field Emission Scattering Electron Microscopy with enhanced resolution. External Quantum Efficiency was measured using a purpose built instrument. Kinetics were investigated using the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurement with a potentiostat. The best performing DSC is of the hierarchically organized photoelectrode with a photoconversion efficiency of 4.58%, an increase of 14% in comparison to the reference samples with fully aggregates configuration. Short circuit current density, Jsc increases by about 2.223 mA cm{sup −2} relative to the blanks. The electron microscopy confirmed expected thickness at around 10 µm and layers forming the photoelectrode being hierarchically deposited with ∼20 nm TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles and 450 nm TiO{sub 2} aggregates mixture composition. EQE improved especially for visible region of 500-550 nm light wavelengths with 12 % increase in the response of in that region. Improvement to the diffusion coefficient as measured by the EIS contributed to the performance increase of the photoelectrode configuration under investigation.

  18. Hierarchically organized layout for visualization of biochemical pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsay, Jyh-Jong; Wu, Bo-Liang; Jeng, Yu-Sen

    2010-01-01

    Many complex pathways are described as hierarchical structures in which a pathway is recursively partitioned into several sub-pathways, and organized hierarchically as a tree. The hierarchical structure provides a natural way to visualize the global structure of a complex pathway. However, none of the previous research on pathway visualization explores the hierarchical structures provided by many complex pathways. In this paper, we aim to develop algorithms that can take advantages of hierarchical structures, and give layouts that explore the global structures as well as local structures of pathways. We present a new hierarchically organized layout algorithm to produce layouts for hierarchically organized pathways. Our algorithm first decomposes a complex pathway into sub-pathway groups along the hierarchical organization, and then partition each sub-pathway group into basic components. It then applies conventional layout algorithms, such as hierarchical layout and force-directed layout, to compute the layout of each basic component. Finally, component layouts are joined to form a final layout of the pathway. Our main contribution is the development of algorithms for decomposing pathways and joining layouts. Experiment shows that our algorithm is able to give comprehensible visualization for pathways with hierarchies, cycles as well as complex structures. It clearly renders the global component structures as well as the local structure in each component. In addition, it runs very fast, and gives better visualization for many examples from previous related research. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Model-Driven Development of Safety Architectures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denney, Ewen; Pai, Ganesh; Whiteside, Iain

    2017-01-01

    We describe the use of model-driven development for safety assurance of a pioneering NASA flight operation involving a fleet of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) flying beyond visual line of sight. The central idea is to develop a safety architecture that provides the basis for risk assessment and visualization within a safety case, the formal justification of acceptable safety required by the aviation regulatory authority. A safety architecture is composed from a collection of bow tie diagrams (BTDs), a practical approach to manage safety risk by linking the identified hazards to the appropriate mitigation measures. The safety justification for a given unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operation can have many related BTDs. In practice, however, each BTD is independently developed, which poses challenges with respect to incremental development, maintaining consistency across different safety artifacts when changes occur, and in extracting and presenting stakeholder specific information relevant for decision making. We show how a safety architecture reconciles the various BTDs of a system, and, collectively, provide an overarching picture of system safety, by considering them as views of a unified model. We also show how it enables model-driven development of BTDs, replete with validations, transformations, and a range of views. Our approach, which we have implemented in our toolset, AdvoCATE, is illustrated with a running example drawn from a real UAS safety case. The models and some of the innovations described here were instrumental in successfully obtaining regulatory flight approval.

  20. Children Composing and the Tonal Idiom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roels, Johanna Maria; Van Petegem, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Existing studies have demonstrated how children compose, experiment and use their imagination within the conventions of the tonal idiom with functional harmony. However, one area of research that has hardly been explored is how tonality emerges in the compositions of children who compose by transforming their own non-musical ideas, such as their…

  1. Adolescents' Dialogic Composing with Mobile Phones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, Julie

    2016-01-01

    This 14-month study examined the phone-based composing practice of three adolescents. Given the centrality of mobile phones to youth culture, the researcher sought to create a description of the participants' composing practices with these devices. Focal participants were users of Twitter and Instagram, two social media platforms that are usually…

  2. Hierarchical screening for multiple mental disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batterham, Philip J; Calear, Alison L; Sunderland, Matthew; Carragher, Natacha; Christensen, Helen; Mackinnon, Andrew J

    2013-10-01

    There is a need for brief, accurate screening when assessing multiple mental disorders. Two-stage hierarchical screening, consisting of brief pre-screening followed by a battery of disorder-specific scales for those who meet diagnostic criteria, may increase the efficiency of screening without sacrificing precision. This study tested whether more efficient screening could be gained using two-stage hierarchical screening than by administering multiple separate tests. Two Australian adult samples (N=1990) with high rates of psychopathology were recruited using Facebook advertising to examine four methods of hierarchical screening for four mental disorders: major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social phobia. Using K6 scores to determine whether full screening was required did not increase screening efficiency. However, pre-screening based on two decision tree approaches or item gating led to considerable reductions in the mean number of items presented per disorder screened, with estimated item reductions of up to 54%. The sensitivity of these hierarchical methods approached 100% relative to the full screening battery. Further testing of the hierarchical screening approach based on clinical criteria and in other samples is warranted. The results demonstrate that a two-phase hierarchical approach to screening multiple mental disorders leads to considerable increases efficiency gains without reducing accuracy. Screening programs should take advantage of prescreeners based on gating items or decision trees to reduce the burden on respondents. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Self-assembled biomimetic superhydrophobic hierarchical arrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Hongta; Dou, Xuan; Fang, Yin; Jiang, Peng

    2013-09-01

    Here, we report a simple and inexpensive bottom-up technology for fabricating superhydrophobic coatings with hierarchical micro-/nano-structures, which are inspired by the binary periodic structure found on the superhydrophobic compound eyes of some insects (e.g., mosquitoes and moths). Binary colloidal arrays consisting of exemplary large (4 and 30 μm) and small (300 nm) silica spheres are first assembled by a scalable Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technology in a layer-by-layer manner. After surface modification with fluorosilanes, the self-assembled hierarchical particle arrays become superhydrophobic with an apparent water contact angle (CA) larger than 150°. The throughput of the resulting superhydrophobic coatings with hierarchical structures can be significantly improved by templating the binary periodic structures of the LB-assembled colloidal arrays into UV-curable fluoropolymers by a soft lithography approach. Superhydrophobic perfluoroether acrylate hierarchical arrays with large CAs and small CA hysteresis can be faithfully replicated onto various substrates. Both experiments and theoretical calculations based on the Cassie's dewetting model demonstrate the importance of the hierarchical structure in achieving the final superhydrophobic surface states. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. A concept of distributed architecture for maintenance robot systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asama, Hajime

    1990-01-01

    Aiming at development of a robot system for maintenance tasks in nuclear power plants, a concept of distributed architecture for autonomous robot systems is discussed. At first, based on investigation of maintenance tasks, requirements for maintenance robots are introduced, and structures to realize multi-functions are discussed. Then, as a new design strategy of maintenance robot system, an autonomous and decentralized robot systems is proposed, which is composed of multiple robots, computers, and equipments, and concept of ACTRESS (ACTor-based Robots and Equipments Synthetic System) including communication framework between robotic components is designed. Finally, as a model of ACTRESS, a experimental system is developed, which deals with object-pushing tasks by two micromice and an environment modeler with communicating with each other. Both of parallel independent motion and cooperative motion based on communication is reconciled, and the efficiency of the distributed architecture is verified. (author)

  5. SASAgent: an agent based architecture for search, retrieval and composition of scientific models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felipe Mendes, Luiz; Silva, Laryssa; Matos, Ely; Braga, Regina; Campos, Fernanda

    2011-07-01

    Scientific computing is a multidisciplinary field that goes beyond the use of computer as machine where researchers write simple texts, presentations or store analysis and results of their experiments. Because of the huge hardware/software resources invested in experiments and simulations, this new approach to scientific computing currently adopted by research groups is well represented by e-Science. This work aims to propose a new architecture based on intelligent agents to search, recover and compose simulation models, generated in the context of research projects related to biological domain. The SASAgent architecture is described as a multi-tier, comprising three main modules, where CelO ontology satisfies requirements put by e-science projects mainly represented by the semantic knowledge base. Preliminary results suggest that the proposed architecture is promising to achieve requirements found in e-Science projects, considering mainly the biological domain. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Exploring hierarchical and overlapping modular structure in the yeast protein interaction network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao Yi

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Developing effective strategies to reveal modular structures in protein interaction networks is crucial for better understanding of molecular mechanisms of underlying biological processes. In this paper, we propose a new density-based algorithm (ADHOC for clustering vertices of a protein interaction network using a novel subgraph density measurement. Results By statistically evaluating several independent criteria, we found that ADHOC could significantly improve the outcome as compared with five previously reported density-dependent methods. We further applied ADHOC to investigate the hierarchical and overlapping modular structure in the yeast PPI network. Our method could effectively detect both protein modules and the overlaps between them, and thus greatly promote the precise prediction of protein functions. Moreover, by further assaying the intermodule layer of the yeast PPI network, we classified hubs into two types, module hubs and inter-module hubs. Each type presents distinct characteristics both in network topology and biological functions, which could conduce to the better understanding of relationship between network architecture and biological implications. Conclusions Our proposed algorithm based on the novel subgraph density measurement makes it possible to more precisely detect hierarchical and overlapping modular structures in protein interaction networks. In addition, our method also shows a strong robustness against the noise in network, which is quite critical for analyzing such a high noise network.

  7. Universally composable protocols with relaxed set-up assumptions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barak, Boaz; Canetti, Ran; Nielsen, Jesper Buus

    2004-01-01

    A desirable goal for cryptographic protocols is to guarantee security when the protocol is composed with other protocol instances. Universally composable (UC) protocols provide this guarantee in a strong sense: A protocol remains secure even when composed concurrently with an unbounded number of ...

  8. The analysis of thin walled composite laminated helicopter rotor with hierarchical warping functions and finite element method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Dechao; Deng, Zhongmin; Wang, Xingwei

    2001-08-01

    In the present paper, a series of hierarchical warping functions is developed to analyze the static and dynamic problems of thin walled composite laminated helicopter rotors composed of several layers with single closed cell. This method is the development and extension of the traditional constrained warping theory of thin walled metallic beams, which had been proved very successful since 1940s. The warping distribution along the perimeter of each layer is expanded into a series of successively corrective warping functions with the traditional warping function caused by free torsion or free bending as the first term, and is assumed to be piecewise linear along the thickness direction of layers. The governing equations are derived based upon the variational principle of minimum potential energy for static analysis and Rayleigh Quotient for free vibration analysis. Then the hierarchical finite element method is introduced to form a numerical algorithm. Both static and natural vibration problems of sample box beams are analyzed with the present method to show the main mechanical behavior of the thin walled composite laminated helicopter rotor.

  9. High-Level Heteroatom Doped Two-Dimensional Carbon Architectures for Highly Efficient Lithium-Ion Storage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhijie Wang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In this work, high-level heteroatom doped two-dimensional hierarchical carbon architectures (H-2D-HCA are developed for highly efficient Li-ion storage applications. The achieved H-2D-HCA possesses a hierarchical 2D morphology consisting of tiny carbon nanosheets vertically grown on carbon nanoplates and containing a hierarchical porosity with multiscale pore size. More importantly, the H-2D-HCA shows abundant heteroatom functionality, with sulfur (S doping of 0.9% and nitrogen (N doping of as high as 15.5%, in which the electrochemically active N accounts for 84% of total N heteroatoms. In addition, the H-2D-HCA also has an expanded interlayer distance of 0.368 nm. When used as lithium-ion battery anodes, it shows excellent Li-ion storage performance. Even at a high current density of 5 A g−1, it still delivers a high discharge capacity of 329 mA h g−1 after 1,000 cycles. First principle calculations verifies that such unique microstructure characteristics and high-level heteroatom doping nature can enhance Li adsorption stability, electronic conductivity and Li diffusion mobility of carbon nanomaterials. Therefore, the H-2D-HCA could be promising candidates for next-generation LIB anodes.

  10. Optimizations of Unstructured Aerodynamics Computations for Many-core Architectures

    KAUST Repository

    Al Farhan, Mohammed Ahmed

    2018-04-13

    We investigate several state-of-the-practice shared-memory optimization techniques applied to key routines of an unstructured computational aerodynamics application with irregular memory accesses. We illustrate for the Intel KNL processor, as a representative of the processors in contemporary leading supercomputers, identifying and addressing performance challenges without compromising the floating point numerics of the original code. We employ low and high-level architecture-specific code optimizations involving thread and data-level parallelism. Our approach is based upon a multi-level hierarchical distribution of work and data across both the threads and the SIMD units within every hardware core. On a 64-core KNL chip, we achieve nearly 2.9x speedup of the dominant routines relative to the baseline. These exhibit almost linear strong scalability up to 64 threads, and thereafter some improvement with hyperthreading. At substantially fewer Watts, we achieve up to 1.7x speedup relative to the performance of 72 threads of a 36-core Haswell CPU and roughly equivalent performance to 112 threads of a 56-core Skylake scalable processor. These optimizations are expected to be of value for many other unstructured mesh PDE-based scientific applications as multi and many-core architecture evolves.

  11. Architectural slicing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Henrik Bærbak; Hansen, Klaus Marius

    2013-01-01

    Architectural prototyping is a widely used practice, con- cerned with taking architectural decisions through experiments with light- weight implementations. However, many architectural decisions are only taken when systems are already (partially) implemented. This is prob- lematic in the context...... of architectural prototyping since experiments with full systems are complex and expensive and thus architectural learn- ing is hindered. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for harvest- ing architectural prototypes from existing systems, \\architectural slic- ing", based on dynamic program slicing. Given...... a system and a slicing criterion, architectural slicing produces an architectural prototype that contain the elements in the architecture that are dependent on the ele- ments in the slicing criterion. Furthermore, we present an initial design and implementation of an architectural slicer for Java....

