Energy, Carbon-emission and Financial Savings from Thermostat Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blasing, T J [ORNL; Schroeder, Dana [University of Georgia, Athens, GA

2013-08-01

Among the easiest approaches to energy, and cost, savings for most people is the adjustment of thermostats to save energy. Here we estimate savings of energy, carbon, and money in the United States of America (USA) that would result from adjusting thermostats in residential and commercial buildings by about half a degree Celsius downward during the heating season and upward during the cooling season. To obtain as small a unit as possible, and therefore the least likely to be noticeable by most people, we selected an adjustment of one degree Fahrenheit (0.56 degree Celsius) which is the gradation used almost exclusively on thermostats in the USA and is the smallest unit of temperature that has been used historically. Heating and/or cooling of interior building space for personal comfort is sometimes referred to as space conditioning, a term we will use for convenience throughout this work without consideration of humidity. Thermostat adjustment, as we use the term here, applies to thermostats that control the indoor temperature, and not to other thermostats such as those on water heaters. We track emissions of carbon only, rather than of carbon dioxide, because carbon atoms change atomic partners as they move through the carbon cycle, from atmosphere to biosphere or ocean and, on longer time scales, through the rock cycle. To convert a mass of carbon to an equivalent mass of carbon dioxide (thereby including the mass of the 2 oxygen atoms in each molecule) simply multiply by 3.67.

ENERGY STAR Certified Smart Thermostats

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Certified models meet all ENERGY STAR requirements as listed in the Version 1.0 ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Connected Thermostats that are effective as of...

Danfos: Thermostatic Radiator Valves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregersen, Niels; Oliver, James; Hjorth, Poul G.

2000-01-01

This problem deals with modelling the flow through a typical Danfoss thermostatic radiator valve.Danfoss is able to employ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in calculations of the capacity of valves, but an experienced engineer can often by rules of thumb "guess" the capacity, with a precision...

Cesium heat-pipe thermostat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, F.; Song, D.; Sheng, K.; Wu, J. [Changcheng Institute of Metrology and Measurement, 100095, Beijing (China); Yi, X. [China National South Aviation industry CO., LTD., 412002, Hunan (China); Yu, Z. [Dalian Jinzhou Institute of Measurement and Testing, 116100, Liaoning (China)

2013-09-11

In this paper the authors report a newly developed Cesium Heat-Pipe Thermostat (Cs HPT) with the operation range of 400 °C to 800 °C. The working medium is cesium (Cs) of 99.98% purity and contains no radioisotope. A Cs filing device is developed which can prevent Cs being in contact with air. The structural material is stainless steel. A 5000 h test has been made to confirm the compatibility between cesium and stainless steel. The Cs HPT has several thermometer wells of 220mm depth with different diameters for different sizes of thermometers. The temperature uniformity of the Cs HPT is 0.06 °C to 0.20 °C. A precise temperature controller is used to ensure the temperature fluctuation within ±0.03 °C. The size of Cs HPT is 380mm×320mm×280mm with foot wheels for easy moving. The thermostat has been successfully used for the calibration of industrial platinum resistance thermometers and thermocouples.

Deterministic time-reversible thermostats: chaos, ergodicity, and the zeroth law of thermodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Patra, Puneet Kumar; Sprott, Julien Clinton; Hoover, William Graham; Griswold Hoover, Carol

2015-09-01

The relative stability and ergodicity of deterministic time-reversible thermostats, both singly and in coupled pairs, are assessed through their Lyapunov spectra. Five types of thermostat are coupled to one another through a single Hooke's-law harmonic spring. The resulting dynamics shows that three specific thermostat types, Hoover-Holian, Ju-Bulgac, and Martyna-Klein-Tuckerman, have very similar Lyapunov spectra in their equilibrium four-dimensional phase spaces and when coupled in equilibrium or nonequilibrium pairs. All three of these oscillator-based thermostats are shown to be ergodic, with smooth analytic Gaussian distributions in their extended phase spaces (coordinate, momentum, and two control variables). Evidently these three ergodic and time-reversible thermostat types are particularly useful as statistical-mechanical thermometers and thermostats. Each of them generates Gibbs' universal canonical distribution internally as well as for systems to which they are coupled. Thus they obey the zeroth law of thermodynamics, as a good heat bath should. They also provide dissipative heat flow with relatively small nonlinearity when two or more such temperature baths interact and provide useful deterministic replacements for the stochastic Langevin equation.

Construction and Start-up of a Large-Volume Thermostat for Dielectric-Constant Gas Thermometry

Science.gov (United States)

Merlone, A.; Moro, F.; Zandt, T.; Gaiser, C.; Fellmuth, B.

2010-07-01

A liquid-bath thermostat with a volume of about 800 L was designed to provide a suitable thermal environment for a dielectric-constant gas thermometer (DCGT) in the range from the triple point of mercury to the melting point of gallium. In the article, results obtained with the unique, huge thermostat without the DCGT measuring chamber are reported to demonstrate the capability of controlling the temperature of very large systems at a metrological level. First tests showed that the bath together with its temperature controller provide a temperature variation of less than ±0.5mK peak-to-peak. This temperature instability could be maintained over a period of several days. In the central working volume (diameter—500mm, height—650mm), in which the vacuum chamber containing the measuring system of the DCGT will be placed later, the temperature inhomogeneity has been demonstrated to be also well below 1mK.

Thermostatic Radiator Valve Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dentz, Jordan [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, Eric [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative, New York, NY (United States)

2015-01-01

A large stock of multifamily buildings in the Northeast and Midwest are heated by steam distribution systems. Losses from these systems are typically high and a significant number of apartments are overheated much of the time. Thermostatically controlled radiator valves (TRVs) are one potential strategy to combat this problem, but have not been widely accepted by the residential retrofit market.

Deterministic thermostats, theories of nonequilibrium systems and parallels with the ergodic condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jepps, Owen G; Rondoni, Lamberto

2010-01-01

Deterministic 'thermostats' are mathematical tools used to model nonequilibrium steady states of fluids. The resulting dynamical systems correctly represent the transport properties of these fluids and are easily simulated on modern computers. More recently, the connection between such thermostats and entropy production has been exploited in the development of nonequilibrium fluid theories. The purpose and limitations of deterministic thermostats are discussed in the context of irreversible thermodynamics and the development of theories of nonequilibrium phenomena. We draw parallels between the development of such nonequilibrium theories and the development of notions of ergodicity in equilibrium theories. (topical review)

Large Scale Demand Response of Thermostatic Loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Totu, Luminita Cristiana

This study is concerned with large populations of residential thermostatic loads (e.g. refrigerators, air conditioning or heat pumps). The purpose is to gain control over the aggregate power consumption in order to provide balancing services for the electrical grid. Without affecting the temperat......This study is concerned with large populations of residential thermostatic loads (e.g. refrigerators, air conditioning or heat pumps). The purpose is to gain control over the aggregate power consumption in order to provide balancing services for the electrical grid. Without affecting....... The control architecture is defined by parsimonious communication requirements that also have a high level data privacy, and it furthermore guarantees a robust and secure local operation. Mathematical models are put forward, and the effectiveness is shown by numerical simulations. A case study of 10000...

A unified thermostat scheme for efficient configurational sampling for classical/quantum canonical ensembles via molecular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhijun; Liu, Xinzijian; Chen, Zifei; Zheng, Haifeng; Yan, Kangyu; Liu, Jian

2017-07-01

We show a unified second-order scheme for constructing simple, robust, and accurate algorithms for typical thermostats for configurational sampling for the canonical ensemble. When Langevin dynamics is used, the scheme leads to the BAOAB algorithm that has been recently investigated. We show that the scheme is also useful for other types of thermostats, such as the Andersen thermostat and Nosé-Hoover chain, regardless of whether the thermostat is deterministic or stochastic. In addition to analytical analysis, two 1-dimensional models and three typical real molecular systems that range from the gas phase, clusters, to the condensed phase are used in numerical examples for demonstration. Accuracy may be increased by an order of magnitude for estimating coordinate-dependent properties in molecular dynamics (when the same time interval is used), irrespective of which type of thermostat is applied. The scheme is especially useful for path integral molecular dynamics because it consistently improves the efficiency for evaluating all thermodynamic properties for any type of thermostat.

Determination of the mechanical thermostat electrical contacts switching quality with sound and vibration analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rejc, Jure; Munih, Marko [University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2017-05-15

A mechanical thermostat is a device that switches heating or cooling appliances on or off based on temperature. For this kind of use, electronic or mechanical switching concepts are applied. During the production of electrical contacts, several irregularities can occur leading to improper switching events of the thermostat electrical contacts. This paper presents a non-obstructive method based on the fact that when the switching event occurs it can be heard and felt by human senses. We performed several laboratory tests with two different methods. The first method includes thermostat switch sound signal analysis during the switching event. The second method is based on sampling of the accelerometer signal during the switching event. The results show that the sound analysis approach has great potential. The approach enables an accurate determination of the switching event even if the sampled signal carries also the switching event of the neighbour thermostat.

Design and Implementation of Frequency-responsive Thermostat Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyeng, Preben; Østergaard, Jacob; Togeby, Mikael

2010-01-01

properties and needs of each application, and on the other hand the requirements of the system operator. The control algorithms are implemented on a microcontroller unit that is interfaced with existing thermostats for each application. To validate the control algorithms and overall system design, a series...

An Inductive Water Thermostat Using On‐Off Triac Control and Platinum Sensing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diamond, Joseph M.

1971-01-01

An on‐off thermostat is described using novel means for heating, sensing, and triac control. Heating is performed by sending the water through a coil of silver tubing which forms the short‐circuited secondary winding of a transformer. This arrangement permits extremely good insulation, which...... was essential in the medical application (a dialysis water thermostat) for which it was designed; its quick response also contributes to the excellent regulation achieved with simple on‐off control. Sensing is provided by a very low resistance platinum coil in direct contact with the water, thus providing quick...

A Microwave Thermostatic Reactor for Processing Liquid Materials Based on a Heat-Exchanger.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yongqiang; Zhang, Chun; Xie, Tian; Hong, Tao; Zhu, Huacheng; Yang, Yang; Liu, Changjun; Huang, Kama

2017-10-08

Microwaves have been widely used in the treatment of different materials. However, the existing adjustable power thermostatic reactors cannot be used to analyze materials characteristics under microwave effects. In this paper, a microwave thermostatic chemical reactor for processing liquid materials is proposed, by controlling the velocity of coolant based on PLC (programmable logic controller) in different liquid under different constant electric field intensity. A nonpolar coolant (Polydimethylsiloxane), which is completely microwave transparent, is employed to cool the liquid materials. Experiments are performed to measure the liquid temperature using optical fibers, the results show that the precision of temperature control is at the range of ±0.5 °C. Compared with the adjustable power thermostatic control system, the effect of electric field changes on material properties are avoided and it also can be used to detect the properties of liquid materials and special microwave effects.

Time step MOTA thermostat simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guthrie, G.L.

1978-09-01

The report details the logic, program layout, and operating procedures for the time-step MOTA (Materials Open Test Assembly) thermostat simulation program known as GYRD. It will enable prospective users to understand the operation of the program, run it, and interpret the results. The time-step simulation analysis was the approach chosen to determine the maximum value gain that could be used to minimize steady temperature offset without risking undamped thermal oscillations. The advantage of the GYRD program is that it directly shows hunting, ringing phenomenon, and similar events. Programs BITT and CYLB are faster, but do not directly show ringing time

Implementation of Steiner point of fuzzy set.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jiuzhen; Wang, Dejiang

2014-01-01

This paper deals with the implementation of Steiner point of fuzzy set. Some definitions and properties of Steiner point are investigated and extended to fuzzy set. This paper focuses on establishing efficient methods to compute Steiner point of fuzzy set. Two strategies of computing Steiner point of fuzzy set are proposed. One is called linear combination of Steiner points computed by a series of crisp α-cut sets of the fuzzy set. The other is an approximate method, which is trying to find the optimal α-cut set approaching the fuzzy set. Stability analysis of Steiner point of fuzzy set is also studied. Some experiments on image processing are given, in which the two methods are applied for implementing Steiner point of fuzzy image, and both strategies show their own advantages in computing Steiner point of fuzzy set.

Constraints of using thermostatic expansion valves to operate air-cooled chillers at lower condensing temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, F.W.; Chan, K.T.; Chu, H.Y.

2006-01-01

Thermostatic expansion valves (TXVs) have long been used in air-cooled chillers to implement head pressure control under which the condensing temperature is kept high at around 50 o C by staging condenser fans as few as possible. This paper considers how TXVs prevent the chillers from operating with an increased COP at lower condensing temperatures when the chiller load or outdoor temperature drops. An analysis on an existing air-cooled reciprocating chiller showed that the range of differential pressures across TXVs restricts the maximum heat rejection airflow required to increase the chiller COP, though the set point of condensing temperature is reduced to 22 o C from a high level of 45 o C. It is possible to use electronic expansion valves to meet the differential pressure requirements for maximum chiller COP. There is a maximum of 28.7% increase in the chiller COP when the heat rejection airflow is able to be maximized in various operating conditions. The results of this paper emphasize criteria for lowering the condensing temperature to enhance the performance of air-cooled chillers

End users heat energy savings using thermostat regulation valves radiators, v. 16(64)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakimovska, Emilija Misheva; Potsev, Eftim

2008-01-01

Billing the used heat energy offers the opportunity to motivate end users to use the heat energy rationally and to save the energy. Installing the thermostat valves on the radiators it is possible frequently to regulate the room temperature and to use the heat gains, obtaining comfortable climate in the apartments and saving the energy. Thermostat valves give the possibility to use the heat energy rationally and save the energy, and these way and users can regulate the heat energy consumption according to their own level of thermal comfort. (Author)

End users heat energy savings using thermostat regulation valves radiators, v. 16(63)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakimovska, Emilija Misheva; Potsev, Eftim

2008-01-01

Billing the used heat energy offers the opportunity to motivate end users to use the heat energy rationally and to save the energy. Installing the thermostat valves on the radiators it is possible frequently to regulate the room temperature and to use the heat gains, obtaining comfortable climate in the apartments and saving the energy. Thermostat valves give the possibility to use the heat energy rationally and save the energy, and these way and users can regulate the heat energy consumption according to their own level of thermal comfort. (Author)

A thermostatted kinetic theory model for event-driven pedestrian dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Bianca, Carlo; Mogno, Caterina

2018-06-01

This paper is devoted to the modeling of the pedestrian dynamics by means of the thermostatted kinetic theory. Specifically the microscopic interactions among pedestrians and an external force field are modeled for simulating the evacuation of pedestrians from a metro station. The fundamentals of the stochastic game theory and the thermostatted kinetic theory are coupled for the derivation of a specific mathematical model which depicts the time evolution of the distribution of pedestrians at different exits of a metro station. The perturbation theory is employed in order to establish the stability analysis of the nonequilibrium stationary states in the case of a metro station consisting of two exits. A general sensitivity analysis on the initial conditions, the magnitude of the external force field and the number of exits is presented by means of numerical simulations which, in particular, show how the asymptotic distribution and the convergence time are affected by the presence of an external force field. The results show how, in evacuation conditions, the interaction dynamics among pedestrians can be negligible with respect to the external force. The important role of the thermostat term in allowing the reaching of the nonequilibrium stationary state is stressed out. Research perspectives are underlined at the end of paper, in particular for what concerns the derivation of frameworks that take into account the definition of local external actions and the introduction of the space and velocity dynamics.

Thermostatic Radiator Valve Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dentz, J. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative (ARIES), New York, NY (United States); Ansanelli, E. [Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions Collaborative (ARIES), New York, NY (United States)

2015-01-01

A large stock of multifamily buildings in the Northeast and Midwest are heated by steam distribution systems. Losses from these systems are typically high and a significant number of apartments are overheated much of the time. Thermostatically controlled radiator valves (TRVs) are one potential strategy to combat this problem, but have not been widely accepted by the residential retrofit market. In this project, the ARIES team sought to better understand the current usage of TRVs by key market players in steam and hot water heating and to conduct limited experiments on the effectiveness of new and old TRVs as a means of controlling space temperatures and reducing heating fuel consumption. The project included a survey of industry professionals, a field experiment comparing old and new TRVs, and cost-benefit modeling analysis using BEopt™ (Building Energy Optimization software).

Modeling Populations of Thermostatic Loads with Switching Rate Actuation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Totu, Luminita Cristiana; Wisniewski, Rafal; Leth, John-Josef

2015-01-01

We model thermostatic devices using a stochastic hybrid description, and introduce an external actuation mechanism that creates random switch events in the discrete dynamics. We then conjecture the form of the Fokker-Planck equation and successfully verify it numerically using Monte Carlo...... simulations. The actuation mechanism and subsequent modeling result are relevant for power system operation....

Evaluating functions of positive-definite matrices using colored-noise thermostats

Science.gov (United States)

Nava, Marco; Ceriotti, Michele; Dryzun, Chaim; Parrinello, Michele

2014-02-01

Many applications in computational science require computing the elements of a function of a large matrix. A commonly used approach is based on the the evaluation of the eigenvalue decomposition, a task that, in general, involves a computing time that scales with the cube of the size of the matrix. We present here a method that can be used to evaluate the elements of a function of a positive-definite matrix with a scaling that is linear for sparse matrices and quadratic in the general case. This methodology is based on the properties of the dynamics of a multidimensional harmonic potential coupled with colored-noise, generalized Langevin equation thermostats. This "f-thermostat" approach allows us to calculate directly elements of functions of a positive-definite matrix by carefully tailoring the properties of the stochastic dynamics. We demonstrate the scaling and the accuracy of this approach for both dense and sparse problems and compare the results with other established methodologies.

Modeling heterogeneous populations of thermostatically controlled loads using diffusion-advection PDEs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moura, Scott; Ruiz, Victor; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

2013-01-01

This paper focuses on developing a partial differential equation (PDE)-based model and parameter identification scheme for heterogeneous populations of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). First, a coupled two-state hyperbolic PDE model for homogenous TCL populations is derived. This model i...

Thermostatic system of sensor in NIR spectrometer based on PID control

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhihong; Qiao, Liwei; Ji, Xufei

2016-11-01

Aiming at the shortcomings of the primary sensor thermostatic control system in the near infrared (NIR) spectrometer, a novel thermostatic control system based on proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control technology was developed to improve the detection precision of the NIR spectrometer. There were five parts including bridge amplifier circuit, analog-digital conversion (ADC) circuit, microcontroller, digital-analog conversion (DAC) circuit and drive circuit in the system. The five parts formed a closed-loop control system based on PID algorithm that was used to control the error between the temperature calculated by the sampling data of ADC and the designed temperature to ensure the stability of the spectrometer's sensor. The experimental results show that, when the operating temperature of sensor is -11°, compared with the original system, the temperature control precision of the new control system is improved from ±0.64° to ±0.04° and the spectrum signal to noise ratio (SNR) is improved from 4891 to 5967.

Capillary Tube and Thermostatic Expansion Valve Comparative Analysis in Water Chiller Air Conditioning

Science.gov (United States)

Wijaya Sunu, Putu; Made Rasta, I.; Anakottapary, Daud Simon; Made Suarta, I.; Cipta Santosa, I. D. M.

2018-01-01

The aims of this study to compares the performance characteristics of a water chiller air conditioning simulation equipped with thermostatic expansion valve (TEV) with those of a capillary tube. Water chiller system filled with the same charge of refrigerant. Comparative analyses were performed based on coefficient of performance (COP) and performance parameter of the refrigeration system, carried out at medium cooling load level with the ambient temperature of 29-31°C, constant compressor speed and fixed chilled water volume flowrate at 15 lpm. It was shown that the TEV system showed better energy consumption compared to that of capillary tube. From the coefficient of performance perspective, the thermostatic expansion valve system showed higher COP (± 21.4%) compared to that of capillary tube system.

On the structure of the set of coincidence points

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arutyunov, A V [Peoples Friendship University of Russia, Moscow (Russian Federation); Gel' man, B D [Voronezh State University (Russian Federation)

2015-03-31

We consider the set of coincidence points for two maps between metric spaces. Cardinality, metric and topological properties of the coincidence set are studied. We obtain conditions which guarantee that this set (a) consists of at least two points; (b) consists of at least n points; (c) contains a countable subset; (d) is uncountable. The results are applied to study the structure of the double point set and the fixed point set for multivalued contractions. Bibliography: 12 titles.

Peltier battery thermostat for semiconductor detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caini, V.

1980-01-01

The description is given of a Peltier battery cooling thermostat for semiconductor detectors, whose sensing element is the detector itself. A signal proportional to the leakage current is amplified and compared with a chosen reference voltage. The difference, amplified and sensed, regulates the cooling current to the Peltier battery. Special mechanical devices speed up measurement-taking. The leakage current proved to be reducible to as little as 1/1000 of that at ambient temperature and the stabilization obtained is between +-5 nA (although between +-1 nA is also feasible). Hence it is possible to use very high load resistance preamplifiers to reduce noise and to improve stability and pulse height resolution in α spectroscopy, even with a detector unsuitable for work at very low temperatures. Other applications can be foreseen. (orig.)

Sequential function approximation on arbitrarily distributed point sets

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Kailiang; Xiu, Dongbin

2018-02-01

We present a randomized iterative method for approximating unknown function sequentially on arbitrary point set. The method is based on a recently developed sequential approximation (SA) method, which approximates a target function using one data point at each step and avoids matrix operations. The focus of this paper is on data sets with highly irregular distribution of the points. We present a nearest neighbor replacement (NNR) algorithm, which allows one to sample the irregular data sets in a near optimal manner. We provide mathematical justification and error estimates for the NNR algorithm. Extensive numerical examples are also presented to demonstrate that the NNR algorithm can deliver satisfactory convergence for the SA method on data sets with high irregularity in their point distributions.

Analysing Music with Point-Set Compression Algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meredith, David

2016-01-01

Several point-set pattern-discovery and compression algorithms designed for analysing music are reviewed and evaluated. Each algorithm takes as input a point-set representation of a score in which each note is represented as a point in pitch-time space. Each algorithm computes the maximal...... and sections in pieces of classical music. On the first task, the best-performing algorithms achieved success rates of around 84%. In the second task, the best algorithms achieved mean F1 scores of around 0.49, with scores for individual pieces rising as high as 0.71....

Investigation of charges for thermostatic expansion valves containing condensable and non condensable gas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langmaack, Lasse Nicolai; Knudsen, Hans-Jørgen Høgaard

2006-01-01

The bulb of a thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) is basically a temperature-pressure converter. It senses the temperature at the outlet of the evaporator, and the substance in the bulb (charge) generates the corresponding saturation pressure inside the bulb. The aim of the work presented in this ...

Control for large scale demand response of thermostatic loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Totu, Luminita Cristiana; Leth, John; Wisniewski, Rafal

2013-01-01

appliances with on/off operation. The objective is to reduce the consumption peak of a group of loads composed of both flexible and inflexible units. The power flexible units are the thermostat-based appliances. We discuss a centralized, model predictive approach and a distributed structure with a randomized......Demand response is an important Smart Grid concept that aims at facilitating the integration of volatile energy resources into the electricity grid. This paper considers a residential demand response scenario and specifically looks into the problem of managing a large number thermostatbased...

Music analysis and point-set compression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meredith, David

2015-01-01

COSIATEC, SIATECCompress and Forth’s algorithm are point-set compression algorithms developed for discovering repeated patterns in music, such as themes and motives that would be of interest to a music analyst. To investigate their effectiveness and versatility, these algorithms were evaluated...... on three analytical tasks that depend on the discovery of repeated patterns: classifying folk song melodies into tune families, discovering themes and sections in polyphonic music, and discovering subject and countersubject entries in fugues. Each algorithm computes a compressed encoding of a point......-set representation of a musical object in the form of a list of compact patterns, each pattern being given with a set of vectors indicating its occurrences. However, the algorithms adopt different strategies in their attempts to discover encodings that maximize compression.The best-performing algorithm on the folk...

Control characteristics and heating performance analysis of automatic thermostatic valves for radiant slab heating system in residential apartments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Byung-Cheon [Department of Building Equipment System Engineering, Kyungwon University, Seongnam City (Korea); Song, Jae-Yeob [Graduate School, Building Equipment System Engineering, Kyungwon University, Seongnam City (Korea)

2010-04-15

Computer simulations and experiments are carried out to research the control characteristics and heating performances for a radiant slab heating system with automatic thermostatic valves in residential apartments. An electrical equivalent R-C circuit is applied to analyze the unsteady heat transfer in the house. In addition, the radiant heat transfer between slabs, ceilings and walls in the room is evaluated by enclosure analysis method. Results of heating performance and control characteristics were determined from control methods such as automatic thermostatic valves, room air temperature-sensing method, water-temperature-sensing method, proportional control method, and On-Off control method. (author)

Safe protocols for generating power pulses with heterogeneous populations of thermostatically controlled loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinitsyn, Nikolai A.; Kundu, Soumya; Backhaus, Scott

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Algorithms to produce useful load response from a heterogeneous group of TCLs. ► Generation of sharp power pulses without initiating any unwanted oscillation. ► Open-loop methods, not requiring any detailed system modeling. ► One-way, utility-to-consumer, communication. ► Potential use in secondary frequency regulation, generation-load balancing, etc. - Abstract: We explore methods to use thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs), such as water heaters and air conditioners, to provide ancillary services by assisting in balancing generation and load. We show that by adding simple imbedded instructions and a small amount of memory to temperature controllers of TCLs, it is possible to design open-loop control algorithms capable of creating short-term pulses of demand response without unwanted power oscillations associated with temporary synchronization of the TCL dynamics. By moving a small amount of intelligence to each of the end point TCL devices, we are able to leverage our knowledge of the time dynamics of TCLs to shape the demand response pulses for different power system applications. A significant benefit of our open-loop method is the reduction from two-way to one-way broadcast communication which also eliminates many basic consumer privacy issues. In this work, we focus on developing the algorithms to generate a set of fundamental pulse shapes that can subsequently be used to create demand response with arbitrary profiles. Demand response control methods, such as the one developed here, open the door to fast, nonperturbative control of large aggregations of TCLs

Electrodeposition of nickel onto steel, using a thermostatic cell and movable anode by a variable current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega G, J.D.

1994-01-01

In this work, metallic coatings of nickel was made over carbon steel using two different electrolytic solutions: The Watts's bath and the nickel sulfamate bath, using a pulse variable current. The method use was the traditional method, its means a thermostatic cell and one movable anode, which is a few know technique nowadays, it allow realize depositions away from any laboratory or special workshop, it has the advantage to be a portable dispositive. At last of all the electro depositions the coatings quality was valuable by them physical properties like: adhesion, hardness, wrinkled and thickness. The best results was obtain by the Nickel sulfamate bath and movable anode, less in the thickness, which has higher on the thermostatic cell. The variable current was obtain by a Pulse Generator and a Cathodic galvanometer. (Author)

Demand Response of Thermostatic Loads by Optimized Switching-Fraction Broadcast

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Totu, Luminita Cristiana; Wisniewski, Rafal

2014-01-01

Demand response is an important Smart Grid concept that aims at facilitating the integration of volatile energy resources into the electricity grid. This paper considers the problem of managing large populations of thermostat-based devices with on/off operation. The objective is to enable demand...... Method is used to spatially discretize these equations. Next, a broadcast strategy with two switching-fraction signals is proposed for actuating the population. This is applied in an open-loop scenario for tracking a power reference by running an optimization with a multilinear objective....

Demand Response on domestic thermostatically controlled loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lakshmanan, Venkatachalam

. For a safe and reliable operation of electric power systems, the balance between electricity generation and consumption has to be maintained. The conventional fossil fuel based power generation achieves this balance by adjusting the generation to follow the consumption. In the electric power system......Electricity has become an inevitable part of human life in present day world. In the past two centuries, the electric power system has undergone a lot of changes. Due to the awareness about the adverse impact of the fossil fuels, the power industry is adopting green and sustainable energy sources....... In general, the electricity consumers are classified as industrial, commercial and domestic. In this dissertation, only the thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) in the domestic segment are considered for the demand response study. The study is funded by Danish Council for Strategic Research (DCSR...

Preconcentration and determination of vanadium and molybdenum in milk, vegetables and foodstuffs by ultrasonic-thermostatic-assisted cloud point extraction coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Gürkan, Ramazan; Korkmaz, Sema; Altunay, Nail

2016-08-01

A new ultrasonic-thermostatic-assisted cloud point extraction procedure (UTA-CPE) was developed for preconcentration at the trace levels of vanadium (V) and molybdenum (Mo) in milk, vegetables and foodstuffs prior to determination via flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The method is based on the ion-association of stable anionic oxalate complexes of V(V) and Mo(VI) with [9-(diethylamino)benzo[a]phenoxazin-5-ylidene]azanium; sulfate (Nile blue A) at pH 4.5, and then extraction of the formed ion-association complexes into micellar phase of polyoxyethylene(7.5)nonylphenyl ether (PONPE 7.5). The UTA-CPE is greatly simplified and accelerated compared to traditional cloud point extraction (CPE). The analytical parameters optimized are solution pH, the concentrations of complexing reagents (oxalate and Nile blue A), the PONPE 7.5 concentration, electrolyte concentration, sample volume, temperature and ultrasonic power. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curves for Mo(VI) and V(V) are obtained in the concentration range of 3-340µgL(-1) and 5-250µgL(-1) with high sensitivity enhancement factors (EFs) of 145 and 115, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs) for Mo(VI) and V(V) are 0.86 and 1.55µgL(-1), respectively. The proposed method demonstrated good performances such as relative standard deviations (as RSD %) (≤3.5%) and spiked recoveries (95.7-102.3%). The accuracy of the method was assessed by analysis of two standard reference materials (SRMs) and recoveries of spiked solutions. The method was successfully applied into the determination of trace amounts of Mo(VI) and V(V) in milk, vegetables and foodstuffs with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design and Development of Autonomous High Voltage Driving System for DEAP Actuator in Radiator Thermostat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Lina; Zhang, Zhe; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2014-01-01

In radiator thermostat applications, DEAP (Dielectric Electro Active Polymer) actuator tends to be a good candidate to replace the conventional self-actuating or step motor based actuator due to its intrinsic advantages. The capacitive property and high voltage (HV) driving demand of DEAP actuator...

Design and Modelling of Thermostatically Controlled Loads as Frequency Controlled Reserve

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Zhao; Østergaard, Jacob; Togeby, Mikael

2007-01-01

Using demand as frequency controlled reserve (DFR) is beneficial to power systems in many aspects. To study the impacts of this technology on power system operation, control logics and simulation models of relevant loads should be carefully developed. Two advanced control logics for using demand...... frequency, is developed. The developed simulation model is able to represent a variety of aggregated thermostatically controlled loads, such as heaters or refrigerators. Uncertainties including customer behaviours and ambient temperature variation are also modelled. Preliminary simulation results...

Point Set Denoising Using Bootstrap-Based Radial Basis Function.

Science.gov (United States)

Liew, Khang Jie; Ramli, Ahmad; Abd Majid, Ahmad

2016-01-01

This paper examines the application of a bootstrap test error estimation of radial basis functions, specifically thin-plate spline fitting, in surface smoothing. The presence of noisy data is a common issue of the point set model that is generated from 3D scanning devices, and hence, point set denoising is one of the main concerns in point set modelling. Bootstrap test error estimation, which is applied when searching for the smoothing parameters of radial basis functions, is revisited. The main contribution of this paper is a smoothing algorithm that relies on a bootstrap-based radial basis function. The proposed method incorporates a k-nearest neighbour search and then projects the point set to the approximated thin-plate spline surface. Therefore, the denoising process is achieved, and the features are well preserved. A comparison of the proposed method with other smoothing methods is also carried out in this study.

Efficient triangulation of Poisson-disk sampled point sets

KAUST Repository

Guo, Jianwei

2014-05-06

In this paper, we present a simple yet efficient algorithm for triangulating a 2D input domain containing a Poisson-disk sampled point set. The proposed algorithm combines a regular grid and a discrete clustering approach to speedup the triangulation. Moreover, our triangulation algorithm is flexible and performs well on more general point sets such as adaptive, non-maximal Poisson-disk sets. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm is robust for a wide range of input domains and achieves significant performance improvement compared to the current state-of-the-art approaches. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Point Set Denoising Using Bootstrap-Based Radial Basis Function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khang Jie Liew

Full Text Available This paper examines the application of a bootstrap test error estimation of radial basis functions, specifically thin-plate spline fitting, in surface smoothing. The presence of noisy data is a common issue of the point set model that is generated from 3D scanning devices, and hence, point set denoising is one of the main concerns in point set modelling. Bootstrap test error estimation, which is applied when searching for the smoothing parameters of radial basis functions, is revisited. The main contribution of this paper is a smoothing algorithm that relies on a bootstrap-based radial basis function. The proposed method incorporates a k-nearest neighbour search and then projects the point set to the approximated thin-plate spline surface. Therefore, the denoising process is achieved, and the features are well preserved. A comparison of the proposed method with other smoothing methods is also carried out in this study.

饱和蒸汽压式波纹管疏水阀热动元件实验研究%Experimental study on the saturated vapor pressure type thermostatic bellows for steam traps

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李树勋; 徐登伟; 把桥环

2011-01-01

针对液体膨胀式波纹管蒸汽疏水阀排量不稳定、漏汽率高等问题,分析波纹管热动元件的热工特性.基于Riedel蒸汽压方程和气液平衡方程,建立饱和蒸汽压式波纹管热动元件的热力学模型,设计相应实验系统,进行不同参数下的实验研究.结果表明,饱和蒸汽压式波纹管热动元件伸长量是相变温度的单值函数,近似呈指数关系；采用不同混合比、刚度及填充方式,可调节疏水阀的排水过冷度.%In view of the instabilities of displacement and high steam leakage rate for the liquid-expansion type ther-mostatic bellows steam traps, thermodynamic characteristical of thermostatic bellows was analyzed. Based on the Riedel equation and the vapor-liquid equilibrium equation, thermodynamic model of the saturated vapor pressure type thermostatic bellows was set up, corresponding experimental system was designed, and experimental studies with different parameters was carried out. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical analysis. The results show that the elongation A/I of the saturated vapor pressure type thermostatic bellows is monodrome function of phase transition temperature T, and relationship between the elongation A/I and the phase change temperature t is an exponential function. The subcooled temperature of steam trap can be adjusted by using different mixture ratio, different bellows' stiffness and different sufficient attire method. This paper establishes theoretical and experimental foundation for improving the performance of thermostatic bellows steam traps.

Extreme simplification and rendering of point sets using algebraic multigrid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reniers, D.; Telea, A.C.

2009-01-01

We present a novel approach for extreme simplification of point set models, in the context of real-time rendering. Point sets are often rendered using simple point primitives, such as oriented discs. However, this requires using many primitives to render even moderately simple shapes. Often, one

Extreme Simplification and Rendering of Point Sets using Algebraic Multigrid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reniers, Dennie; Telea, Alexandru

2005-01-01

We present a novel approach for extreme simplification of point set models in the context of real-time rendering. Point sets are often rendered using simple point primitives, such as oriented discs. However efficient, simple primitives are less effective in approximating large surface areas. A large

Development of modular thermostatic vapour-cooled current leads for cryogenic service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blessing, H.; Lebrun, P.

1983-01-01

Cryogenic current leads cooled by helium vapour have been developed, built and tested. Their construction, based on standard electrolytic copper braids crimped at the ends, is such as to provide flexible cold terminations and make possible a modular design. The warm terminations combine electrical insulation, leak-tightness and integrated thermostatic valves controlling lead temperature and avoiding thermal run-away or ice build-up. After giving a detailed description of their construction, this report presents results of performance and reliability tests made on prototype units. (orig.)

Geometric fit of a point set by generalized circles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Körner, Mark-Christopher; Brimberg, Jack; Juel, Henrik

2010-01-01

In our paper we approximate a set of given points by a general circle. More precisely, given two norms k 1 and k 2 and a set of points in the plane, we consider the problem of locating and scaling the unit circle of norm k 1 such that the sum of weighted distances between the circumference...... of the circle and the given points is minimized, where the distance is measured by a norm k 2. We present results for the general case. In the case that k 1 and k 2 are both polyhedral norms, we are able to solve the problem by investigating a finite candidate set....

The presence and growth of Legionella species in thermostatic shower mixer taps: an exploratory field study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Joost van Hoof; P.W.J.J. van der Wielen; E. van der Blom; O.W.W. Nuijten; L. Hornstra

2014-01-01

Legislation in the Netherlands requires routine analysis of drinking water samples for cultivable Legionella species from high-priority installations. A field study was conducted to investigate the presence of Legionella species in thermostatic shower mixer taps. Water samples and the interior of

Kelp diagrams : Point set membership visualization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dinkla, K.; Kreveld, van M.J.; Speckmann, B.; Westenberg, M.A.

2012-01-01

We present Kelp Diagrams, a novel method to depict set relations over points, i.e., elements with predefined positions. Our method creates schematic drawings and has been designed to take aesthetic quality, efficiency, and effectiveness into account. This is achieved by a routing algorithm, which

Small causes, big effects. For environment and sales: Check of thermostat valves in the internet; Kleine Ursache, grosse Wirkung. Zugunsten Umwelt und Umsatz: Thermostatventil-Check jetzt im Internet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

2008-04-15

Fifty percent of all installed thermostat valves are assumed to be lacking in energy efficiency, according to the ''Optimus'' research report. Industry has reacted to this by developing a ThermostatCheck, which can be accessed in the internet by builder-owners and fitters. (orig.)

Nuclear quantum effects in solids using a colored-noise thermostat.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceriotti, Michele; Bussi, Giovanni; Parrinello, Michele

2009-07-17

We present a method, based on a non-Markovian Langevin equation, to include quantum corrections to the classical dynamics of ions in a quasiharmonic system. By properly fitting the correlation function of the noise, one can vary the fluctuations in positions and momenta as a function of the vibrational frequency, and fit them so as to reproduce the quantum-mechanical behavior, with minimal a priori knowledge of the details of the system. We discuss the application of the thermostat to diamond and to ice Ih. We find that results in agreement with path-integral methods can be obtained using only a fraction of the computational effort.

Robust non-rigid point set registration using student's-t mixture model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiyong Zhou

Full Text Available The Student's-t mixture model, which is heavily tailed and more robust than the Gaussian mixture model, has recently received great attention on image processing. In this paper, we propose a robust non-rigid point set registration algorithm using the Student's-t mixture model. Specifically, first, we consider the alignment of two point sets as a probability density estimation problem and treat one point set as Student's-t mixture model centroids. Then, we fit the Student's-t mixture model centroids to the other point set which is treated as data. Finally, we get the closed-form solutions of registration parameters, leading to a computationally efficient registration algorithm. The proposed algorithm is especially effective for addressing the non-rigid point set registration problem when significant amounts of noise and outliers are present. Moreover, less registration parameters have to be set manually for our algorithm compared to the popular coherent points drift (CPD algorithm. We have compared our algorithm with other state-of-the-art registration algorithms on both 2D and 3D data with noise and outliers, where our non-rigid registration algorithm showed accurate results and outperformed the other algorithms.

Optimal Set-Point Synthesis in HVAC Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Komareji, Mohammad; Stoustrup, Jakob; Rasmussen, Henrik

2007-01-01

This paper presents optimal set-point synthesis for a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. This HVAC system is made of two heat exchangers: an air-to-air heat exchanger and a water-to-air heat exchanger. The objective function is composed of the electrical power for different...... components, encompassing fans, primary/secondary pump, tertiary pump, and air-to-air heat exchanger wheel; and a fraction of thermal power used by the HVAC system. The goals that have to be achieved by the HVAC system appear as constraints in the optimization problem. To solve the optimization problem......, a steady state model of the HVAC system is derived while different supplying hydronic circuits are studied for the water-to-air heat exchanger. Finally, the optimal set-points and the optimal supplying hydronic circuit are resulted....

Geometric Spanners for Weighted Point Sets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abam, Mohammad; de Berg, Mark; Farshi, Mohammad

2009-01-01

Let (S,d) be a finite metric space, where each element p ∈ S has a non-negative weight w(p). We study spanners for the set S with respect to weighted distance function d w , where d w (p,q) is w(p) + d(p,q) + wq if p ≠ q and 0 otherwise. We present a general method for turning spanners with respect...... to the d-metric into spanners with respect to the d w -metric. For any given ε> 0, we can apply our method to obtain (5 + ε)-spanners with a linear number of edges for three cases: points in Euclidean space ℝ d , points in spaces of bounded doubling dimension, and points on the boundary of a convex body...... in ℝ d where d is the geodesic distance function. We also describe an alternative method that leads to (2 + ε)-spanners for points in ℝ d and for points on the boundary of a convex body in ℝ d . The number of edges in these spanners is O(nlogn). This bound on the stretch factor is nearly optimal...

Generation Following with Thermostatically Controlled Loads via Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers Sharing Algorithm

OpenAIRE

Burger, Eric M.; Moura, Scott J.

2015-01-01

A fundamental requirement of the electric power system is to maintain a continuous and instantaneous balance between generation and load. The intermittency and uncertainty introduced by renewable energy generation requires the expansion of ancillary power system services to maintain such a balance. In this paper, we examine the potential of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs), such as refrigerators and electric water heaters, to provide generation following services in real-time energy m...

Multi-Agent Rendezvousing with a Finite Set of Candidate Rendezvous Points

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fang, J.; Morse, A. S.; Cao, M.

2008-01-01

The discrete multi-agent rendezvous problem we consider in this paper is concerned with a specified set of points in the plane, called “dwell-points,” and a set of mobile autonomous agents with limited sensing range. Each agent is initially positioned at some dwell-point, and is able to determine

Power Trip Set-points of Reactor Protection System for New Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byeonghee; Yang, Soohyung

2013-01-01

This paper deals with the trip set-point related to the reactor power considering the reactivity induced accident (RIA) of new research reactor. The possible scenarios of reactivity induced accidents were simulated and the effects of trip set-point on the critical heat flux ratio (CHFR) were calculated. The proper trip set-points which meet the acceptance criterion and guarantee sufficient margins from normal operation were then determined. The three different trip set-points related to the reactor power are determined based on the RIA of new research reactor during FP condition, over 0.1%FP and under 0.1%FP. Under various reactivity insertion rates, the CHFR are calculated and checked whether they meet the acceptance criterion. For RIA at FP condition, the acceptance criterion can be satisfied even if high power set-point is only used for reactor trip. Since the design of the reactor is still progressing and need a safety margin for possible design changes, 18 MW is recommended as a high power set-point. For RIA at 0.1%FP, high power setpoint of 18 MW and high log rate of 10%pp/s works well and acceptance criterion is satisfied. For under 0.1% FP operations, the application of high log rate is necessary for satisfying the acceptance criterion. Considering possible decrease of CHFR margin due to design changes, the high log rate is suggested to be 8%pp/s. Suggested trip set-points have been identified based on preliminary design data for new research reactor; therefore, these trip set-points will be re-established by considering design progress of the reactor. The reactor protection system (RPS) of new research reactor is designed for safe shutdown of the reactor and preventing the release of radioactive material to environment. The trip set point of RPS is essential for reactor safety, therefore should be determined to mitigate the consequences from accidents. At the same time, the trip set-point should secure margins from normal operational condition to avoid

Development of Fault Models for Hybrid Fault Detection and Diagnostics Algorithm: October 1, 2014 -- May 5, 2015

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheung, Howard [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Braun, James E. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

2015-12-31

This report describes models of building faults created for OpenStudio to support the ongoing development of fault detection and diagnostic (FDD) algorithms at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Building faults are operating abnormalities that degrade building performance, such as using more energy than normal operation, failing to maintain building temperatures according to the thermostat set points, etc. Models of building faults in OpenStudio can be used to estimate fault impacts on building performance and to develop and evaluate FDD algorithms. The aim of the project is to develop fault models of typical heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment in the United States, and the fault models in this report are grouped as control faults, sensor faults, packaged and split air conditioner faults, water-cooled chiller faults, and other uncategorized faults. The control fault models simulate impacts of inappropriate thermostat control schemes such as an incorrect thermostat set point in unoccupied hours and manual changes of thermostat set point due to extreme outside temperature. Sensor fault models focus on the modeling of sensor biases including economizer relative humidity sensor bias, supply air temperature sensor bias, and water circuit temperature sensor bias. Packaged and split air conditioner fault models simulate refrigerant undercharging, condenser fouling, condenser fan motor efficiency degradation, non-condensable entrainment in refrigerant, and liquid line restriction. Other fault models that are uncategorized include duct fouling, excessive infiltration into the building, and blower and pump motor degradation.

Thermostat Controlled Loads Flexibility Assessment for Enabling Load Shifting – An Experimental Proof in a Low Voltage Grid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lakshmanan, Venkatachalam; Marinelli, Mattia; Kosek, Anna M.

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the usability of thermostat controlled domestic appliances for load shift in LV distribution grids. The proposed method uses refrigerators for the demonstration of adaptive load prediction to estimate its flexibility and perform scheduling based on load threshold limit. Tw...

Assessment of Thailand indoor set-point impact on energy consumption and environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamtraipat, N.; Khedari, J.; Hirunlabh, J.; Kunchornrat, J.

2006-01-01

The paper presents an investigation of indoor set-point standard of air-conditioned spaces as a tool to control electrical energy consumption of air-conditioners in Thailand office buildings and to reduce air pollutants. One hundred and forty-seven air-conditioned rooms in 13 buildings nationwide were used as models to analyze the electricity consumption of air-conditioning systems according to their set indoor temperatures, which were below the standard set-point and were accounted into a large scale. Then, the electrical energy and environmental saving potentials in the country were assessed by the assumption that adaptation of indoor set-point temperature is increased up to the standard set-point of 26 o C. It was concluded that the impacts of indoor set-point of air-conditioned rooms, set at 26 o C, on energy saving and on environment are as follows: The overall electricity consumption saving would be 804.60 GWh/year, which would reduce the corresponding GHGs emissions (mainly CO 2 ) from power plant by 579.31x10 3 tons/year

Thermal response of a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain with Andersen thermostats

Science.gov (United States)

D'Ambrosio, Federico; Baiesi, Marco

2017-11-01

The linear response to temperature variations is well characterised for equilibrium systems but a similar theory is not available, for example, for inertial heat conducting systems, whose paradigm is the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) model driven by two different boundary temperatures. For models of inertial systems out of equilibrium, including relaxing systems, we show that Andersen thermostats are a natural tool for studying the thermal response. We derive a fluctuation-response relation that allows to predict thermal expansion coefficients or the heat capacitance in nonequilibrium regimes. Simulations of the FPU chain of oscillators suggest that estimates of susceptibilities obtained with our relation are better than those obtained via a small perturbation.

Bad seeds sprout perilous dynamics: stochastic thermostat induced trajectory synchronization in biomolecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voter, A. F.; Sindhikara, Daniel J.; Kim, Seonah; Roitberg, Adrian E.

2009-01-01

Molecular dynamics simulations starting from different initial conditions are commonly used to mimic the behavior of an experimental ensemble. We show in this article that when a Langevin thermostat is used to maintain constant temperature during such simulations, extreme care must be taken when choosing the random number seeds used in order to prevent statistical correlation among the MD trajectories. While recent studies have shown that stochastically thermostatted trajectories evolving within a single potential basin with identical random number seeds tend to synchronize, we show that there is a synchronization effect even for complex, biologically relevant systems. We demonstrate this effect in simulations of Alanine trimer and pentamer and in a simulation of a temperature-jump experiment for peptide folding of a 14-residue peptide. Even in replica-exchange simulations, in which the trajectories are at different temperatures, we find partial synchronization occurring when the same random number seed is employed. We explain this by extending the recent derivation of the synchronization effect for two trajectories in a harmonic well to the case in which the trajectories are at two different temperatures. Our results suggest several ways in which mishandling selection of a pseudo random number generator initial seed can lead to corruption of simulation data. Simulators can fall into this trap in simple situations such as neglecting to specifically indicate different random seeds in either parallel or sequential restart simulations, utilizing a simulation package with a weak pseudorandom number generator, or using an advanced simulation algorithm that hasn't been programmed to distribute initial seeds

Bad Seeds Sprout Perilous Dynamics: Stochastic Thermostat Induced Trajectory Synchronization in Biomolecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Sindhikara, Daniel J; Kim, Seonah; Voter, Arthur F; Roitberg, Adrian E

2009-06-09

Molecular dynamics simulations starting from different initial conditions are commonly used to mimic the behavior of an experimental ensemble. We show in this article that when a Langevin thermostat is used to maintain constant temperature during such simulations, extreme care must be taken when choosing the random number seeds to prevent statistical correlation among the MD trajectories. While recent studies have shown that stochastically thermostatted trajectories evolving within a single potential basin with identical random number seeds tend to synchronize, we show that there is a synchronization effect even for complex, biologically relevant systems. We demonstrate this effect in simulations of alanine trimer and pentamer and in a simulation of a temperature-jump experiment for peptide folding of a 14-residue peptide. Even in replica-exchange simulations, in which the trajectories are at different temperatures, we find partial synchronization occurring when the same random number seed is employed. We explain this by extending the recent derivation of the synchronization effect for two trajectories in a harmonic well to the case in which the trajectories are at two different temperatures. Our results suggest several ways in which mishandling selection of a pseudorandom number generator initial seed can lead to corruption of simulation data. Simulators can fall into this trap in simple situations such as neglecting to specifically indicate different random seeds in either parallel or sequential restart simulations, utilizing a simulation package with a weak pseudorandom number generator, or using an advanced simulation algorithm that has not been programmed to distribute initial seeds.

Robust surface registration using N-points approximate congruent sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yao Jian

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Scans acquired by 3D sensors are typically represented in a local coordinate system. When multiple scans, taken from different locations, represent the same scene these must be registered to a common reference frame. We propose a fast and robust registration approach to automatically align two scans by finding two sets of N-points, that are approximately congruent under rigid transformation and leading to a good estimate of the transformation between their corresponding point clouds. Given two scans, our algorithm randomly searches for the best sets of congruent groups of points using a RANSAC-based approach. To successfully and reliably align two scans when there is only a small overlap, we improve the basic RANSAC random selection step by employing a weight function that approximates the probability of each pair of points in one scan to match one pair in the other. The search time to find pairs of congruent sets of N-points is greatly reduced by employing a fast search codebook based on both binary and multi-dimensional lookup tables. Moreover, we introduce a novel indicator of the overlapping region quality which is used to verify the estimated rigid transformation and to improve the alignment robustness. Our framework is general enough to incorporate and efficiently combine different point descriptors derived from geometric and texture-based feature points or scene geometrical characteristics. We also present a method to improve the matching effectiveness of texture feature descriptors by extracting them from an atlas of rectified images recovered from the scan reflectance image. Our algorithm is robust with respect to different sampling densities and also resilient to noise and outliers. We demonstrate its robustness and efficiency on several challenging scan datasets with varying degree of noise, outliers, extent of overlap, acquired from indoor and outdoor scenarios.

Demo Abstract: Human-in-the-loop BMS Point Matching and Metadata Labeling with Babel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fürst, Jonathan; Chen, Kaifei; Katz, Randy H.

2015-01-01

. Occupants provide physical and digital input in form of actuations (e.g., the switching of a light) and readings (e.g., the reading of the room temperature of a thermostat) to Babel. Babel then matches this input to digital points in the BMS based on value equality. We have implemented a prototype of our...

Tapping the energy storage potential in electric loads to deliver load following and regulation, with application to wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callaway, Duncan S.

2009-01-01

This paper develops new methods to model and control the aggregated power demand from a population of thermostatically controlled loads, with the goal of delivering services such as regulation and load following. Previous work on direct load control focuses primarily on peak load shaving by directly interrupting power to loads. In contrast, the emphasis of this paper is on controlling loads to produce relatively short time scale responses (hourly to sub-hourly), and the control signal is applied by manipulation of temperature set points, possibly via programmable communicating thermostats or advanced metering infrastructure. To this end, the methods developed here leverage the existence of system diversity and use physically-based load models to inform the development of a new theoretical model that accurately predicts - even when the system is not in equilibrium - changes in load resulting from changes in thermostat temperature set points. Insight into the transient dynamics that result from set point changes is developed by deriving a new exact solution to a well-known hybrid state aggregated load model. The eigenvalues of the solution, which depend only on the thermal time constant of the loads under control, are shown to have a strong effect on the accuracy of the model. The paper also shows that load heterogeneity - generally something that must be assumed away in direct load control models - actually has a positive effect on model accuracy. System identification techniques are brought to bear on the problem, and it is shown that identified models perform only marginally better than the theoretical model. The paper concludes by deriving a minimum variance control law, and demonstrates its effectiveness in simulations wherein a population of loads is made to follow the output of a wind plant with very small changes in the nominal thermostat temperature set points.

Reevaluation of the PMS alarm set-points in OPR1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roh, Kyung Ho; Yang, Sung Tae; Jung, Sung In

2011-01-01

In Optimized Power Reactor 1000 (OPR1000), the common alarm of the plant monitoring system (PMS), which is related to the channel-to-channel core protection calculator (CPC), experiences frequent deviations in the departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR) and the local power density (LPD) between the middle of the cycle and the end of the cycle. Because the channel-to-channel CPC causes deviations in the values of the DNBR and LPD, the increase in the CPC input variables exceeds the alarm set-points. The CPC DNBR and LPD are defined as follows: Deviation = the average of four CPC channels of the LPD and DNBR minus the value of each CPC channel LPD and DNBR. In this paper, we report on a review by the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (KHNP) regarding the suitability of the alarm set-points for the channel-tochannel deviations of the CPC DNBR and LPD. The set-points were revaluated in light of operational experience and the case of Palo Verde (which is the reference model of OPR1000). The KHNP consequently revised the relevant procedures, as well as and the PMS alarm set-points, as part of its follow-up action

Economic MPC based on LPV model for thermostatically controlled loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zemtsov, Nikita; Hlava, Jaroslav; Frantsuzova, Galina

2017-01-01

Rapid increase of the renewable energy share in electricity production requires optimization and flexibility of the power consumption side. Thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) have a large potential for regulation service provision. Economic model predictive control (MPC) is an advanced...... control method which can be used to syncronize the power consumption with undispatchable renewable electricity production. Thermal behavior of TCLs can be described by linear models based on energy balance of the system. In some cases, parameters of the model may be time-varying. In this work, we present...... a modified economic MPC based on linear parameter-varying model. In particular, we provide an exact transformation from a standard economic MPC formulation to a linear program. We assume that the variables influencing the model parameters are known (predictable) for the prediction horizon of the controller...

Joint Clustering and Component Analysis of Correspondenceless Point Sets: Application to Cardiac Statistical Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Gooya, Ali; Lekadir, Karim; Alba, Xenia; Swift, Andrew J; Wild, Jim M; Frangi, Alejandro F

2015-01-01

Construction of Statistical Shape Models (SSMs) from arbitrary point sets is a challenging problem due to significant shape variation and lack of explicit point correspondence across the training data set. In medical imaging, point sets can generally represent different shape classes that span healthy and pathological exemplars. In such cases, the constructed SSM may not generalize well, largely because the probability density function (pdf) of the point sets deviates from the underlying assumption of Gaussian statistics. To this end, we propose a generative model for unsupervised learning of the pdf of point sets as a mixture of distinctive classes. A Variational Bayesian (VB) method is proposed for making joint inferences on the labels of point sets, and the principal modes of variations in each cluster. The method provides a flexible framework to handle point sets with no explicit point-to-point correspondences. We also show that by maximizing the marginalized likelihood of the model, the optimal number of clusters of point sets can be determined. We illustrate this work in the context of understanding the anatomical phenotype of the left and right ventricles in heart. To this end, we use a database containing hearts of healthy subjects, patients with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), and patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). We demonstrate that our method can outperform traditional PCA in both generalization and specificity measures.

Inverse consistent non-rigid image registration based on robust point set matching

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Robust point matching (RPM) has been extensively used in non-rigid registration of images to robustly register two sets of image points. However, except for the location at control points, RPM cannot estimate the consistent correspondence between two images because RPM is a unidirectional image matching approach. Therefore, it is an important issue to make an improvement in image registration based on RPM. Methods In our work, a consistent image registration approach based on the point sets matching is proposed to incorporate the property of inverse consistency and improve registration accuracy. Instead of only estimating the forward transformation between the source point sets and the target point sets in state-of-the-art RPM algorithms, the forward and backward transformations between two point sets are estimated concurrently in our algorithm. The inverse consistency constraints are introduced to the cost function of RPM and the fuzzy correspondences between two point sets are estimated based on both the forward and backward transformations simultaneously. A modified consistent landmark thin-plate spline registration is discussed in detail to find the forward and backward transformations during the optimization of RPM. The similarity of image content is also incorporated into point matching in order to improve image matching. Results Synthetic data sets, medical images are employed to demonstrate and validate the performance of our approach. The inverse consistent errors of our algorithm are smaller than RPM. Especially, the topology of transformations is preserved well for our algorithm for the large deformation between point sets. Moreover, the distance errors of our algorithm are similar to that of RPM, and they maintain a downward trend as whole, which demonstrates the convergence of our algorithm. The registration errors for image registrations are evaluated also. Again, our algorithm achieves the lower registration errors in same iteration number

Life satisfaction set point: stability and change.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, Frank; Diener, Ed

2005-01-01

Using data from 17 years of a large and nationally representative panel study from Germany, the authors examined whether there is a set point for life satisfaction (LS)--stability across time, even though it can be perturbed for short periods by life events. The authors found that 24% of respondents changed significantly in LS from the first 5 years to the last 5 years and that stability declined as the period between measurements increased. Average LS in the first 5 years correlated .51 with the 5-year average of LS during the last 5 years. Height, weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and personality traits were all more stable than LS, whereas income was about as stable as LS. Almost 9% of the sample changed an average of 3 or more points on a 10-point scale from the first 5 to last 5 years of the study.

Counting convex polygons in planar point sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mitchell, J.S.B.; Rote, G.; Sundaram, Gopalakrishnan; Woeginger, G.J.

1995-01-01

Given a set S of n points in the plane, we compute in time O(n3) the total number of convex polygons whose vertices are a subset of S. We give an O(m · n3) algorithm for computing the number of convex k-gons with vertices in S, for all values k = 3,…, m; previously known bounds were exponential

Quantum Oscillator in the Thermostat as a Model in the Thermodynamics of Open Quantum Systems

OpenAIRE

Sukhanov, Aleksander

2005-01-01

The quantum oscillator in the thermostat is considered as the model of an open quantum system. Our analysis will be heavily founded on the use of the Schroedinger generalized uncertainties relations (SUR). Our first aim is to demonstrate that for the quantum oscillator the state of thermal equilibrium belongs to the correlated coherent states (CCS), which imply the saturation of SUR at any temperature. The obtained results open the perspective for the search of some statistical theory, which ...

Overview of Existing and Future Residential Use Cases for Connected Thermostats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rotondo, Julia [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Johnson, Robert [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Gonzalez, Nancy [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Waranowski, Alexandra [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Badger, Chris [Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT (United States); Lange, Nick [Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT (United States); Goldman, Ethan [Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT (United States); Foster, Rebecca [Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT (United States)

2017-03-01

This paper is intended to help inform future technology deployment opportunities for connected thermostats (CTs), based on investigation and review of the U.S. residential housing and CT markets, as well as existing, emerging, and future use cases for CT hardware and CT-generated data. The CT market has experienced tremendous growth over the last 5 years—both in terms of the number of units sold and the number of firms offering competing products—and can be characterized by its rapid pace of technological innovation. Despite many assuming CTs would become powerful tools for increasing comfort while saving energy, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about the actual energy and cost savings that are likely to be realized from deployment of CTs, particularly under different conditions.

Building America Case Study: The Impact of Thermostat Placement in Low-Load Homes in Sunny Climates, Denver, Colorado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-02-01

Modern, energy-efficient homes conforming to the Zero Energy Ready Home standard face the challenge of meeting high customer expectations for comfort. Traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) sizing and control strategies may be insufficient to adequately condition each zone due to unique load patterns in each room caused by a number of factors. These factors include solar heat gains, occupant-related gains, and gains associated with appliances and electronics. Because of shrinking shell loads, these intermittent factors are having an increasingly significant impact on the thermal load in each zone. Consequently, occupant comfort can be compromised. To evaluate the impact of climate and house geometry, as well as HVAC system and control strategies on comfort conditions, IBACOS analyzed the results of 99 TRNSYS multiple-zone simulations. The results of this analysis indicate that for simple-geometry and single-story plans, a single zone and thermostat can adequately condition the entire house. Demanding house geometry and houses with multiple stories require the consideration of multiple thermostats and multiple zones.

Method of nuclear reactor control using a variable temperature load dependent set point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, J.J.; Rambo, G.E.

1982-01-01

A method and apparatus for controlling a nuclear reactor in response to a variable average reactor coolant temperature set point is disclosed. The set point is dependent upon percent of full power load demand. A manually-actuated ''droop mode'' of control is provided whereby the reactor coolant temperature is allowed to drop below the set point temperature a predetermined amount wherein the control is switched from reactor control rods exclusively to feedwater flow

How the Invisible Hand is Supposed to Adjust the Natural Thermostat: A Guide for the Perplexed

OpenAIRE

Storm, Servaas

2016-01-01

Mainstream climate economics takes global warming seriously, but perplexingly concludes that the optimal economic policy is to almost do nothing about it. This conclusion can be traced to just a few “normative” assumptions, over which there exists fundamental disagreement amongst economists. This paper explores two axes of this disagreement. The first axis (“market vs. regulation”) measures faith in the invisible hand to adjust the natural thermostat. The second axis expresses differences in ...

Overview of Existing and Future Residential Use Cases for Connected Thermostats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rotondo, Julia [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Johnson, Robert [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Gonzales, Nancy [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Waranowski, Alexandra [Energetics Inc., Washington, DC (United States); Badger, Chris [Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Burlington, VT (United States); Lange, Nack [Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Burlington, VT (United States); Goldman, Ethan [Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Burlington, VT (United States); Foster, Rebecca [Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Burlington, VT (United States)

2016-12-01

This paper is intended to help inform future technology deployment opportunities for connected thermostats (CTs), based on investigation and review of the U.S. residential housing and CT markets, as well as existing, emerging, and future use cases for CT hardware and CT-generated data. The CT market has experienced tremendous growth over the last five years — both in terms of the number of units sold and the number of firms offering competing products — and can be characterized by its rapid pace of technological innovation. Despite many assuming CTs would become powerful tools for increasing comfort while saving energy, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about the actual energy and cost savings that are likely to be realized from deployment of CTs, particularly under different conditions.

Computing half-plane and strip discrepancy of planar point sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, de M.

1996-01-01

We present efficient algorithms for two problems concerning the discrepancy of a set S of n points in the unit square in the plane. First, we describe an algorithm for maintaining the half-plane discrepancy of S under insertions and deletions of points. The algorithm runs in O(nlogn) worst-case time

HIV-1 transmitting couples have similar viral load set-points in Rakai, Uganda.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T Déirdre Hollingsworth

2010-05-01

Full Text Available It has been hypothesized that HIV-1 viral load set-point is a surrogate measure of HIV-1 viral virulence, and that it may be subject to natural selection in the human host population. A key test of this hypothesis is whether viral load set-points are correlated between transmitting individuals and those acquiring infection. We retrospectively identified 112 heterosexual HIV-discordant couples enrolled in a cohort in Rakai, Uganda, in which HIV transmission was suspected and viral load set-point was established. In addition, sequence data was available to establish transmission by genetic linkage for 57 of these couples. Sex, age, viral subtype, index partner, and self-reported genital ulcer disease status (GUD were known. Using ANOVA, we estimated the proportion of variance in viral load set-points which was explained by the similarity within couples (the 'couple effect'. Individuals with suspected intra-couple transmission (97 couples had similar viral load set-points (p = 0.054 single factor model, p = 0.0057 adjusted and the couple effect explained 16% of variance in viral loads (23% adjusted. The analysis was repeated for a subset of 29 couples with strong genetic support for transmission. The couple effect was the major determinant of viral load set-point (p = 0.067 single factor, and p = 0.036 adjusted and the size of the effect was 27% (37% adjusted. Individuals within epidemiologically linked couples with genetic support for transmission had similar viral load set-points. The most parsimonious explanation is that this is due to shared characteristics of the transmitted virus, a finding which sheds light on both the role of viral factors in HIV-1 pathogenesis and on the evolution of the virus.

Reevaluation of steam generator level trip set point

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shim, Yoon Sub; Soh, Dong Sub; Kim, Sung Oh; Jung, Se Won; Sung, Kang Sik; Lee, Joon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-06-01

The reactor trip by the low level of steam generator water accounts for a substantial portion of reactor scrams in a nuclear plant and the feasibility of modification of the steam generator water level trip system of YGN 1/2 was evaluated in this study. The study revealed removal of the reactor trip function from the SG water level trip system is not possible because of plant safety but relaxation of the trip set point by 9 % is feasible. The set point relaxation requires drilling of new holes for level measurement to operating steam generators. Characteristics of negative neutron flux rate trip and reactor trip were also reviewed as an additional work. Since the purpose of the trip system modification for reduction of a reactor scram frequency is not to satisfy legal requirements but to improve plant performance and the modification yields positive and negative aspects, the decision of actual modification needs to be made based on the results of this study and also the policy of a plant owner. 37 figs, 6 tabs, 14 refs. (Author).

Methods for a Smart Thermostat to Estimate the Characteristics of a House Based on Sensor Data with Varying Extent of Completeness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Ham, Wim; Klein, Michel; Tabatabaei, Seyed Amin; Thilakarathne, Dilhan; Treur, Jan

Smart thermostats can play an important role in achieving more economic energy usage in domestic situations. This paper focuses on the energy used for natural gas-based heating, and monitoring of gas usages versus indoor and outdoor temperatures over time. Two methods are presented that enable the

CD-Based Microfluidics for Primary Care in Extreme Point-of-Care Settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzanne Smith

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We review the utility of centrifugal microfluidic technologies applied to point-of-care diagnosis in extremely under-resourced environments. The various challenges faced in these settings are showcased, using areas in India and Africa as examples. Measures for the ability of integrated devices to effectively address point-of-care challenges are highlighted, and centrifugal, often termed CD-based microfluidic technologies, technologies are presented as a promising platform to address these challenges. We describe the advantages of centrifugal liquid handling, as well as the ability of a standard CD player to perform a number of common laboratory tests, fulfilling the role of an integrated lab-on-a-CD. Innovative centrifugal approaches for point-of-care in extremely resource-poor settings are highlighted, including sensing and detection strategies, smart power sources and biomimetic inspiration for environmental control. The evolution of centrifugal microfluidics, along with examples of commercial and advanced prototype centrifugal microfluidic systems, is presented, illustrating the success of deployment at the point-of-care. A close fit of emerging centrifugal systems to address a critical panel of tests for under-resourced clinic settings, formulated by medical experts, is demonstrated. This emphasizes the potential of centrifugal microfluidic technologies to be applied effectively to extremely challenging point-of-care scenarios and in playing a role in improving primary care in resource-limited settings across the developing world.

Some fixed point theorems on non-convex sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohanasundaram Radhakrishnan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we prove that if $K$ is a nonempty weakly compact set in a Banach space $X$, $T:K\\to K$ is a nonexpansive map satisfying $\\frac{x+Tx}{2}\\in K$ for all $x\\in K$ and if $X$ is $3-$uniformly convex or $X$ has the Opial property, then $T$ has a fixed point in $K.$

Setting the global thermostat with an exhaustible tradeable permit system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosobud, R.G.; Quinn, K.G.; Illinois Univ., Chicago, IL; South, D.W.; Daly, T.A.

1993-01-01

The global warming policy debate has centered largely on near-term objectives such as freezing 1990 CO 2 emissions without regard to long-run implications. A policy of freezing CO 2 emissions is shown to slow but not halt global warming, while requiring expensive near-term adjustments. If the long-run temperature change outcome of the freeze policy is set as the goal of a more graduated control policy, one which allows the market to determine annual emissions, a more cost-effective solution is obtained that reduces the negative adjustment effects on the energy and other affected industries. The most cost-effective emissions time path of a graduated control policy could be achieved by an evaporative marketable CO 2 emissions permit system. This paper provides a preliminary examination of an evaporative permit system used to achieve long-run stabilization of greenhouse-induced temperature change

A Survey on Methods for Reconstructing Surfaces from Unorganized Point Sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vilius Matiukas

2011-08-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the issue of reconstructing and visualizing surfaces from unorganized point sets. These can be acquired using different techniques, such as 3D-laser scanning, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and multi-camera imaging. The problem of reconstructing surfaces from their unorganized point sets is common for many diverse areas, including computer graphics, computer vision, computational geometry or reverse engineering. The paper presents three alternative methods that all use variations in complementary cones to triangulate and reconstruct the tested 3D surfaces. The article evaluates and contrasts three alternatives.Article in English

A deterministic algorithm for fitting a step function to a weighted point-set

KAUST Repository

Fournier, Hervé

2013-02-01

Given a set of n points in the plane, each point having a positive weight, and an integer k>0, we present an optimal O(nlogn)-time deterministic algorithm to compute a step function with k steps that minimizes the maximum weighted vertical distance to the input points. It matches the expected time bound of the best known randomized algorithm for this problem. Our approach relies on Coles improved parametric searching technique. As a direct application, our result yields the first O(nlogn)-time algorithm for computing a k-center of a set of n weighted points on the real line. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay sets of points in P^1 x P^1

CERN Document Server

Guardo, Elena

2015-01-01

This brief presents a solution to the interpolation problem for arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (ACM) sets of points in the multiprojective space P^1 x P^1.  It collects the various current threads in the literature on this topic with the aim of providing a self-contained, unified introduction while also advancing some new ideas.  The relevant constructions related to multiprojective spaces are reviewed first, followed by the basic properties of points in P^1 x P^1, the bigraded Hilbert function, and ACM sets of points.  The authors then show how, using a combinatorial description of ACM points in P^1 x P^1, the bigraded Hilbert function can be computed and, as a result, solve the interpolation problem.  In subsequent chapters, they consider fat points and double points in P^1 x P^1 and demonstrate how to use their results to answer questions and problems of interest in commutative algebra.  Throughout the book, chapters end with a brief historical overview, citations of related results, and, where relevan...

The descriptive set-theoretic complexity of the set of points of continuity of a multi-valued function (Extended Abstract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vassilios Gregoriades

2010-06-01

Full Text Available In this article we treat a notion of continuity for a multi-valued function F and we compute the descriptive set-theoretic complexity of the set of all x for which F is continuous at x. We give conditions under which the latter set is either a G_delta set or the countable union of G_delta sets. Also we provide a counterexample which shows that the latter result is optimum under the same conditions. Moreover we prove that those conditions are necessary in order to obtain that the set of points of continuity of F is Borel i.e., we show that if we drop some of the previous conditions then there is a multi-valued function F whose graph is a Borel set and the set of points of continuity of F is not a Borel set. Finally we give some analogue results regarding a stronger notion of continuity for a multi-valued function. This article is motivated by a question of M. Ziegler in "Real Computation with Least Discrete Advice: A Complexity Theory of Nonuniform Computability with Applications to Linear Algebra", (submitted.

Floating point only SIMD instruction set architecture including compare, select, Boolean, and alignment operations

Science.gov (United States)

Gschwind, Michael K [Chappaqua, NY

2011-03-01

Mechanisms for implementing a floating point only single instruction multiple data instruction set architecture are provided. A processor is provided that comprises an issue unit, an execution unit coupled to the issue unit, and a vector register file coupled to the execution unit. The execution unit has logic that implements a floating point (FP) only single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instruction set architecture (ISA). The floating point vector registers of the vector register file store both scalar and floating point values as vectors having a plurality of vector elements. The processor may be part of a data processing system.

Set-Point Theory and personality development : Reconciliation of a paradox

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ormel, Johan; Von Korff, Michael; Jeronimus, Bertus F.; Riese, Harriette; Specht, Jule

Set-point trait theories presume homeostasis at a specified level (stability/trait) and a surrounding “bandwidth” (change/state). The theory has been productively applied in studies on subjective well-being (SWB) but hardly in research on stability and change in personality (e.g. neuroticism,

Colouring the triangles determined by a point set

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruy Fabila-Monroy

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Let P be a set of n points in general position in the plane. We study the chromatic number of the intersection graph of the open triangles determined by P. It is known that this chromatic number is at least n3/27+O(n2 and, if P is in convex position, the answer is n3/24+O(n2. We prove that for arbitrary P, the chromatic number is at most n3/19.259+O(n2.

On the Level Set of a Function with Degenerate Minimum Point

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuhiko Kamiyama

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For n≥2, let M be an n-dimensional smooth closed manifold and f:M→R a smooth function. We set minf(M=m and assume that m is attained by unique point p∈M such that p is a nondegenerate critical point. Then the Morse lemma tells us that if a is slightly bigger than m, f-1(a is diffeomorphic to Sn-1. In this paper, we relax the condition on p from being nondegenerate to being an isolated critical point and obtain the same consequence. Some application to the topology of polygon spaces is also included.

Music analysis and point-set compression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meredith, David

A musical analysis represents a particular way of understanding certain aspects of the structure of a piece of music. The quality of an analysis can be evaluated to some extent by the degree to which knowledge of it improves performance on tasks such as mistake spotting, memorising a piece...... as the minimum description length principle and relates closely to certain ideas in the theory of Kolmogorov complexity. Inspired by this general principle, the hypothesis explored in this paper is that the best ways of understanding (or explanations for) a piece of music are those that are represented...... by the shortest possible descriptions of the piece. With this in mind, two compression algorithms are presented, COSIATEC and SIATECCompress. Each of these algorithms takes as input an in extenso description of a piece of music as a set of points in pitch-time space representing notes. Each algorithm...