  12. A novel digital pulse processing architecture for nuclear instrumentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moline, Yoann; Thevenin, Mathieu; Corre, Gwenole [CEA, LIST - Laboratoire Capteurs et Architectures electroniques, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, (France); Paindavoine, Michel [CNRS, Universite de Bourgogne - Laboratoire d' Etude de l' Apprentissage et du Developpement, 21000 DIJON, (France)

    2015-07-01

    The field of nuclear instrumentation covers a wide range of applications, including counting, spectrometry, pulse shape discrimination and multi-channel coincidence. These applications are the topic of many researches, new algorithms and implementations are constantly proposed thanks to advances in digital signal processing. However, these improvements are not yet implemented in instrumentation devices. This is especially true for neutron-gamma discrimination applications which traditionally use charge comparison method while literature proposes other algorithms based on frequency domain or wavelet theory which show better performances. Another example is pileups which are generally rejected while pileup correction algorithms also exist. These processes are traditionally performed offline due to two issues. The first is the Poissonian characteristic of the signal, composed of random arrival pulses which requires to current architectures to work in data flow. The second is the real-time requirement, which implies losing pulses when the pulse rate is too high. Despite the possibility of treating the pulses independently from each other, current architectures paralyze the acquisition of the signal during the processing of a pulse. This loss is called dead-time. These two issues have led current architectures to use dedicated solutions based on re-configurable components like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to overcome the need of performance necessary to deal with dead-time. However, dedicated hardware algorithm implementations on re-configurable technologies are complex and time-consuming. For all these reasons, a programmable Digital pulse Processing (DPP) architecture in a high level language such as Cor C++ which can reduce dead-time would be worthwhile for nuclear instrumentation. This would reduce prototyping and test duration by reducing the level of hardware expertise to implement new algorithms. However, today's programmable solutions do not meet

  13. A novel digital pulse processing architecture for nuclear instrumentation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moline, Yoann; Thevenin, Mathieu; Corre, Gwenole; Paindavoine, Michel

    2015-01-01

    The field of nuclear instrumentation covers a wide range of applications, including counting, spectrometry, pulse shape discrimination and multi-channel coincidence. These applications are the topic of many researches, new algorithms and implementations are constantly proposed thanks to advances in digital signal processing. However, these improvements are not yet implemented in instrumentation devices. This is especially true for neutron-gamma discrimination applications which traditionally use charge comparison method while literature proposes other algorithms based on frequency domain or wavelet theory which show better performances. Another example is pileups which are generally rejected while pileup correction algorithms also exist. These processes are traditionally performed offline due to two issues. The first is the Poissonian characteristic of the signal, composed of random arrival pulses which requires to current architectures to work in data flow. The second is the real-time requirement, which implies losing pulses when the pulse rate is too high. Despite the possibility of treating the pulses independently from each other, current architectures paralyze the acquisition of the signal during the processing of a pulse. This loss is called dead-time. These two issues have led current architectures to use dedicated solutions based on re-configurable components like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to overcome the need of performance necessary to deal with dead-time. However, dedicated hardware algorithm implementations on re-configurable technologies are complex and time-consuming. For all these reasons, a programmable Digital pulse Processing (DPP) architecture in a high level language such as Cor C++ which can reduce dead-time would be worthwhile for nuclear instrumentation. This would reduce prototyping and test duration by reducing the level of hardware expertise to implement new algorithms. However, today's programmable solutions do not meet

  14. Zeolitic materials with hierarchical porous structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez-Orozco, Sofia; Inayat, Amer; Schwab, Andreas; Selvam, Thangaraj; Schwieger, Wilhelm

    2011-06-17

    During the past several years, different kinds of hierarchical structured zeolitic materials have been synthesized due to their highly attractive properties, such as superior mass/heat transfer characteristics, lower restriction of the diffusion of reactants in the mesopores, and low pressure drop. Our contribution provides general information regarding types and preparation methods of hierarchical zeolitic materials and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Thereafter, recent advances in the preparation and characterization of hierarchical zeolitic structures within the crystallites by post-synthetic treatment methods, such as dealumination or desilication; and structured devices by in situ and ex situ zeolite coatings on open-cellular ceramic foams as (non-reactive as well as reactive) supports are highlighted. Specific advantages of using hierarchical zeolitic catalysts/structures in selected catalytic reactions, such as benzene to phenol (BTOP) and methanol to olefins (MTO) are presented. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Processing of hierarchical syntactic structure in music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koelsch, Stefan; Rohrmeier, Martin; Torrecuso, Renzo; Jentschke, Sebastian

    2013-09-17

    Hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is a key feature of human language and can be identified theoretically in most pieces of tonal music. However, previous studies have argued against the perception of such structures in music. Here, we show processing of nonlocal dependencies in music. We presented chorales by J. S. Bach and modified versions in which the hierarchical structure was rendered irregular whereas the local structure was kept intact. Brain electric responses differed between regular and irregular hierarchical structures, in both musicians and nonmusicians. This finding indicates that, when listening to music, humans apply cognitive processes that are capable of dealing with long-distance dependencies resulting from hierarchically organized syntactic structures. Our results reveal that a brain mechanism fundamental for syntactic processing is engaged during the perception of music, indicating that processing of hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is not just a key component of human language, but a multidomain capacity of human cognition.

  16. SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE : WHAT ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS THINK

    OpenAIRE

    SATWIKO, PRASASTO

    2013-01-01

    Sustainable architecture has become a hot issue lately as the impacts of climate change become more intense. Architecture educations have responded by integrating knowledge of sustainable design in their curriculum. However, in the real life, new buildings keep coming with designs that completely ignore sustainable principles. This paper discusses the results of two national competitions on sustainable architecture targeted for architecture students (conducted in 2012 and 2013). The results a...

  17. Sustained oscillations, irregular firing and chaotic dynamics in hierarchical modular networks with mixtures of electrophysiological cell types

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petar eTomov

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The cerebral cortex exhibits neural activity even in the absence of externalstimuli. This self-sustained activity is characterized by irregular firing ofindividual neurons and population oscillations with a broad frequency range.Questions that arise in this context, are: What are the mechanismsresponsible for the existence of neuronal spiking activity in the cortexwithout external input? Do these mechanisms depend on the structural organization of the cortical connections? Do they depend onintrinsic characteristics of the cortical neurons? To approach the answers to these questions, we have used computer simulations of cortical network models. Our networks have hierarchical modular architecture and are composedof combinations of neuron models that reproduce the firing behavior of the five main cortical electrophysiological cell classes: regular spiking (RS, chattering (CH, intrinsically bursting (IB, low threshold spiking (LTS and fast spiking (FS. The population of excitatory neurons is built of RS cells(always present and either CH or IB cells. Inhibitoryneurons belong to the same class, either LTS or FS. Long-lived self-sustained activity states in our networksimulations display irregular single neuron firing and oscillatoryactivity similar to experimentally measured ones. The duration of self-sustained activity strongly depends on the initial conditions,suggesting a transient chaotic regime. Extensive analysis of the self-sustainedactivity states showed that their lifetime expectancy increases with the numberof network modules and is favored when the network is composed of excitatory neurons of the RS and CH classes combined with inhibitory neurons of the LTS class. These results indicate that the existence and properties of the self-sustained cortical activity states depend on both the topology of the network and the neuronal mixture that comprises the network.

  18. Hierarchical Nanoceramics for Industrial Process Sensors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruud, James, A.; Brosnan, Kristen, H.; Striker, Todd; Ramaswamy, Vidya; Aceto, Steven, C.; Gao, Yan; Willson, Patrick, D.; Manoharan, Mohan; Armstrong, Eric, N., Wachsman, Eric, D.; Kao, Chi-Chang

    2011-07-15

    This project developed a robust, tunable, hierarchical nanoceramics materials platform for industrial process sensors in harsh-environments. Control of material structure at multiple length scales from nano to macro increased the sensing response of the materials to combustion gases. These materials operated at relatively high temperatures, enabling detection close to the source of combustion. It is anticipated that these materials can form the basis for a new class of sensors enabling widespread use of efficient combustion processes with closed loop feedback control in the energy-intensive industries. The first phase of the project focused on materials selection and process development, leading to hierarchical nanoceramics that were evaluated for sensing performance. The second phase focused on optimizing the materials processes and microstructures, followed by validation of performance of a prototype sensor in a laboratory combustion environment. The objectives of this project were achieved by: (1) synthesizing and optimizing hierarchical nanostructures; (2) synthesizing and optimizing sensing nanomaterials; (3) integrating sensing functionality into hierarchical nanostructures; (4) demonstrating material performance in a sensing element; and (5) validating material performance in a simulated service environment. The project developed hierarchical nanoceramic electrodes for mixed potential zirconia gas sensors with increased surface area and demonstrated tailored electrocatalytic activity operable at high temperatures enabling detection of products of combustion such as NOx close to the source of combustion. Methods were developed for synthesis of hierarchical nanostructures with high, stable surface area, integrated catalytic functionality within the structures for gas sensing, and demonstrated materials performance in harsh lab and combustion gas environments.

  19. Architecture

    OpenAIRE

    Clear, Nic

    2014-01-01

    When discussing science fiction’s relationship with architecture, the usual practice is to look at the architecture “in” science fiction—in particular, the architecture in SF films (see Kuhn 75-143) since the spaces of literary SF present obvious difficulties as they have to be imagined. In this essay, that relationship will be reversed: I will instead discuss science fiction “in” architecture, mapping out a number of architectural movements and projects that can be viewed explicitly as scien...

  20. The Case for a Hierarchical Cosmology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaucouleurs, G. de

    1970-01-01

    The development of modern theoretical cosmology is presented and some questionable assumptions of orthodox cosmology are pointed out. Suggests that recent observations indicate that hierarchical clustering is a basic factor in cosmology. The implications of hierarchical models of the universe are considered. Bibliography. (LC)

  1. Music and emotion-a composer's perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douek, Joel

    2013-01-01

    This article takes an experiential and anecdotal look at the daily lives and work of film composers as creators of music. It endeavors to work backwards from what practitioners of the art and craft of music do instinctively or unconsciously, and try to shine a light on it as a conscious process. It examines the role of the film composer in his task to convey an often complex set of emotions, and communicate with an immediacy and universality that often sit outside of common language. Through the experiences of the author, as well as interviews with composer colleagues, this explores both concrete and abstract ways in which music can bring meaning and magic to words and images, and as an underscore to our daily lives.

  2. Classification using Hierarchical Naive Bayes models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Langseth, Helge; Dyhre Nielsen, Thomas

    2006-01-01

    Classification problems have a long history in the machine learning literature. One of the simplest, and yet most consistently well-performing set of classifiers is the Naïve Bayes models. However, an inherent problem with these classifiers is the assumption that all attributes used to describe......, termed Hierarchical Naïve Bayes models. Hierarchical Naïve Bayes models extend the modeling flexibility of Naïve Bayes models by introducing latent variables to relax some of the independence statements in these models. We propose a simple algorithm for learning Hierarchical Naïve Bayes models...

  3. Hierarchically Structured Co3O4@Pt@MnO2 Nanowire Arrays for High-Performance Supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Hui; Zhu, Dongdong; Luo, Zhentao; Yu, Yue; Shi, Xiaoqin; Yuan, Guoliang; Xie, Jianping

    2013-10-01

    Here we proposed a novel architectural design of a ternary MnO2-based electrode - a hierarchical Co3O4@Pt@MnO2 core-shell-shell structure, where the complemental features of the three key components (a well-defined Co3O4 nanowire array on the conductive Ti substrate, an ultrathin layer of small Pt nanoparticles, and a thin layer of MnO2 nanoflakes) are strategically combined into a single entity to synergize and construct a high-performance electrode for supercapacitors. Owing to the high conductivity of the well-defined Co3O4 nanowire arrays, in which the conductivity was further enhanced by a thin metal (Pt) coating layer, in combination with the large surface area provided by the small MnO2 nanoflakes, the as-fabricated Co3O4@Pt@MnO2 nanowire arrays have exhibited high specific capacitances, good rate capability, and excellent cycling stability. The architectural design demonstrated in this study provides a new approach to fabricate high-performance MnO2-based nanowire arrays for constructing next-generation supercapacitors.

  4. “ALGORITHMIC SUSTAINABLE DESIGN: THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURAL THEORY”, A SERIES OF 12 LECTURES BY NIKOS A. SALINGAROS.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicola Giacomo A.G. Linza IV

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Professor Nikos A. Salingaros, a practicing Urbanist and Architectural Theorist, presents a powerful series of compelling hour-long lectures that apply cutting-edge mathematical techniques to architectural design. This breakthrough lecture series seeks to explain the foundations of architectural form using scientific concepts from hierarchical scaling to memes. Dr. Salingaros has applied the most exciting scientific developments of the past decade, such as fractals, complexity theory, evolutionary biology, and artificial intelligence to produce a series of lectures explaining in great detail the mathematical and scientific basis behind structure, and how structures affect the way in which human beings interact with the built environment. The twelve lectures were integrated to relate topics such as algorithmic processes, cellular automata, Sierpinski carpets, harmony-seeking computations, generative codes, and New Urbanist codes. The lectures were transmitted live via streaming video to participating institutions throughout the world, and have now been made freely available.

  5. Improved Adhesion and Compliancy of Hierarchical Fibrillar Adhesives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yasong; Gates, Byron D; Menon, Carlo

    2015-08-05

    The gecko relies on van der Waals forces to cling onto surfaces with a variety of topography and composition. The hierarchical fibrillar structures on their climbing feet, ranging from mesoscale to nanoscale, are hypothesized to be key elements for the animal to conquer both smooth and rough surfaces. An epoxy-based artificial hierarchical fibrillar adhesive was prepared to study the influence of the hierarchical structures on the properties of a dry adhesive. The presented experiments highlight the advantages of a hierarchical structure despite a reduction of overall density and aspect ratio of nanofibrils. In contrast to an adhesive containing only nanometer-size fibrils, the hierarchical fibrillar adhesives exhibited a higher adhesion force and better compliancy when tested on an identical substrate.

  6. Optimizing Blocking and Nonblocking Reduction Operations for Multicore Systems: Hierarchical Design and Implementation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gorentla Venkata, Manjunath [ORNL; Shamis, Pavel [ORNL; Graham, Richard L [ORNL; Ladd, Joshua S [ORNL; Sampath, Rahul S [ORNL

    2013-01-01

    Many scientific simulations, using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) programming model, are sensitive to the performance and scalability of reduction collective operations such as MPI Allreduce and MPI Reduce. These operations are the most widely used abstractions to perform mathematical operations over all processes that are part of the simulation. In this work, we propose a hierarchical design to implement the reduction operations on multicore systems. This design aims to improve the efficiency of reductions by 1) tailoring the algorithms and customizing the implementations for various communication mechanisms in the system 2) providing the ability to configure the depth of hierarchy to match the system architecture, and 3) providing the ability to independently progress each of this hierarchy. Using this design, we implement MPI Allreduce and MPI Reduce operations (and its nonblocking variants MPI Iallreduce and MPI Ireduce) for all message sizes, and evaluate on multiple architectures including InfiniBand and Cray XT5. We leverage and enhance our existing infrastructure, Cheetah, which is a framework for implementing hierarchical collective operations to implement these reductions. The experimental results show that the Cheetah reduction operations outperform the production-grade MPI implementations such as Open MPI default, Cray MPI, and MVAPICH2, demonstrating its efficiency, flexibility and portability. On Infini- Band systems, with a microbenchmark, a 512-process Cheetah nonblocking Allreduce and Reduce achieves a speedup of 23x and 10x, respectively, compared to the default Open MPI reductions. The blocking variants of the reduction operations also show similar performance benefits. A 512-process nonblocking Cheetah Allreduce achieves a speedup of 3x, compared to the default MVAPICH2 Allreduce implementation. On a Cray XT5 system, a 6144-process Cheetah Allreduce outperforms the Cray MPI by 145%. The evaluation with an application kernel, Conjugate

  7. Requirements for implementing real-time control functional modules on a hierarchical parallel pipelined system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheatley, Thomas E.; Michaloski, John L.; Lumia, Ronald

    1989-01-01

    Analysis of a robot control system leads to a broad range of processing requirements. One fundamental requirement of a robot control system is the necessity of a microcomputer system in order to provide sufficient processing capability.The use of multiple processors in a parallel architecture is beneficial for a number of reasons, including better cost performance, modular growth, increased reliability through replication, and flexibility for testing alternate control strategies via different partitioning. A survey of the progression from low level control synchronizing primitives to higher level communication tools is presented. The system communication and control mechanisms of existing robot control systems are compared to the hierarchical control model. The impact of this design methodology on the current robot control systems is explored.