78 FR 24816 - Pricing for the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-26

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY United States Mint Pricing for the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set AGENCY: United States Mint, Department of the Treasury. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The United States Mint is announcing the price of the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set. The...

Small Business Demand Response with Communicating Thermostats: SMUD's Summer Solutions Research Pilot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herter, Karen; Wayland, Seth; Rasin, Josh

2009-09-25

This report documents a field study of 78 small commercial customers in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District service territory who volunteered for an integrated energy-efficiency/demand-response (EE-DR) program in the summer of 2008. The original objective for the pilot was to provide a better understanding of demand response issues in the small commercial sector. Early findings justified a focus on offering small businesses (1) help with the energy efficiency of their buildings in exchange for occasional load shed, and (2) a portfolio of options to meet the needs of a diverse customer sector. To meet these expressed needs, the research pilot provided on-site energy efficiency advice and offered participants several program options, including the choice of either a dynamic rate or monthly payment for air-conditioning setpoint control. An analysis of hourly load data indicates that the offices and retail stores in our sample provided significant demand response, while the restaurants did not. Thermostat data provides further evidence that restaurants attempted to precool and reduce AC service during event hours, but were unable to because their air-conditioning units were undersized. On a 100 F reference day, load impacts of all participants during events averaged 14%, while load impacts of office and retail buildings (excluding restaurants) reached 20%. Overall, pilot participants including restaurants had 2007-2008 summer energy savings of 20% and bill savings of 30%. About 80% of participants said that the program met or surpassed their expectations, and three-quarters said they would probably or definitely participate again without the $120 participation incentive. These results provide evidence that energy efficiency programs, dynamic rates and load control programs can be used concurrently and effectively in the small business sector, and that communicating thermostats are a reliable tool for providing air-conditioning load shed and enhancing the ability

Robust set-point regulation for ecological models with multiple management goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Guiver, Chris; Mueller, Markus; Hodgson, Dave; Townley, Stuart

2016-05-01

Population managers will often have to deal with problems of meeting multiple goals, for example, keeping at specific levels both the total population and population abundances in given stage-classes of a stratified population. In control engineering, such set-point regulation problems are commonly tackled using multi-input, multi-output proportional and integral (PI) feedback controllers. Building on our recent results for population management with single goals, we develop a PI control approach in a context of multi-objective population management. We show that robust set-point regulation is achieved by using a modified PI controller with saturation and anti-windup elements, both described in the paper, and illustrate the theory with examples. Our results apply more generally to linear control systems with positive state variables, including a class of infinite-dimensional systems, and thus have broader appeal.

A deterministic algorithm for fitting a step function to a weighted point-set

KAUST Repository

Fournier, Hervé ; Vigneron, Antoine E.

2013-01-01

Given a set of n points in the plane, each point having a positive weight, and an integer k>0, we present an optimal O(nlogn)-time deterministic algorithm to compute a step function with k steps that minimizes the maximum weighted vertical distance

Eigenstrain as a mechanical set-point of cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shengmao; Lampi, Marsha C; Reinhart-King, Cynthia A; Tsui, Gary; Wang, Jian; Nelson, Carl A; Gu, Linxia

2018-02-05

Cell contraction regulates how cells sense their mechanical environment. We sought to identify the set-point of cell contraction, also referred to as tensional homeostasis. In this work, bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs), cultured on substrates with different stiffness, were characterized using traction force microscopy (TFM). Numerical models were developed to provide insights into the mechanics of cell-substrate interactions. Cell contraction was modeled as eigenstrain which could induce isometric cell contraction without external forces. The predicted traction stresses matched well with TFM measurements. Furthermore, our numerical model provided cell stress and displacement maps for inspecting the fundamental regulating mechanism of cell mechanosensing. We showed that cell spread area, traction force on a substrate, as well as the average stress of a cell were increased in response to a stiffer substrate. However, the cell average strain, which is cell type-specific, was kept at the same level regardless of the substrate stiffness. This indicated that the cell average strain is the tensional homeostasis that each type of cell tries to maintain. Furthermore, cell contraction in terms of eigenstrain was found to be the same for both BAECs and fibroblast cells in different mechanical environments. This implied a potential mechanical set-point across different cell types. Our results suggest that additional measurements of contractility might be useful for monitoring cell mechanosensing as well as dynamic remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This work could help to advance the understanding of the cell-ECM relationship, leading to better regenerative strategies.

Impact of thermostatically controlled loads' demand response activation on aggregated power: A field experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lakshmanan, Venkatachalam; Marinelli, Mattia; Kosek, Anna Magdalena

2015-01-01

activation. The outcome of this experimental study quantifies the actual flexibility of household TCLs and the consequence for the different parties with respect to power behaviour. Each DR activation method adopts different scenarios to meet the power reduction, and has different impacts on the parameters......This paper describes the impacts of different types of DR (demand response) activation on TCLs' (thermostatically controlled loads) aggregated power. The different parties: power system operators, DR service providers (or aggregators) and consumers, have different objectives in relation to DR....... The experiments are conducted with real domestic refrigerators representing TCL. Activating refrigerators for DR with a delay reduces the ISE (integral square error) in power limitation by 28.46%, overshoot by 7.69%. The delay in refrigerator activation causes reduction in power ramp down rate by 39.90%, ramp up...

Development and analysis of a variable position thermostat for smart cooling system of a light duty diesel vehicles and engine emissions assessment during NEDC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamed, Eid S.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A new concept of the variable position electromagnetic thermostat in MCS is proposed. • A series of experiments were conducted on a light duty diesel vehicle operated over the NEDC test. • A comparative study was done on emission characteristics of the MCS and the conventional cooling system. • Engine cold start and steady-state coolant flow rate and emissions are presented. • The effect of MCS on engine accumulation FC and emissions over NEDC are evaluated. - Graphical Abstract: Display Omitted - Abstract: Smart cooling control systems for IC engines can better regulate the combustion process and heat, a variable position thermostat and electric coolant pumps (EWP) for IC engines are under development by a number of researchers. However, the aim of this study is to assess the performance of a variable position electromagnetic thermostat (VPEMT) to provide more flexible control of the engine temperature and coolant mass flow rate of modification cooling system (MCS). The measurement procedure was applied to two phases under new European drive cycle (NEDC) on a chassis dynamometer, with conventional cooling system (baseline engine) and MCS of a light duty diesel engine. The experimental results revealed that MCS using a VPEMT and EWP contributed to a reduction of engine warm-up period. As a consequence, important reduces in coolant flow rate and most exhaust emission compounds (THC, CO_2, CO and smoke opacity) were obtained. In contrast, NOx emission was observed to increase in these conditions. Comparative results are given for various engine speeds during a cold start and engine fully warm-up tests when the engine was equipped by conventional cooling system and MCS operation under NEDC, revealing the effect of MCS on engine fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

How the Invisible Hand is Supposed to Adjust the Natural Thermostat: A Guide for the Perplexed.

Science.gov (United States)

Storm, Servaas

2017-10-01

Mainstream climate economics takes global warming seriously, but perplexingly concludes that the optimal economic policy is to almost do nothing about it. This conclusion can be traced to just a few "normative" assumptions, over which there exists fundamental disagreement amongst economists. This paper explores two axes of this disagreement. The first axis ("market vs. regulation") measures faith in the invisible hand to adjust the natural thermostat. The second axis expresses differences in views on the efficiency and equity implications of climate action. The two axes combined lead to a classification of conflicting approaches in climate economics. The variety of approaches does not imply a post-modern "anything goes", as the contradictions between climate and capitalism cannot be wished away.

A REST Service for Triangulation of Point Sets Using Oriented Matroids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Valero Medina

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the implementation of a prototype REST service for triangulation of point sets collected by mobile GPS receivers. The first objective of this paper is to test functionalities of an application, which exploits mobile devices’ capabilities to get data associated with their spatial location. A triangulation of a set of points provides a mechanism through which it is possible to produce an accurate representation of spatial data. Such triangulation may be used for representing surfaces by Triangulated Irregular Networks (TINs, and for decomposing complex two-dimensional spatial objects into simpler geometries. The second objective of this paper is to promote the use of oriented matroids for finding alternative solutions to spatial data processing and analysis tasks. This study focused on the particular case of the calculation of triangulations based on oriented matroids. The prototype described in this paper used a wrapper to integrate and expose several tools previously implemented in C++.

Using billing and weather data to separate thermostat from insulation effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fels, M F; Goldberg, M L

1984-05-01

A simple methodology, which uses aggregate utility sales data to measure and decompose residential conservation trends, is demonstrated. The data base is the aggregate natural gas consumption of the nearly one million houses in New Jersey which use gas for heating. The conservation index resulting from the analysis is normalized annual consumption, which adjusts per-household consumption to typical weather conditions. To smooth erratic year-to-year changes, four-year composite analyses are moved forward in time over the period 1970-82. Dramatic decreases in consumption, totaling 26% since the oil embargo, are evident. A decomposition of the results for the four years following the embargo suggests that over half of this conservation effect is due to changes in interior temperatures, with the policy implication that thermostat setbacks have played a far greater conservation role than have either structural change through retrofitting or modifications in appliance usage. In more recent years, for which the overall reduction in energy usage is lower, the dominant conservation role appears to have shifted to reductions in temperature-independent, base-level consumption by water heaters and appliances, while the effects of retrofitting remain relatively small.

Validation of non-rigid point-set registration methods using a porcine bladder pelvic phantom

Science.gov (United States)

Zakariaee, Roja; Hamarneh, Ghassan; Brown, Colin J.; Spadinger, Ingrid

2016-01-01

The problem of accurate dose accumulation in fractionated radiotherapy treatment for highly deformable organs, such as bladder, has garnered increasing interest over the past few years. However, more research is required in order to find a robust and efficient solution and to increase the accuracy over the current methods. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of utilizing non-rigid (affine or deformable) point-set registration in accumulating dose in bladder of different sizes and shapes. A pelvic phantom was built to house an ex vivo porcine bladder with fiducial landmarks adhered onto its surface. Four different volume fillings of the bladder were used (90, 180, 360 and 480 cc). The performance of MATLAB implementations of five different methods were compared, in aligning the bladder contour point-sets. The approaches evaluated were coherent point drift (CPD), gaussian mixture model, shape context, thin-plate spline robust point matching (TPS-RPM) and finite iterative closest point (ICP-finite). The evaluation metrics included registration runtime, target registration error (TRE), root-mean-square error (RMS) and Hausdorff distance (HD). The reference (source) dataset was alternated through all four points-sets, in order to study the effect of reference volume on the registration outcomes. While all deformable algorithms provided reasonable registration results, CPD provided the best TRE values (6.4 mm), and TPS-RPM yielded the best mean RMS and HD values (1.4 and 6.8 mm, respectively). ICP-finite was the fastest technique and TPS-RPM, the slowest.

Validation of non-rigid point-set registration methods using a porcine bladder pelvic phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakariaee, Roja; Hamarneh, Ghassan; Brown, Colin J; Spadinger, Ingrid

2016-01-01

The problem of accurate dose accumulation in fractionated radiotherapy treatment for highly deformable organs, such as bladder, has garnered increasing interest over the past few years. However, more research is required in order to find a robust and efficient solution and to increase the accuracy over the current methods. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of utilizing non-rigid (affine or deformable) point-set registration in accumulating dose in bladder of different sizes and shapes. A pelvic phantom was built to house an ex vivo porcine bladder with fiducial landmarks adhered onto its surface. Four different volume fillings of the bladder were used (90, 180, 360 and 480 cc). The performance of MATLAB implementations of five different methods were compared, in aligning the bladder contour point-sets. The approaches evaluated were coherent point drift (CPD), gaussian mixture model, shape context, thin-plate spline robust point matching (TPS-RPM) and finite iterative closest point (ICP-finite). The evaluation metrics included registration runtime, target registration error (TRE), root-mean-square error (RMS) and Hausdorff distance (HD). The reference (source) dataset was alternated through all four points-sets, in order to study the effect of reference volume on the registration outcomes. While all deformable algorithms provided reasonable registration results, CPD provided the best TRE values (6.4 mm), and TPS-RPM yielded the best mean RMS and HD values (1.4 and 6.8 mm, respectively). ICP-finite was the fastest technique and TPS-RPM, the slowest. (paper)

Keypoint-based 4-Points Congruent Sets - Automated marker-less registration of laser scans

Science.gov (United States)

Theiler, Pascal Willy; Wegner, Jan Dirk; Schindler, Konrad

2014-10-01

We propose a method to automatically register two point clouds acquired with a terrestrial laser scanner without placing any markers in the scene. What makes this task challenging are the strongly varying point densities caused by the line-of-sight measurement principle, and the huge amount of data. The first property leads to low point densities in potential overlap areas with scans taken from different viewpoints while the latter calls for highly efficient methods in terms of runtime and memory requirements. A crucial yet largely unsolved step is the initial coarse alignment of two scans without any simplifying assumptions, that is, point clouds are given in arbitrary local coordinates and no knowledge about their relative orientation is available. Once coarse alignment has been solved, scans can easily be fine-registered with standard methods like least-squares surface or Iterative Closest Point matching. In order to drastically thin out the original point clouds while retaining characteristic features, we resort to extracting 3D keypoints. Such clouds of keypoints, which can be viewed as a sparse but nevertheless discriminative representation of the original scans, are then used as input to a very efficient matching method originally developed in computer graphics, called 4-Points Congruent Sets (4PCS) algorithm. We adapt the 4PCS matching approach to better suit the characteristics of laser scans. The resulting Keypoint-based 4-Points Congruent Sets (K-4PCS) method is extensively evaluated on challenging indoor and outdoor scans. Beyond the evaluation on real terrestrial laser scans, we also perform experiments with simulated indoor scenes, paying particular attention to the sensitivity of the approach with respect to highly symmetric scenes.

Set points, settling points and some alternative models: theoretical options to understand how genes and environments combine to regulate body adiposity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John R. Speakman

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The close correspondence between energy intake and expenditure over prolonged time periods, coupled with an apparent protection of the level of body adiposity in the face of perturbations of energy balance, has led to the idea that body fatness is regulated via mechanisms that control intake and energy expenditure. Two models have dominated the discussion of how this regulation might take place. The set point model is rooted in physiology, genetics and molecular biology, and suggests that there is an active feedback mechanism linking adipose tissue (stored energy to intake and expenditure via a set point, presumably encoded in the brain. This model is consistent with many of the biological aspects of energy balance, but struggles to explain the many significant environmental and social influences on obesity, food intake and physical activity. More importantly, the set point model does not effectively explain the ‘obesity epidemic’ – the large increase in body weight and adiposity of a large proportion of individuals in many countries since the 1980s. An alternative model, called the settling point model, is based on the idea that there is passive feedback between the size of the body stores and aspects of expenditure. This model accommodates many of the social and environmental characteristics of energy balance, but struggles to explain some of the biological and genetic aspects. The shortcomings of these two models reflect their failure to address the gene-by-environment interactions that dominate the regulation of body weight. We discuss two additional models – the general intake model and the dual intervention point model – that address this issue and might offer better ways to understand how body fatness is controlled.

Extending the Internet to make demand management e-smart

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, M. D. [emWare Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2001-06-01

A new cost-effective solution to managing peak power demand by utility companies is described. The system was developed by Carrier Corporation, in conjunction with Silicon Energy, AT and T and emWare Inc. The program is known as 'ComfortChoice'. The heart of the system is a new generation of energy management interface (Emi) thermostat which is Internet-enabled. These thermostats allow the utility company to adjust the customer's temperature set point during peak energy time to reduce energy usage, while giving the customer complete freedom to override the utility company's settings and to control the thermostat remotely via a Web browser interface on a PC. The device-networking system runs on the EMIT software package, developed by emWare Inc, which is ideal for electronic devices with 8- or 16-bit micro-controllers, like thermostats and other everyday devices, and enable bringing the Internet into homes in a cost-effective platform. It is particularly well-suited to controlling power and resource management, heating and cooling systems, building and home automation, telemedicine and health services to network-enable new and existing products, making them e-smart. In addition to being enabled to monitor, diagnose, upgrade and control these devices over the Internet, the embedded micro internet-working technology (EMIT) also offers improved service, greater convenience, and increased cost savings. Productivity and safety are also claimed to be enhanced.

A point cloud based pipeline for depth reconstruction from autostereoscopic sets

Science.gov (United States)

Niquin, Cédric; Prévost, Stéphanie; Remion, Yannick

2010-02-01

This is a three step pipeline to construct a 3D mesh of a scene from a set of N images, destined to be viewed on auto-stereoscopic displays. The first step matches the pixels to create a point cloud using a new algorithm based on graph-cuts. It exploits the data redundancy of the N images to ensure the geometric consistency of the scene and to reduce the graph complexity, in order to speed up the computation. It performs an accurate detection of occlusions and its results can then be used in applications like view synthesis. The second step slightly moves the points along the Z-axis to refine the point cloud. It uses a new cost including both occlusion positions and light variations deduced from the matching. The Z values are selected using a dynamic programming algorithm. This step finally generates a point cloud, which is fine enough for applications like augmented reality. From any of the two previously defined point clouds, the last step creates a colored mesh, which is a convenient data structure to be used in graphics APIs. It also generates N depth maps, allowing a comparison between the results of our method with those of other methods.

A comparison of Landsat point and rectangular field training sets for land-use classification

Science.gov (United States)

Tom, C. H.; Miller, L. D.

1984-01-01

Rectangular training fields of homogeneous spectroreflectance are commonly used in supervised pattern recognition efforts. Trial image classification with manually selected training sets gives irregular and misleading results due to statistical bias. A self-verifying, grid-sampled training point approach is proposed as a more statistically valid feature extraction technique. A systematic pixel sampling network of every ninth row and ninth column efficiently replaced the full image scene with smaller statistical vectors which preserved the necessary characteristics for classification. The composite second- and third-order average classification accuracy of 50.1 percent for 331,776 pixels in the full image substantially agreed with the 51 percent value predicted by the grid-sampled, 4,100-point training set.

Generating and executing programs for a floating point single instruction multiple data instruction set architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Gschwind, Michael K

2013-04-16

Mechanisms for generating and executing programs for a floating point (FP) only single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instruction set architecture (ISA) are provided. A computer program product comprising a computer recordable medium having a computer readable program recorded thereon is provided. The computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to receive one or more instructions and execute the one or more instructions using logic in an execution unit of the computing device. The logic implements a floating point (FP) only single instruction multiple data (SIMD) instruction set architecture (ISA), based on data stored in a vector register file of the computing device. The vector register file is configured to store both scalar and floating point values as vectors having a plurality of vector elements.

Using point-set compression to classify folk songs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meredith, David

2014-01-01

-neighbour algorithm and leave-one-out cross-validation to classify the 360 melodies into tune families. The classifications produced by the algorithms were compared with a ground-truth classification prepared by expert musicologists. Twelve of the thirteen compressors used in the experiment were based...... compared. The highest classification success rate of 77–84% was achieved by COSIATEC, followed by 60–64% for Forth’s algorithm and then 52–58% for SIATECCompress. When the NCDs were calculated using bzip2, the success rate was only 12.5%. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness of NCD for measuring...... similarity between folk-songs for classification purposes is highly dependent upon the actual compressor chosen. Furthermore, it seems that compressors based on finding maximal repeated patterns in point-set representations of music show more promise for NCD-based music classification than general...

R Implementation of a Polyhedral Approximation to a 3D Set of Points Using the ?-Shape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Lafarge

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This work presents the implementation in R of the ?-shape of a finite set of points in the three-dimensional space R3. This geometric structure generalizes the convex hull and allows to recover the shape of non-convex and even non-connected sets in 3D, given a ran- dom sample of points taken into it. Besides the computation of the ?-shape, the R package alphashape3d provides users with tools to facilitate the three-dimensional graphical visu- alization of the estimated set as well as the computation of important characteristics such as the connected components or the volume, among others.

Equivalent electricity storage capacity of domestic thermostatically controlled loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sossan, Fabrizio

2017-01-01

A method to quantify the equivalent storage capacity inherent the operation of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) is developed. Equivalent storage capacity is defined as the amount of power and electricity consumption which can be deferred or anticipated in time with respect to the baseline consumption (i.e. when no demand side event occurs) without violating temperature limits. The analysis is carried out for 4 common domestic TCLs: an electric space heating system, freezer, fridge, and electric water heater. They are simulated by applying grey-box thermal models identified from measurements. They describe the heat transfer of the considered TCLs as a function of the electric power consumption and environment conditions. To represent typical TCLs operating conditions, Monte Carlo simulations are developed, where models inputs and parameters are sampled from relevant statistical distributions. The analysis provides a way to compare flexible demand against competitive storage technologies. It is intended as a tool for system planners to assess the TCLs potential to support electrical grid operation. In the paper, a comparison of the storage capacity per unit of capital investment cost is performed considering the selected TCLs and two grid-connected battery storage systems (a 720 kVA/500 kWh lithium-ion unit and 15 kVA/120 kWh Vanadium flow redox) is performed. - Highlights: • The equivalent storage capacity of domestic TCLs is quantified • A comparison with battery-based storage technologies is performed • We derive metrics for system planners to plan storage in power system networks • Rule-of-thumb cost indicators for flexible demand and battery-based storage

Does gastric bypass surgery change body weight set point?

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Z; Mumphrey, M B; Morrison, C D; Münzberg, H; Ye, J; Berthoud, H R

2016-12-01

The relatively stable body weight during adulthood is attributed to a homeostatic regulatory mechanism residing in the brain which uses feedback from the body to control energy intake and expenditure. This mechanism guarantees that if perturbed up or down by design, body weight will return to pre-perturbation levels, defined as the defended level or set point. The fact that weight re-gain is common after dieting suggests that obese subjects defend a higher level of body weight. Thus, the set point for body weight is flexible and likely determined by the complex interaction of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. Unlike dieting, bariatric surgery does a much better job in producing sustained suppression of food intake and body weight, and an intensive search for the underlying mechanisms has started. Although one explanation for this lasting effect of particularly Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) is simple physical restriction due to the invasive surgery, a more exciting explanation is that the surgery physiologically reprograms the body weight defense mechanism. In this non-systematic review, we present behavioral evidence from our own and other studies that defended body weight is lowered after RYGB and sleeve gastrectomy. After these surgeries, rodents return to their preferred lower body weight if over- or underfed for a period of time, and the ability to drastically increase food intake during the anabolic phase strongly argues against the physical restriction hypothesis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Although the mechanism involves central leptin and melanocortin signaling pathways, other peripheral signals such as gut hormones and their neural effector pathways likely contribute. Future research using both targeted and non-targeted 'omics' techniques in both humans and rodents as well as modern, genetically targeted, neuronal manipulation techniques in rodents will be necessary.

Approximation of a Common Element of the Fixed Point Sets of Multivalued Strictly Pseudocontractive-Type Mappings and the Set of Solutions of an Equilibrium Problem in Hilbert Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. O. Isiogugu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The strong convergence of a hybrid algorithm to a common element of the fixed point sets of multivalued strictly pseudocontractive-type mappings and the set of solutions of an equilibrium problem in Hilbert spaces is obtained using a strict fixed point set condition. The obtained results improve, complement, and extend the results on multivalued and single-valued mappings in the contemporary literature.

Point process analyses of variations in smoking rate by setting, mood, gender, and dependence

Science.gov (United States)

Shiffman, Saul; Rathbun, Stephen L.

2010-01-01

The immediate emotional and situational antecedents of ad libitum smoking are still not well understood. We re-analyzed data from Ecological Momentary Assessment using novel point-process analyses, to assess how craving, mood, and social setting influence smoking rate, as well as assessing the moderating effects of gender and nicotine dependence. 304 smokers recorded craving, mood, and social setting using electronic diaries when smoking and at random nonsmoking times over 16 days of smoking. Point-process analysis, which makes use of the known random sampling scheme for momentary variables, examined main effects of setting and interactions with gender and dependence. Increased craving was associated with higher rates of smoking, particularly among women. Negative affect was not associated with smoking rate, even in interaction with arousal, but restlessness was associated with substantially higher smoking rates. Women's smoking tended to be less affected by negative affect. Nicotine dependence had little moderating effect on situational influences. Smoking rates were higher when smokers were alone or with others smoking, and smoking restrictions reduced smoking rates. However, the presence of others smoking undermined the effects of restrictions. The more sensitive point-process analyses confirmed earlier findings, including the surprising conclusion that negative affect by itself was not related to smoking rates. Contrary to hypothesis, men's and not women's smoking was influenced by negative affect. Both smoking restrictions and the presence of others who are not smoking suppress smoking, but others’ smoking undermines the effects of restrictions. Point-process analyses of EMA data can bring out even small influences on smoking rate. PMID:21480683

An energy-saving set-point optimizer with a sliding mode controller for automotive air-conditioning/refrigeration systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yanjun; Khajepour, Amir; Ding, Haitao; Bagheri, Farshid; Bahrami, Majid

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A novel two-layer energy-saving controller for automotive A/C-R system is developed. • A set-point optimizer at the outer loop is designed based on the steady state model. • A sliding mode controller in the inner loop is built. • Extensively experiments studies show that about 9% energy can be saving by this controller. - Abstract: This paper presents an energy-saving controller for automotive air-conditioning/refrigeration (A/C-R) systems. With their extensive application in homes, industry, and vehicles, A/C-R systems are consuming considerable amounts of energy. The proposed controller consists of two different time-scale layers. The outer or the slow time-scale layer called a set-point optimizer is used to find the set points related to energy efficiency by using the steady state model; whereas, the inner or the fast time-scale layer is used to track the obtained set points. In the inner loop, thanks to its robustness, a sliding mode controller (SMC) is utilized to track the set point of the cargo temperature. The currently used on/off controller is presented and employed as a basis for comparison to the proposed controller. More importantly, the real experimental results under several disturbed scenarios are analysed to demonstrate how the proposed controller can improve performance while reducing the energy consumption by 9% comparing with the on/off controller. The controller is suitable for any type of A/C-R system even though it is applied to an automotive A/C-R system in this paper.

Variability in Measured Space Temperatures in 60 Homes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, D.; Lay, K.

2013-03-01

This report discusses the observed variability in indoor space temperature in a set of 60 homes located in Florida, New York, Oregon, and Washington. Temperature data were collected at 15-minute intervals for an entire year, including living room, master bedroom, and outdoor air temperature (Arena, et. al). The data were examined to establish the average living room temperature for the set of homes for the heating and cooling seasons, the variability of living room temperature depending on climate, and the variability of indoor space temperature within the homes. The accuracy of software-based energy analysis depends on the accuracy of input values. Thermostat set point is one of the most influential inputs for building energy simulation. Several industry standards exist that recommend differing default thermostat settings for heating and cooling seasons. These standards were compared to the values calculated for this analysis. The data examined for this report show that there is a definite difference between the climates and that the data do not agree well with any particular standard.

Non-rigid point set registration of curves: registration of the superficial vessel centerlines of the brain

Science.gov (United States)

Marreiros, Filipe M. M.; Wang, Chunliang; Rossitti, Sandro; Smedby, Örjan

2016-03-01

In this study we present a non-rigid point set registration for 3D curves (composed by 3D set of points). The method was evaluated in the task of registration of 3D superficial vessels of the brain where it was used to match vessel centerline points. It consists of a combination of the Coherent Point Drift (CPD) and the Thin-Plate Spline (TPS) semilandmarks. The CPD is used to perform the initial matching of centerline 3D points, while the semilandmark method iteratively relaxes/slides the points. For the evaluation, a Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) dataset was used. Deformations were applied to the extracted vessels centerlines to simulate brain bulging and sinking, using a TPS deformation where a few control points were manipulated to obtain the desired transformation (T1). Once the correspondences are known, the corresponding points are used to define a new TPS deformation(T2). The errors are measured in the deformed space, by transforming the original points using T1 and T2 and measuring the distance between them. To simulate cases where the deformed vessel data is incomplete, parts of the reference vessels were cut and then deformed. Furthermore, anisotropic normally distributed noise was added. The results show that the error estimates (root mean square error and mean error) are below 1 mm, even in the presence of noise and incomplete data.

Evaluating Diagnostic Point-of-Care Tests in Resource-Limited Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Drain, Paul K; Hyle, Emily P; Noubary, Farzad; Freedberg, Kenneth A; Wilson, Douglas; Bishai, William; Rodriguez, William; Bassett, Ingrid V

2014-01-01

Diagnostic point-of-care (POC) testing is intended to minimize the time to obtain a test result, thereby allowing clinicians and patients to make an expeditious clinical decision. As POC tests expand into resource-limited settings (RLS), the benefits must outweigh the costs. To optimize POC testing in RLS, diagnostic POC tests need rigorous evaluations focused on relevant clinical outcomes and operational costs, which differ from evaluations of conventional diagnostic tests. Here, we reviewed published studies on POC testing in RLS, and found no clearly defined metric for the clinical utility of POC testing. Therefore, we propose a framework for evaluating POC tests, and suggest and define the term “test efficacy” to describe a diagnostic test’s capacity to support a clinical decision within its operational context. We also proposed revised criteria for an ideal diagnostic POC test in resource-limited settings. Through systematic evaluations, comparisons between centralized diagnostic testing and novel POC technologies can be more formalized, and health officials can better determine which POC technologies represent valuable additions to their clinical programs. PMID:24332389

Thermodynamic-behaviour model for air-cooled screw chillers with a variable set-point condensing temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, K.T.; Yu, F.W.

2006-01-01

This paper presents a thermodynamic model to evaluate the coefficient of performance (COP) of an air-cooled screw chiller under various operating conditions. The model accounts for the real process phenomena, including the capacity control of screw compressors and variations in the heat-transfer coefficients of an evaporator and a condenser at part load. It also contains an algorithm to determine how the condenser fans are staged in response to a set-point condensing temperature. The model parameters are identified, based on the performance data of chiller specifications. The chiller model is validated using a wide range of operating data of an air-cooled screw chiller. The difference between the measured and modelled COPs is within ±10% for 86% of the data points. The chiller's COP can increase by up to 115% when the set-point condensing temperature is adjusted, based on any given outdoor temperature. Having identified the variation in the chiller's COP, a suitable strategy is proposed for air-cooled screw chillers to operate at maximum efficiency as much as possible when they have to satisfy a building's cooling-load

Protection set-points lines for the reactor core and considerations about power distribution and peak factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furieri, E.B.

1981-01-01

In order to assure the reactor core integrity during the slow operational transients (power excursion above the nominal value and the high coolant temperature), the formation of a steam film (DNB-Departure from Nucleate Boiling) in the control rods must be avoided. The protection set points lines presents the points where DNBR (relation between critical heat flux-q sub(DNB) and the local heat flux-q' sub(local) is equal to 1.30, corrected by peak factors and uncertainty in function of ΔTr and T sub(R), respectively coolant elevation and medium coolant temperature in reactor pressure vessel. The curve set-points were determined using a new version of COBRA-IIIF (CUPRO) computer code, implemented with new subroutines and linearized convergence scheme. Pratical results for Angra-1 core were obtained and its were compared with the results from the fabricator. (E.G.) [pt

Electrodeposition of nickel onto steel, using a thermostatic cell and movable anode by a variable current.; Electrodeposicion de niquel sobre acero al carbon, empleando una celda termostatizada y un anodo movil, por medio de una corriente pulsada rectangular.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vega G, J D

1994-12-31

In this work, metallic coatings of nickel was made over carbon steel using two different electrolytic solutions: The Watts`s bath and the nickel sulfamate bath, using a pulse variable current. The method use was the traditional method, its means a thermostatic cell and one movable anode, which is a few know technique nowadays, it allow realize depositions away from any laboratory or special workshop, it has the advantage to be a portable dispositive. At last of all the electro depositions the coatings quality was valuable by them physical properties like: adhesion, hardness, wrinkled and thickness. The best results was obtain by the Nickel sulfamate bath and movable anode, less in the thickness, which has higher on the thermostatic cell. The variable current was obtain by a Pulse Generator and a Cathodic galvanometer. (Author).

Estimation of influential points in any data set from coefficient of determination and its leave-one-out cross-validated counterpart.

Science.gov (United States)

Tóth, Gergely; Bodai, Zsolt; Héberger, Károly

2013-10-01

Coefficient of determination (R (2)) and its leave-one-out cross-validated analogue (denoted by Q (2) or R cv (2) ) are the most frequantly published values to characterize the predictive performance of models. In this article we use R (2) and Q (2) in a reversed aspect to determine uncommon points, i.e. influential points in any data sets. The term (1 - Q (2))/(1 - R (2)) corresponds to the ratio of predictive residual sum of squares and the residual sum of squares. The ratio correlates to the number of influential points in experimental and random data sets. We propose an (approximate) F test on (1 - Q (2))/(1 - R (2)) term to quickly pre-estimate the presence of influential points in training sets of models. The test is founded upon the routinely calculated Q (2) and R (2) values and warns the model builders to verify the training set, to perform influence analysis or even to change to robust modeling.

Experimental analysis of flexibility change with different levels of power reduction by demand response activation on thermostat controlled loads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lakshmanan, Venkatachalam; Marinelli, Mattia; Hu, Junjie

2017-01-01

This paper studies the flexibility available with thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) to provide power system services by demand response (DR) activation. Although the DR activation on TCLs can provide power system ancillary services, it is important to know how long such services can...... be provided for when different levels of power reduction are imposed. The flexibility change with different levels of power reduction is tested experimentally with domestic fridges used by real customers with unknown user interaction. The investigation quantifies the flexibility of household fridges...... and the impact of DR activation in terms of deviation in the average temperature. The maximum possible power reduction with the cluster of refrigerators is 67% and the available flexibility with the cluster of refrigerators is 10%. The resulting deviation in the average temperature is 14%....

Amorphous topological insulators constructed from random point sets

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Noah P.; Nash, Lisa M.; Hexner, Daniel; Turner, Ari M.; Irvine, William T. M.

2018-04-01

The discovery that the band structure of electronic insulators may be topologically non-trivial has revealed distinct phases of electronic matter with novel properties1,2. Recently, mechanical lattices have been found to have similarly rich structure in their phononic excitations3,4, giving rise to protected unidirectional edge modes5-7. In all of these cases, however, as well as in other topological metamaterials3,8, the underlying structure was finely tuned, be it through periodicity, quasi-periodicity or isostaticity. Here we show that amorphous Chern insulators can be readily constructed from arbitrary underlying structures, including hyperuniform, jammed, quasi-crystalline and uniformly random point sets. While our findings apply to mechanical and electronic systems alike, we focus on networks of interacting gyroscopes as a model system. Local decorations control the topology of the vibrational spectrum, endowing amorphous structures with protected edge modes—with a chirality of choice. Using a real-space generalization of the Chern number, we investigate the topology of our structures numerically, analytically and experimentally. The robustness of our approach enables the topological design and self-assembly of non-crystalline topological metamaterials on the micro and macro scale.

Determination of the protection set-points lines for the Angra-1 reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furieri, E.B.

1980-03-01

In this work several thermo-hidraulic calculation were performed to obtain Protection set-points lines for the Angra-1 reactor core in order to compare with the values presented by the vendor in the FSAR. These lines are the locus of points where DNBR min = 1,3 and power = 1,18 x P nominal as a function of ΔT m and T m , the temperature difference and the average coolant temperature between hot and cold legs. A computation scheme was developed using COBRA-IIIF as a subroutine of a new main program and adding new subroutines in order to obtain the desired DNBR. The solution is obtained through a convergentce procedure using parameters estimated in a sensivity study. (author) [pt

ON THE ESTIMATION OF DISTANCE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS FOR POINT PROCESSES AND RANDOM SETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dietrich Stoyan

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses various estimators for the nearest neighbour distance distribution function D of a stationary point process and for the quadratic contact distribution function Hq of a stationary random closed set. It recommends the use of Hanisch's estimator of D, which is of Horvitz-Thompson type, and the minussampling estimator of Hq. This recommendation is based on simulations for Poisson processes and Boolean models.

A New Primary Dew-Point Generator at TUBITAK UME

Science.gov (United States)

Oğuz Aytekin, S.; Karaböce, N.; Heinonen, M.; Sairanen, H.

2018-05-01

An implementation of a new low-range primary humidity generator as a part of an international collaboration between TUBITAK UME and VTT MIKES was initiated as a EURAMET Project Number 1259. The dew-point generator was designed and constructed within the scope of the cooperation between TUBITAK UME and VTT MIKES in order to extend the dew-point temperature measurement capability of Humidity Laboratory of TUBITAK UME down to - 80 °C. The system was thoroughly characterized and validated at TUBITAK UME to support the evidence for dew-point temperature uncertainties. The new generator has a capability of operating in the range of - 80 °C to +10 °C, but at the moment, it was characterized down to - 60 °C. The core of the generator system is a saturator which is fully immersed in a liquid bath. Dry air is supplied to the saturator through a temperature-controlled pre-saturator. The operation of the system is based on the single-pressure generation method with a single pass, i.e., the dew-point temperature is only controlled by the saturator temperature, and the humidity-controlled air is not returned to the system after leaving of the saturator. The metrological performance of the saturator was investigated thoroughly at both National Metrology Institutes. The pre-saturator was also tested using a thermostatic bath at VTT MIKES prior to sending them to TUBITAK UME. This paper describes the principle and design of the generator in detail. The dew-point measurement system and the corresponding uncertainty analysis of the dew-point temperature scale realized with the generator in the range from - 60 °C to 10 °C is also presented.