  8. Architecture, Assembly, and Emerging Applications of Branched Functional Polyelectrolytes and Poly(ionic liquid)s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Weinan; Ledin, Petr A; Shevchenko, Valery V; Tsukruk, Vladimir V

    2015-06-17

    Branched polyelectrolytes with cylindrical brush, dendritic, hyperbranched, grafted, and star architectures bearing ionizable functional groups possess complex and unique assembly behavior in solution at surfaces and interfaces as compared to their linear counterparts. This review summarizes the recent developments in the introduction of various architectures and understanding of the assembly behavior of branched polyelectrolytes with a focus on functional polyelectrolytes and poly(ionic liquid)s with responsive properties. The branched polyelectrolytes and poly(ionic liquid)s interact electrostatically with small molecules, linear polyelectrolytes, or other branched polyelectrolytes to form assemblies of hybrid nanoparticles, multilayer thin films, responsive microcapsules, and ion-conductive membranes. The branched structures lead to unconventional assemblies and complex hierarchical structures with responsive properties as summarized in this review. Finally, we discuss prospectives for emerging applications of branched polyelectrolytes and poly(ionic liquid)s for energy harvesting and storage, controlled delivery, chemical microreactors, adaptive surfaces, and ion-exchange membranes.

  9. Hierarchical representation of shapes in visual cortex - from localized features to figural shape segregation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephan eTschechne

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Visual structures in the environment are effortlessly segmented into image regions and those combined to a representation of surfaces and prototypical objects. Such a perceptual organization is performed by complex neural mechanisms in the visual cortex of primates. Multiple mutually connected areas in the ventral cortical pathway receive visual input and extract local form features that are subsequently grouped into increasingly complex, more meaningful image elements. At this stage, highly articulated changes in shape boundary as well as very subtle curvature changes contribute to the perception of an object.We propose a recurrent computational network architecture that utilizes a hierarchical distributed representation of shape features to encode boundary features over different scales of resolution. Our model makes use of neural mechanisms that model the processing capabilities of early and intermediate stages in visual cortex, namely areas V1-V4 and IT. We suggest that multiple specialized component representations interact by feedforward hierarchical processing that is combined with feedback from representations generated at higher stages. In so doing, global configurational as well as local information is available to distinguish changes in the object's contour. Once the outline of a shape has been established, contextual contour configurations are used to assign border ownership directions and thus achieve segregation of figure and ground. This combines separate findings about the generation of cortical shape representation using hierarchical representations with figure-ground segregation mechanisms.Our model is probed with a selection of artificial and real world images to illustrate processing results at different processing stages. We especially highlight how modulatory feedback connections contribute to the processing of visual input at various stages in the processing hierarchy.

  10. Modeling Architectural Patterns Using Architectural Primitives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zdun, Uwe; Avgeriou, Paris

    2005-01-01

    Architectural patterns are a key point in architectural documentation. Regrettably, there is poor support for modeling architectural patterns, because the pattern elements are not directly matched by elements in modeling languages, and, at the same time, patterns support an inherent variability that

  11. Hierarchical graphical-based human pose estimation via local multi-resolution convolutional neural network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Aichun; Wang, Tian; Snoussi, Hichem

    2018-03-01

    This paper addresses the problems of the graphical-based human pose estimation in still images, including the diversity of appearances and confounding background clutter. We present a new architecture for estimating human pose using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Firstly, a Relative Mixture Deformable Model (RMDM) is defined by each pair of connected parts to compute the relative spatial information in the graphical model. Secondly, a Local Multi-Resolution Convolutional Neural Network (LMR-CNN) is proposed to train and learn the multi-scale representation of each body parts by combining different levels of part context. Thirdly, a LMR-CNN based hierarchical model is defined to explore the context information of limb parts. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed deep learning approach for human pose estimation.

  12. Hierarchical graphical-based human pose estimation via local multi-resolution convolutional neural network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aichun Zhu

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the problems of the graphical-based human pose estimation in still images, including the diversity of appearances and confounding background clutter. We present a new architecture for estimating human pose using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN. Firstly, a Relative Mixture Deformable Model (RMDM is defined by each pair of connected parts to compute the relative spatial information in the graphical model. Secondly, a Local Multi-Resolution Convolutional Neural Network (LMR-CNN is proposed to train and learn the multi-scale representation of each body parts by combining different levels of part context. Thirdly, a LMR-CNN based hierarchical model is defined to explore the context information of limb parts. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed deep learning approach for human pose estimation.

  13. An efficient interpolation filter VLSI architecture for HEVC standard

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Wei; Zhou, Xin; Lian, Xiaocong; Liu, Zhenyu; Liu, Xiaoxiang

    2015-12-01

    The next-generation video coding standard of High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is especially efficient for coding high-resolution video such as 8K-ultra-high-definition (UHD) video. Fractional motion estimation in HEVC presents a significant challenge in clock latency and area cost as it consumes more than 40 % of the total encoding time and thus results in high computational complexity. With aims at supporting 8K-UHD video applications, an efficient interpolation filter VLSI architecture for HEVC is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a new interpolation filter algorithm based on the 8-pixel interpolation unit is proposed in this paper. It can save 19.7 % processing time on average with acceptable coding quality degradation. Based on the proposed algorithm, an efficient interpolation filter VLSI architecture, composed of a reused data path of interpolation, an efficient memory organization, and a reconfigurable pipeline interpolation filter engine, is presented to reduce the implement hardware area and achieve high throughput. The final VLSI implementation only requires 37.2k gates in a standard 90-nm CMOS technology at an operating frequency of 240 MHz. The proposed architecture can be reused for either half-pixel interpolation or quarter-pixel interpolation, which can reduce the area cost for about 131,040 bits RAM. The processing latency of our proposed VLSI architecture can support the real-time processing of 4:2:0 format 7680 × 4320@78fps video sequences.

  14. Assembly of tin oxide/graphene nanosheets into 3D hierarchical frameworks for high-performance lithium storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yanshan; Wu, Dongqing; Han, Sheng; Li, Shuang; Xiao, Li; Zhang, Fan; Feng, Xinliang

    2013-08-01

    3D hierarchical tin oxide/graphene frameworks (SnO2 /GFs) were built up by the in situ synthesis of 2D SnO2 /graphene nanosheets followed by hydrothermal assembly. These SnO2 /GFs exhibited a 3D hierarchical porous architecture with mesopores (≈3 nm), macropores (3-6 μm), and a large surface area (244 m(2) g(-1) ), which not only effectively prevented the agglomeration of SnO2 nanoparticles, but also facilitated fast ion and electron transport in 3D pathways. As a consequence, the SnO2 /GFs exhibited a high capacity of 830 mAh g(-1) for up to 70 charge-discharge cycles at 100 mA g(-1) . Even at a high current density of 500 mA g(-1) , a reversible capacity of 621 mAh g(-1) could be maintained for SnO2 /GFs with excellent cycling stability. Such performance is superior to that of previously reported SnO2 /graphene and other SnO2 /carbon composites with similar weight contents of SnO2 . Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Root architecture and wind-firmness of mature Pinus pinaster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danjon, Frédéric; Fourcaud, Thierry; Bert, Didier

    2005-11-01

    This study aims to link three-dimensional coarse root architecture to tree stability in mature timber trees with an average of 1-m rooting depth. Undamaged and uprooted trees were sampled in a stand damaged by a storm. Root architecture was measured by three-dimensional (3-D) digitizing. The distribution of root volume by root type and in wind-oriented sectors was analysed. Mature Pinus pinaster root systems were organized in a rigid 'cage' composed of a taproot, the zone of rapid taper of horizontal surface roots and numerous sinkers and deep roots, imprisoning a large mass of soil and guyed by long horizontal surface roots. Key compartments for stability exhibited strong selective leeward or windward reinforcement. Uprooted trees showed a lower cage volume, a larger proportion of oblique and intermediate depth horizontal roots and less wind-oriented root reinforcement. Pinus pinaster stability on moderately deep soils is optimized through a typical rooting pattern and a considerable structural adaptation to the prevailing wind and soil profile.

  16. A Novel Data Hierarchical Fusion Method for Gas Turbine Engine Performance Fault Diagnosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feng Lu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Gas path fault diagnosis involves the effective utilization of condition-based sensor signals along engine gas path to accurately identify engine performance failure. The rapid development of information processing technology has led to the use of multiple-source information fusion for fault diagnostics. Numerous efforts have been paid to develop data-based fusion methods, such as neural networks fusion, while little research has focused on fusion architecture or the fusion of different method kinds. In this paper, a data hierarchical fusion using improved weighted Dempster–Shaffer evidence theory (WDS is proposed, and the integration of data-based and model-based methods is presented for engine gas-path fault diagnosis. For the purpose of simplifying learning machine typology, a recursive reduced kernel based extreme learning machine (RR-KELM is developed to produce the fault probability, which is considered as the data-based evidence. Meanwhile, the model-based evidence is achieved using particle filter-fuzzy logic algorithm (PF-FL by engine health estimation and component fault location in feature level. The outputs of two evidences are integrated using WDS evidence theory in decision level to reach a final recognition decision of gas-path fault pattern. The characteristics and advantages of two evidences are analyzed and used as guidelines for data hierarchical fusion framework. Our goal is that the proposed methodology provides much better performance of gas-path fault diagnosis compared to solely relying on data-based or model-based method. The hierarchical fusion framework is evaluated in terms to fault diagnosis accuracy and robustness through a case study involving fault mode dataset of a turbofan engine that is generated by the general gas turbine simulation. These applications confirm the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed approach.

  17. Composer: Authoring Tool for iTV Programs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    R.L. Guimarães (Rodrigo); R.M.R. Costa; L.F.G. Soares

    2008-01-01

    htmlabstractThis paper presents Composer, an authoring tool to help creating interactive TV programs for the Brazilian Terrestrial Digital TV System. In Composer, several abstractions are defined creating different document views (structural, temporal, layout and textual). One of these views, the

  18. Matriarch: A Python Library for Materials Architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giesa, Tristan; Jagadeesan, Ravi; Spivak, David I; Buehler, Markus J

    2015-10-12

    Biological materials, such as proteins, often have a hierarchical structure ranging from basic building blocks at the nanoscale (e.g., amino acids) to assembled structures at the macroscale (e.g., fibers). Current software for materials engineering allows the user to specify polypeptide chains and simple secondary structures prior to molecular dynamics simulation, but is not flexible in terms of the geometric arrangement of unequilibrated structures. Given some knowledge of a larger-scale structure, instructing the software to create it can be very difficult and time-intensive. To this end, the present paper reports a mathematical language, using category theory, to describe the architecture of a material, i.e., its set of building blocks and instructions for combining them. While this framework applies to any hierarchical material, here we concentrate on proteins. We implement this mathematical language as an open-source Python library called Matriarch. It is a domain-specific language that gives the user the ability to create almost arbitrary structures with arbitrary amino acid sequences and, from them, generate Protein Data Bank (PDB) files. In this way, Matriarch is more powerful than commercial software now available. Matriarch can be used in tandem with molecular dynamics simulations and helps engineers design and modify biologically inspired materials based on their desired functionality. As a case study, we use our software to alter both building blocks and building instructions for tropocollagen, and determine their effect on its structure and mechanical properties.

  19. Hierarchically Macroporous Graphitic Nanowebs Exhibiting Ultra-fast and Stable Charge Storage Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Young Soo

    2018-02-01

    The macro/microstructures of carbon-based electrode materials for supercapacitor applications play a key role in their electrochemical performance. In this study, hierarchically macroporous graphitic nanowebs (HM-GNWs) were prepared from bacterial cellulose by high-temperature heating at 2400 °C. The HM-GNWs were composed of well-developed graphitic nanobuilding blocks with a high aspect ratio, which was entangled as a nanoweb structure. The morphological and microstructural characteristics of the HM-GNWs resulted in remarkable charge storage performance. In particular, the HM-GNWs exhibited very fast charge storage behaviors at scan rates ranging from 5 to 100 V s-1, in which area capacitances ranging from 8.9 to 3.8 mF cm-2 were achieved. In addition, 97% capacitance retention was observed after long-term cycling for more than 1,000,000 cycles.

  20. Leadership styles across hierarchical levels in nursing departments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stordeur, S; Vandenberghe, C; D'hoore, W

    2000-01-01

    Some researchers have reported on the cascading effect of transformational leadership across hierarchical levels. One study examined this effect in nursing, but it was limited to a single hospital. To examine the cascading effect of leadership styles across hierarchical levels in a sample of nursing departments and to investigate the effect of hierarchical level on the relationships between leadership styles and various work outcomes. Based on a sample of eight hospitals, the cascading effect was tested using correlation analysis. The main sources of variation among leadership scores were determined with analyses of variance (ANOVA), and the interaction effect of hierarchical level and leadership styles on criterion variables was tested with moderated regression analysis. No support was found for a cascading effect of leadership across hierarchical levels. Rather, the variation of leadership scores was explained primarily by the organizational context. Transformational leadership had a stronger impact on criterion variables than transactional leadership. Interaction effects between leadership styles and hierarchical level were observed only for perceived unit effectiveness. The hospital's structure and culture are major determinants of leadership styles.

  1. Design and reliability analysis of DP-3 dynamic positioning control architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fang; Wan, Lei; Jiang, Da-Peng; Xu, Yu-Ru

    2011-12-01

    As the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas proliferate throughout deepwater area, the requirements on the reliability of dynamic positioning system become increasingly stringent. The control objective ensuring safety operation at deep water will not be met by a single controller for dynamic positioning. In order to increase the availability and reliability of dynamic positioning control system, the triple redundancy hardware and software control architectures were designed and developed according to the safe specifications of DP-3 classification notation for dynamically positioned ships and rigs. The hardware redundant configuration takes the form of triple-redundant hot standby configuration including three identical operator stations and three real-time control computers which connect each other through dual networks. The function of motion control and redundancy management of control computers were implemented by software on the real-time operating system VxWorks. The software realization of task loose synchronization, majority voting and fault detection were presented in details. A hierarchical software architecture was planed during the development of software, consisting of application layer, real-time layer and physical layer. The behavior of the DP-3 dynamic positioning control system was modeled by a Markov model to analyze its reliability. The effects of variation in parameters on the reliability measures were investigated. The time domain dynamic simulation was carried out on a deepwater drilling rig to prove the feasibility of the proposed control architecture.

  2. Architecture of a micro grid energy manager; Arquitectura de un gestor energetico de microrredes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jimeno-Huarte, J.; Anduaga-Muniozgueren, J.; Oyarzabal-Moreno, J.

    2009-07-01

    Micro grids are defined as a set of aggregated micro generators and loads operating like a unique system. Micro grids need energy management systems in order to coordinate the actions of the elements that compose them. This way, Micro grids provide useful services to connected users as well as to the electrical system. This paper presents the architecture of a Micro grid energy Manager applying multi agent based technologies and communication standards. an application of this architecture to the secondary regulation function has been performed using TECNALIA's Micro grid as validation platform. The implementation of the secondary regulation takes into account economical criteria while the technical restrictions of the controlled equipment are fulfilled. (Author) 14 refs.

  3. Hierarchical tailoring of strut architecture to control permeability of additive manufactured titanium implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Z; Jones, D; Yue, S; Lee, P D; Jones, J R; Sutcliffe, C J; Jones, E

    2013-10-01

    Porous titanium implants are a common choice for bone augmentation. Implants for spinal fusion and repair of non-union fractures must encourage blood flow after implantation so that there is sufficient cell migration, nutrient and growth factor transport to stimulate bone ingrowth. Additive manufacturing techniques allow a large number of pore network designs. This study investigates how the design factors offered by selective laser melting technique can be used to alter the implant architecture on multiple length scales to control and even tailor the flow. Permeability is a convenient parameter that characterises flow, correlating to structure openness (interconnectivity and pore window size), tortuosity and hence flow shear rates. Using experimentally validated computational simulations, we demonstrate how additive manufacturing can be used to tailor implant properties by controlling surface roughness at a microstructual level (microns), and by altering the strut ordering and density at a mesoscopic level (millimetre). Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Hierarchical Mesoporous Lithium-Rich Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 Cathode Material Synthesized via Ice Templating for Lithium-Ion Battery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yu; Wu, Chuan; Bai, Ying; Liu, Lu; Wang, Hui; Wu, Feng; Zhang, Na; Zou, Yufeng

    2016-07-27

    Tuning hierarchical micro/nanostructure of electrode materials is a sought-after means to reinforce their electrochemical performance in the energy storage field. Herein, we introduce a type of hierarchical mesoporous Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 microsphere composed of nanoparticles synthesized via an ice templating combined coprecipitation strategy. It is a low-cost, eco-friendly, and easily operated method using ice as a template to control material with homogeneous morphology and rich porous channels. The as-prepared material exhibits remarkably enhanced electrochemical performances with higher capacity, more excellent cycling stability and more superior rate property, compared with the sample prepared by conventional coprecipitation method. It has satisfactory initial discharge capacities of 280.1 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C, 207.1 mAh g(-1) at 2 C, and 152.4 mAh g(-1) at 5 C, as well as good cycle performance. The enhanced electrochemical performance can be ascribed to the stable hierarchical microsized structure and the improved lithium-ion diffusion kinetics from the highly porous structure.

  5. The architecture of a virtual grid GIS server

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Pengfei; Fang, Yu; Chen, Bin; Wu, Xi; Tian, Xiaoting

    2008-10-01

    The grid computing technology provides the service oriented architecture for distributed applications. The virtual Grid GIS server is the distributed and interoperable enterprise application GIS architecture running in the grid environment, which integrates heterogeneous GIS platforms. All sorts of legacy GIS platforms join the grid as members of GIS virtual organization. Based on Microkernel we design the ESB and portal GIS service layer, which compose Microkernel GIS. Through web portals, portal GIS services and mediation of service bus, following the principle of SoC, we separate business logic from implementing logic. Microkernel GIS greatly reduces the coupling degree between applications and GIS platforms. The enterprise applications are independent of certain GIS platforms, and making the application developers to pay attention to the business logic. Via configuration and orchestration of a set of fine-grained services, the system creates GIS Business, which acts as a whole WebGIS request when activated. In this way, the system satisfies a business workflow directly and simply, with little or no new code.

  6. Affective evolutionary music composition with MetaCompose

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scirea, Marco; Togelius, Julian; Eklund, Peter

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes the MetaCompose music generator, a compositional, extensible framework for affective music composition. In this context ‘affective’ refers to the music generator’s ability to express emotional information. The main purpose of MetaCompose is to create music in real-time that can...

  7. Multi-agent based distributed control architecture for microgrid energy management and optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basir Khan, M. Reyasudin; Jidin, Razali; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A new multi-agent based distributed control architecture for energy management. • Multi-agent coordination based on non-cooperative game theory. • A microgrid model comprised of renewable energy generation systems. • Performance comparison of distributed with conventional centralized control. - Abstract: Most energy management systems are based on a centralized controller that is difficult to satisfy criteria such as fault tolerance and adaptability. Therefore, a new multi-agent based distributed energy management system architecture is proposed in this paper. The distributed generation system is composed of several distributed energy resources and a group of loads. A multi-agent system based decentralized control architecture was developed in order to provide control for the complex energy management of the distributed generation system. Then, non-cooperative game theory was used for the multi-agent coordination in the system. The distributed generation system was assessed by simulation under renewable resource fluctuations, seasonal load demand and grid disturbances. The simulation results show that the implementation of the new energy management system proved to provide more robust and high performance controls than conventional centralized energy management systems.

  8. Hierarchical analysis of acceptable use policies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. A. Laughton

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Acceptable use policies (AUPs are vital tools for organizations to protect themselves and their employees from misuse of computer facilities provided. A well structured, thorough AUP is essential for any organization. It is impossible for an effective AUP to deal with every clause and remain readable. For this reason, some sections of an AUP carry more weight than others, denoting importance. The methodology used to develop the hierarchical analysis is a literature review, where various sources were consulted. This hierarchical approach to AUP analysis attempts to highlight important sections and clauses dealt with in an AUP. The emphasis of the hierarchal analysis is to prioritize the objectives of an AUP.

  9. Neurosyphilis in Anglo-American Composers and Jazz Musicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breitenfeld, Darko; Kust, Davor; Breitenfeld, Tomislav; Prpić, Marin; Lucijanić, Marko; Zibar, Davor; Hostić, Vedran; Franceschi, Maja; Bolanča, Ante

    2017-09-01

    Syphilis is a sexually transmitted, systemic disease caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum. The most common mechanism of transmission is sexual intercourse. Although there are several hypotheses, the exact origin of the disease remains unknown. Newly published evidence suggests that the hypothesis supporting the theory of the American origin of the disease is the valid one. Among 1500 analyzed pathographies of composers and musicians, data on ten Anglo-American composers and jazz musicians having suffered from neurosyphilis (tertiary stage of the disease) were extracted for this report. In this group of Anglo-American composers and musicians, most of them died from progressive paralysis while still in the creative phase of life. Additionally, diagnoses of eleven other famous neurosyphilitic composers, as well as basic biographic data on ten less known composers that died from neurosyphilis-progressive paralysis are also briefly mentioned. In conclusion, neurosyphilis can cause serious neurological damage, as well as permanent disability or death, preventing further work and skill improvement.

  10. Chromatin structure and dynamics in hot environments: architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases of thermophilic archaea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visone, Valeria; Vettone, Antonella; Serpe, Mario; Valenti, Anna; Perugino, Giuseppe; Rossi, Mosè; Ciaramella, Maria

    2014-09-25

    In all organisms of the three living domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya) chromosome-associated proteins play a key role in genome functional organization. They not only compact and shape the genome structure, but also regulate its dynamics, which is essential to allow complex genome functions. Elucidation of chromatin composition and regulation is a critical issue in biology, because of the intimate connection of chromatin with all the essential information processes (transcription, replication, recombination, and repair). Chromatin proteins include architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases, which regulate genome structure and remodelling at two hierarchical levels. This review is focussed on architectural proteins and topoisomerases from hyperthermophilic Archaea. In these organisms, which live at high environmental temperature (>80 °C <113 °C), chromatin proteins and modulation of the DNA secondary structure are concerned with the problem of DNA stabilization against heat denaturation while maintaining its metabolic activity.

  11. Chromatin Structure and Dynamics in Hot Environments: Architectural Proteins and DNA Topoisomerases of Thermophilic Archaea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valeria Visone

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In all organisms of the three living domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya chromosome-associated proteins play a key role in genome functional organization. They not only compact and shape the genome structure, but also regulate its dynamics, which is essential to allow complex genome functions. Elucidation of chromatin composition and regulation is a critical issue in biology, because of the intimate connection of chromatin with all the essential information processes (transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. Chromatin proteins include architectural proteins and DNA topoisomerases, which regulate genome structure and remodelling at two hierarchical levels. This review is focussed on architectural proteins and topoisomerases from hyperthermophilic Archaea. In these organisms, which live at high environmental temperature (>80 °C <113 °C, chromatin proteins and modulation of the DNA secondary structure are concerned with the problem of DNA stabilization against heat denaturation while maintaining its metabolic activity.

  12. FeelSound : Collaborative Composing of Acoustic Music

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fikkert, Wim; Hakvoort, Michiel; van der Vet, Paul; Nijholt, Anton

    2009-01-01

    FeelSound is a multi-user application for collaboratively composing music in an entertaining way. Up to four composers can jointly create acoustic music on a top-projection multitouch sensitive table. The notes of an acoustic instrument are represented on a harmonic table and, by drawing shapes on

  13. Migration of vectorized iterative solvers to distributed memory architectures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pommerell, C. [AT& T Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ (United States); Ruehl, R. [CSCS-ETH, Manno (Switzerland)

    1994-12-31

    Both necessity and opportunity motivate the use of high-performance computers for iterative linear solvers. Necessity results from the size of the problems being solved-smaller problems are often better handled by direct methods. Opportunity arises from the formulation of the iterative methods in terms of simple linear algebra operations, even if this {open_quote}natural{close_quotes} parallelism is not easy to exploit in irregularly structured sparse matrices and with good preconditioners. As a result, high-performance implementations of iterative solvers have attracted a lot of interest in recent years. Most efforts are geared to vectorize or parallelize the dominating operation-structured or unstructured sparse matrix-vector multiplication, or to increase locality and parallelism by reformulating the algorithm-reducing global synchronization in inner products or local data exchange in preconditioners. Target architectures for iterative solvers currently include mostly vector supercomputers and architectures with one or few optimized (e.g., super-scalar and/or super-pipelined RISC) processors and hierarchical memory systems. More recently, parallel computers with physically distributed memory and a better price/performance ratio have been offered by vendors as a very interesting alternative to vector supercomputers. However, programming comfort on such distributed memory parallel processors (DMPPs) still lags behind. Here the authors are concerned with iterative solvers and their changing computing environment. In particular, they are considering migration from traditional vector supercomputers to DMPPs. Application requirements force one to use flexible and portable libraries. They want to extend the portability of iterative solvers rather than reimplementing everything for each new machine, or even for each new architecture.

  14. Hierarchical Design of Tissue Regenerative Constructs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Jonas C; De Laporte, Laura

    2018-03-01

    The worldwide shortage of organs fosters significant advancements in regenerative therapies. Tissue engineering and regeneration aim to supply or repair organs or tissues by combining material scaffolds, biochemical signals, and cells. The greatest challenge entails the creation of a suitable implantable or injectable 3D macroenvironment and microenvironment to allow for ex vivo or in vivo cell-induced tissue formation. This review gives an overview of the essential components of tissue regenerating scaffolds, ranging from the molecular to the macroscopic scale in a hierarchical manner. Further, this review elaborates about recent pivotal technologies, such as photopatterning, electrospinning, 3D bioprinting, or the assembly of micrometer-scale building blocks, which enable the incorporation of local heterogeneities, similar to most native extracellular matrices. These methods are applied to mimic a vast number of different tissues, including cartilage, bone, nerves, muscle, heart, and blood vessels. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the last decade, it remains a hurdle to build biomaterial constructs in vitro or in vivo with a native-like structure and architecture, including spatiotemporal control of biofunctional domains and mechanical properties. New chemistries and assembly methods in water will be crucial to develop therapies that are clinically translatable and can evolve into organized and functional tissues. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Composing Interfering Abstract Protocols

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-01

    Tecnologia , Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal. This document is a companion technical report of the paper, “Composing Interfering Abstract...a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) through the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program under grant SFRH / BD / 33765

  16. Hierarchical modeling and analysis for spatial data

    CERN Document Server

    Banerjee, Sudipto; Gelfand, Alan E

    2003-01-01

    Among the many uses of hierarchical modeling, their application to the statistical analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal data from areas such as epidemiology And environmental science has proven particularly fruitful. Yet to date, the few books that address the subject have been either too narrowly focused on specific aspects of spatial analysis, or written at a level often inaccessible to those lacking a strong background in mathematical statistics.Hierarchical Modeling and Analysis for Spatial Data is the first accessible, self-contained treatment of hierarchical methods, modeling, and dat

  17. New energy storage option: toward ZnCo2O4 nanorods/nickel foam architectures for high-performance supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bin; Liu, Boyang; Wang, Qiufan; Wang, Xianfu; Xiang, Qingyi; Chen, Di; Shen, Guozhen

    2013-10-23

    Hierarchical ZnCo2O4/nickel foam architectures were first fabricated from a simple scalable solution approach, exhibiting outstanding electrochemical performance in supercapacitors with high specific capacitance (∼1400 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1)), excellent rate capability (72.5% capacity retention at 20 A g(-1)), and good cycling stability (only 3% loss after 1000 cycles at 6 A g(-1)). All-solid-state supercapacitors were also fabricated by assembling two pieces of the ZnCo2O4-based electrodes, showing superior performance in terms of high specific capacitance and long cycling stability. Our work confirms that the as-prepared architectures can not only be applied in high energy density fields, but also be used in high power density applications, such as electric vehicles, flexible electronics, and energy storage devices.