Common Fixed Points of Mappings and Set-Valued Mappings in Symmetric Spaces with Application to Probabilistic Spaces

OpenAIRE

M. Aamri; A. Bassou; S. Bennani; D. El Moutawakil

2007-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to give some common fixed point theorems of mappings and set-valued mappings of a symmetric space with some applications to probabilistic spaces. In order to get these results, we define the concept of E-weak compatibility between set-valued and single-valued mappings of a symmetric space.

Automatic markerless registration of point clouds with semantic-keypoint-based 4-points congruent sets

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Xuming

2017-08-01

The coarse registration of point clouds from urban building scenes has become a key topic in applications of terrestrial laser scanning technology. Sampling-based algorithms in the random sample consensus (RANSAC) model have emerged as mainstream solutions to address coarse registration problems. In this paper, we propose a novel combined solution to automatically align two markerless point clouds from building scenes. Firstly, the method segments non-ground points from ground points. Secondly, the proposed method detects feature points from each cross section and then obtains semantic keypoints by connecting feature points with specific rules. Finally, the detected semantic keypoints from two point clouds act as inputs to a modified 4PCS algorithm. Examples are presented and the results compared with those of K-4PCS to demonstrate the main contributions of the proposed method, which are the extension of the original 4PCS to handle heavy datasets and the use of semantic keypoints to improve K-4PCS in relation to registration accuracy and computational efficiency.

Solving the multiple-set split equality common fixed-point problem of firmly quasi-nonexpansive operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Zong, Haili

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose parallel and cyclic iterative algorithms for solving the multiple-set split equality common fixed-point problem of firmly quasi-nonexpansive operators. We also combine the process of cyclic and parallel iterative methods and propose two mixed iterative algorithms. Our several algorithms do not need any prior information about the operator norms. Under mild assumptions, we prove weak convergence of the proposed iterative sequences in Hilbert spaces. As applications, we obtain several iterative algorithms to solve the multiple-set split equality problem.

Emerging technologies in point-of-care molecular diagnostics for resource-limited settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Peeling, Rosanna W; McNerney, Ruth

2014-06-01

Emerging molecular technologies to diagnose infectious diseases at the point at which care is delivered have the potential to save many lives in developing countries where access to laboratories is poor. Molecular tests are needed to improve the specificity of syndromic management, monitor progress towards disease elimination and screen for asymptomatic infections with the goal of interrupting disease transmission and preventing long-term sequelae. In simplifying laboratory-based molecular assays for use at point-of-care, there are inevitable compromises between cost, ease of use and test performance. Despite significant technological advances, many challenges remain for the development of molecular diagnostics for resource-limited settings. There needs to be more advocacy for these technologies to be applied to infectious diseases, increased efforts to lower the barriers to market entry through streamlined and harmonized regulatory approaches, faster policy development for adoption of new technologies and novel financing mechanisms to enable countries to scale up implementation.

LiveWire interactive boundary extraction algorithm based on Haar wavelet transform and control point set direction search

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jun; Zhang, Jun; Tian, Jinwen

2015-12-01

Based on deep analysis of the LiveWire interactive boundary extraction algorithm, a new algorithm focusing on improving the speed of LiveWire algorithm is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the Haar wavelet transform is carried on the input image, and the boundary is extracted on the low resolution image obtained by the wavelet transform of the input image. Secondly, calculating LiveWire shortest path is based on the control point set direction search by utilizing the spatial relationship between the two control points users provide in real time. Thirdly, the search order of the adjacent points of the starting node is set in advance. An ordinary queue instead of a priority queue is taken as the storage pool of the points when optimizing their shortest path value, thus reducing the complexity of the algorithm from O[n2] to O[n]. Finally, A region iterative backward projection method based on neighborhood pixel polling has been used to convert dual-pixel boundary of the reconstructed image to single-pixel boundary after Haar wavelet inverse transform. The algorithm proposed in this paper combines the advantage of the Haar wavelet transform and the advantage of the optimal path searching method based on control point set direction search. The former has fast speed of image decomposition and reconstruction and is more consistent with the texture features of the image and the latter can reduce the time complexity of the original algorithm. So that the algorithm can improve the speed in interactive boundary extraction as well as reflect the boundary information of the image more comprehensively. All methods mentioned above have a big role in improving the execution efficiency and the robustness of the algorithm.

Effect of Set-point Variation on Thermal Comfort and Energy Use in a Plus-energy Dwelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toftum, Jørn; Kazanci, Ongun Berk; Olesen, Bjarne W.

2016-01-01

When designing buildings and space conditioning systems, the occupant thermal comfort, health, and productivity are the main criteria to satisfy. However, this should be achieved with the most energy-efficient space conditioning systems (heating, cooling, and ventilation). Control strategy, set......-points, and control dead-bands have a direct effect on the thermal environment in and the energy use of a building. The thermal environment in and the energy use of a building are associated with the thermal mass of the building and the control strategy, including set-points and control dead-bands. With thermally...... active building systems (TABS), temperatures are allowed to drift within the comfort zone, while in spaces with air-conditioning, temperatures in a narrower interval typically are aimed at. This behavior of radiant systems provides certain advantages regarding energy use, since the temperatures...

Automatic sets and Delone sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbe, A; Haeseler, F von

2004-01-01

Automatic sets D part of Z m are characterized by having a finite number of decimations. They are equivalently generated by fixed points of certain substitution systems, or by certain finite automata. As examples, two-dimensional versions of the Thue-Morse, Baum-Sweet, Rudin-Shapiro and paperfolding sequences are presented. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for an automatic set D part of Z m to be a Delone set in R m . The result is then extended to automatic sets that are defined as fixed points of certain substitutions. The morphology of automatic sets is discussed by means of examples

Search for outlying data points in multivariate solar activity data sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartkowiak, A.; Jakimiec, M.

1989-01-01

The aim of this paper is the investigation of outlying data points in the solar activity data sets. Two statistical methods for identifying of multivariate outliers are presented: the chi2-plot method based on the analysis of Mahalanobis distances and the method based on principal component analysis, i.e. on scatterdiagrams constructed from the first two or last two eigenvectors. We demonstrate the usefullness of these methods applying them to same data of solar activity. The methods allow to reveal quite precisely the data vectors containing some errors and also some untypical vectors, i.e. vectors with unusually large values or with values revealing untypical relations as compared with the common relations between the appropriate variables. 12 refs., 7 figs., 8 tabs. (author)

Controlling the temperature in Canadian homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dewis, G.

2008-01-01

Programmable thermostats can be used to optimize the operation of heating and cooling systems by reducing system usage when occupants are asleep or when dwellings are unoccupied. This paper used the results of a 2006 households and the environment survey to examine how programmable thermostats are currently being used in Canadian households. The demographic factors associated with thermostat use were discussed, as well as how their usage varied in different areas of Canada. The study showed that most Canadian households set their temperature at between 20 to 22 degrees C during times when they are home and awake. Home temperatures were reduced to between 16 and 18 degrees C when household members were away or asleep. Only 4 out of 10 households used programmable thermostats. Of those who used programmable thermostats, only 7 in 10 programmed the thermostat to lower the temperature when occupants were asleep. Senior citizens and people with lower levels of education were less likely to use programmable thermostats. It was concluded that incentive programs and the distribution of free programmable thermostats will increase their use in households. Assistance in programming during the installation process should also be provided. Factor analyses must also be conducted to examine the influence of age, education, and income and the decisions made by households in relation to temperature regulation. 7 tabs

Protection coordination: Determination of break point set

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Madani, S.M.; Rijanto, H.

1998-01-01

Modern power system networks are often multiloop structured. The co-ordinated setting of overcurrent and distance protective relays in such networks is tedious and time consuming. The complicated part of this problem is the determination of a proper minimum set of relays, the so-called minimum

Portable Microplate Analyzer with a Thermostatic Chamber Based on a Smartphone for On-site Rapid Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Zijian; Zhong, Longjie; Pan, Yuxiang; Li, Hongbo; Zou, Quchao; Su, Kaiqi; Wang, Ping

2017-01-01

A microplate method provides an efficient way to use modern detection technology. However, there are some difficulties concerning on-site detection, such as being non-portable and time-consuming. In this work, a novel portable microplate analyzer with a thermostatic chamber based on a smartphone was designed for rapid on-site detection. An analyzer with a wide-angle lens and an optical filter provides a proper environment for the microplate. A smartphone app-iPlate Monitor was used for RGB analyze of image. After a consistency experiment with a microtiter plate reader (MTPR), the normalized calibration curves were y = 0.7276x + 0.0243 (R 2 = 0.9906) and y = 0.3207x + 0.0094 (R 2 = 0.9917) with a BCA protein kit as well as y = 0.182x + 0.0134 (R 2 = 0.994) and y = 0.0674x + 0.0003 (R 2 = 0.9988) with a glucose kit. The times for obtaining the detection requirement were 15 and 10 min for the BCA protein kit and the glucose kit at 37°C; in contrast, it required more than 30 and 20 min at ambient temperature. Meanwhile, it also showed good repeatability for detections.

Observer-based design of set-point tracking adaptive controllers for nonlinear chaotic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaki-Sedigh, A.; Yazdanpanah-Goharrizi, A.

2006-01-01

A gradient based approach for the design of set-point tracking adaptive controllers for nonlinear chaotic systems is presented. In this approach, Lyapunov exponents are used to select the controller gain. In the case of unknown or time varying chaotic plants, the Lyapunov exponents may vary during the plant operation. In this paper, an effective adaptive strategy is used for online identification of Lyapunov exponents and adaptive control of nonlinear chaotic plants. Also, a nonlinear observer for estimation of the states is proposed. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology

Observer-based design of set-point tracking adaptive controllers for nonlinear chaotic systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khaki-Sedigh, A. [Department of Electrical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Sayyed Khandan Bridge, Shariati Street, Tehran 16314 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)]. E-mail: sedigh@kntu.ac.ir; Yazdanpanah-Goharrizi, A. [Department of Electrical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Sayyed Khandan Bridge, Shariati Street, Tehran 16314 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)]. E-mail: yazdanpanah@ee.kntu.ac.ir

2006-09-15

A gradient based approach for the design of set-point tracking adaptive controllers for nonlinear chaotic systems is presented. In this approach, Lyapunov exponents are used to select the controller gain. In the case of unknown or time varying chaotic plants, the Lyapunov exponents may vary during the plant operation. In this paper, an effective adaptive strategy is used for online identification of Lyapunov exponents and adaptive control of nonlinear chaotic plants. Also, a nonlinear observer for estimation of the states is proposed. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Energy conservation in refrigerating machines by combining of thermo-static expansion valve and interior heat transfer material; Energieeinsparung in Kaelteanlagen durch Kombination von thermostatischem Expansionsventil und innerem Waermeuebertrager

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tambovtsev, Alexander

2007-12-15

The invention of the refrigerating machine enables to generate cold energy in any needed amount and at any desired temperature. However, cold energy generation requires driving energy. The target of this dissertation is to reduce the energy consumption of refrigerating plants considerably by means of an intelligent combination of the thermo-static expansion valve and the interior heat transfer medium. This combination should not deteriorate the reliability nor incur additional costs. Until today the two known components thermo-static expansion valve and interior heat transfer medium are considered as incompatible, because the simple connection of both components leads to an unstable control behaviour. After a detailed analysis of the causes for this instability the hypothesis is made, a stable working area can be found by means of a deliberate ''deterioration'' of the internal heat transfer medium. This ''deterioration'' can be e.g. a bypass of a part of the high-pressure flow or a parallel flow arrangement of the flows in the heat transfer medium. This hypothesis was primarily proved by experiments, but also by simulation calculations. A test stand was set-up for this purpose, which was used to test various configurations and control strategies. A considerable reduction of the energy consumption compared to conventional arrangements was achieved. (orig.) [German] Die Erfindung der Kaeltemaschine macht es moeglich, dass heute zu beliebiger Zeit Kaelte in benoetigter Menge und gewuenschter Temperatur erzeugt werden kann. Aber fuer die Kaelteerzeugung braucht man Antriebsenergie. Das Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit besteht darin, mit einer intelligenten Kombination von thermostatischem Expansionsventil (TEV) und innerem Waermeuebertrager (IWUe) den Energieverbrauch von Kaelteanlagen deutlich zu verringern, ohne dass dies zu einer Verschlechterung der Zuverlaessigkeit oder wesentlichen Mehrkosten fuehrt. Bis heute gelten die beiden

Generation of the covariance matrix for a set of nuclear data produced by collapsing a larger parent set through the weighted averaging of equivalent data points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.

1987-01-01

A method is described for generating the covariance matrix of a set of experimental nuclear data which has been collapsed in size by the averaging of equivalent data points belonging to a larger parent data set. It is assumed that the data values and covariance matrix for the parent set are provided. The collapsed set is obtained by a proper weighted-averaging procedure based on the method of least squares. It is then shown by means of the law of error propagation that the elements of the covariance matrix for the collapsed set are linear combinations of elements from the parent set covariance matrix. The coefficients appearing in these combinations are binary products of the same coefficients which appear as weighting factors in the data collapsing procedure. As an example, the procedure is applied to a collection of recently-measured integral neutron-fission cross-section ratios. (orig.)

Set point calculations for RAPID project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

HICKMAN, G.L.

1999-01-01

This change modifies accuracies of the water skid temperature indicators and controllers TIC-410. TI-412, TI-413, TIC-413, TIC-414, TIC-415. Acknowledges ability to calibrate PQIT-367 and modifies the accuracy of that instrument loop. Adjusts the allowable dilution dater temperature from 110-130F to 102-130F based on PCP Rev.2 and adjusts alarm and other points to reflect that change. Removes revision numbers for all references. Numerous additional changes (fixing typos, more detailed explanations etc.) throughout

Robust design method and thermostatic experiment for multiple piezoelectric vibration absorber system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nambu, Yohsuke; Takashima, Toshihide; Inagaki, Akiya

2015-01-01

This paper examines the effects of connecting multiplexing shunt circuits composed of inductors and resistors to piezoelectric transducers so as to improve the robustness of a piezoelectric vibration absorber (PVA). PVAs are well known to be effective at suppressing the vibration of an adaptive structure; their weakness is low robustness to changes in the dynamic parameters of the system, including the main structure and the absorber. In the application to space structures, the temperature-dependency of capacitance of piezoelectric ceramics is the factor that causes performance reduction. To improve robustness to the temperature-dependency of the capacitance, this paper proposes a multiple-PVA system that is composed of distributed piezoelectric transducers and several shunt circuits. The optimization problems that determine both the frequencies and the damping ratios of the PVAs are multi-objective problems, which are solved using a real-coded genetic algorithm in this paper. A clamped aluminum beam with four groups of piezoelectric ceramics attached was considered in simulations and experiments. Numerical simulations revealed that the PVA systems designed using the proposed method had tolerance to changes in the capacitances. Furthermore, experiments using a thermostatic bath were conducted to reveal the effectiveness and robustness of the PVA systems. The maximum peaks of the transfer functions of the beam with the open circuit, the single-PVA system, the double-PVA system, and the quadruple-PVA system at 20 °C were 14.3 dB, −6.91 dB, −7.47 dB, and −8.51 dB, respectively. The experimental results also showed that the multiple-PVA system is more robust than a single PVA in a variable temperature environment from −10 °C to 50 °C. In conclusion, the use of multiple PVAs results in an effective, robust vibration control method for adaptive structures. (paper)

Reprogramming the body weight set point by a reciprocal interaction of hypothalamic leptin sensitivity and Pomc gene expression reverts extreme obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kavaljit H. Chhabra

2016-10-01

Conclusions: Pomc reactivation in previously obese, calorie-restricted ArcPomc−/− mice normalized energy homeostasis, suggesting that their body weight set point was restored to control levels. In contrast, massively obese and hyperleptinemic ArcPomc−/− mice or those weight-matched and treated with PASylated leptin to maintain extreme hyperleptinemia prior to Pomc reactivation converged to an intermediate set point relative to lean control and obese ArcPomc−/− mice. We conclude that restoration of hypothalamic leptin sensitivity and Pomc expression is necessary for obese ArcPomc−/− mice to achieve and sustain normal metabolic homeostasis; whereas deficits in either parameter set a maladaptive allostatic balance that defends increased adiposity and body weight.

May 2002 Lidar Point Data of Southern California Coastline: Dana Point to Point La Jolla

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains lidar point data from a strip of Southern California coastline (including water, beach, cliffs, and top of cliffs) from Dana Point to Point La...

September 2002 Lidar Point Data of Southern California Coastline: Dana Point to Point La Jolla

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains lidar point data from a strip of Southern California coastline (including water, beach, cliffs, and top of cliffs) from Dana Point to Point La...

A Comparative Study of Applying Active-Set and Interior Point Methods in MPC for Controlling Nonlinear pH Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syam Syafiie

2014-06-01

Full Text Available A comparative study of Model Predictive Control (MPC using active-set method and interior point methods is proposed as a control technique for highly non-linear pH process. The process is a strong acid-strong base system. A strong acid of hydrochloric acid (HCl and a strong base of sodium hydroxide (NaOH with the presence of buffer solution sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3 are used in a neutralization process flowing into reactor. The non-linear pH neutralization model governed in this process is presented by multi-linear models. Performance of both controllers is studied by evaluating its ability of set-point tracking and disturbance-rejection. Besides, the optimization time is compared between these two methods; both MPC shows the similar performance with no overshoot, offset, and oscillation. However, the conventional active-set method gives a shorter control action time for small scale optimization problem compared to MPC using IPM method for pH control.

Determination of the crystal-melt interface kinetic coefficient from molecular dynamics simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monk, J; Mendelev, M I; Yang, Y; Asta, M; Hoyt, J J; Sun, D Y

2010-01-01

The generation and dissipation of latent heat at the moving solid–liquid boundary during non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of crystallization can lead to significant underestimations of the interface mobility. In this work we examine the heat flow problem in detail for an embedded atom description of pure Ni and offer strategies to obtain an accurate value of the kinetic coefficient, μ. For free-solidification simulations in which the entire system is thermostated using a Nose–Hoover or velocity rescaling algorithm a non-uniform temperature profile is observed and a peak in the temperature is found at the interface position. It is shown that if the actual interface temperature, rather than the thermostat set point temperature, is used to compute the kinetic coefficient then μ is approximately a factor of 2 larger than previous estimates. In addition, we introduce a layered thermostat method in which several sub-regions, aligned normal to the crystallization direction, are indepently thermostated to a desired undercooling. We show that as the number of thermostats increases (i.e., as the width of each independently thermostated layer decreases) the kinetic coefficient converges to a value consistent with that obtained using a single thermostat and the calculated interface temperature. Also, the kinetic coefficient was determined from an analysis of the equilibrium fluctuations of the solid–liquid interface position. We demonstrate that the kinetic coefficient obtained from the relaxation times of the fluctuation spectrum is equivalent to the two values obtained from free-solidification simulations provided a simple correction is made for the contribution of heat flow controlled interface motion. Finally, a one-dimensional phase field model that captures the effect of thermostats has been developed. The mesoscale model reproduces qualitatively the results from MD simulations and thus allows for an a priori estimate of the accuracy of a

Cross-site comparisons of concentration-discharge relationships reveal climate-driven chemostatic set points

Science.gov (United States)

Godsey, S.; Kirchner, J. W.

2017-12-01

Streamflow solute concentrations often vary predictably with flows, providing insight into processes controlling solute generation and export. Previous work by the authors showed that log-transformed concentration-discharge relationships of weathering-derived solutes in 59 headwater catchments had relatively low slopes, implying that these watersheds behaved almost like chemostats. That is, their rates of solute production and/or mobilization were nearly proportional to water fluxes, on both event and inter-annual time scales. Here we re-examine these findings using data from roughly 1000 catchments, ranging from ˜10 to >1,000,000 sq. km in drainage area, and spanning a wide range of lithologic and climatic settings.Concentration-discharge relationships among this much larger set of much larger catchments are broadly consistent with the chemostatic behavior described above. However, site-to-site variations in mean concentrations among these catchments are negatively correlated with long-term average precipitation and discharge, suggesting dilution of stream concentrations under long-term leaching of the critical zone. Thus, on event and inter-annual time scales, stream solute concentrations are chemostatically buffered by groundwater storage and fast chemical reactions (such as ion exchange), but on much longer time scales, the catchment's chemostatic "set point" is determined by climatically driven critical zone evolution. We present examples illustrating short-term and long-term controls on water quality consistent with variations in weather and climate, and discuss their implications.

Neural set point for the control of arterial pressure: role of the nucleus tractus solitarius

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentinuzzi Max E

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Physiological experiments have shown that the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP can not be regulated after chemo and cardiopulmonary receptor denervation. Neuro-physiological information suggests that the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS is the only structure that receives information from its rostral neural nuclei and from the cardiovascular receptors and projects to nuclei that regulate the circulatory variables. Methods From a control theory perspective, to answer if the cardiovascular regulation has a set point, we should find out whether in the cardiovascular control there is something equivalent to a comparator evaluating the error signal (between the rostral projections to the NTS and the feedback inputs. The NTS would function as a comparator if: a its lesion suppresses cardiovascular regulation; b the negative feedback loop still responds normally to perturbations (such as mechanical or electrical after cutting the rostral afferent fibers to the NTS; c perturbation of rostral neural structures (RNS to the NTS modifies the set point without changing the dynamics of the elicited response; and d cardiovascular responses to perturbations on neural structures within the negative feedback loop compensate for much faster than perturbations on the NTS rostral structures. Results From the control theory framework, experimental evidence found currently in the literature plus experimental results from our group was put together showing that the above-mentioned conditions (to show that the NTS functions as a comparator are satisfied. Conclusions Physiological experiments suggest that long-term blood pressure is regulated by the nervous system. The NTS functions as a comparator (evaluating the error signal between its RNS and the cardiovascular receptor afferents and projects to nuclei that regulate the circulatory variables. The mean arterial pressure (MAP is regulated by the feedback of chemo and cardiopulmonary receptors and

Fuzzy Logic Based Set-Point Weighting Controller Tuning for an Internal Model Control Based PID Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maruthai Suresh

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Controller tuning is the process of adjusting the parameters of the selected controller to achieve optimum response for the controlled process. For many of the control problems, a satisfactory performance is obtained by using PID controllers. One of the main problems with mathematical models of physical systems is that the parameters used in the models cannot be determined with absolute accuracy. The values of the parameters may change with time or various effects. In these cases, conventional controller tuning methods suffer when trying a lot to produce optimum response. In order to overcome these difficulties a fuzzy logic based Set- Point weighting controller tuning method is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is analyzed through computer simulation using SIMULINK software and the results are presented. The fuzzy logic based simulation results are compared with Cohen-Coon (CC, Ziegler- Nichols (ZN, Ziegler – Nichols with Set- Point weighting (ZN-SPW, Internal Model Control (IMC and Internal model based PID controller responses (IMC-PID. The effects of process modeling errors and the importance of controller tuning have been brought out using the proposed control scheme.

Atmospheric bromoform at Cape Point, South Africa: an initial fixed-point data set on the African continent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Kuyper

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Bromoform mixing ratios in marine air were measured at Cape Point Global Atmospheric Watch Station, South Africa. This represents the first such bromoform data set recorded at this location. Manual daily measurements were made during a month-long field campaign (austral spring 2011 using a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector (GC-ECD with a custom-built front end thermal desorption trap. The measured concentrations ranged between 4.4 and 64.6 (± 22.2 % ppt with a mean of 24.8 ± 14.8 ppt. The highest mixing ratios recorded here occurred at, or shortly after, low tide. The diurnal cycle exhibited a morning and evening maximum with lower concentrations throughout the rest of the day. Initial analysis of the data presented indicates that the local kelp beds were the dominant source of the bromoform reported. A concentration-weighted trajectory analysis of the bromoform measurements suggests that two offshore source areas may exist. These source areas appear to be centred on the Agulhas retroflection and extend from St Helena Bay to the southwest.

Atmospheric bromoform at Cape Point, South Africa: an initial fixed-point data set on the African continent

Science.gov (United States)

Kuyper, Brett; Palmer, Carl J.; Labuschagne, Casper; Reason, Chris J. C.

2018-04-01

Bromoform mixing ratios in marine air were measured at Cape Point Global Atmospheric Watch Station, South Africa. This represents the first such bromoform data set recorded at this location. Manual daily measurements were made during a month-long field campaign (austral spring 2011) using a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector (GC-ECD) with a custom-built front end thermal desorption trap. The measured concentrations ranged between 4.4 and 64.6 (± 22.2 %) ppt with a mean of 24.8 ± 14.8 ppt. The highest mixing ratios recorded here occurred at, or shortly after, low tide. The diurnal cycle exhibited a morning and evening maximum with lower concentrations throughout the rest of the day. Initial analysis of the data presented indicates that the local kelp beds were the dominant source of the bromoform reported. A concentration-weighted trajectory analysis of the bromoform measurements suggests that two offshore source areas may exist. These source areas appear to be centred on the Agulhas retroflection and extend from St Helena Bay to the southwest.

An updated global grid point surface air temperature anomaly data set: 1851--1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sepanski, R.J.; Boden, T.A.; Daniels, R.C.

1991-10-01

This document presents land-based monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951--1970 reference period mean) on a 5{degree} latitude by 10{degree} longitude global grid. Monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957--1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65{degree}S to 85{degree}S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed in generating regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. This document also presents the monthly mean temperature records for the individual stations that were used to generate the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere station data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form. 14 refs., 11 figs., 10 tabs.

Developing Common Set of Weights with Considering Nondiscretionary Inputs and Using Ideal Point Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Kiani Mavi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Data envelopment analysis (DEA is used to evaluate the performance of decision making units (DMUs with multiple inputs and outputs in a homogeneous group. In this way, the acquired relative efficiency score for each decision making unit lies between zero and one where a number of them may have an equal efficiency score of one. DEA successfully divides them into two categories of efficient DMUs and inefficient DMUs. A ranking for inefficient DMUs is given but DEA does not provide further information about the efficient DMUs. One of the popular methods for evaluating and ranking DMUs is the common set of weights (CSW method. We generate a CSW model with considering nondiscretionary inputs that are beyond the control of DMUs and using ideal point method. The main idea of this approach is to minimize the distance between the evaluated decision making unit and the ideal decision making unit (ideal point. Using an empirical example we put our proposed model to test by applying it to the data of some 20 bank branches and rank their efficient units.

Computer program to fit a hyperellipse to a set of phase-space points in as many as six dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadlinger, E.A.

1980-03-01

A computer program that will fit a hyperellipse to a set of phase-space points in as many as 6 dimensions was written and tested. The weight assigned to the phase-space points can be varied as a function of their distance from the centroid of the distribution. Varying the weight enables determination of whether there is a difference in ellipse orientation between inner and outer particles. This program should be useful in studying the effects of longitudinal and transverse phase-space couplings

Assessment of end-use electricity consumption and peak demand by Townsville's housing stock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, Zhengen; Paevere, Phillip; Grozev, George; Egan, Stephen; Anticev, Julia

2013-01-01

We have developed a comprehensive model to estimate annual end-use electricity consumption and peak demand of housing stock, considering occupants' use of air conditioning systems and major appliances. The model was applied to analyse private dwellings in Townsville, Australia's largest tropical city. For the financial year (FY) 2010–11 the predicted results agreed with the actual electricity consumption with an error less than 10% for cooling thermostat settings at the standard setting temperature of 26.5 °C and at 1.0 °C higher than the standard setting. The greatest difference in monthly electricity consumption in the summer season between the model and the actual data decreased from 21% to 2% when the thermostat setting was changed from 26.5 °C to 27.5 °C. Our findings also showed that installation of solar panels in Townville houses could reduce electricity demand from the grid and would have a minor impact on the yearly peak demand. A key new feature of the model is that it can be used to predict probability distribution of energy demand considering (a) that appliances may be used randomly and (b) the way people use thermostats. The peak demand for the FY estimated from the probability distribution tracked the actual peak demand at 97% confidence level. - Highlights: • We developed a model to estimate housing stock energy consumption and peak demand. • Appliances used randomly and thermostat settings for space cooling were considered. • On-site installation of solar panels was also considered. • Its' results agree well with the actual electricity consumption and peak demand. • It shows the model could provide the probability distribution of electricity demand

Barriers to Point-of-Care Testing in India: Results from Qualitative Research across Different Settings, Users and Major Diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Nora; Ganesh, Gayatri; Patil, Mamata; Yellappa, Vijayashree; Pant Pai, Nitika; Vadnais, Caroline; Pai, Madhukar

2015-01-01

Background Successful point-of-care testing, namely ensuring the completion of the test and treat cycle in the same encounter, has immense potential to reduce diagnostic and treatment delays, and impact patient outcomes. However, having rapid tests is not enough, as many barriers may prevent their successful implementation in point-of-care testing programs. Qualitative research on diagnostic practices may help identify such barriers across different points of care in health systems. Methods In this exploratory qualitative study, we conducted 78 semi-structured interviews and 13 focus group discussions in an urban and rural area of Karnataka, India, with healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, specialists, traditional healers, and informal providers), patients, community health workers, test manufacturers, laboratory technicians, program managers and policy-makers. Participants were purposively sampled to represent settings of hospitals, peripheral labs, clinics, communities and homes, in both the public and private sectors. Results In the Indian context, the onus is on the patient to ensure successful point-of-care testing across homes, clinics, labs and hospitals, amidst uncoordinated providers with divergent and often competing practices, in settings lacking material, money and human resources. We identified three overarching themes affecting point-of-care testing: the main theme is ‘relationships’ among providers and between providers and patients, influenced by the cross-cutting theme of ‘infrastructure’. Challenges with both result in ‘modified practices’ often favouring empirical (symptomatic) treatment over treatment guided by testing. Conclusions Even if tests can be conducted on the spot and infrastructure challenges have been resolved, relationships among providers and between patients and providers are crucial for successful point-of-care testing. Furthermore, these barriers do not act in isolation, but are interlinked and need to be examined

Barriers to Point-of-Care Testing in India: Results from Qualitative Research across Different Settings, Users and Major Diseases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Engel

Full Text Available Successful point-of-care testing, namely ensuring the completion of the test and treat cycle in the same encounter, has immense potential to reduce diagnostic and treatment delays, and impact patient outcomes. However, having rapid tests is not enough, as many barriers may prevent their successful implementation in point-of-care testing programs. Qualitative research on diagnostic practices may help identify such barriers across different points of care in health systems.In this exploratory qualitative study, we conducted 78 semi-structured interviews and 13 focus group discussions in an urban and rural area of Karnataka, India, with healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, specialists, traditional healers, and informal providers, patients, community health workers, test manufacturers, laboratory technicians, program managers and policy-makers. Participants were purposively sampled to represent settings of hospitals, peripheral labs, clinics, communities and homes, in both the public and private sectors.In the Indian context, the onus is on the patient to ensure successful point-of-care testing across homes, clinics, labs and hospitals, amidst uncoordinated providers with divergent and often competing practices, in settings lacking material, money and human resources. We identified three overarching themes affecting point-of-care testing: the main theme is 'relationships' among providers and between providers and patients, influenced by the cross-cutting theme of 'infrastructure'. Challenges with both result in 'modified practices' often favouring empirical (symptomatic treatment over treatment guided by testing.Even if tests can be conducted on the spot and infrastructure challenges have been resolved, relationships among providers and between patients and providers are crucial for successful point-of-care testing. Furthermore, these barriers do not act in isolation, but are interlinked and need to be examined as such. Also, a test alone has only

Lixiviation of heavy metals of hazardous industrial wastes by means of thermostatized columns and design of a pilot plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vite T, J.; Leon, C.C. de; Vite T, M.; Soto T, J.L.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of lixiviation of heavy metals, using thermostatized columns and hazardous industrial residual wastes: those by the volume with which are generated and its high toxicity, its represent a great problem for it treatment and disposition, in this work a diagram of a pilot plant for extraction of heavy metals is included. The process and equipment were patented in United States and in Mexico. For the development of this study four thermostated columns were used that were coupled. The waste were finely milled and suspended in an aqueous pulp adding of 10 - 40gL -1 of mineral acid or sodium hydroxide until reaching an interval of pH of 2,5,7 and 10. Its were used of 4-10 gL -1 of a reducer agent and of 0.3-1.5 g of a surfactant agent. In some cases with this method was possible to remove until 100% of heavy metals. It was used Plasma Emission Spectroscopy to determine the concentrations of the cations in the lixiviation liquors. For studying the metallic alloys the X-ray diffraction technique was used. (Author)

Generation of a statistical shape model with probabilistic point correspondences and the expectation maximization- iterative closest point algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hufnagel, Heike; Pennec, Xavier; Ayache, Nicholas; Ehrhardt, Jan; Handels, Heinz

2008-01-01

Identification of point correspondences between shapes is required for statistical analysis of organ shapes differences. Since manual identification of landmarks is not a feasible option in 3D, several methods were developed to automatically find one-to-one correspondences on shape surfaces. For unstructured point sets, however, one-to-one correspondences do not exist but correspondence probabilities can be determined. A method was developed to compute a statistical shape model based on shapes which are represented by unstructured point sets with arbitrary point numbers. A fundamental problem when computing statistical shape models is the determination of correspondences between the points of the shape observations of the training data set. In the absence of landmarks, exact correspondences can only be determined between continuous surfaces, not between unstructured point sets. To overcome this problem, we introduce correspondence probabilities instead of exact correspondences. The correspondence probabilities are found by aligning the observation shapes with the affine expectation maximization-iterative closest points (EM-ICP) registration algorithm. In a second step, the correspondence probabilities are used as input to compute a mean shape (represented once again by an unstructured point set). Both steps are unified in a single optimization criterion which depe nds on the two parameters 'registration transformation' and 'mean shape'. In a last step, a variability model which best represents the variability in the training data set is computed. Experiments on synthetic data sets and in vivo brain structure data sets (MRI) are then designed to evaluate the performance of our algorithm. The new method was applied to brain MRI data sets, and the estimated point correspondences were compared to a statistical shape model built on exact correspondences. Based on established measures of ''generalization ability'' and ''specificity'', the estimates were very satisfactory

The Effects of Set-Points and Dead-Bands of the HVAC System on the Energy Consumption and Occupant Thermal Comfort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazanci, Ongun Berk; Olesen, Bjarne W.

2013-01-01

A building is a complex system where many components interact with each other therefore the control system plays a key role regarding the energy consumption and the occupant thermal comfort. This study is concerned with a detached, one-storey, single family, energy-plus house. It is equipped...... on the effects of the set-points and dead-bands of different components on the energy consumption together with the occupant thermal comfort. Evaluations are carried out with TRNSYS for Copenhagen and Madrid in order to compare climatic effects....... with a ground heat exchanger, a ground coupled heat pump, embedded pipes in the floor and in the ceiling, a ventilation system (mechanical and natural), a domestic hot water tank and photovoltaic/thermal panels on the roof. Preliminary evaluations showed that for Madrid, change of indoor set-point in cooling...

Discrimination of the change point in a quantum setting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akimoto, Daiki; Hayashi, Masahito

2011-01-01

In the change point problem, we determine when the observed distribution has changed to another one. We expand this problem to a quantum case where copies of an unknown pure state are being distributed. That is, we estimate when the distributed quantum pure state is changed. As the most fundamental case, we treat the problem of deciding the true change point t c between the two given candidates t 1 and t 2 . Our problem is mathematically equal to identifying a given state with one of the two unknown states when multiple copies of the states are provided. The minimum of the averaged error probability is given and the optimal positive operator-valued measure (POVM) is given to obtain it when the initial and final quantum pure states are subject to the invariant prior. We also compute the error probability for deciding the change point under the above POVM when the initial and final quantum pure states are fixed. These analytical results allow us to calculate the value in the asymptotic case.

Combining different types of scale space interest points using canonical sets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kanters, F.M.W.; Denton, T.; Shokoufandeh, A.; Florack, L.M.J.; Haar Romenij, ter B.M.; Sgallari, F.; Murli, A.; Paragios, N.

2007-01-01

Scale space interest points capture important photometric and deep structure information of an image. The information content of such points can be made explicit using image reconstruction. In this paper we will consider the problem of combining multiple types of interest points used for image

Dual-time-point Imaging and Delayed-time-point Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/Computed Tomography Imaging in Various Clinical Settings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Houshmand, Sina; Salavati, Ali; Antonsen Segtnan, Eivind

2016-01-01

The techniques of dual-time-point imaging (DTPI) and delayed-time-point imaging, which are mostly being used for distinction between inflammatory and malignant diseases, has increased the specificity of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET for diagnosis and prognosis of certain diseases. A gradually incr...