  18. High Mass Loading MnO2 with Hierarchical Nanostructures for Supercapacitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Zi-Hang; Song, Yu; Feng, Dong-Yang; Sun, Zhen; Sun, Xiaoqi; Liu, Xiao-Xia

    2018-04-24

    Metal oxides have attracted renewed interest as promising electrode materials for high energy density supercapacitors. However, the electrochemical performance of metal oxide materials deteriorates significantly with the increase of mass loading due to their moderate electronic and ionic conductivities. This limits their practical energy. Herein, we perform a morphology and phase-controlled electrodeposition of MnO 2 with ultrahigh mass loading of 10 mg cm -2 on a carbon cloth substrate to achieve high overall capacitance without sacrificing the electrochemical performance. Under optimum conditions, a hierarchical nanostructured architecture was constructed by interconnection of primary two-dimensional ε-MnO 2 nanosheets and secondary one-dimensional α-MnO 2 nanorod arrays. The specific hetero-nanostructures ensure facile ionic and electric transport in the entire electrode and maintain the structure stability during cycling. The hierarchically structured MnO 2 electrode with high mass loading yields an outstanding areal capacitance of 3.04 F cm -2 (or a specific capacitance of 304 F g -1 ) at 3 mA cm -2 and an excellent rate capability comparable to those of low mass loading MnO 2 electrodes. Finally, the aqueous and all-solid asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) assembled with our MnO 2 cathode exhibit extremely high volumetric energy densities (8.3 mWh cm -3 at the power density of 0.28 W cm -3 for aqueous ASC and 8.0 mWh cm -3 at 0.65 W cm -3 for all-solid ASC), superior to most state-of-the-art supercapacitors.

  19. Three-dimensional hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposite for high-capacity supercapacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Peipei; Hu, Zhonghua, E-mail: huzh@tongji.edu.cn; Liu, Yafei; Yao, Mingming; Zhang, Qiang

    2015-02-15

    Highlights: • 3D hierarchical porous flower-like Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs was synthesized. • The electrode shows a large specific surface area and desirable mesoporosity. • High specific capacitances and outstanding stability were obtained. • The content of MWCNTs affects the electrochemical properties of the electrode. - Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs) nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile and template-free hydrothermal method as electrodes for high-capacity supercapacitors. The samples were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical performance was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge, and cycle life. It was found that Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs nanocomposites displayed a high specific capacitance (1703 F g{sup −1} at a discharge current density of 1 A g{sup −1}) and, additionally, an excellent cycling performance, retaining 97% of the maximum capacitance after 2000 cycles at 10 A g{sup −1}. Even at a high current density (20 A g{sup −1}), the specific capacitance was still up to 1309 F g{sup −1}. This outstanding capacitive performance may be attributed to the ideal composition of the material and to its unique 3D hierarchical porous flower-like architecture.

  20. Three-dimensional hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposite for high-capacity supercapacitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Peipei; Hu, Zhonghua; Liu, Yafei; Yao, Mingming; Zhang, Qiang

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • 3D hierarchical porous flower-like Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs was synthesized. • The electrode shows a large specific surface area and desirable mesoporosity. • High specific capacitances and outstanding stability were obtained. • The content of MWCNTs affects the electrochemical properties of the electrode. - Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous flower-like nickel-cobalt oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs) nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile and template-free hydrothermal method as electrodes for high-capacity supercapacitors. The samples were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical performance was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge, and cycle life. It was found that Ni-Co oxide/MWCNTs nanocomposites displayed a high specific capacitance (1703 F g −1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g −1 ) and, additionally, an excellent cycling performance, retaining 97% of the maximum capacitance after 2000 cycles at 10 A g −1 . Even at a high current density (20 A g −1 ), the specific capacitance was still up to 1309 F g −1 . This outstanding capacitive performance may be attributed to the ideal composition of the material and to its unique 3D hierarchical porous flower-like architecture

  1. Hierarchical Brokering with Feedback Control Framework in Mobile Device-Centric Clouds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao-Lieh Chen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose a hierarchical brokering architecture (HiBA and Mobile Multicloud Networking (MMCN feedback control framework for mobile device-centric cloud (MDC2 computing. Exploiting the MMCN framework and RESTful web-based interconnection, each tier broker probes resource state of its federation for control and management. Real-time and seamless services were developed. Case studies including intrafederation energy-aware balancing based on fuzzy feedback control and higher tier load balancing are further demonstrated to show how HiBA with MMCN relieves the embedding of algorithms when developing services. Theoretical performance model and real-world experiments both show that an MDC2 based on HiBA features better quality in terms of resource availability and network latency if it federates devices with enough resources distributed in lower tier hierarchy. The proposed HiBA realizes a development platform for MDC2 computing which is a feasible solution to User-Centric Networks (UCNs.

  2. Hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbon/graphene composites as supercapacitor electrode materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yanjie; Li, Zhu; Guo, Kunkun; Shao, Ting

    2016-08-25

    Hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbon/graphene (OMC/G) composites have been fabricated by means of a solvent-evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method. The structures of these composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption at 77 K. These results indicate that OMC/G composites possess the hierarchically ordered hexagonal p6mm mesostructure with the lattice unit parameter and pore diameter close to 10 nm and 3 nm, respectively. The specific surface area of OMC/G composites after KOH activation is high up to 2109.2 m(2) g(-1), which is significantly greater than OMC after activation (1474.6 m(2) g(-1)). Subsequently, the resulting OMC/G composites as supercapacitor electrode materials exhibit an outstanding capacitance as high as 329.5 F g(-1) in 6 M KOH electrolyte at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1), which is much higher than both OMC (234.2 F g(-1)) and a sample made by mechanical mixing of OMC with graphene (217.7 F g(-1)). In addition, the obtained OMC/G composites display good cyclic stability, and the final capacitance retention is approximately 96% after 5000 cycles. These ordered mesopores in the OMC/G composites are beneficial to the accessibility and rapid diffusion of the electrolyte, while graphene in OMC/G composites can also facilitate the transport of electrons during the processes of charging and discharging owing to its high conductivity, thereby leading to an excellent energy storage performance. The method demonstrated in this work would open up a new route to design and develop graphene-based architectures for supercapacitor applications.

  3. Hierarchical CuCo2O4 nanobelts as a supercapacitor electrode with high areal and specific capacitance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vijayakumar, Subbukalai; Lee, Seong-Hun; Ryu, Kwang-Sun

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • First time we report the synthesis of CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelts using hydrothermal method. • The spinel CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelts exhibit maximum areal capacitance of 2.42 F cm −2 . • After 1800 cycles, 127% of the initial specific capacitance was retained. - Abstract: One dimensional hierarchical CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelt like architecture was synthesized via hydrothermal method. The synthesized nanomaterial was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM image clearly shows the nanobelt like architecture of CuCo 2 O 4 . The supercapacitor properties of CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelts electrode were tested using cyclic voltammetry, charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The spinel CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelts exhibit maximum areal and specific capacitance of 2.42 F cm −2 (809 F g −1 ). After 1800 continuous charge-discharge cycles, 127% of the initial capacitance was retained. This superior electrochemical supercapacitor property is mainly due to increased surface area and ion transport of nanobelt like architecture. The charge transfer resistance (R ct ) value of CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelt electrode is 3.85 Ω. This high capacitance and cyclic stability demonstrate that the prepared CuCo 2 O 4 nanobelts are a promising candidate for supercapacitors.

  4. Hierarchical organization versus self-organization

    OpenAIRE

    Busseniers, Evo

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we try to define the difference between hierarchical organization and self-organization. Organization is defined as a structure with a function. So we can define the difference between hierarchical organization and self-organization both on the structure as on the function. In the next two chapters these two definitions are given. For the structure we will use some existing definitions in graph theory, for the function we will use existing theory on (self-)organization. In the t...

  5. Maximum entropy approach to H-theory: Statistical mechanics of hierarchical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasconcelos, Giovani L; Salazar, Domingos S P; Macêdo, A M S

    2018-02-01

    A formalism, called H-theory, is applied to the problem of statistical equilibrium of a hierarchical complex system with multiple time and length scales. In this approach, the system is formally treated as being composed of a small subsystem-representing the region where the measurements are made-in contact with a set of "nested heat reservoirs" corresponding to the hierarchical structure of the system, where the temperatures of the reservoirs are allowed to fluctuate owing to the complex interactions between degrees of freedom at different scales. The probability distribution function (pdf) of the temperature of the reservoir at a given scale, conditioned on the temperature of the reservoir at the next largest scale in the hierarchy, is determined from a maximum entropy principle subject to appropriate constraints that describe the thermal equilibrium properties of the system. The marginal temperature distribution of the innermost reservoir is obtained by integrating over the conditional distributions of all larger scales, and the resulting pdf is written in analytical form in terms of certain special transcendental functions, known as the Fox H functions. The distribution of states of the small subsystem is then computed by averaging the quasiequilibrium Boltzmann distribution over the temperature of the innermost reservoir. This distribution can also be written in terms of H functions. The general family of distributions reported here recovers, as particular cases, the stationary distributions recently obtained by Macêdo et al. [Phys. Rev. E 95, 032315 (2017)10.1103/PhysRevE.95.032315] from a stochastic dynamical approach to the problem.

  6. Easy fabrication and high electrochemical capacitive performance of hierarchical porous carbon by a method combining liquid-liquid phase separation and pyrolysis process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fan, Hui-li; Ran, Fen; Zhang, Xuan-xuan; Song, Hai-ming; Jing, Wen-xia; Shen, Kui-wen; Kong, Ling-bin; Kang, Long

    2014-01-01

    A hierarchical porous carbon membrane was designed and prepared through a method combining liquid-liquid phase separation and then pyrolysis process using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as precursor. The results of scan electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller characterization reveal that the 3D nanoscaled architecture with hierarchical porous structure was achieved, which not only provide a continuous electron pathway to ensure good electrical contact, but also facilitate ion transport by shortening diffusion pathways. The effect of PAN concentration in casting solution on structure feature of carbon membrane was also studied, indicating that the membrane thickness with different porous structure can be mediated by PAN concentration. As the electrode material for supercapacitor, a high specific capacitance of 277.0 F g −1 was attained at a current density of 5 mA cm −2 and long cycle life of 90.0% capacity retention was obtained after 2000 charge-discharge cycles in 2 mol L −1 KOH solution

  7. Stickiness in Hamiltonian systems: From sharply divided to hierarchical phase space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altmann, Eduardo G.; Motter, Adilson E.; Kantz, Holger

    2006-02-01

    We investigate the dynamics of chaotic trajectories in simple yet physically important Hamiltonian systems with nonhierarchical borders between regular and chaotic regions with positive measures. We show that the stickiness to the border of the regular regions in systems with such a sharply divided phase space occurs through one-parameter families of marginally unstable periodic orbits and is characterized by an exponent γ=2 for the asymptotic power-law decay of the distribution of recurrence times. Generic perturbations lead to systems with hierarchical phase space, where the stickiness is apparently enhanced due to the presence of infinitely many regular islands and Cantori. In this case, we show that the distribution of recurrence times can be composed of a sum of exponentials or a sum of power laws, depending on the relative contribution of the primary and secondary structures of the hierarchy. Numerical verification of our main results are provided for area-preserving maps, mushroom billiards, and the newly defined magnetic mushroom billiards.

  8. Architectural prototyping

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bardram, Jakob Eyvind; Christensen, Henrik Bærbak; Hansen, Klaus Marius

    2004-01-01

    A major part of software architecture design is learning how specific architectural designs balance the concerns of stakeholders. We explore the notion of "architectural prototypes", correspondingly architectural prototyping, as a means of using executable prototypes to investigate stakeholders...

  9. Hierarchical representation of shapes in visual cortex-from localized features to figural shape segregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tschechne, Stephan; Neumann, Heiko

    2014-01-01

    Visual structures in the environment are segmented into image regions and those combined to a representation of surfaces and prototypical objects. Such a perceptual organization is performed by complex neural mechanisms in the visual cortex of primates. Multiple mutually connected areas in the ventral cortical pathway receive visual input and extract local form features that are subsequently grouped into increasingly complex, more meaningful image elements. Such a distributed network of processing must be capable to make accessible highly articulated changes in shape boundary as well as very subtle curvature changes that contribute to the perception of an object. We propose a recurrent computational network architecture that utilizes hierarchical distributed representations of shape features to encode surface and object boundary over different scales of resolution. Our model makes use of neural mechanisms that model the processing capabilities of early and intermediate stages in visual cortex, namely areas V1-V4 and IT. We suggest that multiple specialized component representations interact by feedforward hierarchical processing that is combined with feedback signals driven by representations generated at higher stages. Based on this, global configurational as well as local information is made available to distinguish changes in the object's contour. Once the outline of a shape has been established, contextual contour configurations are used to assign border ownership directions and thus achieve segregation of figure and ground. The model, thus, proposes how separate mechanisms contribute to distributed hierarchical cortical shape representation and combine with processes of figure-ground segregation. Our model is probed with a selection of stimuli to illustrate processing results at different processing stages. We especially highlight how modulatory feedback connections contribute to the processing of visual input at various stages in the processing hierarchy.

  10. Architectural communication: Intra and extra activity of architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stamatović-Vučković Slavica

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Apart from a brief overview of architectural communication viewed from the standpoint of theory of information and semiotics, this paper contains two forms of dualistically viewed architectural communication. The duality denotation/connotation (”primary” and ”secondary” architectural communication is one of semiotic postulates taken from Umberto Eco who viewed architectural communication as a semiotic phenomenon. In addition, architectural communication can be viewed as an intra and an extra activity of architecture where the overall activity of the edifice performed through its spatial manifestation may be understood as an act of communication. In that respect, the activity may be perceived as the ”behavior of architecture”, which corresponds to Lefebvre’s production of space.

  11. Deliberate change without hierarchical influence?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørskov, Sladjana; Kesting, Peter; Ulhøi, John Parm

    2017-01-01

    reveals that deliberate change is indeed achievable in a non-hierarchical collaborative OSS community context. However, it presupposes the presence and active involvement of informal change agents. The paper identifies and specifies four key drivers for change agents’ influence. Originality....../value The findings contribute to organisational analysis by providing a deeper understanding of the importance of leadership in making deliberate change possible in non-hierarchical settings. It points to the importance of “change-by-conviction”, essentially based on voluntary behaviour. This can open the door...

  12. Multiparty hierarchical quantum-information splitting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xinwen; Zhang Dengyu; Tang Shiqing; Xie Lijun

    2011-01-01

    We propose a scheme for multiparty hierarchical quantum-information splitting (QIS) with a multipartite entangled state, where a boss distributes a secret quantum state to two grades of agents asymmetrically. The agents who belong to different grades have different authorities for recovering the boss's secret. Except for the boss's Bell-state measurement, no nonlocal operation is involved. The presented scheme is also shown to be secure against eavesdropping. Such a hierarchical QIS is expected to find useful applications in the field of modern multipartite quantum cryptography.

  13. Biased trapping issue on weighted hierarchical networks

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    archical networks which are based on the classic scale-free hierarchical networks. ... Weighted hierarchical networks; weight-dependent walks; mean first passage ..... The weighted networks can mimic some real-world natural and social systems to ... the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education ...

  14. Architectural freedom and industrialized architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Inge

    2012-01-01

    to explain that architecture can be thought as a complex and diverse design through customization, telling exactly the revitalized storey about the change to a contemporary sustainable and better performing expression in direct relation to the given context. Through the last couple of years we have...... proportions, to organize the process on site choosing either one room wall components or several rooms wall components – either horizontally or vertically. Combined with the seamless joint the playing with these possibilities the new industrialized architecture can deliver variations in choice of solutions...... for retrofit design. If we add the question of the installations e.g. ventilation to this systematic thinking of building technique we get a diverse and functional architecture, thereby creating a new and clearer story telling about new and smart system based thinking behind architectural expression....

  15. Architectural freedom and industrialized architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Inge

    2012-01-01

    to explain that architecture can be thought as a complex and diverse design through customization, telling exactly the revitalized storey about the change to a contemporary sustainable and better performing expression in direct relation to the given context. Through the last couple of years we have...... expression in the specific housing area. It is the aim of this article to expand the different design strategies which architects can use – to give the individual project attitudes and designs with architectural quality. Through the customized component production it is possible to choose different...... for retrofit design. If we add the question of the installations e.g. ventilation to this systematic thinking of building technique we get a diverse and functional architecture, thereby creating a new and clearer story telling about new and smart system based thinking behind architectural expression....

  16. Architectural freedom and industrialised architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Inge

    2012-01-01

    Architectural freedom and industrialized architecture. Inge Vestergaard, Associate Professor, Cand. Arch. Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark Noerreport 20, 8000 Aarhus C Telephone +45 89 36 0000 E-mai l inge.vestergaard@aarch.dk Based on the repetitive architecture from the "building boom" 1960...... customization, telling exactly the revitalized storey about the change to a contemporary sustainable and better performed expression in direct relation to the given context. Through the last couple of years we have in Denmark been focusing a more sustainable and low energy building technique, which also include...... to the building physic problems a new industrialized period has started based on light weight elements basically made of wooden structures, faced with different suitable materials meant for individual expression for the specific housing area. It is the purpose of this article to widen up the different design...

  17. Self-assembled hierarchical carbon/g-C3N4 composite with high photocatalytic activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ru-Long; Huang, Wei-Qing; Li, Dong-Feng; Ma, Li-Li; Pan, Anlian; Hu, Wangyu; Fan, Xiaoxing; Huang, Gui-Fang

    2018-04-01

    Hierarchical carbon/g-C3N4 composites consisting of nanosheets are synthesized by a direct thermal diffusion and exfoliation approach with glucose acting as the intercalator and carbon source. This facile protocol not only renders nanosheets with a large surface area, but also carbon intercalation into the interlayer of g-C3N4. Therefore, the synthesized carbon/g-C3N4 composites exhibit superior photocatalytic performance for degrading representative methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiatuon. Carbon/g-C3N4 composites with an optimal glucose mass ratio of 0.25% show the apparent reaction rate constant of 0.253 h-1, which is 9 times higher than that over bluk g-C3N4. The superior photocatalytic performance of carbon/g-C3N4 hierarchical architectures can be attributed to the synergic effects of large reactive sites, effective visible light adsorption and faster charge transfer owing to the superior electron transfer ability of carbon as verified by the PL and photoelectrochemical measurements. The main reactive species responsible for the photocatalytic degradation are photoinduced holes and ·OH radicals under visible light irradiation. This work provides a facile way to fabricate effecient g-C3N4-based photocatalysts for the potential application in dealing with environmental and energy shortage issues using solar energy.

  18. Anti-hierarchical evolution of the active galactic nucleus space density in a hierarchical universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Enoki, Motohiro; Ishiyama, Tomoaki; Kobayashi, Masakazu A. R.; Nagashima, Masahiro

    2014-01-01

    Recent observations show that the space density of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs) peaks at higher redshifts than that of faint AGNs. This downsizing trend in the AGN evolution seems to be contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario. In this study, we present the AGN space density evolution predicted by a semi-analytic model of galaxy and AGN formation based on the hierarchical structure formation scenario. We demonstrate that our model can reproduce the downsizing trend of the AGN space density evolution. The reason for the downsizing trend in our model is a combination of the cold gas depletion as a consequence of star formation, the gas cooling suppression in massive halos, and the AGN lifetime scaling with the dynamical timescale. We assume that a major merger of galaxies causes a starburst, spheroid formation, and cold gas accretion onto a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We also assume that this cold gas accretion triggers AGN activity. Since the cold gas is mainly depleted by star formation and gas cooling is suppressed in massive dark halos, the amount of cold gas accreted onto SMBHs decreases with cosmic time. Moreover, AGN lifetime increases with cosmic time. Thus, at low redshifts, major mergers do not always lead to luminous AGNs. Because the luminosity of AGNs is correlated with the mass of accreted gas onto SMBHs, the space density of luminous AGNs decreases more quickly than that of faint AGNs. We conclude that the anti-hierarchical evolution of the AGN space density is not contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario.

  19. Anti-hierarchical evolution of the active galactic nucleus space density in a hierarchical universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Enoki, Motohiro [Faculty of Business Administration, Tokyo Keizai University, Kokubunji, Tokyo 185-8502 (Japan); Ishiyama, Tomoaki [Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577 (Japan); Kobayashi, Masakazu A. R. [Research Center for Space and Cosmic Evolution, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577 (Japan); Nagashima, Masahiro, E-mail: enokimt@tku.ac.jp [Faculty of Education, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Nagasaki 852-8521 (Japan)

    2014-10-10

    Recent observations show that the space density of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGNs) peaks at higher redshifts than that of faint AGNs. This downsizing trend in the AGN evolution seems to be contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario. In this study, we present the AGN space density evolution predicted by a semi-analytic model of galaxy and AGN formation based on the hierarchical structure formation scenario. We demonstrate that our model can reproduce the downsizing trend of the AGN space density evolution. The reason for the downsizing trend in our model is a combination of the cold gas depletion as a consequence of star formation, the gas cooling suppression in massive halos, and the AGN lifetime scaling with the dynamical timescale. We assume that a major merger of galaxies causes a starburst, spheroid formation, and cold gas accretion onto a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We also assume that this cold gas accretion triggers AGN activity. Since the cold gas is mainly depleted by star formation and gas cooling is suppressed in massive dark halos, the amount of cold gas accreted onto SMBHs decreases with cosmic time. Moreover, AGN lifetime increases with cosmic time. Thus, at low redshifts, major mergers do not always lead to luminous AGNs. Because the luminosity of AGNs is correlated with the mass of accreted gas onto SMBHs, the space density of luminous AGNs decreases more quickly than that of faint AGNs. We conclude that the anti-hierarchical evolution of the AGN space density is not contradictory to the hierarchical structure formation scenario.

  20. Run-Time HW/SW Scheduling of Data Flow Applications on Reconfigurable Architectures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghaffari Fakhreddine

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient dynamic and run-time Hardware/Software scheduling approach. This scheduling heuristic consists in mapping online the different tasks of a highly dynamic application in such a way that the total execution time is minimized. We consider soft real-time data flow graph oriented applications for which the execution time is function of the input data nature. The target architecture is composed of two processors connected to a dynamically reconfigurable hardware accelerator. Our approach takes advantage of the reconfiguration property of the considered architecture to adapt the treatment to the system dynamics. We compare our heuristic with another similar approach. We present the results of our scheduling method on several image processing applications. Our experiments include simulation and synthesis results on a Virtex V-based platform. These results show a better performance against existing methods.

  1. Discovering hierarchical structure in normal relational data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard; Herlau, Tue; Mørup, Morten

    2014-01-01

    -parametric generative model for hierarchical clustering of similarity based on multifurcating Gibbs fragmentation trees. This allows us to infer and display the posterior distribution of hierarchical structures that comply with the data. We demonstrate the utility of our method on synthetic data and data of functional...

  2. Superstretchable Nacre-Mimetic Graphene/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Composite Film Based on Interfacial Architectural Engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Nifang; Yang, Miao; Zhao, Qian; Gao, Weiwei; Xie, Tao; Bai, Hao

    2017-05-23

    Through designing hierarchical structures, particularly optimizing the chemical and architectural interactions at its inorganic/organic interface, nacre has achieved an excellent combination of contradictory mechanical properties such as strength and toughness, which is highly demanded yet difficult to achieve by most synthetic materials. Most techniques applied to develop nacre-mimetic composites have been focused on mimicking the "brick-and-mortar" structure, but the interfacial architectural features, especially the asperities and mineral bridges of "bricks", have been rarely concerned, which are of equal importance for enhancing mechanical properties of nacre. Here, we used a modified bidirectional freezing method followed by uniaxial pressing and chemical reduction to assemble a nacre-mimetic graphene/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite film, with both asperities and bridges introduced in addition to the lamellar layers to mimic the interfacial architectural interactions found in nacre. As such, we have developed a composite film that is not only strong (up to ∼150.9 MPa), but also tough (up to ∼8.50 MJ/m 3 ), and highly stretchable (up to ∼10.44%), difficult to obtain by other methods. This was all achieved by only interfacial architectural engineering within the traditional "brick-and-mortar" structure, without introducing a third component or employing chemical cross-linker as in some other nacre-mimetic systems. More importantly, we believe that the design principles and processing strategies reported here can also be applied to other material systems to develop strong and stretchable materials.

  3. Enterprise architecture evaluation using architecture framework and UML stereotypes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Narges Shahi

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available There is an increasing need for enterprise architecture in numerous organizations with complicated systems with various processes. Support for information technology, organizational units whose elements maintain complex relationships increases. Enterprise architecture is so effective that its non-use in organizations is regarded as their institutional inability in efficient information technology management. The enterprise architecture process generally consists of three phases including strategic programing of information technology, enterprise architecture programing and enterprise architecture implementation. Each phase must be implemented sequentially and one single flaw in each phase may result in a flaw in the whole architecture and, consequently, in extra costs and time. If a model is mapped for the issue and then it is evaluated before enterprise architecture implementation in the second phase, the possible flaws in implementation process are prevented. In this study, the processes of enterprise architecture are illustrated through UML diagrams, and the architecture is evaluated in programming phase through transforming the UML diagrams to Petri nets. The results indicate that the high costs of the implementation phase will be reduced.

  4. Road Network Selection Based on Road Hierarchical Structure Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HE Haiwei

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available A new road network selection method based on hierarchical structure is studied. Firstly, road network is built as strokes which are then classified into hierarchical collections according to the criteria of betweenness centrality value (BC value. Secondly, the hierarchical structure of the strokes is enhanced using structural characteristic identification technique. Thirdly, the importance calculation model was established according to the relationships among the hierarchical structure of the strokes. Finally, the importance values of strokes are got supported with the model's hierarchical calculation, and with which the road network is selected. Tests are done to verify the advantage of this method by comparing it with other common stroke-oriented methods using three kinds of typical road network data. Comparision of the results show that this method had few need to semantic data, and could eliminate the negative influence of edge strokes caused by the criteria of BC value well. So, it is better to maintain the global hierarchical structure of road network, and suitable to meet with the selection of various kinds of road network at the same time.

  5. Hierarchical control of electron-transfer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Westerhoff, Hans V.; Jensen, Peter Ruhdal; Egger, Louis

    1997-01-01

    In this chapter the role of electron transfer in determining the behaviour of the ATP synthesising enzyme in E. coli is analysed. It is concluded that the latter enzyme lacks control because of special properties of the electron transfer components. These properties range from absence of a strong...... back pressure by the protonmotive force on the rate of electron transfer to hierarchical regulation of the expression of the gens that encode the electron transfer proteins as a response to changes in the bioenergetic properties of the cell.The discussion uses Hierarchical Control Analysis...

  6. Software architecture 2

    CERN Document Server

    Oussalah, Mourad Chabanne

    2014-01-01

    Over the past 20 years, software architectures have significantly contributed to the development of complex and distributed systems. Nowadays, it is recognized that one of the critical problems in the design and development of any complex software system is its architecture, i.e. the organization of its architectural elements. Software Architecture presents the software architecture paradigms based on objects, components, services and models, as well as the various architectural techniques and methods, the analysis of architectural qualities, models of representation of architectural templa

  7. Lightweight enterprise architectures

    CERN Document Server

    Theuerkorn, Fenix

    2004-01-01

    STATE OF ARCHITECTUREArchitectural ChaosRelation of Technology and Architecture The Many Faces of Architecture The Scope of Enterprise Architecture The Need for Enterprise ArchitectureThe History of Architecture The Current Environment Standardization Barriers The Need for Lightweight Architecture in the EnterpriseThe Cost of TechnologyThe Benefits of Enterprise Architecture The Domains of Architecture The Gap between Business and ITWhere Does LEA Fit? LEA's FrameworkFrameworks, Methodologies, and Approaches The Framework of LEATypes of Methodologies Types of ApproachesActual System Environmen

  8. Software architecture 1

    CERN Document Server

    Oussalah , Mourad Chabane

    2014-01-01

    Over the past 20 years, software architectures have significantly contributed to the development of complex and distributed systems. Nowadays, it is recognized that one of the critical problems in the design and development of any complex software system is its architecture, i.e. the organization of its architectural elements. Software Architecture presents the software architecture paradigms based on objects, components, services and models, as well as the various architectural techniques and methods, the analysis of architectural qualities, models of representation of architectural template

  9. Indigenous architecture as a context-oriented architecture, a look at ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    What has become problematic as the achievement of international style and globalization of architecture during the time has been the purely technological look at architecture, and the architecture without belonging to a place. In recent decades, the topic of sustainable architecture and reconsidering indigenous architecture ...

  10. Biomedical laboratories: architecture and radioprotection principles; Laboratorios biomedicos: arquitetura e principios de radioprotecao

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lapa, Renata [Fundacao Inst. Oswaldo Cruz (CIBio/FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Comissao Interna de Biosseguranca; Salgado, Monica Santos [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (PROARQ/FAU/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Fac. de Arquitetura e Urbanismo. Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Arquitetura; Vieira, Valeria Michielin [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (PROARQ/FAU/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Fac. de Arquitetura e Urbanismo. Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Arquitetura; Fundacao Inst. Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2005-07-01

    In institutions where biological research are made and some technologies make use of radioisotope, the radiation protection is an issue of biosecurity for conceptual reasons. In the process of architectural design of Biomedical Laboratories, engineering and architecture reveal interfaces with other areas of knowledge and specific concepts. Exploring the role of architectural design in favor of personal and environmental protection in biological containment laboratories that handle non-sealed sources in research, the work discusses the triad that compose the principle of containment in health environments: best practices, protective equipment, physical facilities, with greater emphasis on the latter component. The shortcomings of the design process are reflected in construction and in use-operation and maintenance of these buildings, with direct consequences on the occupational health and safety, environmental and credibility of work processes. In this context, the importance of adoption of alternatives to improve the design process is confirmed, taking into account the early consideration of several variables involved and providing subsidies to the related laboratories . The research, conducted at FIOCRUZ - a Brazilian health institution, developed from the analysis of the participants in the architectural project, aiming at the formulation of design guidelines which could contribute to the rationalisation of this kind of building construction.