Hardware-accelerated Point Generation and Rendering of Point-based Impostors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas

2005-01-01

This paper presents a novel scheme for generating points from triangle models. The method is fast and lends itself well to implementation using graphics hardware. The triangle to point conversion is done by rendering the models, and the rendering may be performed procedurally or by a black box API....... I describe the technique in detail and discuss how the generated point sets can easily be used as impostors for the original triangle models used to create the points. Since the points reside solely in GPU memory, these impostors are fairly efficient. Source code is available online....

Salty solutions: their effects on thermal set points in behavioral repertoires of albino rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitulli, W F; Aker, R; Howard, S W; Jones, W M; Kimball, M W; Quinn, J M

1994-08-01

Salt (sodium chloride) has been linked to increased blood pressure and a rise in core body temperature. The objective of this study was to investigate the role played by salt in altering behavioral thermoregulation in albino rats. Different doses of sodium chloride were administered (ip) prior to fixed-interval 2-min. schedules of microwave reinforcement in rats tested in a cold Skinner Box. Three Sprague-Dawley rats were conditioned to regulate their thermal environment with 5-sec. exposures of MW reinforcement in a repeated-measures reversal design. Friedman's non-parametric test showed significant differences among sodium chloride doses and physiologically normal saline. Post hoc sign tests showed that all doses of NaCl suppressed operant behavior for heat except 60 mg/kg. The hypothesis that sodium chloride lowers hypothalamic set point for heat was partially supported.

Pseudo-set framing.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasz, Kate; John, Leslie K; Keenan, Elizabeth A; Norton, Michael I

2017-10-01

Pseudo-set framing-arbitrarily grouping items or tasks together as part of an apparent "set"-motivates people to reach perceived completion points. Pseudo-set framing changes gambling choices (Study 1), effort (Studies 2 and 3), giving behavior (Field Data and Study 4), and purchase decisions (Study 5). These effects persist in the absence of any reward, when a cost must be incurred, and after participants are explicitly informed of the arbitrariness of the set. Drawing on Gestalt psychology, we develop a conceptual account that predicts what will-and will not-act as a pseudo-set, and defines the psychological process through which these pseudo-sets affect behavior: over and above typical reference points, pseudo-set framing alters perceptions of (in)completeness, making intermediate progress seem less complete. In turn, these feelings of incompleteness motivate people to persist until the pseudo-set has been fulfilled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Regional control of Drosophila gut stem cell proliferation: EGF establishes GSSC proliferative set point & controls emergence from quiescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Strand, Marie; Micchelli, Craig A

2013-01-01

Adult stem cells vary widely in their rates of proliferation. Some stem cells are constitutively active, while others divide only in response to injury. The mechanism controlling this differential proliferative set point is not well understood. The anterior-posterior (A/P) axis of the adult Drosophila midgut has a segmental organization, displaying physiological compartmentalization and region-specific epithelia. These distinct midgut regions are maintained by defined stem cell populations with unique division schedules, providing an excellent experimental model with which to investigate this question. Here, we focus on the quiescent gastric stem cells (GSSCs) of the acidic copper cell region (CCR), which exhibit the greatest period of latency between divisions of all characterized gut stem cells, to define the molecular basis of differential stem cell activity. Our molecular genetic analysis demonstrates that the mitogenic EGF signaling pathway is a limiting factor controlling GSSC proliferation. We find that under baseline conditions, when GSSCs are largely quiescent, the lowest levels of EGF ligands in the midgut are found in the CCR. However, acute epithelial injury by enteric pathogens leads to an increase in EGF ligand expression in the CCR and rapid expansion of the GSSC lineage. Thus, the unique proliferative set points for gut stem cells residing in physiologically distinct compartments are governed by regional control of niche signals along the A/P axis.

Regional control of Drosophila gut stem cell proliferation: EGF establishes GSSC proliferative set point & controls emergence from quiescence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Strand

Full Text Available Adult stem cells vary widely in their rates of proliferation. Some stem cells are constitutively active, while others divide only in response to injury. The mechanism controlling this differential proliferative set point is not well understood. The anterior-posterior (A/P axis of the adult Drosophila midgut has a segmental organization, displaying physiological compartmentalization and region-specific epithelia. These distinct midgut regions are maintained by defined stem cell populations with unique division schedules, providing an excellent experimental model with which to investigate this question. Here, we focus on the quiescent gastric stem cells (GSSCs of the acidic copper cell region (CCR, which exhibit the greatest period of latency between divisions of all characterized gut stem cells, to define the molecular basis of differential stem cell activity. Our molecular genetic analysis demonstrates that the mitogenic EGF signaling pathway is a limiting factor controlling GSSC proliferation. We find that under baseline conditions, when GSSCs are largely quiescent, the lowest levels of EGF ligands in the midgut are found in the CCR. However, acute epithelial injury by enteric pathogens leads to an increase in EGF ligand expression in the CCR and rapid expansion of the GSSC lineage. Thus, the unique proliferative set points for gut stem cells residing in physiologically distinct compartments are governed by regional control of niche signals along the A/P axis.

76 FR 11196 - Foreign-Trade Zone 158-Vicksburg/Jackson, MS, Application for Expansion of Manufacturing...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

..., tool sets, reservoir tanks, fans, air-conditioner components, filters, valves, thermostats, door roller... America, Inc. (Motor Vehicles) An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the...

December 2002 Lidar Point Data of Southern California Coastline: Dana Point to Point La Jolla

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains lidar point data (latitude and longitude) from a strip of Southern California coastline (including water, beach, cliffs, and top of cliffs)...

April 2004 Lidar Point Data of Southern California Coastline: Dana Point to Point La Jolla

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains lidar point data (Geodetic Coordinates) from a strip of Southern California coastline (including water, beach, cliffs, and top of cliffs) from...

March 2003 Lidar Point Data of Southern California Coastline: Dana Point to Point La Jolla

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains lidar point data (Geodetic Coordinates) from a strip of Southern California coastline (including water, beach, cliffs, and top of cliffs) from...

Genetic analysis of the gravitropic set-point angle in lateral roots of arabidopsis

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, J. L.; Hangarter, R. P.

2003-05-01

Research on gravity responses in plants has mostly focused on primary roots and shoots, which typically orient to a vertical orientation. However, the distribution of lateral organs and their characteristically non-vertical growth orientation are critical for the determination of plant form. For example, in Arabidopsis, when lateral roots emerge from the primary root, they grow at a nearly horizontal orientation. As they elongate, the roots slowly curve until they eventually reach a vertical orientation. The regulation of this lateral root orientation is an important component affecting overall root system architecture. We found that this change in orientation is not simply due to the onset of gravitropic competence, as non-vertical lateral roots are capable of both positive and negative gravitropism. Thus, the horizontal growth of new lateral roots appears to be determined by what is called the gravitropic set-point angle (GSA). This developmental control of the GSA of lateral roots in Arabidopsis provides a useful system for investigating the components involved in regulating gravitropic responses. Using this system, we have identified several Arabidopsis mutants that have altered lateral root orientations but maintain normal primary root orientation.

Frequencies of digits, divergence points, and Schmidt games

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, L.

2009-01-01

Sets of divergence points, i.e. numbers x (or tuples of numbers) for which the limiting frequency of a given string of N-adic digits of x fails to exist, have recently attracted huge interest in the literature. In this paper we consider sets of simultaneous divergence points, i.e. numbers x (or tuples of numbers) for which the limiting frequencies of all strings of N-adic digits of x fail to exist. We show that many natural sets of simultaneous divergence points are (α, β)-wining sets in the sense of the Schmidt game. As an application we obtain lower bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of these sets.

Indexing Moving Points

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agarwal, Pankaj K.; Arge, Lars Allan; Erickson, Jeff

2003-01-01

We propose three indexing schemes for storing a set S of N points in the plane, each moving along a linear trajectory, so that any query of the following form can be answered quickly: Given a rectangle R and a real value t, report all K points of S that lie inside R at time t. We first present an...

Density functional theory calculations of the lowest energy quintet and triplet states of model hemes: role of functional, basis set, and zero-point energy corrections.

Science.gov (United States)

Khvostichenko, Daria; Choi, Andrew; Boulatov, Roman

2008-04-24

We investigated the effect of several computational variables, including the choice of the basis set, application of symmetry constraints, and zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, on the structural parameters and predicted ground electronic state of model 5-coordinate hemes (iron(II) porphines axially coordinated by a single imidazole or 2-methylimidazole). We studied the performance of B3LYP and B3PW91 with eight Pople-style basis sets (up to 6-311+G*) and B97-1, OLYP, and TPSS functionals with 6-31G and 6-31G* basis sets. Only hybrid functionals B3LYP, B3PW91, and B97-1 reproduced the quintet ground state of the model hemes. With a given functional, the choice of the basis set caused up to 2.7 kcal/mol variation of the quintet-triplet electronic energy gap (DeltaEel), in several cases, resulting in the inversion of the sign of DeltaEel. Single-point energy calculations with triple-zeta basis sets of the Pople (up to 6-311G++(2d,2p)), Ahlrichs (TZVP and TZVPP), and Dunning (cc-pVTZ) families showed the same trend. The zero-point energy of the quintet state was approximately 1 kcal/mol lower than that of the triplet, and accounting for ZPE corrections was crucial for establishing the ground state if the electronic energy of the triplet state was approximately 1 kcal/mol less than that of the quintet. Within a given model chemistry, effects of symmetry constraints and of a "tense" structure of the iron porphine fragment coordinated to 2-methylimidazole on DeltaEel were limited to 0.3 kcal/mol. For both model hemes the best agreement with crystallographic structural data was achieved with small 6-31G and 6-31G* basis sets. Deviation of the computed frequency of the Fe-Im stretching mode from the experimental value with the basis set decreased in the order: nonaugmented basis sets, basis sets with polarization functions, and basis sets with polarization and diffuse functions. Contraction of Pople-style basis sets (double-zeta or triple-zeta) affected the results

New Maximal Two-distance Sets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lisonek, Petr

1996-01-01

A two-distance set in E^d is a point set X inthe d-dimensional Euclidean spacesuch that the distances between distinct points in Xassume only two different non-zero values. Based on results from classical distance geometry, we developan algorithm to classify, for a given dimension, all maximal...... (largest possible)two-distance sets in E^d.Using this algorithm we have completed the full classificationfor all dimensions less than or equal to 7, andwe have found one set in E^8 whosemaximality follows from Blokhuis' upper bound on sizes of s-distance sets.While in the dimensions less than or equal to 6...

The development and testing of a computerised temperature control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

S Blignaut

electric ovens require the average internal temperature at each thermostat setting ..... higher temperatures and are more porous and conse- quently less compact and .... by a combination of vis- cometry and electrical resistance oven heating.

Characterizing fixed points

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjo Zlobec

2017-04-01

Full Text Available A set of sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of a point x⋆ such that f(x⋆ = x⋆ is called a "fixed point theorem". Many such theorems are named after well-known mathematicians and economists. Fixed point theorems are among most useful ones in applied mathematics, especially in economics and game theory. Particularly important theorem in these areas is Kakutani's fixed point theorem which ensures existence of fixed point for point-to-set mappings, e.g., [2, 3, 4]. John Nash developed and applied Kakutani's ideas to prove the existence of (what became known as "Nash equilibrium" for finite games with mixed strategies for any number of players. This work earned him a Nobel Prize in Economics that he shared with two mathematicians. Nash's life was dramatized in the movie "Beautiful Mind" in 2001. In this paper, we approach the system f(x = x differently. Instead of studying existence of its solutions our objective is to determine conditions which are both necessary and sufficient that an arbitrary point x⋆ is a fixed point, i.e., that it satisfies f(x⋆ = x⋆. The existence of solutions for continuous function f of the single variable is easy to establish using the Intermediate Value Theorem of Calculus. However, characterizing fixed points x⋆, i.e., providing answers to the question of finding both necessary and sufficient conditions for an arbitrary given x⋆ to satisfy f(x⋆ = x⋆, is not simple even for functions of the single variable. It is possible that constructive answers do not exist. Our objective is to find them. Our work may require some less familiar tools. One of these might be the "quadratic envelope characterization of zero-derivative point" recalled in the next section. The results are taken from the author's current research project "Studying the Essence of Fixed Points". They are believed to be original. The author has received several feedbacks on the preliminary report and on parts of the project

Hawaii ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for seabird nesting colonies in coastal Hawaii. Vector points in this data set represent locations of...

Maryland ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for raptors in Maryland. Vector points in this data set represent bird nesting sites. Species-specific...

Virginia ESI: REPTPT (Reptile Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for sea turtles in Virginia. Vector points in this data set represent nesting sites. Species-specific...

Temperature control in molecular dynamic simulations of non-equilibrium processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toton, Dawid; Lorenz, Christian D; Rompotis, Nikolaos; Martsinovich, Natalia; Kantorovich, Lev

2010-01-01

Thermostats are often used in various condensed matter problems, e.g. when a biological molecule undergoes a transformation in a solution, a crystal surface is irradiated with energetic particles, a crack propagates in a solid upon applied stress, two surfaces slide with respect to each other, an excited local phonon dissipates its energy into a crystal bulk, and so on. In all of these problems, as well as in many others, there is an energy transfer between different local parts of the entire system kept at a constant temperature. Very often, when modelling such processes using molecular dynamics simulations, thermostatting is done using strictly equilibrium approaches serving to describe the NVT ensemble. In this paper we critically discuss the applicability of such approaches to non-equilibrium problems, including those mentioned above, and stress that the correct temperature control can only be achieved if the method is based on the generalized Langevin equation (GLE). Specifically, we emphasize that a meaningful compromise between computational efficiency and a physically appropriate implementation of the NVT thermostat can be achieved, at least for solid state and surface problems, if the so-called stochastic boundary conditions (SBC), recently derived from the GLE (Kantorovich and Rompotis 2008 Phys. Rev. B 78 094305), are used. For SBC, the Langevin thermostat is only applied to the outer part of the simulated fragment of the entire system which borders the surrounding environment (not considered explicitly) serving as a heat bath. This point is illustrated by comparing the performance of the SBC and some of the equilibrium thermostats in two problems: (i) irradiation of the Si(001) surface with an energetic CaF 2 molecule using an ab initio density functional theory based method, and (ii) the tribology of two amorphous SiO 2 surfaces coated with self-assembled monolayers of methyl-terminated hydrocarbon alkoxylsilane molecules using a classical atomistic

Interesting Interest Points

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aanæs, Henrik; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup

2012-01-01

on spatial invariance of interest points under changing acquisition parameters by measuring the spatial recall rate. The scope of this paper is to investigate the performance of a number of existing well-established interest point detection methods. Automatic performance evaluation of interest points is hard......Not all interest points are equally interesting. The most valuable interest points lead to optimal performance of the computer vision method in which they are employed. But a measure of this kind will be dependent on the chosen vision application. We propose a more general performance measure based...... position. The LED illumination provides the option for artificially relighting the scene from a range of light directions. This data set has given us the ability to systematically evaluate the performance of a number of interest point detectors. The highlights of the conclusions are that the fixed scale...

46 CFR 112.50-1 - General.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... degrees C). (c) The room that has the generator set must have intake and exhaust ducts to supply adequate... thermostatically-controlled electric water-jacket heater connected to the final emergency bus is permitted. (e) The... generator set must shut down automatically upon loss of lubricating oil pressure, overspeed, or operation of...

Louisiana ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for seabird and wading bird nesting colonies in coastal Louisiana. Vector points in this data set represent...

The introduction of syphilis point of care tests in resource limited settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Marks, Michael; Mabey, David Cw

2017-04-01

Syphilis remains an important and preventable cause of stillbirth and neonatal mortality. About 1 million women with active syphilis become pregnant each year. Without treatment, 25% of them will deliver a stillborn baby and 33% a low birth weight baby with an increased chance of dying in the first month of life. Adverse pregnancy outcomes due to syphilis can be prevented by screening pregnant women, and treating those who test positive with a single dose of penicillin before 28 weeks' gestation. Areas covered: This manuscript covers the impact of syphilis on pregnancy outcome, the diagnosis of syphilis, with a special focus on point of care (POC) tests, and challenges to the introduction of POC tests, and their potential impact on the control and prevention of syphilis in resource limited settings. Expert commentary: POC tests for syphilis are available which meet the ASSURED criteria, and could make syphilis screening accessible to all women anywhere in the world who attend an antenatal clinic. High quality dual POC tests for HIV and syphilis could ensure that well-funded programmes for the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV can contribute towards increased coverage of antenatal syphilis screening, and prevent more than 300,000 adverse pregnancy outcomes due to syphilis annually. Alongside investment to increase availability of syphilis POC tests, operational research is needed to understand how best to improve screening of pregnant women and to translate test availability into improved pregnancy outcomes.

Lambda based control O{sub 2} set point optimisation and evaluation; Lambdabaserad reglering. Boervaerdesoptimering av O{sub 2} och utvaerdering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svensson, Mikael; Brodin, Peter [Vattenfall Utveckling, Aelvkarleby (Sweden)

2004-10-01

During winter and spring 2003, the project 'Lambda based control' was carried out at Vattenfall Utveckling AB in Aelvkarleby, Sweden. The main purpose of the project was to explore if conventional lambda sensors could be used to control the fuel/air-ratio in small boilers. The conclusion was that this is possible. To be able to make use of the result, the question of what the numerical set value for O{sub 2} should be, has to be answered. Several parameters have impact on the oxygen level in combustion gas. The main purpose of this project is to explore if there is a cost efficient way of controlling fuel/air-ratio by using lambda sensors. The scope of the project is achieve the following, by using the experience from project P4-209: find out which parameters that correlate most strongly with lambda; develop a method to decide which and how many parameters to use, in order to optimize cost efficiency; calculate optimal set value for O{sub 2} in one of the boilers used for experiments in the project; and evaluate the method and compare important parameters of operation, such as efficiency and emissions. The method developed in the project uses initial measurements to find out the relation between O{sub 2} and emissions at different power levels. Then a set point curve is calculated where set point for O{sub 2} is expressed as a function of power level in the current boiler. The method has been implemented and evaluated at a 400 kW boiler in Aelvkarleby, Sweden. The results are improvements in efficiency (6 %) and emissions, CO decreased 40 %, NO decreased by 20 %. The conclusion is that lambda based control according to this method could be a profitable investment under the right circumstances, where stability in characteristics is the most important property. What makes the method uncertain is its inability to handle changes in characteristics of a boiler.

Deviation from equilibrium conditions in molecular dynamic simulations of homogeneous nucleation.

Science.gov (United States)

Halonen, Roope; Zapadinsky, Evgeni; Vehkamäki, Hanna

2018-04-28

We present a comparison between Monte Carlo (MC) results for homogeneous vapour-liquid nucleation of Lennard-Jones clusters and previously published values from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Both the MC and MD methods sample real cluster configuration distributions. In the MD simulations, the extent of the temperature fluctuation is usually controlled with an artificial thermostat rather than with more realistic carrier gas. In this study, not only a primarily velocity scaling thermostat is considered, but also Nosé-Hoover, Berendsen, and stochastic Langevin thermostat methods are covered. The nucleation rates based on a kinetic scheme and the canonical MC calculation serve as a point of reference since they by definition describe an equilibrated system. The studied temperature range is from T = 0.3 to 0.65 ϵ/k. The kinetic scheme reproduces well the isothermal nucleation rates obtained by Wedekind et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 127, 064501 (2007)] using MD simulations with carrier gas. The nucleation rates obtained by artificially thermostatted MD simulations are consistently lower than the reference nucleation rates based on MC calculations. The discrepancy increases up to several orders of magnitude when the density of the nucleating vapour decreases. At low temperatures, the difference to the MC-based reference nucleation rates in some cases exceeds the maximal nonisothermal effect predicted by classical theory of Feder et al. [Adv. Phys. 15, 111 (1966)].

Visibility of noisy point cloud data

KAUST Repository

Mehra, Ravish

2010-06-01

We present a robust algorithm for estimating visibility from a given viewpoint for a point set containing concavities, non-uniformly spaced samples, and possibly corrupted with noise. Instead of performing an explicit surface reconstruction for the points set, visibility is computed based on a construction involving convex hull in a dual space, an idea inspired by the work of Katz et al. [26]. We derive theoretical bounds on the behavior of the method in the presence of noise and concavities, and use the derivations to develop a robust visibility estimation algorithm. In addition, computing visibility from a set of adaptively placed viewpoints allows us to generate locally consistent partial reconstructions. Using a graph based approximation algorithm we couple such reconstructions to extract globally consistent reconstructions. We test our method on a variety of 2D and 3D point sets of varying complexity and noise content. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On Motivating Operations at the Point of Online Purchase Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Fagerstrom, Asle; Arntzen, Erik

2013-01-01

Consumer behavior analysis can be applied over a wide range of economic topics in which the main focus is the contingencies that influence the behavior of the economic agent. This paper provides an overview on the work that has been done on the impact from motivating operations at the point of online purchase situation. Motivating operations, a…

Measure Guideline: Condensing Boilers-Optimizing Efficiency and Response Time During Setback Operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arena, L. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), Norwalk, CT (United States)

2014-02-01

Conventional wisdom surrounding space heating has consistently stated two things: size the mechanical systems to the heating loads, and setting the thermostat back at night will result in energy savings. The problem is these two recommendations oppose each other. A system that is properly sized to the heating load will not have the extra capacity necessary to recover from a thermostat setback, especially at design conditions. The implication of this is that, for setback to be successfully implemented, the heating system must be oversized. This issue is exacerbated further when an outdoor reset control is used with a condensing boiler, because not only is the system matched to the load at design, the outdoor reset control matches the output to the load under varying outdoor temperatures. Under these circumstances, the home may never recover from setback. Special controls to bypass the outdoor reset sensor are then needed. Properly designing a hydronic system for setback operation can be accomplished but depends on several factors. The first step is to determine the appropriateness of setback for a particular project. This is followed by proper sizing of the boiler and baseboard to ensure the needed capacity can be met. Finally, control settings must be chosen that result in the most efficient and responsive performance. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for heating contractors and hydronic designers for selecting the proper control settings to maximize system performance and improve response time when using a thermostat setback.

Pro SharePoint 2013 administration

CERN Document Server

Garrett, Robert

2013-01-01

Pro SharePoint 2013 Administration is a practical guide to SharePoint 2013 for intermediate to advanced SharePoint administrators and power users, covering the out-of-the-box feature set and capabilities of Microsoft's collaboration and business productivity platform. SharePoint 2013 is an incredibly complex product, with many moving parts, new features, best practices, and 'gotchas.' Author Rob Garrett distills SharePoint's portfolio of features, capabilities, and utilities into an in-depth professional guide-with no fluff and copious advice-that is designed from scratch to be the manual Micr

Hybrid fixed point in CAT(0 spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hemant Kumar Pathak

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce an ultrapower approach to prove fixed point theorems for $H^{+}$-nonexpansive multi-valued mappings in the setting of CAT(0 spaces and prove several hybrid fixed point results in CAT(0 spaces for families of single-valued nonexpansive or quasinonexpansive mappings and multi-valued upper semicontinuous, almost lower semicontinuous or $H^{+}$-nonexpansive mappings which are weakly commuting. We also establish a result about structure of the set of fixed points of $H^{+}$-quasinonexpansive mapping on a CAT(0 space.

Continuation of Sets of Constrained Orbit Segments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schilder, Frank; Brøns, Morten; Chamoun, George Chaouki

Sets of constrained orbit segments of time continuous flows are collections of trajectories that represent a whole or parts of an invariant set. A non-trivial but simple example is a homoclinic orbit. A typical representation of this set consists of an equilibrium point of the flow and a trajectory...... that starts close and returns close to this fixed point within finite time. More complicated examples are hybrid periodic orbits of piecewise smooth systems or quasi-periodic invariant tori. Even though it is possible to define generalised two-point boundary value problems for computing sets of constrained...... orbit segments, this is very disadvantageous in practice. In this talk we will present an algorithm that allows the efficient continuation of sets of constrained orbit segments together with the solution of the full variational problem....

Some notes on tetrahedrally closed spherical sets in Euclidean spaces

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

47

is a relation between these sets. P is called the point set, L the line set and I the incidence relation. A point-line geometry S = (P,L,I) is called a near polygon if every two distinct points are incident with at most one line and if for every point x and every line L, there exists a unique point on L that is nearest to x with respect to ...

Columbia River ESI: SOCECON (Socioeconomic Resource Points and Lines)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector points and lines representing human-use resource data for Columbia River. In the data set, vector points represent aquaculture sites,...

Point-of-care blood eosinophil count in a severe asthma clinic setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Heffler, Enrico; Terranova, Giovanni; Chessari, Carlo; Frazzetto, Valentina; Crimi, Claudia; Fichera, Silvia; Picardi, Giuseppe; Nicolosi, Giuliana; Porto, Morena; Intravaia, Rossella; Crimi, Nunzio

2017-07-01

One of the main severe asthma phenotypes is severe eosinophilic or eosinophilic refractory asthma for which novel biologic agents are emerging as therapeutic options. In this context, blood eosinophil counts are one of the most reliable biomarkers. To evaluate the performance of a point-of-care peripheral blood counter in a patients with severe asthma. The blood eosinophil counts of 76 patients with severe asthma were evaluated by point-of-care and standard analyzers. A significant correlation between blood eosinophils assessed by the 2 devices was found (R 2  = 0.854, P asthma and the ELEN index, a composite score useful to predict sputum eosinophilia. The results of our study contribute to the validation of a point-of-care device to assess blood eosinophils and open the possibility of using this device for the management of severe asthma management. Copyright © 2017 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative structure-property relationships for prediction of boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point.

Science.gov (United States)

Dearden, John C

2003-08-01

Boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point are important physicochemical properties in the modeling of the distribution and fate of chemicals in the environment. However, such data often are not available, and therefore must be estimated. Over the years, many attempts have been made to calculate boiling points, vapor pressures, and melting points by using quantitative structure-property relationships, and this review examines and discusses the work published in this area, and concentrates particularly on recent studies. A number of software programs are commercially available for the calculation of boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point, and these have been tested for their predictive ability with a test set of 100 organic chemicals.

Southeast Alaska ESI: FISHPT (Fish Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains biological resource data for anadromous fish streams in Southeast Alaska. Vector points in this data set represent locations of fish streams....

Columbia River ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for bird nesting sites in the Columbia River area. Vector points in this data set represent locations of...

Louisiana ESI: SOCECON (Socioeconomic Resource Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains human-use resource data for airport, heliport, marina, and boat ramp locations in Louisiana. Vector points in this data set represent the...

Geodetic Control Points - MO 2014 Springfield Benchmarks (SHP)

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — Points that show set benchmark or survey control locations in the City of Springfield. Many of these points are PLS section corners and quarter corners. These points...

Predictive models of energy consumption in multi-family housing in College Station, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Hikmat Hummad

, construction material, summer thermostat setting, heating, slope, and base load, as well as a relationship between cooling slope and the combined variables of share wall, floor level, summer thermostat setting, external wall, and American household. In addition, there is a significant relationship between heating slope and the combined variables of winter thermostat setting, market value, student, and rent. The results also indicate there is a relationship between base load and the combined variables of floor area, market value, age of the building, marital status, student, and summer thermostat setting.

Utility of the point of care CD4 analyzer, PIMA, to enumerate CD4 counts in the field settings in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thakar Madhuri

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In resource limited settings non-availability of CD4 count facility at the site could adversely affect the ART roll out programme. Point of care CD4 enumerating equipments can make the CD4 count available at the site of care and improve the patients’ management considerably. This study is aimed at determining the utility of a Point of Care PIMA CD4 analyzer (Alere, Germany in the field settings in India. Method The blood samples were collected from 1790 participants at 21 ART centers from different parts of the country and tested using PIMA and the reference methods (FACSCalibur, FACSCount and CyFlow SL3. The paired finger prick and venous blood samples from 175 participants were tested by the PIMA CD4 Analyzer and then by FACSCalibur. Result The CD4 counts obtained by PIMA CD4 analyzer showed excellent correlation with the counts obtained by the reference methods; for venous blood the Pearson’s r was 0.921, p 500 cells/mm3, the differences in the median CD4 counts obtained by the reference method and the PIMA analyzer were not significant (P > 0.05 and the relative bias were low (−7 to 5.1%. The Intermachine comparison showed variation within the acceptable limit of%CV of 10%. Conclusion In the field settings, the POC PIMA CD4 analyzer gave CD4 counts comparable to the reference methods for all CD4 ranges. The POC equipment could identify the patients eligible for ART in 91% cases. Adequate training is necessary for finger prick sample collection for optimum results. Decentralization of CD4 testing by making the CD4 counts available at primary health centers, especially in remote areas with minimum or no infrastructure would reduce the missed visits and improve adherence of the patients.

Method and basis set dependence of anharmonic ground state nuclear wave functions and zero-point energies: Application to SSSH

Science.gov (United States)

Kolmann, Stephen J.; Jordan, Meredith J. T.

2010-02-01

One of the largest remaining errors in thermochemical calculations is the determination of the zero-point energy (ZPE). The fully coupled, anharmonic ZPE and ground state nuclear wave function of the SSSH radical are calculated using quantum diffusion Monte Carlo on interpolated potential energy surfaces (PESs) constructed using a variety of method and basis set combinations. The ZPE of SSSH, which is approximately 29 kJ mol-1 at the CCSD(T)/6-31G∗ level of theory, has a 4 kJ mol-1 dependence on the treatment of electron correlation. The anharmonic ZPEs are consistently 0.3 kJ mol-1 lower in energy than the harmonic ZPEs calculated at the Hartree-Fock and MP2 levels of theory, and 0.7 kJ mol-1 lower in energy at the CCSD(T)/6-31G∗ level of theory. Ideally, for sub-kJ mol-1 thermochemical accuracy, ZPEs should be calculated using correlated methods with as big a basis set as practicable. The ground state nuclear wave function of SSSH also has significant method and basis set dependence. The analysis of the nuclear wave function indicates that SSSH is localized to a single symmetry equivalent global minimum, despite having sufficient ZPE to be delocalized over both minima. As part of this work, modifications to the interpolated PES construction scheme of Collins and co-workers are presented.

Method and basis set dependence of anharmonic ground state nuclear wave functions and zero-point energies: application to SSSH.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolmann, Stephen J; Jordan, Meredith J T

2010-02-07

One of the largest remaining errors in thermochemical calculations is the determination of the zero-point energy (ZPE). The fully coupled, anharmonic ZPE and ground state nuclear wave function of the SSSH radical are calculated using quantum diffusion Monte Carlo on interpolated potential energy surfaces (PESs) constructed using a variety of method and basis set combinations. The ZPE of SSSH, which is approximately 29 kJ mol(-1) at the CCSD(T)/6-31G* level of theory, has a 4 kJ mol(-1) dependence on the treatment of electron correlation. The anharmonic ZPEs are consistently 0.3 kJ mol(-1) lower in energy than the harmonic ZPEs calculated at the Hartree-Fock and MP2 levels of theory, and 0.7 kJ mol(-1) lower in energy at the CCSD(T)/6-31G* level of theory. Ideally, for sub-kJ mol(-1) thermochemical accuracy, ZPEs should be calculated using correlated methods with as big a basis set as practicable. The ground state nuclear wave function of SSSH also has significant method and basis set dependence. The analysis of the nuclear wave function indicates that SSSH is localized to a single symmetry equivalent global minimum, despite having sufficient ZPE to be delocalized over both minima. As part of this work, modifications to the interpolated PES construction scheme of Collins and co-workers are presented.

Maximal translational equivalence classes of musical patterns in point-set representations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Collins, Tom; Meredith, David

2013-01-01

Representing musical notes as points in pitch-time space causes repeated motives and themes to appear as translationally related patterns that often correspond to maximal translatable patterns (MTPs). However, an MTP is also often the union of a salient pattern with one or two temporally isolated...

An Embedded Based Digital Controller for Thermal Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Lakshmi Sangeetha

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a low cost virtual instrumentation (VI system to monitor and control the electrically heated water bath temperature. The PIC16F877 based digital microcontroller is used as thermostat which controls and monitors the temperature. The digital controller also allows the user to modify the sensor (PT100 calibration data values if necessary. The developed programmable on/off control function provides on-line display of measuring temperature, set point as well as the control function output plots through the parallel port. This bus interaction is realized in Visual Basic/Assembly Language and uses a 16 bit, 10 ms sampling analog-to-digital converter (ADS 7805 for monitoring and controlling the parameters of the temperature local digital controller.

Nucleation and droplet growth from supersaturated vapor at temperatures below the triple point temperature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toxværd, Søren

2016-01-01

temperature Ttr.p. crystallizes via a liquid droplet is an example of Ostwald's step rule. The homogeneous nucleation in the supersaturated gas is not to a crystal, but to a liquid-like critical nucleus. We have for the first time performed constant energy (NVE) Molecular Dynamics (MD) of homogeneous...... nucleation without the use of a thermostat. The simulations of homogeneous nucleation in a Lennard-Jones system from supersaturated vapor at temperatures below Ttr.p. reveals that the nucleation to a liquid-like critical nucleus is initiated by a small cold cluster [S. Toxvaerd, J. Chem. Phys. \\textbf{143...

Measure Guideline: Condensing Boilers - Optimizing Efficiency and Response Time During Setback Operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arena, L. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-02-01

Conventional wisdom surrounding space heating has told us a couple of things consistently for several years now: size the mechanical systems to the heating loads and setting the thermostat back at night will result in energy savings. The problem is these two recommendations oppose each other. A system that is properly sized to the heating load will not have the extra capacity necessary to recover from a thermostat setback, especially at design conditions. The implication of this is that, for setback to be successfully implemented, the heating system must be oversized. This issue is exacerbated further when an outdoor reset control is used with a condensing boiler, because not only is the system matched to the load at design, the outdoor reset control matches the output to the load under varying outdoor temperatures. Under these circumstances, the home may never recover from setback. Special controls to bypass the outdoor reset sensor are then needed. Properly designing a hydronic system for setback operation can be accomplished but depends on several factors. Determining the appropriateness of setback for a particular project is the first step. This is followed by proper sizing of the boiler and baseboard to ensure the needed capacity can be met. Finally, control settings must be chosen that result in the most efficient and responsive performance. This guide provides step by step instructions for heating contractors and hydronic designers for selecting the proper control settings to maximize system performance and improve response time when using a thermostat setback.

Data Point Averaging for Computational Fluid Dynamics Data

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Jr., David (Inventor)

2016-01-01

A system and method for generating fluid flow parameter data for use in aerodynamic heating analysis. Computational fluid dynamics data is generated for a number of points in an area on a surface to be analyzed. Sub-areas corresponding to areas of the surface for which an aerodynamic heating analysis is to be performed are identified. A computer system automatically determines a sub-set of the number of points corresponding to each of the number of sub-areas and determines a value for each of the number of sub-areas using the data for the sub-set of points corresponding to each of the number of sub-areas. The value is determined as an average of the data for the sub-set of points corresponding to each of the number of sub-areas. The resulting parameter values then may be used to perform an aerodynamic heating analysis.

Gravity and matter in causal set theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sverdlov, Roman; Bombelli, Luca

2009-01-01

The goal of this paper is to propose an approach to the formulation of dynamics for causal sets and coupled matter fields. We start from the continuum version of the action for a Klein-Gordon field coupled to gravity, and rewrite it first using quantities that have a direct correspondent in the case of a causal set, namely volumes, causal relations and timelike lengths, as variables to describe the geometry. In this step, the local Lagrangian density L(f;x) for a set of fields f is recast into a quasilocal expression L 0 (f;p,q) that depends on pairs of causally related points pprq and is a function of the values of f in the Alexandrov set defined by those points, and whose limit as p and q approach a common point x is L(f;x). We then describe how to discretize L 0 (f;p,q) and use it to define a causal-set-based action.

Genetics of the gravitropic set-point angle in lateral organs of Arabidopsis

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, J.; Hangarter, R.

Research on gravity responses in plants has mostly focused on primary roots and shoots, which typically orient to a vertical orientation. However, the distribution of lateral organs and their typically non-vertical growth orientation are critical for the determination of plant form. For example, in Arabidopsis, when lateral roots emerge from the primary root, they grow at a nearly horizontal orientation. As they elongate, the roots slowly curve until they eventually reach a vertical orientation. The regulation of this lateral root orientation is an important component affecting the overall root system architecture. We found that this change in orientation is not simply due to the onset of gravitropic competence, as non-vertical lateral roots are capable of both positive and negative gravitropism. Thus, the horizontal growth the new lateral roots is determined by what is called the gravitropic set-point angle (GSA). This developmental control of the GSA of lateral roots in Arabidopsis provides a useful system for investigating the components involved in regulating gravitropic responses. Using this system, we have identified several Arabidopsis mutants that have altered lateral root orientations but maintain normal primary root orientation. Two of these mutants also have altered orientation of their rosette leaves, indicating some common mechanisms in the positioning of root and shoot lateral organs. Rosette leaves and lateral roots also have in common a regulation of orientation by red light that may be due to red-light-dependent changes in the GSA. Further molecular and physiological analyses of the GSA mutants will provide insight into the basis of GSA regulation and, thus, a better understanding of how gravity controls plant architecture. [This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through grant no. NCC 2-1200.

Basic set theory

CERN Document Server

Levy, Azriel

2002-01-01

An advanced-level treatment of the basics of set theory, this text offers students a firm foundation, stopping just short of the areas employing model-theoretic methods. Geared toward upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, it consists of two parts: the first covers pure set theory, including the basic motions, order and well-foundedness, cardinal numbers, the ordinals, and the axiom of choice and some of it consequences; the second deals with applications and advanced topics such as point set topology, real spaces, Boolean algebras, and infinite combinatorics and large cardinals. An

Efficient Algorithms for Segmentation of Item-Set Time Series

Science.gov (United States)

Chundi, Parvathi; Rosenkrantz, Daniel J.

We propose a special type of time series, which we call an item-set time series, to facilitate the temporal analysis of software version histories, email logs, stock market data, etc. In an item-set time series, each observed data value is a set of discrete items. We formalize the concept of an item-set time series and present efficient algorithms for segmenting a given item-set time series. Segmentation of a time series partitions the time series into a sequence of segments where each segment is constructed by combining consecutive time points of the time series. Each segment is associated with an item set that is computed from the item sets of the time points in that segment, using a function which we call a measure function. We then define a concept called the segment difference, which measures the difference between the item set of a segment and the item sets of the time points in that segment. The segment difference values are required to construct an optimal segmentation of the time series. We describe novel and efficient algorithms to compute segment difference values for each of the measure functions described in the paper. We outline a dynamic programming based scheme to construct an optimal segmentation of the given item-set time series. We use the item-set time series segmentation techniques to analyze the temporal content of three different data sets—Enron email, stock market data, and a synthetic data set. The experimental results show that an optimal segmentation of item-set time series data captures much more temporal content than a segmentation constructed based on the number of time points in each segment, without examining the item set data at the time points, and can be used to analyze different types of temporal data.

Job Change: A Practitioner's View.

Science.gov (United States)

Lenz, Janet G.; Reardon, Robert C.

1990-01-01

Suggests ways that career counselors can use Loughead and Black's "job change thermostat" in working with clients. Program and policy issues include service delivery settings, crisis-oriented versus long-term client needs, individual versus group approaches, staff competence, and availability of resources. (34 references) (SK)

Point cloud data management (extended abstract)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Ravada, S.; Horhammer, M.; Martinez Rubi, O.; Ivanova, M.; Kodde, M.; Tijssen, T.P.M.

2014-01-01

Point cloud data are important sources for 3D geo-information. The point cloud data sets are growing in popularity and in size. Modern Big Data acquisition and processing technologies, such as laser scanning from airborne, mobile, or static platforms, dense image matching from photos, multi-beam

A MARKED POINT PROCESS MODEL FOR VEHICLE DETECTION IN AERIAL LIDAR POINT CLOUDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Börcs

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present an automated method for vehicle detection in LiDAR point clouds of crowded urban areas collected from an aerial platform. We assume that the input cloud is unordered, but it contains additional intensity and return number information which are jointly exploited by the proposed solution. Firstly, the 3-D point set is segmented into ground, vehicle, building roof, vegetation and clutter classes. Then the points with the corresponding class labels and intensity values are projected to the ground plane, where the optimal vehicle configuration is described by a Marked Point Process (MPP model of 2-D rectangles. Finally, the Multiple Birth and Death algorithm is utilized to find the configuration with the highest confidence.

Hinkley Point 'C' power station public inquiry: proof of evidence on comparison of non-fossil options to Hinkley Point 'C'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goddard, S.C.

1988-09-01

A public inquiry has been set up to examine the planning application made by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) for the construction of a 1200 MW Pressurized Water Reactor power station at Hinkley Point (Hinkley Point ''C'') in the United Kingdom. This evidence to the Inquiry sets out and explains the non-fossil fuel options, with particular reference to renewable energy sources and other PWR locations; gives feasibility, capital cost, performance and total resource estimates for the renewable sources; and shows that no other non-fossil fuel source is to be preferred to Hinkley Point ''C''. (author)

SharePoint 2007 Collaboration For Dummies

CERN Document Server

Harvey, Greg

2009-01-01

If you're looking for a way to help your teams access what they need to know, work together, and get the job done, SharePoint can do just that. SharePoint 2007 Collaboration For Dummies shows you the easiest way to set up and customize SharePoint, manage your data, interact using SharePoint blogs and wikis, integrate Office programs, and make your office more productive. You'll learn what SharePoint can do and how to make it work for your business, understand the technical terms, and enable your people to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets. You'll even discover how to get SharePoint hel

Hawaii ESI: M_MAMPT (Marine Mammal Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for endangered Hawaiian monk seal pupping and haul-out sites. Vector points in this data set represent...

Visual Communication in PowerPoint Presentations in Applied Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Kmalvand, Ayad

2014-01-01

PowerPoint knowledge presentation as a digital genre has established itself as the main software by which the findings of theses are disseminated in the academic settings. Although the importance of PowerPoint presentations is typically realized in academic settings like lectures, conferences, and seminars, the study of the visual features of…

Blue-noise remeshing with farthest point optimization

KAUST Repository

Yan, Dongming

2014-08-01

In this paper, we present a novel method for surface sampling and remeshing with good blue-noise properties. Our approach is based on the farthest point optimization (FPO), a relaxation technique that generates high quality blue-noise point sets in 2D. We propose two important generalizations of the original FPO framework: adaptive sampling and sampling on surfaces. A simple and efficient algorithm for accelerating the FPO framework is also proposed. Experimental results show that the generalized FPO generates point sets with excellent blue-noise properties for adaptive and surface sampling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our remeshing quality is superior to the current state-of-the art approaches. © 2014 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Blue-noise remeshing with farthest point optimization

KAUST Repository

Yan, Dongming; Guo, Jianwei; Jia, Xiaohong; Zhang, Xiaopeng; Wonka, Peter

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel method for surface sampling and remeshing with good blue-noise properties. Our approach is based on the farthest point optimization (FPO), a relaxation technique that generates high quality blue-noise point sets in 2D. We propose two important generalizations of the original FPO framework: adaptive sampling and sampling on surfaces. A simple and efficient algorithm for accelerating the FPO framework is also proposed. Experimental results show that the generalized FPO generates point sets with excellent blue-noise properties for adaptive and surface sampling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our remeshing quality is superior to the current state-of-the art approaches. © 2014 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Permitted and forbidden sets in symmetric threshold-linear networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahnloser, Richard H R; Seung, H Sebastian; Slotine, Jean-Jacques

2003-03-01

The richness and complexity of recurrent cortical circuits is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for thinking about high-level biological computation. In past theoretical studies, constraints on the synaptic connection patterns of threshold-linear networks were found that guaranteed bounded network dynamics, convergence to attractive fixed points, and multistability, all fundamental aspects of cortical information processing. However, these conditions were only sufficient, and it remained unclear which were the minimal (necessary) conditions for convergence and multistability. We show that symmetric threshold-linear networks converge to a set of attractive fixed points if and only if the network matrix is copositive. Furthermore, the set of attractive fixed points is nonconnected (the network is multiattractive) if and only if the network matrix is not positive semidefinite. There are permitted sets of neurons that can be coactive at a stable steady state and forbidden sets that cannot. Permitted sets are clustered in the sense that subsets of permitted sets are permitted and supersets of forbidden sets are forbidden. By viewing permitted sets as memories stored in the synaptic connections, we provide a formulation of long-term memory that is more general than the traditional perspective of fixed-point attractor networks. There is a close correspondence between threshold-linear networks and networks defined by the generalized Lotka-Volterra equations.

Bayesian analysis of Markov point processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berthelsen, Kasper Klitgaard; Møller, Jesper

2006-01-01

Recently Møller, Pettitt, Berthelsen and Reeves introduced a new MCMC methodology for drawing samples from a posterior distribution when the likelihood function is only specified up to a normalising constant. We illustrate the method in the setting of Bayesian inference for Markov point processes...... a partially ordered Markov point process as the auxiliary variable. As the method requires simulation from the "unknown" likelihood, perfect simulation algorithms for spatial point processes become useful....

Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Distillates Using an Electronic Nose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Dymerski

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the application of an electronic nose instrument to fast evaluation of agricultural distillates differing in quality. The investigations were carried out using a prototype of electronic nose equipped with a set of six semiconductor sensors by FIGARO Co., an electronic circuit converting signal into digital form and a set of thermostats able to provide gradient temperature characteristics to a gas mixture. A volatile fraction of the agricultural distillate samples differing in quality was obtained by barbotage. Interpretation of the results involved three data analysis techniques: principal component analysis, single-linkage cluster analysis and cluster analysis with spheres method. The investigations prove the usefulness of the presented technique in the quality control of agricultural distillates. Optimum measurements conditions were also defined, including volumetric flow rate of carrier gas (15 L/h, thermostat temperature during the barbotage process (15 °C and time of sensor signal acquisition from the onset of the barbotage process (60 s.

Quality evaluation of agricultural distillates using an electronic nose.

Science.gov (United States)

Dymerski, Tomasz; Gębicki, Jacek; Wardencki, Waldemar; Namieśnik, Jacek

2013-11-25

The paper presents the application of an electronic nose instrument to fast evaluation of agricultural distillates differing in quality. The investigations were carried out using a prototype of electronic nose equipped with a set of six semiconductor sensors by FIGARO Co., an electronic circuit converting signal into digital form and a set of thermostats able to provide gradient temperature characteristics to a gas mixture. A volatile fraction of the agricultural distillate samples differing in quality was obtained by barbotage. Interpretation of the results involved three data analysis techniques: principal component analysis, single-linkage cluster analysis and cluster analysis with spheres method. The investigations prove the usefulness of the presented technique in the quality control of agricultural distillates. Optimum measurements conditions were also defined, including volumetric flow rate of carrier gas (15 L/h), thermostat temperature during the barbotage process (15 °C) and time of sensor signal acquisition from the onset of the barbotage process (60 s).

Challenges and Opportunities of Centrifugal Microfluidics for Extreme Point-of-Care Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Issac J. Michael

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The advantages offered by centrifugal microfluidic systems have encouraged its rapid adaptation in the fields of in vitro diagnostics, clinical chemistry, immunoassays, and nucleic acid tests. Centrifugal microfluidic devices are currently used in both clinical and point-of-care settings. Recent studies have shown that this new diagnostic platform could be potentially used in extreme point-of-care settings like remote villages in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa. Several technological inventions have decentralized diagnostics in developing countries; however, very few microfluidic technologies have been successful in meeting the demand. By identifying the finest difference between the point-of-care testing and extreme point-of-care infrastructure, this review captures the evolving diagnostic needs of developing countries paired with infrastructural challenges with technological hurdles to healthcare delivery in extreme point-of-care settings. In particular, the requirements for making centrifugal diagnostic devices viable in developing countries are discussed based on a detailed analysis of the demands in different clinical settings including the distinctive needs of extreme point-of-care settings.

North Slope, Alaska ESI: FACILITY (Facility Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains data for oil field facilities for the North Slope of Alaska. Vector points in this data set represent oil field facility locations. This data...

Sequential Convex Programming for Power Set-point Optimization in a Wind Farm using Black-box Models, Simple Turbine Interactions, and Integer Variables

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hovgaard, Tobias Gybel; Larsen, Lars F. S.; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

2012-01-01

We consider the optimization of power set-points to a large number of wind turbines arranged within close vicinity of each other in a wind farm. The goal is to maximize the total electric power extracted from the wind, taking the wake effects that couple the individual turbines in the farm into a...... is far superior to, a more naive distribution scheme. We employ a fast convex quadratic programming solver to carry out the iterations in the range of microseconds for even large wind farms....

Robust point matching via vector field consensus.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiayi Ma; Ji Zhao; Jinwen Tian; Yuille, Alan L; Zhuowen Tu

2014-04-01

In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm, called vector field consensus, for establishing robust point correspondences between two sets of points. Our algorithm starts by creating a set of putative correspondences which can contain a very large number of false correspondences, or outliers, in addition to a limited number of true correspondences (inliers). Next, we solve for correspondence by interpolating a vector field between the two point sets, which involves estimating a consensus of inlier points whose matching follows a nonparametric geometrical constraint. We formulate this a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation of a Bayesian model with hidden/latent variables indicating whether matches in the putative set are outliers or inliers. We impose nonparametric geometrical constraints on the correspondence, as a prior distribution, using Tikhonov regularizers in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. MAP estimation is performed by the EM algorithm which by also estimating the variance of the prior model (initialized to a large value) is able to obtain good estimates very quickly (e.g., avoiding many of the local minima inherent in this formulation). We illustrate this method on data sets in 2D and 3D and demonstrate that it is robust to a very large number of outliers (even up to 90%). We also show that in the special case where there is an underlying parametric geometrical model (e.g., the epipolar line constraint) that we obtain better results than standard alternatives like RANSAC if a large number of outliers are present. This suggests a two-stage strategy, where we use our nonparametric model to reduce the size of the putative set and then apply a parametric variant of our approach to estimate the geometric parameters. Our algorithm is computationally efficient and we provide code for others to use it. In addition, our approach is general and can be applied to other problems, such as learning with a badly corrupted training data set.

Topological fixed point theory of multivalued mappings

CERN Document Server

Górniewicz, Lech

1999-01-01

This volume presents a broad introduction to the topological fixed point theory of multivalued (set-valued) mappings, treating both classical concepts as well as modern techniques. A variety of up-to-date results is described within a unified framework. Topics covered include the basic theory of set-valued mappings with both convex and nonconvex values, approximation and homological methods in the fixed point theory together with a thorough discussion of various index theories for mappings with a topologically complex structure of values, applications to many fields of mathematics, mathematical economics and related subjects, and the fixed point approach to the theory of ordinary differential inclusions. The work emphasises the topological aspect of the theory, and gives special attention to the Lefschetz and Nielsen fixed point theory for acyclic valued mappings with diverse compactness assumptions via graph approximation and the homological approach. Audience: This work will be of interest to researchers an...

Las Matematicas: Lenguaje Universal. Grados Intermedios, Nivel 5a: Geometria - Conjuntos de Puntos (Mathematics: A Universal Language. Intermediate Grades, Level 5a: Geometry - Sets of Points).

Science.gov (United States)

Dissemination and Assessment Center for Bilingual Education, Austin, TX.

This is one of a series of student booklets designed for use in a bilingual mathematics program in grades 6-8. The general format is to present each page in both Spanish and English. The mathematical topics in the booklet include points, lines, planes, space, angles, and intersection and union of sets. (MK)

Energy Extra: Energy Savings vs. Comfort - and the Effect of Humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

CEFP Journal, 1979

1979-01-01

Proper humidity will, in a large number of cases, save money for the user. This saving could show up directly because of reduced infiltration and lower thermostat settings. It could show up indirectly in reduced costs for maintenance and preservation and in increased productivity and decreased absenteeism. (Author)

Modeling fixation locations using spatial point processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Barthelmé, Simon; Trukenbrod, Hans; Engbert, Ralf; Wichmann, Felix

2013-10-01

Whenever eye movements are measured, a central part of the analysis has to do with where subjects fixate and why they fixated where they fixated. To a first approximation, a set of fixations can be viewed as a set of points in space; this implies that fixations are spatial data and that the analysis of fixation locations can be beneficially thought of as a spatial statistics problem. We argue that thinking of fixation locations as arising from point processes is a very fruitful framework for eye-movement data, helping turn qualitative questions into quantitative ones. We provide a tutorial introduction to some of the main ideas of the field of spatial statistics, focusing especially on spatial Poisson processes. We show how point processes help relate image properties to fixation locations. In particular we show how point processes naturally express the idea that image features' predictability for fixations may vary from one image to another. We review other methods of analysis used in the literature, show how they relate to point process theory, and argue that thinking in terms of point processes substantially extends the range of analyses that can be performed and clarify their interpretation.

Point-of-care testing in an organ procurement organization donor management setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Baier, K A; Markham, L E; Flaigle, S P; Nelson, P W; Shield, C F; Muruve, N A; Aeder, M I; Murillo, D; Bryan, C F

2003-01-01

Our organ procurement organization (OPO) evaluated the clinical and financial efficacy of point-of-care testing (POCT) in management of our deceased organ donors. Before we implemented point-of care testing with the i-STAT into routine clinical donor management, we compared the i-STAT result with the result from the respective donor hospital lab (DHL) for certain analytes on 15 consecutive donors in our OPO from 26 March to 14 May 2001. The financial impact was studied by reviewing 77 donors from July 2001 to March 2002. There was a strong correlation for each analyte between the POC and DHL test results with r-values as follows: pH 0.86; PCO2 = 0.96; PO2 = 0.98; sodium = 0.98; potassium = 0.95; chloride = 0.94; BUN = 0.98; glucose = 0.92; haematocrit = 0.87 and creatinine = 0.95. Since our OPO coordinators began using i-STAT in their routine clinical management of organ donors, they can now more quickly maximize oxygenation and fluid management of the donor and make extra-renal placement calls sooner. Finally, since we are no longer being billed for the testing performed on the i-STAT, average financial savings to our OPO are US dollars 733 per case. Point-of-care testing in management of our OPO donors provides a result that is equivalent to that of the donor hospital lab, has quicker turn-around time than the donor hospital laboratory, allowing more immediate clinical management decisions to be made so that extra-renal offers may begin sooner.

A Novel Approach to Study Medical Decision Making in the Clinical Setting: The "Own-point-of-view" Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelaccia, Thierry; Tardif, Jacques; Triby, Emmanuel; Charlin, Bernard

2017-07-01

Making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions is a critical activity among physicians. It relies on the ability of physicians to use cognitive processes and specific knowledge in the context of a clinical reasoning. This ability is a core competency in physicians, especially in the field of emergency medicine where the rate of diagnostic errors is high. Studies that explore medical decision making in an authentic setting are increasing significantly. They are based on the use of qualitative methods that are applied at two separate times: 1) a video recording of the subject's actual activity in an authentic setting and 2) an interview with the subject, supported by the video recording. Traditionally, activity is recorded from an "external perspective"; i.e., a camera is positioned in the room in which the consultation takes place. This approach has many limits, both technical and with respect to the validity of the data collected. The article aims at 1) describing how decision making is currently being studied, especially from a qualitative standpoint, and the reasons why new methods are needed, and 2) reporting how we used an original, innovative approach to study decision making in the field of emergency medicine and findings from these studies to guide further the use of this method. The method consists in recording the subject's activity from his own point of view, by fixing a microcamera on his temple or the branch of his glasses. An interview is then held on the basis of this recording, so that the subject being interviewed can relive the situation, to facilitate the explanation of his reasoning with respect to his decisions and actions. We describe how this method has been used successfully in investigating medical decision making in emergency medicine. We provide details on how to use it optimally, taking into account the constraints associated with the practice of emergency medicine and the benefits in the study of clinical reasoning. The "own-point

Fast-forward Langevin dynamics with momentum flips

Science.gov (United States)

Hijazi, Mahdi; Wilkins, David M.; Ceriotti, Michele

2018-05-01

Stochastic thermostats based on the Langevin equation, in which a system is coupled to an external heat bath, are popular methods for temperature control in molecular dynamics simulations due to their ergodicity and their ease of implementation. Traditionally, these thermostats suffer from sluggish behavior in the limit of high friction, unlike thermostats of the Nosé-Hoover family whose performance degrades more gently in the strong coupling regime. We propose a simple and easy-to-implement modification to the integration scheme of the Langevin algorithm that addresses the fundamental source of the overdamped behavior of high-friction Langevin dynamics: if the action of the thermostat causes the momentum of a particle to change direction, it is flipped back. This fast-forward Langevin equation preserves the momentum distribution and so guarantees the correct equilibrium sampling. It mimics the quadratic behavior of Nosé-Hoover thermostats and displays similarly good performance in the strong coupling limit. We test the efficiency of this scheme by applying it to a 1-dimensional harmonic oscillator, as well as to water and Lennard-Jones polymers. The sampling efficiency of the fast-forward Langevin equation thermostat, measured by the correlation time of relevant system variables, is at least as good as the traditional Langevin thermostat, and in the overdamped regime, the fast-forward thermostat performs much better, improving the efficiency by an order of magnitude at the highest frictions we considered.

An X-point ergodic divertor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, M.S.; Jensen, T.H.; La Haye, R.J.; Taylor, T.S.; Evans, T.E.

1991-10-01

A new ergodic divertor is proposed. It utilizes a system of external (n = 3) coils arranged to generate overlapping magnetic islands in the edge region of a diverted tokamak and connect the randomized field lines to the external (cold) divertor plate. The novel feature in the configuration is the placement of the external coils close to the X-point. A realistic design of the external coil set is studied by using the field line tracing method for a low aspect ratio (A ≅ 3) tokamak. Two types of effects are observed. First, by placing the coils close to the X-point, where the poloidal magnetic field is weak and the rational surfaces are closely packed only a moderate amount of current in the external coils is needed to ergodize the edge region. This ergodized edge enhances the edge transport in the X-point region and leads to the potential of edge profile control and the avoidance of edge localized modes (ELMs). Furthermore, the trajectories of the field lines close to the X-point are modified by the external coil set, causing the hit points on the external divertor plates to be randomized and spread out in the major radius direction. A time-dependent modulation of the currents in the external (n = 3) coils can potentially spread the heat flux more uniformly on the divertor plate avoiding high concentration of the heat flux. 10 refs., 9 figs

Installation of PMV Operation Program in DDC Controller and Air Conditioning Control Using PMV Directly as Set Point

Science.gov (United States)

Haramoto, Ken-Ichi

In general, air conditioning control in a building is operated mainly by indoor air temperature control. Although the operators of the machine in the building accepted a claim for indoor air temperature presented by the building inhabitants, the indoor conditions have been often too cool or warm. Therefore, in an attempt to create better thermal environments, the author paid attention to the PMV that is a thermal comfort index. And then, the possibility of air conditioning control using the PMV directly as the set point was verified by employing actual equipment in an air conditioning testing room and an office building. Prior to the execution of this control, the operation program of the PMV was installed in a DDC controller for the air conditioning control. And information from indoor sensors and so on was inputted to the controller, and the computed PMV was used as the feedback variable.

On almost-periodic points of a topological Markov chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogatyi, Semeon A; Redkozubov, Vadim V

2012-01-01

We prove that a transitive topological Markov chain has almost-periodic points of all D-periods. Moreover, every D-period is realized by continuously many distinct minimal sets. We give a simple constructive proof of the result which asserts that any transitive topological Markov chain has periodic points of almost all periods, and study the structure of the finite set of positive integers that are not periods.

Point Cluster Analysis Using a 3D Voronoi Diagram with Applications in Point Cloud Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shen Ying

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Three-dimensional (3D point analysis and visualization is one of the most effective methods of point cluster detection and segmentation in geospatial datasets. However, serious scattering and clotting characteristics interfere with the visual detection of 3D point clusters. To overcome this problem, this study proposes the use of 3D Voronoi diagrams to analyze and visualize 3D points instead of the original data item. The proposed algorithm computes the cluster of 3D points by applying a set of 3D Voronoi cells to describe and quantify 3D points. The decompositions of point cloud of 3D models are guided by the 3D Voronoi cell parameters. The parameter values are mapped from the Voronoi cells to 3D points to show the spatial pattern and relationships; thus, a 3D point cluster pattern can be highlighted and easily recognized. To capture different cluster patterns, continuous progressive clusters and segmentations are tested. The 3D spatial relationship is shown to facilitate cluster detection. Furthermore, the generated segmentations of real 3D data cases are exploited to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach in detecting different spatial clusters for continuous point cloud segmentation.

A thermostat for precise measurements of thermoresistance of small samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rusinowski, Z.; Slowinski, B.; Winiewski, R.

1996-01-01

In the work a simple experimental set-up is described in which special attention is paid to the important problem of the thermal stability of thermoresistance measurements of small samples of manganin

The clinical and economic impact of point-of-care CD4 testing in mozambique and other resource-limited settings: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily P Hyle

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Point-of-care CD4 tests at HIV diagnosis could improve linkage to care in resource-limited settings. Our objective is to evaluate the clinical and economic impact of point-of-care CD4 tests compared to laboratory-based tests in Mozambique.We use a validated model of HIV testing, linkage, and treatment (CEPAC-International to examine two strategies of immunological staging in Mozambique: (1 laboratory-based CD4 testing (LAB-CD4 and (2 point-of-care CD4 testing (POC-CD4. Model outcomes include 5-y survival, life expectancy, lifetime costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs. Input parameters include linkage to care (LAB-CD4, 34%; POC-CD4, 61%, probability of correctly detecting antiretroviral therapy (ART eligibility (sensitivity: LAB-CD4, 100%; POC-CD4, 90% or ART ineligibility (specificity: LAB-CD4, 100%; POC-CD4, 85%, and test cost (LAB-CD4, US$10; POC-CD4, US$24. In sensitivity analyses, we vary POC-CD4-specific parameters, as well as cohort and setting parameters to reflect a range of scenarios in sub-Saharan Africa. We consider ICERs less than three times the per capita gross domestic product in Mozambique (US$570 to be cost-effective, and ICERs less than one times the per capita gross domestic product in Mozambique to be very cost-effective. Projected 5-y survival in HIV-infected persons with LAB-CD4 is 60.9% (95% CI, 60.9%-61.0%, increasing to 65.0% (95% CI, 64.9%-65.1% with POC-CD4. Discounted life expectancy and per person lifetime costs with LAB-CD4 are 9.6 y (95% CI, 9.6-9.6 y and US$2,440 (95% CI, US$2,440-US$2,450 and increase with POC-CD4 to 10.3 y (95% CI, 10.3-10.3 y and US$2,800 (95% CI, US$2,790-US$2,800; the ICER of POC-CD4 compared to LAB-CD4 is US$500/year of life saved (YLS (95% CI, US$480-US$520/YLS. POC-CD4 improves clinical outcomes and remains near the very cost-effective threshold in sensitivity analyses, even if point-of-care CD4 tests have lower sensitivity/specificity and higher cost than published

Power point 2002 for successful presentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, Insoo

2002-01-01

This book mentions power point 2002 for successful presentation, which deals with power point and presentation, all guide, the latest gear, for presentation, basic of power point 2002 such as slide, text compile, insertion of picture, figure and application of office guide, setting up new year plan using text like insertion text with various methods, compile effective text, and 200% application of tab, and addiction of pretty shape of characters, finishing of conversion of chinese character, and elimination of typographical error with spell checker.

A Doubly Stochastic Change Point Detection Algorithm for Noisy Biological Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan Gold

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Experimentally and clinically collected time series data are often contaminated with significant confounding noise, creating short, noisy time series. This noise, due to natural variability and measurement error, poses a challenge to conventional change point detection methods. We propose a novel and robust statistical method for change point detection for noisy biological time sequences. Our method is a significant improvement over traditional change point detection methods, which only examine a potential anomaly at a single time point. In contrast, our method considers all suspected anomaly points and considers the joint probability distribution of the number of change points and the elapsed time between two consecutive anomalies. We validate our method with three simulated time series, a widely accepted benchmark data set, two geological time series, a data set of ECG recordings, and a physiological data set of heart rate variability measurements of fetal sheep model of human labor, comparing it to three existing methods. Our method demonstrates significantly improved performance over the existing point-wise detection methods.

American Samoa ESI: T_MAMPT (Terrestrial Mammal Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for bats in American Samoa. Vector points in this data set represent bat roosts and caves. Species-specific...

Southeast Alaska ESI: M_MAMPT (Marine Mammal Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains biological resource data for seals and sea lions in Southeast Alaska. Points in this data set represent locations of haulout and rookery...

Relative Critical Points

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debra Lewis

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Relative equilibria of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems with symmetry are critical points of appropriate scalar functions parametrized by the Lie algebra (or its dual of the symmetry group. Setting aside the structures – symplectic, Poisson, or variational – generating dynamical systems from such functions highlights the common features of their construction and analysis, and supports the construction of analogous functions in non-Hamiltonian settings. If the symmetry group is nonabelian, the functions are invariant only with respect to the isotropy subgroup of the given parameter value. Replacing the parametrized family of functions with a single function on the product manifold and extending the action using the (coadjoint action on the algebra or its dual yields a fully invariant function. An invariant map can be used to reverse the usual perspective: rather than selecting a parametrized family of functions and finding their critical points, conditions under which functions will be critical on specific orbits, typically distinguished by isotropy class, can be derived. This strategy is illustrated using several well-known mechanical systems – the Lagrange top, the double spherical pendulum, the free rigid body, and the Riemann ellipsoids – and generalizations of these systems.

Computer program to fit a hyperellipse to a set of phase-space points in as many as six dimensions. [HELIPS, and COFAC to determine derivatives of determinants, in FORTRAN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wadlinger, E.A.

1980-03-01

A computer program that will fit a hyperellipse to a set of phase-space points in as many as 6 dimensions was written and tested. The weight assigned to the phase-space points can be varied as a function of their distance from the centroid of the distribution. Varying the weight enables determination of whether there is a difference in ellipse orientation between inner and outer particles. This program should be useful in studying the effects of longitudinal and transverse phase-space couplings.

DETECTION OF SLOPE MOVEMENT BY COMPARING POINT CLOUDS CREATED BY SFM SOFTWARE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Oda

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes movement detection method between point clouds created by SFM software, without setting any onsite georeferenced points. SfM software, like Smart3DCaputure, PhotoScan, and Pix4D, are convenient for non-professional operator of photogrammetry, because these systems require simply specification of sequence of photos and output point clouds with colour index which corresponds to the colour of original image pixel where the point is projected. SfM software can execute aerial triangulation and create dense point clouds fully automatically. This is useful when monitoring motion of unstable slopes, or loos rocks in slopes along roads or railroads. Most of existing method, however, uses mesh-based DSM for comparing point clouds before/after movement and it cannot be applied in such cases that part of slopes forms overhangs. And in some cases movement is smaller than precision of ground control points and registering two point clouds with GCP is not appropriate. Change detection method in this paper adopts CCICP (Classification and Combined ICP algorithm for registering point clouds before / after movement. The CCICP algorithm is a type of ICP (Iterative Closest Points which minimizes point-to-plane, and point-to-point distances, simultaneously, and also reject incorrect correspondences based on point classification by PCA (Principle Component Analysis. Precision test shows that CCICP method can register two point clouds up to the 1 pixel size order in original images. Ground control points set in site are useful for initial setting of two point clouds. If there are no GCPs in site of slopes, initial setting is achieved by measuring feature points as ground control points in the point clouds before movement, and creating point clouds after movement with these ground control points. When the motion is rigid transformation, in case that a loose Rock is moving in slope, motion including rotation can be analysed by executing CCICP for a

Extreme points of the convex set of joint probability distributions with ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Here we address the following problem: If G is a standard ... convex set of all joint probability distributions on the product Borel space (X1 ×X2, F1 ⊗. F2) which .... cannot be identically zero when X and Y vary in A1 and u and v vary in H2. Thus.

MOCUS, Minimal Cut Sets and Minimal Path Sets from Fault Tree Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fussell, J.B.; Henry, E.B.; Marshall, N.H.

1976-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: From a description of the Boolean failure logic of a system, called a fault tree, and control parameters specifying the minimal cut set length to be obtained MOCUS determines the system failure modes, or minimal cut sets, and the system success modes, or minimal path sets. 2 - Method of solution: MOCUS uses direct resolution of the fault tree into the cut and path sets. The algorithm used starts with the main failure of interest, the top event, and proceeds to basic independent component failures, called primary events, to resolve the fault tree to obtain the minimal sets. A key point of the algorithm is that an and gate alone always increases the number of path sets; an or gate alone always increases the number of cut sets and increases the size of path sets. Other types of logic gates must be described in terms of and and or logic gates. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Output from MOCUS can include minimal cut and path sets for up to 20 gates

Indoor Thermal Comfort: The Behavioral Component

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jack Barkenbus

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This is a study of how indoor temperature settings have changed over time in the United States based on data from the Energy Information Administration’s, Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS. It is shown that Americans have moderately raised indoor temperature settings during the heating season over the past thirty years. It is also shown that most Americans keep their homes relatively cool in the summertime and are generally averse to implementing temperature setbacks. It is revealed that occupants in lower-income homes tend to set their thermostats higher in winter than other income groups, but that the most intense cooling tends to take place in both low-income and high-income homes. As expected, renters tend to heat and cool more intensively than homeowners. Getting Americans to change their temperature settings in order to save energy is not easy even though it comes with the promise of financial savings. The use of programmable thermostats thus far has proved unsuccessful. Greater utilization of social marketing to achieve energy savings is suggested, as well as a renewed effort on the part of electricity suppliers to work more closely with homeowners as part of the rollout of the “smart grid”.

Comprehensive Interpretation of a Three-Point Gauss Quadrature with Variable Sampling Points and Its Application to Integration for Discrete Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Doo Kwon

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study examined the characteristics of a variable three-point Gauss quadrature using a variable set of weighting factors and corresponding optimal sampling points. The major findings were as follows. The one-point, two-point, and three-point Gauss quadratures that adopt the Legendre sampling points and the well-known Simpson’s 1/3 rule were found to be special cases of the variable three-point Gauss quadrature. In addition, the three-point Gauss quadrature may have out-of-domain sampling points beyond the domain end points. By applying the quadratically extrapolated integrals and nonlinearity index, the accuracy of the integration could be increased significantly for evenly acquired data, which is popular with modern sophisticated digital data acquisition systems, without using higher-order extrapolation polynomials.

PRINCIPLE OF POINT MAKING OFMUTUALLY ACCEPTABLE MULTIPROJECTION DECISION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga N. Lapaeva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The principle of point making of mutually acceptable multi-projection decision in economics is set forth in the article. The principle envisages searching for the best variant by each stakeholder and result making by crossing of individual sets.

Application of point-to-point matching algorithms for background correction in on-line liquid chromatography-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (LC-FTIR).

Science.gov (United States)

Kuligowski, J; Quintás, G; Garrigues, S; de la Guardia, M

2010-03-15

A new background correction method for the on-line coupling of gradient liquid chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry has been developed. It is based on the use of a point-to-point matching algorithm that compares the absorption spectra of the sample data set with those of a previously recorded reference data set in order to select an appropriate reference spectrum. The spectral range used for the point-to-point comparison is selected with minimal user-interaction, thus facilitating considerably the application of the whole method. The background correction method has been successfully tested on a chromatographic separation of four nitrophenols running acetonitrile (0.08%, v/v TFA):water (0.08%, v/v TFA) gradients with compositions ranging from 35 to 85% (v/v) acetonitrile, giving accurate results for both, baseline resolved and overlapped peaks. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modelling estimation and analysis of dynamic processes from image sequences using temporal random closed sets and point processes with application to the cell exocytosis and endocytosis

OpenAIRE

Díaz Fernández, Ester

2010-01-01

In this thesis, new models and methodologies are introduced for the analysis of dynamic processes characterized by image sequences with spatial temporal overlapping. The spatial temporal overlapping exists in many natural phenomena and should be addressed properly in several Science disciplines such as Microscopy, Material Sciences, Biology, Geostatistics or Communication Networks. This work is related to the Point Process and Random Closed Set theories, within Stochastic Ge...

Design of a Novel Low Cost Point of Care Tampon (POCkeT) Colposcope for Use in Resource Limited Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Christopher T.; Krieger, Marlee S.; Gallagher, Jennifer E.; Asma, Betsy; Muasher, Lisa C.; Schmitt, John W.; Ramanujam, Nimmi

2015-01-01

Introduction Current guidelines by WHO for cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries involves visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) of the cervix, followed by treatment during the same visit or a subsequent visit with cryotherapy if a suspicious lesion is found. Implementation of these guidelines is hampered by a lack of: trained health workers, reliable technology, and access to screening facilities. A low cost ultra-portable Point of Care Tampon based digital colposcope (POCkeT Colposcope) for use at the community level setting, which has the unique form factor of a tampon, can be inserted into the vagina to capture images of the cervix, which are on par with that of a state of the art colposcope, at a fraction of the cost. A repository of images to be compiled that can be used to empower front line workers to become more effective through virtual dynamic training. By task shifting to the community setting, this technology could potentially provide significantly greater cervical screening access to where the most vulnerable women live. The POCkeT Colposcope’s concentric LED ring provides comparable white and green field illumination at a fraction of the electrical power required in commercial colposcopes. Evaluation with standard optical imaging targets to assess the POCkeT Colposcope against the state of the art digital colposcope and other VIAM technologies. Results Our POCkeT Colposcope has comparable resolving power, color reproduction accuracy, minimal lens distortion, and illumination when compared to commercially available colposcopes. In vitro and pilot in vivo imaging results are promising with our POCkeT Colposcope capturing comparable quality images to commercial systems. Conclusion The POCkeT Colposcope is capable of capturing images suitable for cervical lesion analysis. Our portable low cost system could potentially increase access to cervical cancer screening in limited resource settings through task shifting to community

Quality Evaluation of Agricultural Distillates Using an Electronic Nose

OpenAIRE

Dymerski, Tomasz; Gębicki, Jacek; Wardencki, Waldemar; Namieśnik, Jacek

2013-01-01

The paper presents the application of an electronic nose instrument to fast evaluation of agricultural distillates differing in quality. The investigations were carried out using a prototype of electronic nose equipped with a set of six semiconductor sensors by FIGARO Co., an electronic circuit converting signal into digital form and a set of thermostats able to provide gradient temperature characteristics to a gas mixture. A volatile fraction of the agricultural distillate samples differing ...