  11. The Ulster Cycle: Cultural Significance for Irish Composers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Goff

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available For more than three hundred years, Irish composers have engaged with tales from early Irish saga-literature which comprises four main series: Mythological, Ulster and Fenian cycles as well as the Cycle of Kings. This literary corpus dates from 600–1200 CE and is amongst the oldest in Europe. The fragmented history of the literature reveals a continuity of tradition in that the ancient sagas evolved from the oral Irish tradition, were gradually recorded in Irish, and kept alive in modern times through translation into the English language. The timelessness and social impact of these sagas, centuries after they were documented, resonate with Irish composers through the identification of local features and/or universal themes of redemption, triumph or tragedy depicted in the literature. The focus here is on sagas from the Ulster Cycle as they have been most celebrated by Irish composers; the majority of which have been composed since Thomas Kinsella’s successful translation of the Táin Bó Cuailnge in 1969. How the composers chose to embrace the Irish past lies in each composer’s execution of the peculiar local and universal themes exhibited in the sagas. The aim of this article is to initiate an interdisciplinary discussion of the cultural significance of this literary corpus for Irish composers by exploring an area of Irish musicological discourse that has not been hitherto documented. A brief literary background to the Ulster Cycle leads to a discussion of what prompted the composers to engage with Ulster Cycle themes at a particular time in their respective careers. An exploration of the various stylistic features employed in selected works sheds light on the cultural ideologies that prevailed in Ireland at the time of their respective composition.

  12. Multi-objective hierarchical genetic algorithms for multilevel redundancy allocation optimization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, Ranjan [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)], E-mail: ranjan.k@ks3.ecs.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Izui, Kazuhiro [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)], E-mail: izui@prec.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Yoshimura, Masataka [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)], E-mail: yoshimura@prec.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Nishiwaki, Shinji [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)], E-mail: shinji@prec.kyoto-u.ac.jp

    2009-04-15

    Multilevel redundancy allocation optimization problems (MRAOPs) occur frequently when attempting to maximize the system reliability of a hierarchical system, and almost all complex engineering systems are hierarchical. Despite their practical significance, limited research has been done concerning the solving of simple MRAOPs. These problems are not only NP hard but also involve hierarchical design variables. Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been applied in solving MRAOPs, since they are computationally efficient in solving such problems, unlike exact methods, but their applications has been confined to single-objective formulation of MRAOPs. This paper proposes a multi-objective formulation of MRAOPs and a methodology for solving such problems. In this methodology, a hierarchical GA framework for multi-objective optimization is proposed by introducing hierarchical genotype encoding for design variables. In addition, we implement the proposed approach by integrating the hierarchical genotype encoding scheme with two popular multi-objective genetic algorithms (MOGAs)-the strength Pareto evolutionary genetic algorithm (SPEA2) and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). In the provided numerical examples, the proposed multi-objective hierarchical approach is applied to solve two hierarchical MRAOPs, a 4- and a 3-level problems. The proposed method is compared with a single-objective optimization method that uses a hierarchical genetic algorithm (HGA), also applied to solve the 3- and 4-level problems. The results show that a multi-objective hierarchical GA (MOHGA) that includes elitism and mechanism for diversity preserving performed better than a single-objective GA that only uses elitism, when solving large-scale MRAOPs. Additionally, the experimental results show that the proposed method with NSGA-II outperformed the proposed method with SPEA2 in finding useful Pareto optimal solution sets.

  13. Multi-objective hierarchical genetic algorithms for multilevel redundancy allocation optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Ranjan; Izui, Kazuhiro; Yoshimura, Masataka; Nishiwaki, Shinji

    2009-01-01

    Multilevel redundancy allocation optimization problems (MRAOPs) occur frequently when attempting to maximize the system reliability of a hierarchical system, and almost all complex engineering systems are hierarchical. Despite their practical significance, limited research has been done concerning the solving of simple MRAOPs. These problems are not only NP hard but also involve hierarchical design variables. Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been applied in solving MRAOPs, since they are computationally efficient in solving such problems, unlike exact methods, but their applications has been confined to single-objective formulation of MRAOPs. This paper proposes a multi-objective formulation of MRAOPs and a methodology for solving such problems. In this methodology, a hierarchical GA framework for multi-objective optimization is proposed by introducing hierarchical genotype encoding for design variables. In addition, we implement the proposed approach by integrating the hierarchical genotype encoding scheme with two popular multi-objective genetic algorithms (MOGAs)-the strength Pareto evolutionary genetic algorithm (SPEA2) and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). In the provided numerical examples, the proposed multi-objective hierarchical approach is applied to solve two hierarchical MRAOPs, a 4- and a 3-level problems. The proposed method is compared with a single-objective optimization method that uses a hierarchical genetic algorithm (HGA), also applied to solve the 3- and 4-level problems. The results show that a multi-objective hierarchical GA (MOHGA) that includes elitism and mechanism for diversity preserving performed better than a single-objective GA that only uses elitism, when solving large-scale MRAOPs. Additionally, the experimental results show that the proposed method with NSGA-II outperformed the proposed method with SPEA2 in finding useful Pareto optimal solution sets

  14. Hierarchical Neural Regression Models for Customer Churn Prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Golshan Mohammadi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available As customers are the main assets of each industry, customer churn prediction is becoming a major task for companies to remain in competition with competitors. In the literature, the better applicability and efficiency of hierarchical data mining techniques has been reported. This paper considers three hierarchical models by combining four different data mining techniques for churn prediction, which are backpropagation artificial neural networks (ANN, self-organizing maps (SOM, alpha-cut fuzzy c-means (α-FCM, and Cox proportional hazards regression model. The hierarchical models are ANN + ANN + Cox, SOM + ANN + Cox, and α-FCM + ANN + Cox. In particular, the first component of the models aims to cluster data in two churner and nonchurner groups and also filter out unrepresentative data or outliers. Then, the clustered data as the outputs are used to assign customers to churner and nonchurner groups by the second technique. Finally, the correctly classified data are used to create Cox proportional hazards model. To evaluate the performance of the hierarchical models, an Iranian mobile dataset is considered. The experimental results show that the hierarchical models outperform the single Cox regression baseline model in terms of prediction accuracy, Types I and II errors, RMSE, and MAD metrics. In addition, the α-FCM + ANN + Cox model significantly performs better than the two other hierarchical models.

  15. Structure of urban movements: polycentric activity and entangled hierarchical flows.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camille Roth

    Full Text Available The spatial arrangement of urban hubs and centers and how individuals interact with these centers is a crucial problem with many applications ranging from urban planning to epidemiology. We utilize here in an unprecedented manner the large scale, real-time 'Oyster' card database of individual person movements in the London subway to reveal the structure and organization of the city. We show that patterns of intraurban movement are strongly heterogeneous in terms of volume, but not in terms of distance travelled, and that there is a polycentric structure composed of large flows organized around a limited number of activity centers. For smaller flows, the pattern of connections becomes richer and more complex and is not strictly hierarchical since it mixes different levels consisting of different orders of magnitude. This new understanding can shed light on the impact of new urban projects on the evolution of the polycentric configuration of a city and the dense structure of its centers and it provides an initial approach to modeling flows in an urban system.

  16. A Control Architecture to Coordinate Distributed Generators and Active Power Filters Coexisting in a Microgrid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hashempour, Mohammad M.; Firoozabadi, Mehdi Savaghebi; Quintero, Juan Carlos Vasquez

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes a control architecture of distributed generators (DGs) inverters and shunt active power filters (APFs) in microgrids to compensate voltage harmonics in a coordinated way. For this, a hierarchical control structure is proposed that includes two control levels. The primary (local......) control consists of power controllers, selective virtual impedance loops and proportional-resonant (PR) voltage/current controllers. The secondary (central) control manages the compensation level of voltage harmonic distortion of sensitive load bus (SLB). Compensation of SLB harmonics by control of DGs...... excessive harmonics or overloading of interface inverters. Effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated through simulation studies....

  17. A control architecture to coordinate distributed generators and active power filters coexisting in a microgrid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hashempour, Mohammad M.; Savaghebi, Mehdi; Quintero, Juan Carlos Vasquez

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes a control architecture of distributed generators (DGs) inverters and shunt active power filters (APFs) in microgrids to compensate voltage harmonics in a coordinated way. For this, a hierarchical control structure is proposed that includes two control levels. The primary (local......) control consists of power controllers, selective virtual impedance loops and proportional-resonant (PR) voltage/current controllers. The secondary (central) control manages the compensation level of voltage harmonic distortion of sensitive load bus (SLB). Compensation of SLB harmonics by control of DGs...... excessive harmonics or overloading of interface inverters. Effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated through simulation studies....

  18. Hierarchical Traces for Reduced NSM Memory Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, Torbjørn S.

    This paper presents work on using hierarchical long term memory to reduce the memory requirements of nearest sequence memory (NSM) learning, a previously published, instance-based reinforcement learning algorithm. A hierarchical memory representation reduces the memory requirements by allowing traces to share common sub-sequences. We present moderated mechanisms for estimating discounted future rewards and for dealing with hidden state using hierarchical memory. We also present an experimental analysis of how the sub-sequence length affects the memory compression achieved and show that the reduced memory requirements do not effect the speed of learning. Finally, we analyse and discuss the persistence of the sub-sequences independent of specific trace instances.

  19. Architecture in the Islamic Civilization: Muslim Building or Islamic Architecture

    OpenAIRE

    Yassin, Ayat Ali; Utaberta, Dr. Nangkula

    2012-01-01

    The main problem of the theory in the arena of islamic architecture is affected by some of its Westernthoughts, and stereotyping the islamic architecture according to Western thoughts; this leads to the breakdownof the foundations in the islamic architecture. It is a myth that islamic architecture is subjected to theinfluence from foreign architectures. This paper will highlight the dialectical concept of islamic architecture ormuslim buildings and the areas of recognition in islamic architec...

  20. Rational Design of a Water-Storable Hierarchical Architecture Decorated with Amorphous Barium Oxide and Nickel Nanoparticles as a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode with Excellent Sulfur Tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Yufei; Wang, Wei; Ge, Lei; Xu, Xiaomin; Zhang, Zhenbao; Julião, Paulo Sérgio Barros; Zhou, Wei; Shao, Zongping

    2017-11-01

    Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which can directly convert chemical energy stored in fuels into electric power, represent a useful technology for a more sustainable future. They are particularly attractive given that they can be easily integrated into the currently available fossil fuel infrastructure to realize an ideal clean energy system. However, the widespread use of the SOFC technology is hindered by sulfur poisoning at the anode caused by the sulfur impurities in fossil fuels. Therefore, improving the sulfur tolerance of the anode is critical for developing SOFCs for use with fossil fuels. Herein, a novel, highly active, sulfur-tolerant anode for intermediate-temperature SOFCs is prepared via a facile impregnation and limited reaction protocol. During synthesis, Ni nanoparticles, water-storable BaZr 0.4 Ce 0.4 Y 0.2 O 3- δ (BZCY) perovskite, and amorphous BaO are formed in situ and deposited on the surface of a Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 (SDC) scaffold. More specifically, a porous SDC scaffold is impregnated with a well-designed proton-conducting perovskite oxide liquid precursor with the nominal composition of Ba(Zr 0.4 Ce 0.4 Y 0.2 ) 0.8 Ni 0.2 O 3- δ (BZCYN), calcined and reduced in hydrogen. The as-synthesized hierarchical architecture exhibits high H 2 electro-oxidation activity, excellent operational stability, superior sulfur tolerance, and good thermal cyclability. This work demonstrates the potential of combining nanocatalysts and water-storable materials in advanced electrocatalysts for SOFCs.

  1. Hierarchical subtask discovery with non-negative matrix factorization

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Earle, AC

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Hierarchical reinforcement learning methods offer a powerful means of planning flexible behavior in complicated domains. However, learning an appropriate hierarchical decomposition of a domain into subtasks remains a substantial challenge. We...

  2. Hierarchical subtask discovery with non-negative matrix factorization

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Earle, AC

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Hierarchical reinforcement learning methods offer a powerful means of planning flexible behavior in complicated domains. However, learning an appropriate hierarchical decomposition of a domain into subtasks remains a substantial challenge. We...

  3. Statistical Significance for Hierarchical Clustering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimes, Patrick K.; Liu, Yufeng; Hayes, D. Neil; Marron, J. S.

    2017-01-01

    Summary Cluster analysis has proved to be an invaluable tool for the exploratory and unsupervised analysis of high dimensional datasets. Among methods for clustering, hierarchical approaches have enjoyed substantial popularity in genomics and other fields for their ability to simultaneously uncover multiple layers of clustering structure. A critical and challenging question in cluster analysis is whether the identified clusters represent important underlying structure or are artifacts of natural sampling variation. Few approaches have been proposed for addressing this problem in the context of hierarchical clustering, for which the problem is further complicated by the natural tree structure of the partition, and the multiplicity of tests required to parse the layers of nested clusters. In this paper, we propose a Monte Carlo based approach for testing statistical significance in hierarchical clustering which addresses these issues. The approach is implemented as a sequential testing procedure guaranteeing control of the family-wise error rate. Theoretical justification is provided for our approach, and its power to detect true clustering structure is illustrated through several simulation studies and applications to two cancer gene expression datasets. PMID:28099990

  4. Fabrication of monodispersed nickel flower-like architectures via a solvent-thermal process and analysis of their magnetic and electromagnetic properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong Jing; Liu Wei; Wang Fenglong; Wang Xinzhen; Luan Liqiang; Liu Jiurong; Wang Yuan; Zhang Zijun; Itoh, Masahiro; Machida, Ken-ichi

    2011-01-01

    Monodispersed Ni flower-like architectures with size of 1-2 μm were synthesized through a facile solvent-thermal process in 1,2-propanediol solution in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium alkali for electromagnetic absorption application. The Ni architectures are composed of nanoflakes, which assemble to form three dimensional flower-like structure, and the thickness of nanoflakes is about 10-40 nm. A possible formation mechanism for Ni flower-like architectures was proposed and it was confirmed by the control experiments. The Ni architectures exhibited a saturation magnetization (M s ) of 47.7 emu/g and a large coercivity (H cj ) of 332.3 Oe. The epoxy resin composites with 20 vol% Ni sample provided good electromagnetic wave absorption performance (reflection loss cj ) of 332.3 Oe. → Efficient electromagnetic absorption (RL<-20 dB) was provided in 2.8-6.3 GHz.