A model of residential energy end-use in Canada: Using conditional demand analysis to suggest policy options for community energy planners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newsham, Guy R.; Donnelly, Cara L.

2013-01-01

We applied conditional demand analysis (CDA) to estimate the average annual energy use of various electrical and natural gas appliances, and derived energy reductions associated with certain appliance upgrades and behaviours. The raw data came from 9773 Canadian households, and comprised annual electricity and natural gas use, and responses to >600 questions on dwelling and occupant characteristics, appliances, heating and cooling equipment, and associated behaviours. Replacing an old (>10 years) refrigerator with a new one was estimated to save 100 kW h/year; replacing an incandescent lamp with a CFL/LED lamp was estimated to save 20 kW h/year; and upgrading an old central heating system with a new one was estimated to save 2000 kW h/year. This latter effect was similar to that of reducing the number of walls exposed to the outside. Reducing the winter thermostat setpoint during occupied, waking hours was estimated to lower annual energy use by 200 kW h/°C-reduction, and lowering the thermostat setting overnight in winter relative to the setting during waking hours (night-time setback) was estimated to have a similar effect. This information may be used by policy-makers to optimize incentive programs, information campaigns, or other energy use change instruments. - Highlights: ► Conditional demand analysis (CDA) applied to data from 9773 Canadian households. ► Energy savings associated with certain appliance upgrades estimated. ► Energy savings associated with thermostat behaviours estimated. ► Policy-makers can use findings to optimize incentives and information campaigns

Benchmarking and improving point cloud data management in MonetDB

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O. Martinez-Rubi (Oscar); P. van Oosterom; R.A. Goncalves (Romulo); T. Tijssen; M.G. Ivanova (Milena); M.L. Kersten (Martin); F. Alvanaki (Foteini)

2014-01-01

htmlabstractThe popularity, availability and sizes of point cloud data sets are increasing, thus raising interesting data management and processing challenges. Various software solutions are available for the management of point cloud data. A benchmark for point cloud data management systems was

Southeast Alaska ESI: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains biological resource data for alcids, shorebirds, waterfowl, diving birds, pelagic birds, gulls, and terns in Southeast Alaska. Points in this...

On conjugate points and the Leitmann equivalent problem approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagener, F.O.O.

2009-01-01

This article extends the Leitmann equivalence method to a class of problems featuring conjugate points. The class is characterised by the requirement that the set of indifference points of a given problem forms a finite stratification.

Pilot points method for conditioning multiple-point statistical facies simulation on flow data

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wei; Jafarpour, Behnam

2018-05-01

We propose a new pilot points method for conditioning discrete multiple-point statistical (MPS) facies simulation on dynamic flow data. While conditioning MPS simulation on static hard data is straightforward, their calibration against nonlinear flow data is nontrivial. The proposed method generates conditional models from a conceptual model of geologic connectivity, known as a training image (TI), by strategically placing and estimating pilot points. To place pilot points, a score map is generated based on three sources of information: (i) the uncertainty in facies distribution, (ii) the model response sensitivity information, and (iii) the observed flow data. Once the pilot points are placed, the facies values at these points are inferred from production data and then are used, along with available hard data at well locations, to simulate a new set of conditional facies realizations. While facies estimation at the pilot points can be performed using different inversion algorithms, in this study the ensemble smoother (ES) is adopted to update permeability maps from production data, which are then used to statistically infer facies types at the pilot point locations. The developed method combines the information in the flow data and the TI by using the former to infer facies values at selected locations away from the wells and the latter to ensure consistent facies structure and connectivity where away from measurement locations. Several numerical experiments are used to evaluate the performance of the developed method and to discuss its important properties.

Dissipative N-point-vortex Models in the Plane

Science.gov (United States)

Shashikanth, Banavara N.

2010-02-01

A method is presented for constructing point vortex models in the plane that dissipate the Hamiltonian function at any prescribed rate and yet conserve the level sets of the invariants of the Hamiltonian model arising from the SE (2) symmetries. The method is purely geometric in that it uses the level sets of the Hamiltonian and the invariants to construct the dissipative field and is based on elementary classical geometry in ℝ3. Extension to higher-dimensional spaces, such as the point vortex phase space, is done using exterior algebra. The method is in fact general enough to apply to any smooth finite-dimensional system with conserved quantities, and, for certain special cases, the dissipative vector field constructed can be associated with an appropriately defined double Nambu-Poisson bracket. The most interesting feature of this method is that it allows for an infinite sequence of such dissipative vector fields to be constructed by repeated application of a symmetric linear operator (matrix) at each point of the intersection of the level sets.

Octopuses use a human-like strategy to control precise point-to-point arm movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumbre, Germán; Fiorito, Graziano; Flash, Tamar; Hochner, Binyamin

2006-04-18

One of the key problems in motor control is mastering or reducing the number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) through coordination. This problem is especially prominent with hyper-redundant limbs such as the extremely flexible arm of the octopus. Several strategies for simplifying these control problems have been suggested for human point-to-point arm movements. Despite the evolutionary gap and morphological differences, humans and octopuses evolved similar strategies when fetching food to the mouth. To achieve this precise point-to-point-task, octopus arms generate a quasi-articulated structure based on three dynamic joints. A rotational movement around these joints brings the object to the mouth . Here, we describe a peripheral neural mechanism-two waves of muscle activation propagate toward each other, and their collision point sets the medial-joint location. This is a remarkably simple mechanism for adjusting the length of the segments according to where the object is grasped. Furthermore, similar to certain human arm movements, kinematic invariants were observed at the joint level rather than at the end-effector level, suggesting intrinsic control coordination. The evolutionary convergence to similar geometrical and kinematic features suggests that a kinematically constrained articulated limb controlled at the level of joint space is the optimal solution for precise point-to-point movements.

Pressure Injury Progression and Factors Associated With Different End-Points in a Home Palliative Care Setting: A Retrospective Chart Review Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Artico, Marco; D'Angelo, Daniela; Piredda, Michela; Petitti, Tommasangelo; Lamarca, Luciano; De Marinis, Maria Grazia; Dante, Angelo; Lusignani, Maura; Matarese, Maria

2018-07-01

Patients with advanced illnesses show the highest prevalence for pressure injuries. In the palliative care setting, the ultimate goal is injury healing, but equally important is wound maintenance, wound palliation (wound-related pain and symptom management), and primary and secondary wound prevention. To describe the course of healing for pressure injuries in a home palliative care setting according to different end-points, and to explore patient and caregiver characteristics and specific care activities associated with their achievement. Four-year retrospective chart review of 669 patients cared for in a home palliative care service, of those 124 patients (18.5%) had at least one pressure injury with a survival rate less than or equal to six months. The proportion of healed pressure injuries was 24.4%. Of the injuries not healed, 34.0% were in a maintenance phase, whereas 63.6% were in a process of deterioration. Body mass index (P = 0.0014), artificial nutrition (P = 0.002), and age pay attention to artificial nutrition, continuous deep sedation, and the caregiver's role and gender. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Homeless Point-In-Time (2007-2016)

Data.gov (United States)

City and County of Durham, North Carolina — These raw data sets contain Point-in-Time (PIT) estimates and national PIT estimates of homelessness as well as national estimates of homelessness by state and...

Benchmarking and improving point cloud data management in MonetDB

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martinez-Rubi, O.; Van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Goncalves, R.; Tijssen, T.P.M.; Ivanova, M.; Kersten, M.L.; Alvanaki, F.

2015-01-01

The popularity, availability and sizes of point cloud data sets are increasing, thus raising interesting data management and processing challenges. Various software solutions are available for the management of point cloud data. A benchmark for point cloud data management systems was defined and it

Software-Defined Solutions for Managing Energy Use in Small to Medium Sized Commercial Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peffer, Therese [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), Portland, ME (United States); Blumstein, Carl [Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), Portland, ME (United States); Culler, David [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS); Modera, Mark [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC); Meier, Alan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-09-10

The Project uses state-of-the-art computer science to extend the benefits of Building Automation Systems (BAS) typically found in large buildings (>100,000 square foot) to medium-sized commercial buildings (<50,000 sq ft). The BAS developed in this project, termed OpenBAS, uses an open-source and open software architecture platform, user interface, and plug-and-play control devices to facilitate adoption of energy efficiency strategies in the commercial building sector throughout the United States. At the heart of this “turn key” BAS is the platform with three types of controllers—thermostat, lighting controller, and general controller—that are easily “discovered” by the platform in a plug-and-play fashion. The user interface showcases the platform and provides the control system set-up, system status display and means of automatically mapping the control points in the system.

FPFH-based graph matching for 3D point cloud registration

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jiapeng; Li, Chen; Tian, Lihua; Zhu, Jihua

2018-04-01

Correspondence detection is a vital step in point cloud registration and it can help getting a reliable initial alignment. In this paper, we put forward an advanced point feature-based graph matching algorithm to solve the initial alignment problem of rigid 3D point cloud registration with partial overlap. Specifically, Fast Point Feature Histograms are used to determine the initial possible correspondences firstly. Next, a new objective function is provided to make the graph matching more suitable for partially overlapping point cloud. The objective function is optimized by the simulated annealing algorithm for final group of correct correspondences. Finally, we present a novel set partitioning method which can transform the NP-hard optimization problem into a O(n3)-solvable one. Experiments on the Stanford and UWA public data sets indicates that our method can obtain better result in terms of both accuracy and time cost compared with other point cloud registration methods.

Determine point-to-point networking interactions using regular expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantin S. Deev

2015-06-01

Full Text Available As Internet growth and becoming more popular, the number of concurrent data flows start to increasing, which makes sense in bandwidth requested. Providers and corporate customers need ability to identify point-to-point interactions. The best is to use special software and hardware implementations that distribute the load in the internals of the complex, using the principles and approaches, in particular, described in this paper. This paper represent the principles of building system, which searches for a regular expression match using computing on graphics adapter in server station. A significant computing power and capability to parallel execution on modern graphic processor allows inspection of large amounts of data through sets of rules. Using the specified characteristics can lead to increased computing power in 30…40 times compared to the same setups on the central processing unit. The potential increase in bandwidth capacity could be used in systems that provide packet analysis, firewalls and network anomaly detectors.

Optimizing Probability of Detection Point Estimate Demonstration

Science.gov (United States)

Koshti, Ajay M.

2017-01-01

Probability of detection (POD) analysis is used in assessing reliably detectable flaw size in nondestructive evaluation (NDE). MIL-HDBK-18231and associated mh18232POD software gives most common methods of POD analysis. Real flaws such as cracks and crack-like flaws are desired to be detected using these NDE methods. A reliably detectable crack size is required for safe life analysis of fracture critical parts. The paper provides discussion on optimizing probability of detection (POD) demonstration experiments using Point Estimate Method. POD Point estimate method is used by NASA for qualifying special NDE procedures. The point estimate method uses binomial distribution for probability density. Normally, a set of 29 flaws of same size within some tolerance are used in the demonstration. The optimization is performed to provide acceptable value for probability of passing demonstration (PPD) and achieving acceptable value for probability of false (POF) calls while keeping the flaw sizes in the set as small as possible.

R-ES-O-N-A-N--CE--I-J-a-n-ua-r-y-1-99-7 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

radiator about a foot from the wall and close to a window. The heat released is carried away by air currents to the open space outside the room. Normally the compressor of a refrigerator operates only for part of the time because the thermostat switches off the compressor when a set temperature is reached. When the.

The effect of drive frequency and set point amplitude on tapping forces in atomic force microscopy: simulation and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legleiter, Justin

2009-01-01

In tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM), a sharp probe tip attached to an oscillating cantilever is allowed to intermittently strike a surface. By raster scanning the probe while monitoring the oscillation amplitude of the cantilever via a feedback loop, topographical maps of surfaces with nanoscale resolution can be acquired. While numerous studies have employed numerical simulations to elucidate the time-resolved tapping force between the probe tip and surface, until recent technique developments, specific read-outs from such models could not be experimentally verified. In this study, we explore, via numerical simulation, the impact of imaging parameters, i.e. set point ratio and drive frequency as a function of resonance, on time-varying tip-sample force interactions, which are directly compared to reconstructed tapping forces from real AFM experiments. As the AFM model contains a feedback loop allowing for the simulation of the entire scanning process, we further explore the impact that various tip-sample force have on the entire imaging process.

Clowning in Health Care Settings: The Point of View of Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Dionigi

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Within the past decade, there has been a surge of interest in investigating the effects of clown intervention in a large variety of clinical settings. Many studies have focused on the effects of clown intervention on children. However, few studies have investigated clowning effects on adults. This paper presents an overview of the concept of medical clowning followed by a literature review conducted on the empirical studies drawn from three data bases (PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, with the aim of mapping and discussing the evidence of clowning effects on non-children, namely adults. The following areas were investigated: Adult and elderly patients (mainly those with dementia, observers of clowning, namely non-hospitalized adults who are at the hospital as relatives of patients or health-care staff, and finally clowns themselves. The main results are that 1 clown intervention induces positive emotions, thereby enhancing the patient’s well-being, reduces psychological symptoms and emotional reactivity, and prompts a decrease in negative emotions, such as anxiety and stress; 2 clown doctors are also well-perceived by relatives and healthcare staff and their presence appears to be useful in creating a lighter atmosphere in the health setting; 3 few pilot studies have been conducted on clown doctors and this lacuna represents a subject for future research.

Mahalanobis Distance Based Iterative Closest Point

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Mads Fogtmann; Blas, Morten Rufus; Larsen, Rasmus

2007-01-01

the notion of a mahalanobis distance map upon a point set with associated covariance matrices which in addition to providing correlation weighted distance implicitly provides a method for assigning correspondence during alignment. This distance map provides an easy formulation of the ICP problem that permits...... a fast optimization. Initially, the covariance matrices are set to the identity matrix, and all shapes are aligned to a randomly selected shape (equivalent to standard ICP). From this point the algorithm iterates between the steps: (a) obtain mean shape and new estimates of the covariance matrices from...... the aligned shapes, (b) align shapes to the mean shape. Three different methods for estimating the mean shape with associated covariance matrices are explored in the paper. The proposed methods are validated experimentally on two separate datasets (IMM face dataset and femur-bones). The superiority of ICP...

Dynamic principle for ensemble control tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Samoletov, A; Vasiev, B

2017-11-28

Dynamical equations describing physical systems in contact with a thermal bath are commonly extended by mathematical tools called "thermostats." These tools are designed for sampling ensembles in statistical mechanics. Here we propose a dynamic principle underlying a range of thermostats which is derived using fundamental laws of statistical physics and ensures invariance of the canonical measure. The principle covers both stochastic and deterministic thermostat schemes. Our method has a clear advantage over a range of proposed and widely used thermostat schemes that are based on formal mathematical reasoning. Following the derivation of the proposed principle, we show its generality and illustrate its applications including design of temperature control tools that differ from the Nosé-Hoover-Langevin scheme.

Joint classification and contour extraction of large 3D point clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Timo; Wegner, Jan D.; Schindler, Konrad

2017-08-01

We present an effective and efficient method for point-wise semantic classification and extraction of object contours of large-scale 3D point clouds. What makes point cloud interpretation challenging is the sheer size of several millions of points per scan and the non-grid, sparse, and uneven distribution of points. Standard image processing tools like texture filters, for example, cannot handle such data efficiently, which calls for dedicated point cloud labeling methods. It turns out that one of the major drivers for efficient computation and handling of strong variations in point density, is a careful formulation of per-point neighborhoods at multiple scales. This allows, both, to define an expressive feature set and to extract topologically meaningful object contours. Semantic classification and contour extraction are interlaced problems. Point-wise semantic classification enables extracting a meaningful candidate set of contour points while contours help generating a rich feature representation that benefits point-wise classification. These methods are tailored to have fast run time and small memory footprint for processing large-scale, unstructured, and inhomogeneous point clouds, while still achieving high classification accuracy. We evaluate our methods on the semantic3d.net benchmark for terrestrial laser scans with >109 points.

Hilbert schemes of points on some classes surface singularities

OpenAIRE

Gyenge, Ádám

2016-01-01

We study the geometry and topology of Hilbert schemes of points on the orbifold surface [C^2/G], respectively the singular quotient surface C^2/G, where G is a finite subgroup of SL(2,C) of type A or D. We give a decomposition of the (equivariant) Hilbert scheme of the orbifold into affine space strata indexed by a certain combinatorial set, the set of Young walls. The generating series of Euler characteristics of Hilbert schemes of points of the singular surface of type A or D is computed in...

Fuzzy-Set Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mikkelsen, Kim Sass

2017-01-01

Contemporary case studies rely on verbal arguments and set theory to build or evaluate theoretical claims. While existing procedures excel in the use of qualitative information (information about kind), they ignore quantitative information (information about degree) at central points of the analysis. Effectively, contemporary case studies rely on…

Fast Semantic Segmentation of 3d Point Clouds with Strongly Varying Density

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Timo; Wegner, Jan D.; Schindler, Konrad

2016-06-01

We describe an effective and efficient method for point-wise semantic classification of 3D point clouds. The method can handle unstructured and inhomogeneous point clouds such as those derived from static terrestrial LiDAR or photogammetric reconstruction; and it is computationally efficient, making it possible to process point clouds with many millions of points in a matter of minutes. The key issue, both to cope with strong variations in point density and to bring down computation time, turns out to be careful handling of neighborhood relations. By choosing appropriate definitions of a point's (multi-scale) neighborhood, we obtain a feature set that is both expressive and fast to compute. We evaluate our classification method both on benchmark data from a mobile mapping platform and on a variety of large, terrestrial laser scans with greatly varying point density. The proposed feature set outperforms the state of the art with respect to per-point classification accuracy, while at the same time being much faster to compute.

Groebner basis, resultants and the generalized Mandelbrot set

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geum, Young Hee [Centre of Research for Computational Sciences and Informatics in Biology, Bioindustry, Environment, Agriculture and Healthcare, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)], E-mail: conpana@empal.com; Hare, Kevin G. [Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., N2L 3G1 (Canada)], E-mail: kghare@math.uwaterloo.ca

2009-10-30

This paper demonstrates how the Groebner basis algorithm can be used for finding the bifurcation points in the generalized Mandelbrot set. It also shows how resultants can be used to find components of the generalized Mandelbrot set.

Groebner basis, resultants and the generalized Mandelbrot set

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geum, Young Hee; Hare, Kevin G.

2009-01-01

This paper demonstrates how the Groebner basis algorithm can be used for finding the bifurcation points in the generalized Mandelbrot set. It also shows how resultants can be used to find components of the generalized Mandelbrot set.

Apparatus and method for implementing power saving techniques when processing floating point values

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young Moon; Park, Sang Phill

2017-10-03

An apparatus and method are described for reducing power when reading and writing graphics data. For example, one embodiment of an apparatus comprises: a graphics processor unit (GPU) to process graphics data including floating point data; a set of registers, at least one of the registers of the set partitioned to store the floating point data; and encode/decode logic to reduce a number of binary 1 values being read from the at least one register by causing a specified set of bit positions within the floating point data to be read out as 0s rather than 1s.

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Correlation between the Resistance Ratios of Platinum Resistance Thermometers at the Melting Point of Gallium and the Triple Point of Mercury

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Y. P.; Maas, H.; Edler, F.; Zaidi, Z. H.

1994-01-01

A set of resistance ratios (W) for platinum resistance thermometers was obtained at the triple point of Hg and the melting point of Ga in order to study their relationship. It was found that using measured values for one of the fixed points, a linear equation will predict the value of the other. These measurements also indicate that the fixed points of Hg and of Ga are inconsistent by about 1,5 mK in the sense that either the melting point of Ga or the triple point of Hg was assigned too high a value on the ITS-90.

Nonmeasurable sets and functions

CERN Document Server

Kharazishvili, Alexander

2004-01-01

The book is devoted to various constructions of sets which are nonmeasurable with respect to invariant (more generally, quasi-invariant) measures. Our starting point is the classical Vitali theorem stating the existence of subsets of the real line which are not measurable in the Lebesgue sense. This theorem stimulated the development of the following interesting topics in mathematics:1. Paradoxical decompositions of sets in finite-dimensional Euclidean spaces;2. The theory of non-real-valued-measurable cardinals;3. The theory of invariant (quasi-invariant)extensions of invariant (quasi-invaria

Estimating the CCSD basis-set limit energy from small basis sets: basis-set extrapolations vs additivity schemes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spackman, Peter R.; Karton, Amir, E-mail: amir.karton@uwa.edu.au [School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009 (Australia)

2015-05-15

Coupled cluster calculations with all single and double excitations (CCSD) converge exceedingly slowly with the size of the one-particle basis set. We assess the performance of a number of approaches for obtaining CCSD correlation energies close to the complete basis-set limit in conjunction with relatively small DZ and TZ basis sets. These include global and system-dependent extrapolations based on the A + B/L{sup α} two-point extrapolation formula, and the well-known additivity approach that uses an MP2-based basis-set-correction term. We show that the basis set convergence rate can change dramatically between different systems(e.g.it is slower for molecules with polar bonds and/or second-row elements). The system-dependent basis-set extrapolation scheme, in which unique basis-set extrapolation exponents for each system are obtained from lower-cost MP2 calculations, significantly accelerates the basis-set convergence relative to the global extrapolations. Nevertheless, we find that the simple MP2-based basis-set additivity scheme outperforms the extrapolation approaches. For example, the following root-mean-squared deviations are obtained for the 140 basis-set limit CCSD atomization energies in the W4-11 database: 9.1 (global extrapolation), 3.7 (system-dependent extrapolation), and 2.4 (additivity scheme) kJ mol{sup –1}. The CCSD energy in these approximations is obtained from basis sets of up to TZ quality and the latter two approaches require additional MP2 calculations with basis sets of up to QZ quality. We also assess the performance of the basis-set extrapolations and additivity schemes for a set of 20 basis-set limit CCSD atomization energies of larger molecules including amino acids, DNA/RNA bases, aromatic compounds, and platonic hydrocarbon cages. We obtain the following RMSDs for the above methods: 10.2 (global extrapolation), 5.7 (system-dependent extrapolation), and 2.9 (additivity scheme) kJ mol{sup –1}.

Estimating the CCSD basis-set limit energy from small basis sets: basis-set extrapolations vs additivity schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spackman, Peter R.; Karton, Amir

2015-01-01

Coupled cluster calculations with all single and double excitations (CCSD) converge exceedingly slowly with the size of the one-particle basis set. We assess the performance of a number of approaches for obtaining CCSD correlation energies close to the complete basis-set limit in conjunction with relatively small DZ and TZ basis sets. These include global and system-dependent extrapolations based on the A + B/L α two-point extrapolation formula, and the well-known additivity approach that uses an MP2-based basis-set-correction term. We show that the basis set convergence rate can change dramatically between different systems(e.g.it is slower for molecules with polar bonds and/or second-row elements). The system-dependent basis-set extrapolation scheme, in which unique basis-set extrapolation exponents for each system are obtained from lower-cost MP2 calculations, significantly accelerates the basis-set convergence relative to the global extrapolations. Nevertheless, we find that the simple MP2-based basis-set additivity scheme outperforms the extrapolation approaches. For example, the following root-mean-squared deviations are obtained for the 140 basis-set limit CCSD atomization energies in the W4-11 database: 9.1 (global extrapolation), 3.7 (system-dependent extrapolation), and 2.4 (additivity scheme) kJ mol –1 . The CCSD energy in these approximations is obtained from basis sets of up to TZ quality and the latter two approaches require additional MP2 calculations with basis sets of up to QZ quality. We also assess the performance of the basis-set extrapolations and additivity schemes for a set of 20 basis-set limit CCSD atomization energies of larger molecules including amino acids, DNA/RNA bases, aromatic compounds, and platonic hydrocarbon cages. We obtain the following RMSDs for the above methods: 10.2 (global extrapolation), 5.7 (system-dependent extrapolation), and 2.9 (additivity scheme) kJ mol –1

Set theoretical aspects of real analysis

CERN Document Server

Kharazishvili, Alexander B

2014-01-01

This book addresses a number of questions in real analysis and classical measure theory that are of a set-theoretic flavor. Accessible to graduate students, the beginning of the book presents introductory topics on real analysis and Lebesque measure theory. These topics highlight the boundary between fundamental concepts of measurability and non-measurability for point sets and functions. The remainder of the book deals with more specialized material on set-theoretical real analysis. Problems are included at the end of each chapter.

Large-scale urban point cloud labeling and reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liqiang; Li, Zhuqiang; Li, Anjian; Liu, Fangyu

2018-04-01

The large number of object categories and many overlapping or closely neighboring objects in large-scale urban scenes pose great challenges in point cloud classification. In this paper, a novel framework is proposed for classification and reconstruction of airborne laser scanning point cloud data. To label point clouds, we present a rectified linear units neural network named ReLu-NN where the rectified linear units (ReLu) instead of the traditional sigmoid are taken as the activation function in order to speed up the convergence. Since the features of the point cloud are sparse, we reduce the number of neurons by the dropout to avoid over-fitting of the training process. The set of feature descriptors for each 3D point is encoded through self-taught learning, and forms a discriminative feature representation which is taken as the input of the ReLu-NN. The segmented building points are consolidated through an edge-aware point set resampling algorithm, and then they are reconstructed into 3D lightweight models using the 2.5D contouring method (Zhou and Neumann, 2010). Compared with deep learning approaches, the ReLu-NN introduced can easily classify unorganized point clouds without rasterizing the data, and it does not need a large number of training samples. Most of the parameters in the network are learned, and thus the intensive parameter tuning cost is significantly reduced. Experimental results on various datasets demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves better performance than other related algorithms in terms of classification accuracy and reconstruction quality.

Implementation of antimicrobial peptides for sample preparation prior to nucleic acid amplification in point-of-care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Krõlov, Katrin; Uusna, Julia; Grellier, Tiia; Andresen, Liis; Jevtuševskaja, Jekaterina; Tulp, Indrek; Langel, Ülo

2017-12-01

A variety of sample preparation techniques are used prior to nucleic acid amplification. However, their efficiency is not always sufficient and nucleic acid purification remains the preferred method for template preparation. Purification is difficult and costly to apply in point-of-care (POC) settings and there is a strong need for more robust, rapid, and efficient biological sample preparation techniques in molecular diagnostics. Here, the authors applied antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for urine sample preparation prior to isothermal loop-mediated amplification (LAMP). AMPs bind to many microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses causing disruption of their membrane integrity and facilitate nucleic acid release. The authors show that incubation of E. coli with antimicrobial peptide cecropin P1 for 5 min had a significant effect on the availability of template DNA compared with untreated or even heat treated samples resulting in up to six times increase of the amplification efficiency. These results show that AMPs treatment is a very efficient sample preparation technique that is suitable for application prior to nucleic acid amplification directly within biological samples. Furthermore, the entire process of AMPs treatment was performed at room temperature for 5 min thereby making it a good candidate for use in POC applications.

Renorming c0 and closed, bounded, convex sets with fixed point property for affine nonexpansive mappings

Science.gov (United States)

Nezir, Veysel; Mustafa, Nizami

2017-04-01

In 2008, P.K. Lin provided the first example of a nonreflexive space that can be renormed to have fixed point property for nonexpansive mappings. This space was the Banach space of absolutely summable sequences l1 and researchers aim to generalize this to c0, Banach space of null sequences. Before P.K. Lin's intriguing result, in 1979, Goebel and Kuczumow showed that there is a large class of non-weak* compact closed, bounded, convex subsets of l1 with fixed point property for nonexpansive mappings. Then, P.K. Lin inspired by Goebel and Kuczumow's ideas to give his result. Similarly to P.K. Lin's study, Hernández-Linares worked on L1 and in his Ph.D. thesis, supervisored under Maria Japón, showed that L1 can be renormed to have fixed point property for affine nonexpansive mappings. Then, related questions for c0 have been considered by researchers. Recently, Nezir constructed several equivalent norms on c0 and showed that there are non-weakly compact closed, bounded, convex subsets of c0 with fixed point property for affine nonexpansive mappings. In this study, we construct a family of equivalent norms containing those developed by Nezir as well and show that there exists a large class of non-weakly compact closed, bounded, convex subsets of c0 with fixed point property for affine nonexpansive mappings.

Influencing Food Selection with Point-of-Choice Nutrition Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis-Chervin, Doryn; And Others

1985-01-01

Evaluated the effectiveness of a point-of-choice nutrition information program that used a comprehensive set of communication functions in its design. Results indicate that point-of-choice information without direct tangible rewards can (to a moderate degree) modify food-selection behavior of cafeteria patrons. (JN)

Architecture of chaotic attractors for flows in the absence of any singular point

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Letellier, Christophe [CORIA-UMR 6614 Normandie Université, CNRS-Université et INSA de Rouen, Campus Universitaire du Madrillet, F-76800 Saint-Etienne du Rouvray (France); Malasoma, Jean-Marc [Université de Lyon, ENTPE, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, 3 Rue Maurice Audin, F-69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex (France)

2016-06-15

Some chaotic attractors produced by three-dimensional dynamical systems without any singular point have now been identified, but explaining how they are structured in the state space remains an open question. We here want to explain—in the particular case of the Wei system—such a structure, using one-dimensional sets obtained by vanishing two of the three derivatives of the flow. The neighborhoods of these sets are made of points which are characterized by the eigenvalues of a 2 × 2 matrix describing the stability of flow in a subspace transverse to it. We will show that the attractor is spiralling and twisted in the neighborhood of one-dimensional sets where points are characterized by a pair of complex conjugated eigenvalues. We then show that such one-dimensional sets are also useful in explaining the structure of attractors produced by systems with singular points, by considering the case of the Lorenz system.

Entropy Based Test Point Evaluation and Selection Method for Analog Circuit Fault Diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan Gao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available By simplifying tolerance problem and treating faulty voltages on different test points as independent variables, integer-coded table technique is proposed to simplify the test point selection process. Usually, simplifying tolerance problem may induce a wrong solution while the independence assumption will result in over conservative result. To address these problems, the tolerance problem is thoroughly considered in this paper, and dependency relationship between different test points is considered at the same time. A heuristic graph search method is proposed to facilitate the test point selection process. First, the information theoretic concept of entropy is used to evaluate the optimality of test point. The entropy is calculated by using the ambiguous sets and faulty voltage distribution, determined by component tolerance. Second, the selected optimal test point is used to expand current graph node by using dependence relationship between the test point and graph node. Simulated results indicate that the proposed method more accurately finds the optimal set of test points than other methods; therefore, it is a good solution to minimize the size of the test point set. To simplify and clarify the proposed method, only catastrophic and some specific parametric faults are discussed in this paper.

A landing theorem for entire functions with bounded post-singular sets

OpenAIRE

Benini, Anna Miriam; Rempe-Gillen, Lasse

2017-01-01

The Douady-Hubbard landing theorem for periodic external rays is one of the cornerstones of the study of polynomial dynamics. It states that, for a complex polynomial with bounded postcritical set, every periodic external ray lands at a repelling or parabolic periodic point, and conversely every repelling or parabolic point is the landing point of at least one periodic external ray. We prove an analogue of this theorem for an entire function with bounded postsingular set: every periodic dread...

Pointing Device Performance in Steering Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Senanayake, Ransalu; Goonetilleke, Ravindra S

2016-06-01

Use of touch-screen-based interactions is growing rapidly. Hence, knowing the maneuvering efficacy of touch screens relative to other pointing devices is of great importance in the context of graphical user interfaces. Movement time, accuracy, and user preferences of four pointing device settings were evaluated on a computer with 14 participants aged 20.1 ± 3.13 years. It was found that, depending on the difficulty of the task, the optimal settings differ for ballistic and visual control tasks. With a touch screen, resting the arm increased movement time for steering tasks. When both performance and comfort are considered, whether to use a mouse or a touch screen for person-computer interaction depends on the steering difficulty. Hence, a input device should be chosen based on the application, and should be optimized to match the graphical user interface. © The Author(s) 2016.

Post-Processing in the Material-Point Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Søren; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard

The material-point method (MPM) is a numerical method for dynamic or static analysis of solids using a discretization in time and space. The method has shown to be successful in modelling physical problems involving large deformations, which are difficult to model with traditional numerical tools...... such as the finite element method. In the material-point method, a set of material points is utilized to track the problem in time and space, while a computational background grid is utilized to obtain spatial derivatives relevant to the physical problem. Currently, the research within the material-point method......-point method. The first idea involves associating a volume with each material point and displaying the deformation of this volume. In the discretization process, the physical domain is divided into a number of smaller volumes each represented by a simple shape; here quadrilaterals are chosen for the presented...

Dynamics and mission design near libration points

CERN Document Server

Gómez, G; Llibre, J; Martínez, R

2001-01-01

It is well known that the restricted three-body problem has triangular equilibrium points. These points are linearly stable for values of the mass parameter, µ , below Routh's critical value, µ 1 . It is also known that in the spatial case they are nonlinearly stable, not for all the initial conditions in a neighborhood of the equilibrium points L 4 , L 5 but for a set of relatively large measures. This follows from the celebrated Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser theorem. In fact there are neighborhoods of computable size for which one obtains "practical stability" in the sense that the massless partic

Fixed point theorems in spaces and -trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirk WA

2004-01-01

Full Text Available We show that if is a bounded open set in a complete space , and if is nonexpansive, then always has a fixed point if there exists such that for all . It is also shown that if is a geodesically bounded closed convex subset of a complete -tree with , and if is a continuous mapping for which for some and all , then has a fixed point. It is also noted that a geodesically bounded complete -tree has the fixed point property for continuous mappings. These latter results are used to obtain variants of the classical fixed edge theorem in graph theory.

Starting point anchoring effects in choice experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye

of preferences in Choice Experiments resembles the Dichotomous Choice format, there is reason to suspect that Choice Experiments are equally vulnerable to anchoring bias. Employing different sets of price levels in a so-called Instruction Choice Set presented prior to the actual choice sets, the present study...... subjectivity in the present study is gender dependent, pointing towards, that female respondents are prone to be affected by the price levels employed. Male respondents, on the other hand, are not sensitive towards these prices levels. Overall, this implicates that female respondents, when employing a low......-priced Instruction Choice Set, tend to express lower willingness-to-pay than when higher prices are employed....

Equations for arithmetic pointed tori

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sijsling, J.R.

2010-01-01

In 1983, Kisao Takeuchi enumerated all 71 arithmetic (1;e)-groups. This is a special set of discrete subgroups of SL(2,R) of finite covolume and signature (1;e). The corresponding quotients of the upper half plane (called (1;e)-curves) have genus equal to 1 and a single elliptic point of order e.

On the regularization of extremal three-point functions involving giant gravitons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlotte Kristjansen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In the AdS5/CFT4 set-up, extremal three-point functions involving two giant 1/2 BPS gravitons and one point-like 1/2 BPS graviton, when calculated using semi-classical string theory methods, match the corresponding three-point functions obtained in the tree-level gauge theory. The string theory computation relies on a certain regularization procedure whose justification is based on the match between gauge and string theory. We revisit the regularization procedure and reformulate it in a way which allows a generalization to the ABJM set-up where three-point functions of 1/2 BPS operators are not protected and where a match between tree-level gauge theory and semi-classical string theory is hence not expected.

PASS-GP: Predictive active set selection for Gaussian processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henao, Ricardo; Winther, Ole

2010-01-01

available in GPs to make a common ranking for both active and inactive points, allowing points to be removed again from the active set. This is important for keeping the complexity down and at the same time focusing on points close to the decision boundary. We lend both theoretical and empirical support...

Point-source inversion techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Langston, Charles A.; Barker, Jeffrey S.; Pavlin, Gregory B.