  5. Architecture of the software for LAMOST fiber positioning subsystem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Xiaobo; Xing, Xiaozheng; Hu, Hongzhuan; Zhai, Chao; Li, Weimin

    2004-09-01

    The architecture of the software which controls the LAMOST fiber positioning sub-system is described. The software is composed of two parts as follows: a main control program in a computer and a unit controller program in a MCS51 single chip microcomputer ROM. And the function of the software includes: Client/Server model establishment, observation planning, collision handling, data transmission, pulse generation, CCD control, image capture and processing, and data analysis etc. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which different parts of the software can communicate. Also software techniques for multi threads, SOCKET programming, Microsoft Windows message response, and serial communications are discussed.

  6. Hierarchically Nanoporous Bioactive Glasses for High Efficiency Immobilization of Enzymes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    He, W.; Min, D.D.; Zhang, X.D.

    2014-01-01

    Bioactive glasses with hierarchical nanoporosity and structures have been heavily involved in immobilization of enzymes. Because of meticulous design and ingenious hierarchical nanostructuration of porosities from yeast cell biotemplates, hierarchically nanostructured porous bioactive glasses can...... and products of catalytic reactions can freely diffuse through open mesopores (2–40 nm). The formation mechanism of hierarchically structured porous bioactive glasses, the immobilization mechanism of enzyme and the catalysis mechanism of immobilized enzyme are then discussed. The novel nanostructure...

  7. Hierarchical surface code for network quantum computing with modules of arbitrary size

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ying; Benjamin, Simon C.

    2016-10-01

    The network paradigm for quantum computing involves interconnecting many modules to form a scalable machine. Typically it is assumed that the links between modules are prone to noise while operations within modules have a significantly higher fidelity. To optimize fault tolerance in such architectures we introduce a hierarchical generalization of the surface code: a small "patch" of the code exists within each module and constitutes a single effective qubit of the logic-level surface code. Errors primarily occur in a two-dimensional subspace, i.e., patch perimeters extruded over time, and the resulting noise threshold for intermodule links can exceed ˜10 % even in the absence of purification. Increasing the number of qubits within each module decreases the number of qubits necessary for encoding a logical qubit. But this advantage is relatively modest, and broadly speaking, a "fine-grained" network of small modules containing only about eight qubits is competitive in total qubit count versus a "course" network with modules containing many hundreds of qubits.

  8. Hierarchical modeling and its numerical implementation for layered thin elastic structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Jin-Rae [Hongik University, Sejong (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-05-15

    Thin elastic structures such as beam- and plate-like structures and laminates are characterized by the small thickness, which lead to classical plate and laminate theories in which the displacement fields through the thickness are assumed linear or higher-order polynomials. These classical theories are either insufficient to represent the complex stress variation through the thickness or may encounter the accuracy-computational cost dilemma. In order to overcome the inherent problem of classical theories, the concept of hierarchical modeling has been emerged. In the hierarchical modeling, the hierarchical models with different model levels are selected and combined within a structure domain, in order to make the modeling error be distributed as uniformly as possible throughout the problem domain. The purpose of current study is to explore the potential of hierarchical modeling for the effective numerical analysis of layered structures such as laminated composite. For this goal, the hierarchical models are constructed and the hierarchical modeling is implemented by selectively adjusting the level of hierarchical models. As well, the major characteristics of hierarchical models are investigated through the numerical experiments.

  9. Hydrothermal synthesis and photoluminescent properties of hierarchical GdPO4·H2O:Ln3+ (Ln3+ = Eu3+, Ce3+, Tb3+) flower-like clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amurisana, Bao.; Zhiqiang, Song.; Haschaolu, O.; Yi, Chen; Tegus, O.

    2018-02-01

    3D hierarchical GdPO4·H2O:Ln3+ (Ln3+ = Eu3+, Ce3+, Tb3+) flower clusters were successfully prepared on glass slide substrate by a simple, economical hydrothermal process with the assistance of disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Na2H2L, where L4- = (CH2COO)2N(CH2)2N(CH2COO)24-). In this process, Na2H2L was used as both a chelating agent and a structure-director. The hierarchical flower clusters have an average diameter of 7-12 μm and are composed of well-aligned microrods. The influence of the molar ratio of Na2H2L/Gd3+ and reaction time on the morphology was systematically studied. A possible crystal growth and formation mechanism of hierarchical flower clusters is proposed based on the evolution of morphology as a function of reaction time. The self-assembled GdPO4·H2O:Ln3+ superstructures exhibit strong orange-red (Eu3+, 5D0 → 7F1), green (Tb3+, 5D4 → 7F5) and near ultraviolet emissions (Ce3+, 5d → 7F5/2) under ultraviolet excitation, respectively. This study may provide a new channel for building hierarchically superstructued oxide micro/nanomaterials with optical and new properties.

  10. Hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres architectured with sub-nanoparticles as a high performance anode for lithium ion batteries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rong, Haibo; Xie, Guiting; Cheng, Si; Zhen, Zihao [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China); Jiang, Zhongqing [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo 315016, Zhejiang (China); Huang, Jianlin; Jiang, Yu; Chen, Bohong [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China); Jiang, Zhong-Jie, E-mail: zhongjiejiang1978@hotmail.com [New Energy Research Institute, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong (China)

    2016-09-15

    A simple two-step procedure, which involves the synthesis of the Zn{sub 0.33}Mn{sub 0.67}CO{sub 3} microspheres through a hydrothermal process and the subsequent calcination, has been used to synthesize the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), these hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres could exhibit a stable reversible capability of ∼723.7 mAh g{sup −1} at the current density of 400 mA g{sup −1}, which is much higher than those of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} based materials reported previously, indicating the great potential of using them as the anode for the LIBs. This is further supported by their better rate capability and higher cycling stability. Careful analysis has shown that the unique porous structure of the hierarchical porous ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres which consists of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles plays an important role in their higher electrochemical performance, since it allows the accommodation of the volume expansion during the repeated discharge–charge cycles, preventing them from the structural destruction, and increase the accessibility of the electrode material to the Li{sup +} storage, making a better utilization of active materials and an easy diffusion of electrolytes in and out of the electrode material. - Graphical abstract: The ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres with a hierarchical porous morphology consisting of the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} sub-nanoparticles have been synthesized by the calcination of the Zn{sub 0.33}Mn{sub 0.67}CO{sub 3} microspheres and could exhibit superior electrochemical performance when used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. - Highlights: • A simple procedure has been used to synthesize the ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres. • The ZnMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} microspheres exhibit excellent performance when used in LIBs

  11. Software architecture analysis tool : software architecture metrics collection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Muskens, J.; Chaudron, M.R.V.; Westgeest, R.

    2002-01-01

    The Software Engineering discipline lacks the ability to evaluate software architectures. Here we describe a tool for software architecture analysis that is based on metrics. Metrics can be used to detect possible problems and bottlenecks in software architectures. Even though metrics do not give a

  12. Business Collaborations in Grids: The BREIN Architectural Principals and VO Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Steve; Surridge, Mike; Laria, Giuseppe; Ritrovato, Pierluigi; Schubert, Lutz

    We describe the business-oriented architectural principles of the EC FP7 project “BREIN” for service-based computing. The architecture is founded on principles of how real businesses interact to mutual benefit, and we show how these can be applied to SOA and Grid computing. We present building blocks that can be composed in many ways to produce different value systems and supply chains for the provision of computing services over the Internet. We also introduce the complementary BREIN VO concept, which is centric to, and managed by, a main contractor who bears the responsibility for the whole VO. The BREIN VO has an execution lifecycle for the creation and operation of the VO, and we have related this to an application-focused workflow involving steps that provide real end-user value. We show how this can be applied to an engineering simulation application and how the workflow can be adapted should the need arise.

  13. Hierarchical surfaces for enhanced self-cleaning applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández, Ariadna; Francone, Achille; Thamdrup, Lasse H.; Johansson, Alicia; Bilenberg, Brian; Nielsen, Theodor; Guttmann, Markus; Sotomayor Torres, Clivia M.; Kehagias, Nikolaos

    2017-04-01

    In this study we present a flexible and adaptable fabrication method to create complex hierarchical structures over inherently hydrophobic resist materials. We have tested these surfaces for their superhydrophobic behaviour and successfully verified their self-cleaning properties. The followed approach allow us to design and produce superhydrophobic surfaces in a reproducible manner. We have analysed different combination of hierarchical micro-nanostructures for their application to self-cleaning surfaces. A static contact angle value of 170° with a hysteresis of 4° was achieved without the need of any additional chemical treatment on the fabricated hierarchical structures. Dynamic effects were analysed on these surfaces, obtaining a remarkable self-cleaning effect as well as a good robustness over impacting droplets.

  14. Tensegrity I. Cell structure and hierarchical systems biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingber, Donald E.

    2003-01-01

    In 1993, a Commentary in this journal described how a simple mechanical model of cell structure based on tensegrity architecture can help to explain how cell shape, movement and cytoskeletal mechanics are controlled, as well as how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces (J. Cell Sci. 104, 613-627). The cellular tensegrity model can now be revisited and placed in context of new advances in our understanding of cell structure, biological networks and mechanoregulation that have been made over the past decade. Recent work provides strong evidence to support the use of tensegrity by cells, and mathematical formulations of the model predict many aspects of cell behavior. In addition, development of the tensegrity theory and its translation into mathematical terms are beginning to allow us to define the relationship between mechanics and biochemistry at the molecular level and to attack the larger problem of biological complexity. Part I of this two-part article covers the evidence for cellular tensegrity at the molecular level and describes how this building system may provide a structural basis for the hierarchical organization of living systems--from molecule to organism. Part II, which focuses on how these structural networks influence information processing networks, appears in the next issue.

  15. Hierarchical Micro-Nano Coatings by Painting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirveslahti, Anna; Korhonen, Tuulia; Suvanto, Mika; Pakkanen, Tapani A.

    2016-03-01

    In this paper, the wettability properties of coatings with hierarchical surface structures and low surface energy were studied. Hierarchically structured coatings were produced by using hydrophobic fumed silica nanoparticles and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microparticles as additives in polyester (PES) and polyvinyldifluoride (PVDF). These particles created hierarchical micro-nano structures on the paint surfaces and lowered or supported the already low surface energy of the paint. Two standard application techniques for paint application were employed and the presented coatings are suitable for mass production and use in large surface areas. By regulating the particle concentrations, it was possible to modify wettability properties gradually. Highly hydrophobic surfaces were achieved with the highest contact angle of 165∘. Dynamic contact angle measurements were carried out for a set of selected samples and low hysteresis was obtained. Produced coatings possessed long lasting durability in the air and in underwater conditions.

  16. Hierarchical virtual screening approaches in small molecule drug discovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Ashutosh; Zhang, Kam Y J

    2015-01-01

    Virtual screening has played a significant role in the discovery of small molecule inhibitors of therapeutic targets in last two decades. Various ligand and structure-based virtual screening approaches are employed to identify small molecule ligands for proteins of interest. These approaches are often combined in either hierarchical or parallel manner to take advantage of the strength and avoid the limitations associated with individual methods. Hierarchical combination of ligand and structure-based virtual screening approaches has received noteworthy success in numerous drug discovery campaigns. In hierarchical virtual screening, several filters using ligand and structure-based approaches are sequentially applied to reduce a large screening library to a number small enough for experimental testing. In this review, we focus on different hierarchical virtual screening strategies and their application in the discovery of small molecule modulators of important drug targets. Several virtual screening studies are discussed to demonstrate the successful application of hierarchical virtual screening in small molecule drug discovery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Open architecture design and approach for the Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moulton, Christine L.; Krzywicki, Alan T.; Hepp, Jared J.; Harrell, John; Kogut, Michael

    2015-05-01

    Integrated Sensor Architecture (ISA) is designed in response to stovepiped integration approaches. The design, based on the principles of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and Open Architectures, addresses the problem of integration, and is not designed for specific sensors or systems. The use of SOA and Open Architecture approaches has led to a flexible, extensible architecture. Using these approaches, and supported with common data formats, open protocol specifications, and Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) system architecture documents, an integration-focused architecture has been developed. ISA can help move the Department of Defense (DoD) from costly stovepipe solutions to a more cost-effective plug-and-play design to support interoperability.

  18. The Emergence of Hierarchical Structure in Human Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shigeru eMiyagawa

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available We propose a novel account for the emergence of human language syntax. Like many evolutionary innovations, language arose from the adventitious combination of two pre-existing, simpler systems that had been evolved for other functional tasks. The first system, Type E(xpression, is found in birdsong, where it marks territory, mating availability, and similar ‘expressive’ functions. The second system, Type L(exical, has been suggestively found in non-human primate calls and in honeybee waggle dances, where it demarcates predicates with one or more ‘arguments,’ such as combinations of calls in monkeys or compass headings set to sun position in honeybees. We show that human language syntax is composed of two layers that parallel these two independently evolved systems: an E layer resembling the Type E system of birdsong and an L layer providing words. The existence of the E and L layers can be confirmed using standard linguistic methodology. Each layer, E and L, when considered separately, are characterizable as finite state systems, as observed in several non-human species. When the two systems are put together they interact, yielding the unbounded, non-finite state, hierarchical structure that serves as the hallmark of ful

  19. Top-down feedback in an HMAX-like cortical model of object perception based on hierarchical Bayesian networks and belief propagation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvador Dura-Bernal

    Full Text Available Hierarchical generative models, such as Bayesian networks, and belief propagation have been shown to provide a theoretical framework that can account for perceptual processes, including feedforward recognition and feedback modulation. The framework explains both psychophysical and physiological experimental data and maps well onto the hierarchical distributed cortical anatomy. However, the complexity required to model cortical processes makes inference, even using approximate methods, very computationally expensive. Thus, existing object perception models based on this approach are typically limited to tree-structured networks with no loops, use small toy examples or fail to account for certain perceptual aspects such as invariance to transformations or feedback reconstruction. In this study we develop a Bayesian network with an architecture similar to that of HMAX, a biologically-inspired hierarchical model of object recognition, and use loopy belief propagation to approximate the model operations (selectivity and invariance. Crucially, the resulting Bayesian network extends the functionality of HMAX by including top-down recursive feedback. Thus, the proposed model not only achieves successful feedforward recognition invariant to noise, occlusions, and changes in position and size, but is also able to reproduce modulatory effects such as illusory contour completion and attention. Our novel and rigorous methodology covers key aspects such as learning using a layerwise greedy algorithm, combining feedback information from multiple parents and reducing the number of operations required. Overall, this work extends an established model of object recognition to include high-level feedback modulation, based on state-of-the-art probabilistic approaches. The methodology employed, consistent with evidence from the visual cortex, can be potentially generalized to build models of hierarchical perceptual organization that include top-down and bottom

  20. Analysis of Architecture Pattern Usage in Legacy System Architecture Documentation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Harrison, Neil B.; Avgeriou, Paris

    2008-01-01

    Architecture patterns are an important tool in architectural design. However, while many architecture patterns have been identified, there is little in-depth understanding of their actual use in software architectures. For instance, there is no overview of how many patterns are used per system or