1982-11-01

A variety of approaches for obtaining source parameters from waveform data using moment-tensor or dislocation point source models have been investigated and applied to long-period body and surface waves from several earthquakes. Generalized inversion techniques have been applied to data for long-period teleseismic body waves to obtain the orientation, time function and depth of the 1978 Thessaloniki, Greece, event, of the 1971 San Fernando event, and of several events associated with the 1963 induced seismicity sequence at Kariba, Africa. The generalized inversion technique and a systematic grid testing technique have also been used to place meaningful constraints on mechanisms determined from very sparse data sets; a single station with high-quality three-component waveform data is often sufficient to discriminate faulting type (e.g., strike-slip, etc.). Sparse data sets for several recent California earthquakes, for a small regional event associated with the Koyna, India, reservoir, and for several events at the Kariba reservoir have been investigated in this way. Although linearized inversion techniques using the moment-tensor model are often robust, even for sparse data sets, there are instances where the simplifying assumption of a single point source is inadequate to model the data successfully. Numerical experiments utilizing synthetic data and actual data for the 1971 San Fernando earthquake graphically demonstrate that severe problems may be encountered if source finiteness effects are ignored. These techniques are generally applicable to on-line processing of high-quality digital data, but source complexity and inadequacy of the assumed Green's functions are major problems which are yet to be fully addressed.

Lorentz invariance and the zero-point stress-energy tensor

OpenAIRE

Visser, Matt

2016-01-01

Some 65 years ago (1951) Wolfgang Pauli noted that the net zero-point energy density could be set to zero by a carefully fine-tuned cancellation between bosons and fermions. In the current article I will argue in a slightly different direction: The zero-point energy density is only one component of the zero-point stress energy tensor, and it is this tensor quantity that is in many ways the more fundamental object of interest. I shall demonstrate that Lorentz invariance of the zero-point stres...

Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska ESI: VOLCANOS (Volcano Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains the locations of volcanos in Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Vector points in the data set represent the location of the volcanos....

Testing the statistical compatibility of independent data sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maltoni, M.; Schwetz, T.

2003-01-01

We discuss a goodness-of-fit method which tests the compatibility between statistically independent data sets. The method gives sensible results even in cases where the χ 2 minima of the individual data sets are very low or when several parameters are fitted to a large number of data points. In particular, it avoids the problem that a possible disagreement between data sets becomes diluted by data points which are insensitive to the crucial parameters. A formal derivation of the probability distribution function for the proposed test statistics is given, based on standard theorems of statistics. The application of the method is illustrated on data from neutrino oscillation experiments, and its complementarity to the standard goodness-of-fit is discussed

The Mean as Balance Point

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dell, Robin S.

2012-01-01

There are two primary interpretations of the mean: as a leveler of data (Uccellini 1996, pp. 113-114) and as a balance point of a data set. Typically, both interpretations of the mean are ignored in elementary school and middle school curricula. They are replaced with a rote emphasis on calculation using the standard algorithm. When students are…

Accurate and efficient integration for molecular dynamics simulations at constant temperature and pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Lippert, Ross A.; Predescu, Cristian; Ierardi, Douglas J.; Mackenzie, Kenneth M.; Eastwood, Michael P.; Dror, Ron O.; Shaw, David E.

2013-10-01

In molecular dynamics simulations, control over temperature and pressure is typically achieved by augmenting the original system with additional dynamical variables to create a thermostat and a barostat, respectively. These variables generally evolve on timescales much longer than those of particle motion, but typical integrator implementations update the additional variables along with the particle positions and momenta at each time step. We present a framework that replaces the traditional integration procedure with separate barostat, thermostat, and Newtonian particle motion updates, allowing thermostat and barostat updates to be applied infrequently. Such infrequent updates provide a particularly substantial performance advantage for simulations parallelized across many computer processors, because thermostat and barostat updates typically require communication among all processors. Infrequent updates can also improve accuracy by alleviating certain sources of error associated with limited-precision arithmetic. In addition, separating the barostat, thermostat, and particle motion update steps reduces certain truncation errors, bringing the time-average pressure closer to its target value. Finally, this framework, which we have implemented on both general-purpose and special-purpose hardware, reduces software complexity and improves software modularity.

A threshold auto-adjustment algorithm of feature points extraction based on grid

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Zili; Li, Jun; Dong, Gaojie

2018-02-01

When dealing with high-resolution digital images, detection of feature points is usually the very first important step. Valid feature points depend on the threshold. If the threshold is too low, plenty of feature points will be detected, and they may be aggregated in the rich texture regions, which consequently not only affects the speed of feature description, but also aggravates the burden of following processing; if the threshold is set high, the feature points in poor texture area will lack. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a threshold auto-adjustment method of feature extraction based on grid. By dividing the image into numbers of grid, threshold is set in every local grid for extracting the feature points. When the number of feature points does not meet the threshold requirement, the threshold will be adjusted automatically to change the final number of feature points The experimental results show that feature points produced by our method is more uniform and representative, which avoids the aggregation of feature points and greatly reduces the complexity of following work.

Representation and display of vector field topology in fluid flow data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Helman, James; Hesselink, Lambertus

1989-01-01

The visualization of physical processes in general and of vector fields in particular is discussed. An approach to visualizing flow topology that is based on the physics and mathematics underlying the physical phenomenon is presented. It involves determining critical points in the flow where the velocity vector vanishes. The critical points, connected by principal lines or planes, determine the topology of the flow. The complexity of the data is reduced without sacrificing the quantitative nature of the data set. By reducing the original vector field to a set of critical points and their connections, a representation of the topology of a two-dimensional vector field that is much smaller than the original data set but retains with full precision the information pertinent to the flow topology is obtained. This representation can be displayed as a set of points and tangent curves or as a graph. Analysis (including algorithms), display, interaction, and implementation aspects are discussed.

Measured energy savings from using night temperature setback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydlowski, R.F.; Wrench, L.E.; O'Neill, P.J.

1993-01-01

The measured energy savings resulting from using night temperature setback in typical light-construction wooden office buildings was determined. Researchers installed monitoring equipment in a six-building sample of two-story wooden buildings at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Data obtained during both single-setting and night-setback operating modes were used to develop models of each building's heat consumption as a function of the difference between inside and outside temperature. These models were used to estimate seasonal savings that could be obtained from the use of night-setback thermostat control. The measured savings in heating energy from using night temperature setback for the six Fort Devens buildings ranged from 14% to 25%; the mean savings was 19.2%. Based on an energy cost of $0.65/therm of natural gas, the estimated average cost savings of using automatic setback thermostats in these buildings is $780 per year per building

The efficacy of test tube warming devices used during oocyte retrieval for IVF.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Queenie Sum Yee; Briton-Jones, Christine May; Tjer, Grace Ching Ching; Chiu, Tony Tak Yu; Haines, Christopher

2004-10-01

To investigate whether commonly used test tube warming devices maintain a constant temperature in follicular fluid aspirates. By using a digital thermocouple, temperature was measured and comparisons were made between an analog dry block heater, a digital dry block heater, and a thermostatic test tube heater. For small fluid volumes, temperature in the block heaters increased above 37 degrees C after being in the block for over 2 min. The thermostatic heater maintained a constant temperature, but this was below the factory setting of 36.9 degrees C. Temperature maintenance was influenced by fluid volume in each tube. One of the key factors in the handling of gametes and embryos is the maintenance of constant temperature. Test tube warming devices require verification of their ability to maintain fluid at the desired temperature. Temperature may vary with fluid volume and the type of test tube warming device used.

Setting standards to determine core clerkship grades in pediatrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudas, Robert A; Barone, Michael A

2014-01-01

One of the greatest challenges for clerkship directors is assigning a final grade and determining the precise point at which a student either passes or fails a clinical clerkship. The process of incorporating both subjective and objective assessment data to provide a final summative grade can be challenging. We describe our experience conducting a standard-setting exercise to set defensible cut points in a 4-tiered grading system in our pediatric clerkship. Using the Hofstee standard-setting approach, 8 faculty members participated in an exercise to establish grade cut points. These faculty members were subsequently surveyed to assess their attitudes toward the standard-setting process as well as their reactions to these newly proposed standards. We applied the new cut points to a historic cohort of 116 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine students from the academic year 2012-2013 to assess the potential impact on grade distributions. The resultant grading schema would lead to a significant increase in the number of students receiving a failing grade and a decrease in the number of students receiving a grade of honors in a historical cohort. Faculty reported that the Hofstee method was easy to understand and fair. All faculty members thought that grade inflation presently exists within the pediatric clerkship. This study demonstrates that practical standards using the Hofstee method can be set for medical students in a pediatric clerkship in which multiple performance measures are used. Copyright © 2014 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Stress Updates in the Material-point Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Søren; Andersen, Lars

2009-01-01

The material-point method (MPM) is a new numerical method for analysis of large strain engineering problems. The MPM applies a dual formulation, where the state of the problem (mass, stress, strain, velocity etc.) is tracked using a finite set of material points while the governing equations...... are solved on a background computational grid. Several references state, that one of the main advantages of the material-point method is the easy application of complicated material behaviour as the constitutive response is updated individually for each material point. However, as discussed here, the MPM way...

Describing chaotic attractors: Regular and perpetual points

Science.gov (United States)

Dudkowski, Dawid; Prasad, Awadhesh; Kapitaniak, Tomasz

2018-03-01

We study the concepts of regular and perpetual points for describing the behavior of chaotic attractors in dynamical systems. The idea of these points, which have been recently introduced to theoretical investigations, is thoroughly discussed and extended into new types of models. We analyze the correlation between regular and perpetual points, as well as their relation with phase space, showing the potential usefulness of both types of points in the qualitative description of co-existing states. The ability of perpetual points in finding attractors is indicated, along with its potential cause. The location of chaotic trajectories and sets of considered points is investigated and the study on the stability of systems is shown. The statistical analysis of the observing desired states is performed. We focus on various types of dynamical systems, i.e., chaotic flows with self-excited and hidden attractors, forced mechanical models, and semiconductor superlattices, exhibiting the universality of appearance of the observed patterns and relations.

Visibility of noisy point cloud data

KAUST Repository

Mehra, Ravish; Tripathi, Pushkar; Sheffer, Alla; Mitra, Niloy J.

2010-01-01

for the points set, visibility is computed based on a construction involving convex hull in a dual space, an idea inspired by the work of Katz et al. [26]. We derive theoretical bounds on the behavior of the method in the presence of noise and concavities

Super-Relaxed ( -Proximal Point Algorithms, Relaxed ( -Proximal Point Algorithms, Linear Convergence Analysis, and Nonlinear Variational Inclusions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agarwal RaviP

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We glance at recent advances to the general theory of maximal (set-valued monotone mappings and their role demonstrated to examine the convex programming and closely related field of nonlinear variational inequalities. We focus mostly on applications of the super-relaxed ( -proximal point algorithm to the context of solving a class of nonlinear variational inclusion problems, based on the notion of maximal ( -monotonicity. Investigations highlighted in this communication are greatly influenced by the celebrated work of Rockafellar (1976, while others have played a significant part as well in generalizing the proximal point algorithm considered by Rockafellar (1976 to the case of the relaxed proximal point algorithm by Eckstein and Bertsekas (1992. Even for the linear convergence analysis for the overrelaxed (or super-relaxed ( -proximal point algorithm, the fundamental model for Rockafellar's case does the job. Furthermore, we attempt to explore possibilities of generalizing the Yosida regularization/approximation in light of maximal ( -monotonicity, and then applying to first-order evolution equations/inclusions.

Reliability and Validity of 10 Different Standard Setting Procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Halpin, Glennelle; Halpin, Gerald

Research indicating that different cut-off points result from the use of different standard-setting techniques leaves decision makers with a disturbing dilemma: Which standard-setting method is best? This investigation of the reliability and validity of 10 different standard-setting approaches was designed to provide information that might help…

Geographic Response Plan (GRP) Sensitive Site Points (Editable), Guam, 2016, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This is an editable point feature data set with points over Apra Harbor in Guam. These points represent sensitive sites such as access points for public use and...

Cardinal and anti-cardinal points, equalities and chromatic dependence.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Tanya; Harris, William F

2017-05-01

Cardinal points are used for ray tracing through Gaussian systems. Anti-principal and anti-nodal points (which we shall refer to as the anti-cardinal points), along with the six familiar cardinal points, belong to a much larger set of special points. The purpose of this paper is to obtain a set of relationships and resulting equalities among the cardinal and anti-cardinal points and to illustrate them using Pascal's ring. The methodology used relies on Gaussian optics and the transference T. We make use of two equations, obtained via the transference, which give the locations of the six cardinal and four anti-cardinal points with respect to the system. We obtain equalities among the cardinal and anti-cardinal points. We utilise Pascal's ring to illustrate which points depend on frequency and their displacement with change in frequency. Pascal described a memory schema in the shape of a hexagon for remembering equalities among the points and illustrating shifts in these points when an aspect of the system changes. We modify and extend Pascal's ring to include the anti-cardinal points. We make use of Pascal's ring extended to illustrate which points are dependent on the frequency of light and the direction of shift of the equalities with change in frequency. For the reduced eye the principal and nodal points are independent of frequency, but the focal points and the anti-cardinal points depend on frequency. For Le Grand's four-surface model eye all six cardinal and four anti-cardinal points depend on frequency. This has implications for definitions, particularly of chromatic aberrations of the eye, that make use of cardinal points and that themselves depend on frequency. Pascal's ring and Pascal's ring extended are novel memory schema for remembering the equalities among the cardinal and anti-cardinal points. The rings are useful for illustrating changes among the equalities and direction of shift of points when an aspect of a system changes. Care should be taken

SEMANTIC3D.NET: a New Large-Scale Point Cloud Classification Benchmark

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, T.; Savinov, N.; Ladicky, L.; Wegner, J. D.; Schindler, K.; Pollefeys, M.

2017-05-01

This paper presents a new 3D point cloud classification benchmark data set with over four billion manually labelled points, meant as input for data-hungry (deep) learning methods. We also discuss first submissions to the benchmark that use deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as a work horse, which already show remarkable performance improvements over state-of-the-art. CNNs have become the de-facto standard for many tasks in computer vision and machine learning like semantic segmentation or object detection in images, but have no yet led to a true breakthrough for 3D point cloud labelling tasks due to lack of training data. With the massive data set presented in this paper, we aim at closing this data gap to help unleash the full potential of deep learning methods for 3D labelling tasks. Our semantic3D.net data set consists of dense point clouds acquired with static terrestrial laser scanners. It contains 8 semantic classes and covers a wide range of urban outdoor scenes: churches, streets, railroad tracks, squares, villages, soccer fields and castles. We describe our labelling interface and show that our data set provides more dense and complete point clouds with much higher overall number of labelled points compared to those already available to the research community. We further provide baseline method descriptions and comparison between methods submitted to our online system. We hope semantic3D.net will pave the way for deep learning methods in 3D point cloud labelling to learn richer, more general 3D representations, and first submissions after only a few months indicate that this might indeed be the case.

A novel point-of-care testing strategy for sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women in high-burden settings: results of a feasibility study in Papua New Guinea.

Science.gov (United States)

Badman, Steven G; Vallely, Lisa M; Toliman, Pamela; Kariwiga, Grace; Lote, Bomesina; Pomat, William; Holmer, Caroline; Guy, Rebecca; Luchters, Stanley; Morgan, Chris; Garland, Suzanne M; Tabrizi, Sepehr; Whiley, David; Rogerson, Stephen J; Mola, Glen; Wand, Handan; Donovan, Basil; Causer, Louise; Kaldor, John; Vallely, Andrew

2016-06-06

Sexually transmitted and genital infections in pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes. High prevalences of sexually transmitted infections have been identified among antenatal attenders in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea has amongst the highest neonatal mortality rates worldwide, with preterm birth and low birth weight major contributors to neonatal mortality. The overall aim of our study was to determine if a novel point-of-care testing and treatment strategy for the sexually transmitted and genital infections Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) and Bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnancy is feasible in the high-burden, low-income setting of Papua New Guinea. Women attending their first antenatal clinic visit were invited to participate. CT/NG and TV were tested using the GeneXpert platform (Cepheid, USA), and BV tested using BVBlue (Gryphus Diagnostics, USA). Participants received same-day test results and antibiotic treatment as indicated. Routine antenatal care including HIV and syphilis screening were provided. Point-of-care testing was provided to 125/222 (56 %) of women attending routine antenatal care during the three-month study period. Among the 125 women enrolled, the prevalence of CT was 20.0 %; NG, 11.2 %; TV, 37.6 %; and BV, 17.6 %. Over half (67/125, 53.6 %) of women had one or more of these infections. Most women were asymptomatic (71.6 %; 47/67). Women aged 24 years and under were more likely to have one or more STI compared with older women (odds ratio 2.38; 95 % CI: 1.09, 5.21). Most women with an STI received treatment on the same day (83.6 %; 56/67). HIV prevalence was 1.6 % and active syphilis 4.0 %. Point-of-care STI testing and treatment using a combination of novel, newly-available assays was feasible during routine antenatal care in this setting. This strategy has not previously been evaluated in any setting and offers the

Self-Similarity Based Corresponding-Point Extraction from Weakly Textured Stereo Pairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Mao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available For the areas of low textured in image pairs, there is nearly no point that can be detected by traditional methods. The information in these areas will not be extracted by classical interest-point detectors. In this paper, a novel weakly textured point detection method is presented. The points with weakly textured characteristic are detected by the symmetry concept. The proposed approach considers the gray variability of the weakly textured local regions. The detection mechanism can be separated into three steps: region-similarity computation, candidate point searching, and refinement of weakly textured point set. The mechanism of radius scale selection and texture strength conception are used in the second step and the third step, respectively. The matching algorithm based on sparse representation (SRM is used for matching the detected points in different images. The results obtained on image sets with different objects show high robustness of the method to background and intraclass variations as well as to different photometric and geometric transformations; the points detected by this method are also the complement of points detected by classical detectors from the literature. And we also verify the efficacy of SRM by comparing with classical algorithms under the occlusion and corruption situations for matching the weakly textured points. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed weakly textured point detection algorithm.

Performance enhancement of hermetic compressor using phase change materials

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoud, I. M.; Rady, M. A.; Huzayyin, A. S.

2015-08-01

The present study is motivated by the need for the research of simple measures for increasing energy efficiency of hermetic compressor. The measure is the application of phase change materials for performance enhancement. The first experimental study should be guide for choice of PCM. It has been performed to investigate the effects of thermostat setting temperature on the performance of hermetic compressor. The effects of thermostat setting temperature with and without load on power consumption have been analyzed. Performance enhancement using phase change materials (PCMs) has been studied by employing a phase change material Rubitherm-42 (RT-42) on the top surface of compressor. Choice of PCM material is based on basic compressor performance measured in the first part of the present study. Experiments have been carried out for different load values and different quantities of PCM. The quantity and phase change characteristic of PCM are essential parameters that determine the percentage of performance enhancement in term of energy consumption. Reduction of energy consumption of about 10% has been achieved in the present study by using PCM. The present study shows that how to reduce the electrical power consumption to enhance compressor heat dissipation method to improve efficiency.

Comparison of sparse point distribution models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Erbou, Søren Gylling Hemmingsen; Vester-Christensen, Martin; Larsen, Rasmus

2010-01-01

This paper compares several methods for obtaining sparse and compact point distribution models suited for data sets containing many variables. These are evaluated on a database consisting of 3D surfaces of a section of the pelvic bone obtained from CT scans of 33 porcine carcasses. The superior m...

Ergodic time-reversible chaos for Gibbs' canonical oscillator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoover, William Graham; Sprott, Julien Clinton; Patra, Puneet Kumar

2015-01-01

Nosé's pioneering 1984 work inspired a variety of time-reversible deterministic thermostats. Though several groups have developed successful doubly-thermostated models, single-thermostat models have failed to generate Gibbs' canonical distribution for the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator. A 2001 doubly-thermostated model, claimed to be ergodic, has a singly-thermostated version. Though neither of these models is ergodic this work has suggested a successful route toward singly-thermostated ergodicity. We illustrate both ergodicity and its lack for these models using phase-space cross sections and Lyapunov instability as diagnostic tools. - Highlights: • We develop cross-section and Lyapunov methods for diagnosing ergodicity. • We apply these methods to several thermostatted-oscillator problems. • We demonstrate the nonergodicity of previous work. • We find a novel family of ergodic thermostatted-oscillator problems.

Visualization and labeling of point clouds in virtual reality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stets, Jonathan Dyssel; Sun, Yongbin; Greenwald, Scott W.

2017-01-01

We present a Virtual Reality (VR) application for labeling and handling point cloud data sets. A series of room-scale point clouds are recorded as a video sequence using a Microsoft Kinect. The data can be played and paused, and frames can be skipped just like in a video player. The user can walk...

On some classical problems of descriptive set theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanovei, Vladimir G; Lyubetskii, Vasilii A

2003-01-01

The centenary of P.S. Novikov's birth provides an inspiring motivation to present, with full proofs and from a modern standpoint, the presumably definitive solutions of some classical problems in descriptive set theory which were formulated by Luzin [Lusin] and, to some extent, even earlier by Hadamard, Borel, and Lebesgue and relate to regularity properties of point sets. The solutions of these problems began in the pioneering works of Aleksandrov [Alexandroff], Suslin [Souslin], and Luzin (1916-17) and evolved in the fundamental studies of Goedel, Novikov, Cohen, and their successors. Main features of this branch of mathematics are that, on the one hand, it is an ordinary mathematical theory studying natural properties of point sets and functions and rather distant from general set theory or intrinsic problems of mathematical logic like consistency or Goedel's theorems, and on the other hand, it has become a subject of applications of the most subtle tools of modern mathematical logic

Dataset reporting the perceiver identification rates of basic emotions expressed by male, female and ambiguous gendered walkers in full-light, point-light and synthetically modelled point-light walkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Halovic, Shaun; Kroos, Christian

2017-12-01

This data set describes the experimental data collected and reported in the research article "Walking my way? Walker gender and display format confounds the perception of specific emotions" (Halovic and Kroos, in press) [1]. The data set represent perceiver identification rates for different emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear and neutral), as displayed by full-light, point-light and synthetic point-light walkers. The perceiver identification scores have been transformed into H t rates, which represent proportions/percentages of correct identifications above what would be expected by chance. This data set also provides H t rates separately for male, female and ambiguously gendered walkers.

A characterization of linearly repetitive cut and project sets

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, Alan; Koivusalo, Henna; Walton, James

2018-02-01

For the development of a mathematical theory which can be used to rigorously investigate physical properties of quasicrystals, it is necessary to understand regularity of patterns in special classes of aperiodic point sets in Euclidean space. In one dimension, prototypical mathematical models for quasicrystals are provided by Sturmian sequences and by point sets generated by substitution rules. Regularity properties of such sets are well understood, thanks mostly to well known results by Morse and Hedlund, and physicists have used this understanding to study one dimensional random Schrödinger operators and lattice gas models. A key fact which plays an important role in these problems is the existence of a subadditive ergodic theorem, which is guaranteed when the corresponding point set is linearly repetitive. In this paper we extend the one-dimensional model to cut and project sets, which generalize Sturmian sequences in higher dimensions, and which are frequently used in mathematical and physical literature as models for higher dimensional quasicrystals. By using a combination of algebraic, geometric, and dynamical techniques, together with input from higher dimensional Diophantine approximation, we give a complete characterization of all linearly repetitive cut and project sets with cubical windows. We also prove that these are precisely the collection of such sets which satisfy subadditive ergodic theorems. The results are explicit enough to allow us to apply them to known classical models, and to construct linearly repetitive cut and project sets in all pairs of dimensions and codimensions in which they exist. Research supported by EPSRC grants EP/L001462, EP/J00149X, EP/M023540. HK also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Osk. Huttunen foundation.

Determination system for solar cell layout in traffic light network using dominating set

Science.gov (United States)

Eka Yulia Retnani, Windi; Fambudi, Brelyanes Z.; Slamin

2018-04-01

Graph Theory is one of the fields in Mathematics that solves discrete problems. In daily life, the applications of Graph Theory are used to solve various problems. One of the topics in the Graph Theory that is used to solve the problem is the dominating set. The concept of dominating set is used, for example, to locate some objects systematically. In this study, the dominating set are used to determine the dominating points for solar panels, where the vertex represents the traffic light point and the edge represents the connection between the points of the traffic light. To search the dominating points for solar panels using the greedy algorithm. This algorithm is used to determine the location of solar panel. This research produced applications that can determine the location of solar panels with optimal results, that is, the minimum dominating points.

Towards better segmentation of large floating point 3D astronomical data sets : first results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moschini, Ugo; Teeninga, Paul; Wilkinson, Michael; Giese, Nadine; Punzo, Davide; van der Hulst, Jan M.; Trager, Scott

2014-01-01

In any image segmentation task, noise must be separated from the actual information and the relevant pixels grouped into objects of interest, on which measures can later be applied. This should be done efficiently on large astronomical surveys with floating point datasets with resolution of the

Ifcwall Reconstruction from Unstructured Point Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Bassier, M.; Klein, R.; Van Genechten, B.; Vergauwen, M.

2018-05-01

The automated reconstruction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) objects from point cloud data is still ongoing research. A key aspect is the creation of accurate wall geometry as it forms the basis for further reconstruction of objects in a BIM. After segmenting and classifying the initial point cloud, the labelled segments are processed and the wall topology is reconstructed. However, the preocedure is challenging due to noise, occlusions and the complexity of the input data.In this work, a method is presented to automatically reconstruct consistent wall geometry from point clouds. More specifically, the use of room information is proposed to aid the wall topology creation. First, a set of partial walls is constructed based on classified planar primitives. Next, the rooms are identified using the retrieved wall information along with the floors and ceilings. The wall topology is computed by the intersection of the partial walls conditioned on the room information. The final wall geometry is defined by creating IfcWallStandardCase objects conform the IFC4 standard. The result is a set of walls according to the as-built conditions of a building. The experiments prove that the used method is a reliable framework for wall reconstruction from unstructured point cloud data. Also, the implementation of room information reduces the rate of false positives for the wall topology. Given the walls, ceilings and floors, 94% of the rooms is correctly identified. A key advantage of the proposed method is that it deals with complex rooms and is not bound to single storeys.

A General Schema for Constructing One-Point Bases in the Lambda Calculus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goldberg, Mayer

2001-01-01

In this paper, we present a schema for constructing one-point bases for recursively enumerable sets of lambda terms. The novelty of the approach is that we make no assumptions about the terms for which the one-point basis is constructed: They need not be combinators and they may contain constants...... and free variables. The significance of the construction is twofold: In the context of the lambda calculus, it characterises one-point bases as ways of ``packaging'' sets of terms into a single term; And in the context of realistic programming languages, it implies that we can define a single procedure...

Matching fields and lattice points of simplices

OpenAIRE

Loho, Georg; Smith, Ben

2018-01-01

We show that the Chow covectors of a linkage matching field define a bijection of lattice points and we demonstrate how one can recover the linkage matching field from this bijection. This resolves two open questions from Sturmfels & Zelevinsky (1993) on linkage matching fields. For this, we give an explicit construction that associates a bipartite incidence graph of an ordered partition of a common set to all lattice points in a dilated simplex. Given a triangulation of a product of two simp...

Optimal Load-Tracking Operation of Grid-Connected Solid Oxide Fuel Cells through Set Point Scheduling and Combined L1-MPC Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siwei Han

2018-03-01

Full Text Available An optimal load-tracking operation strategy for a grid-connected tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC is studied based on the steady-state analysis of the system thermodynamics and electrochemistry. Control of the SOFC is achieved by a two-level hierarchical control system. In the upper level, optimal setpoints of output voltage and the current corresponding to unit load demand is obtained through a nonlinear optimization by minimizing the SOFC’s internal power waste. In the lower level, a combined L1-MPC control strategy is designed to achieve fast set point tracking under system nonlinearities, while maintaining a constant fuel utilization factor. To prevent fuel starvation during the transient state resulting from the output power surging, a fuel flow constraint is imposed on the MPC with direct electron balance calculation. The proposed control schemes are testified on the grid-connected SOFC model.

Guided Discovery of the Nine-Point Circle Theorem and Its Proof

Science.gov (United States)

Buchbinder, Orly

2018-01-01

The nine-point circle theorem is one of the most beautiful and surprising theorems in Euclidean geometry. It establishes an existence of a circle passing through nine points, all of which are related to a single triangle. This paper describes a set of instructional activities that can help students discover the nine-point circle theorem through…

Domácí automatizace

OpenAIRE

Taufer, Pavel

2015-01-01

We design an unified system for home management and monitoring -- for example controlling lights, thermostat, roller blinds, etc. We research various methods of communication with devices used in home automation. We design an unified interface for communication with said devices independent on specific hardware. Then we implement the designed abstraction, a set of specific automation software and a graphical user interface. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

A Calibrated Test-Set for Measurement of Access-Point Time Specifications in Hybrid Wired/Wireless Industrial Communication †

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federico Tramarin

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In factory automation and process control systems, hybrid wired/wireless networks are often deployed to connect devices of difficult reachability such as those mounted on mobile equipment. A widespread implementation of these networks makes use of Access Points (APs to implement wireless extensions of Real-Time Ethernet (RTE networks via the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN (WLAN. Unfortunately, APs may introduce random delays in frame forwarding, mainly related to their internal behavior (e.g., queue management, processing times, that clearly impact the overall worst case execution time of real-time tasks involved in industrial process control systems. As a consequence, the knowledge of such delays becomes a crucial design parameter, and their estimation is definitely of utter importance. In this scenario, the paper presents an original and effective method to measure the aforementioned delays introduced by APs, exploiting a hybrid loop-back link and a simple, yet accurate set-up with moderate instrumentation requirements. The proposed method, which requires an initial calibration phase by means of a reference AP, has been successfully tested on some commercial APs to prove its effectiveness. The proposed measurement procedure is proven to be general and, as such, can be profitably adopted in even different scenarios.

SharePoint 2010 at Work Tricks, Traps, and Bold Opinions

CERN Document Server

Miller, Mark; Anderson, Marc; Rogers, Laura; Abraham, Kerri; Buren, Sadalit; Mastykarz, Waldek; Alexander, Eric; Bautz, Alexander; Howard, Jim; Allen, Peter

2012-01-01

If you're a SharePoint site manager or administrator, you finally have a handy single-source reference to help you through the tough SharePoint learning curve. Written by Mark Miller and his stable of well-known contributors at EndUserSharePoint.com, this book contains the most helpful articles from this popular site-fully updated for SharePoint 2010. Each chapter focuses on core issues that vex SharePoint administrators when it comes to setting up and managing sites. You'll learn tried-and-true solutions for creating charts and graphs, joining views in SharePoint lists, building a SharePoin

On nuclei and blocking sets in Desarguesian spaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ball, S.M.

1999-01-01

A generalisation is given to recent results concerning the possible number of nuclei to a set of points inPG(n, q). As an application of this we obtain new lower bounds on the size of at-fold blocking set ofAG(n, q) in the case (t, q)>1.

Viviani Polytopes and Fermat Points

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Li

2012-01-01

Given a set of oriented hyperplanes P = {p1, . . . , pk} in R[superscript n], define v : R[superscript n] [right arrow] R by v(X) = the sum of the signed distances from X to p[subscript 1], . . . , p[subscript k], for any point X [is a member of] R[superscript n]. We give a simple geometric characterization of P for which v is constant, leading to…

The computation of fixed points and applications

CERN Document Server

Todd, Michael J

1976-01-01

Fixed-point algorithms have diverse applications in economics, optimization, game theory and the numerical solution of boundary-value problems. Since Scarf's pioneering work [56,57] on obtaining approximate fixed points of continuous mappings, a great deal of research has been done in extending the applicability and improving the efficiency of fixed-point methods. Much of this work is available only in research papers, although Scarf's book [58] gives a remarkably clear exposition of the power of fixed-point methods. However, the algorithms described by Scarf have been super~eded by the more sophisticated restart and homotopy techniques of Merrill [~8,~9] and Eaves and Saigal [1~,16]. To understand the more efficient algorithms one must become familiar with the notions of triangulation and simplicial approxi- tion, whereas Scarf stresses the concept of primitive set. These notes are intended to introduce to a wider audience the most recent fixed-point methods and their applications. Our approach is therefore ...

Fixed point theory in metric type spaces

CERN Document Server

Agarwal, Ravi P; O’Regan, Donal; Roldán-López-de-Hierro, Antonio Francisco

2015-01-01

Written by a team of leading experts in the field, this volume presents a self-contained account of the theory, techniques and results in metric type spaces (in particular in G-metric spaces); that is, the text approaches this important area of fixed point analysis beginning from the basic ideas of metric space topology. The text is structured so that it leads the reader from preliminaries and historical notes on metric spaces (in particular G-metric spaces) and on mappings, to Banach type contraction theorems in metric type spaces, fixed point theory in partially ordered G-metric spaces, fixed point theory for expansive mappings in metric type spaces, generalizations, present results and techniques in a very general abstract setting and framework. Fixed point theory is one of the major research areas in nonlinear analysis. This is partly due to the fact that in many real world problems fixed point theory is the basic mathematical tool used to establish the existence of solutions to problems which arise natur...

47 CFR 25.276 - Points of communication.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Points of communication. 25.276 Section 25.276 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS... International Telecommunications Satellite Organization and Inmarsat, are subject to the policies set forth in...

From the Conception to the Marketing of a New Automatic Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Peter V.; Kildegaard, Erik; Boel, Jan

1985-01-01

From a historical viewpoint, product technology has developed via radiator thermostats, return thermostats and selfacting automatic temperature and pressure controls towards more integrated automatic control systems also including weather compensators, which offer benefits in the form of energy...

Smartphone Use by Nurses in Acute Care Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Greir Ander Huck; Polivka, Barbara; Behr, Jodi Herron

2018-03-01

The use of smartphones in acute care settings remains controversial due to security concerns and personal use. The purposes of this study were to determine (1) the current rates of personal smartphone use by nurses in acute care settings, (2) nurses' preferences regarding the use of smartphone functionality at work, and (3) nurse perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of smartphone use at work. An online survey of nurses from six acute care facilities within one healthcare system assessed the use of personal smartphones in acute care settings and perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of smartphone use at work. Participants (N = 735) were primarily point-of-care nurses older than 31 years. Most participants (98%) used a smartphone in the acute care setting. Respondents perceived the most common useful and beneficial smartphone functions in acute care settings as allowing them to access information on medications, procedures, and diseases. Participants older than 50 years were less likely to use a smartphone in acute care settings and to agree with the benefits of smartphones. There is a critical need for recognition that smartphones are used by point-of-care nurses for a variety of functions and that realistic policies for smartphone use are needed to enhance patient care and minimize distractions.

Some further remarks on good sets

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Introduction and preliminaries. The purpose of this note is to answer two questions about good sets raised in [4] and [5]. Let X1,X2,...,Xn be nonempty sets and let. = X1 ×X2 ×···×Xn be their cartesian product. We will write x to denote a point (x1,x2,...,xn) ∈ . For each 1 ≤ i ≤ n, i denotes the canonical projection of onto Xi.

Estimating the physicochemical properties of polyhalogenated aromatic and aliphatic compounds using UPPER: part 1. Boiling point and melting point.

Science.gov (United States)

Admire, Brittany; Lian, Bo; Yalkowsky, Samuel H

2015-01-01

The UPPER (Unified Physicochemical Property Estimation Relationships) model uses enthalpic and entropic parameters to estimate 20 biologically relevant properties of organic compounds. The model has been validated by Lian and Yalkowsky on a data set of 700 hydrocarbons. The aim of this work is to expand the UPPER model to estimate the boiling and melting points of polyhalogenated compounds. In this work, 19 new group descriptors are defined and used to predict the transition temperatures of an additional 1288 compounds. The boiling points of 808 and the melting points of 742 polyhalogenated compounds are predicted with average absolute errors of 13.56 K and 25.85 K, respectively. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Architecture and performance of neural networks for efficient A/C control in buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmoud, Mohamed A.; Ben-Nakhi, Abdullatif E.

2003-01-01

The feasibility of using neural networks (NNs) for optimizing air conditioning (AC) setback scheduling in public buildings was investigated. The main focus is on optimizing the network architecture in order to achieve best performance. To save energy, the temperature inside public buildings is allowed to rise after business hours by setting back the thermostat. The objective is to predict the time of the end of thermostat setback (EoS) such that the design temperature inside the building is restored in time for the start of business hours. State of the art building simulation software, ESP-r, was used to generate a database that covered the years 1995-1999. The software was used to calculate the EoS for two office buildings using the climate records in Kuwait. The EoS data for 1995 and 1996 were used for training and testing the NNs. The robustness of the trained NN was tested by applying them to a 'production' data set (1997-1999), which the networks have never 'seen' before. For each of the six different NN architectures evaluated, parametric studies were performed to determine the network parameters that best predict the EoS. External hourly temperature readings were used as network inputs, and the thermostat end of setback (EoS) is the output. The NN predictions were improved by developing a neural control scheme (NC). This scheme is based on using the temperature readings as they become available. For each NN architecture considered, six NNs were designed and trained for this purpose. The performance of the NN analysis was evaluated using a statistical indicator (the coefficient of multiple determination) and by statistical analysis of the error patterns, including ANOVA (analysis of variance). The results show that the NC, when used with a properly designed NN, is a powerful instrument for optimizing AC setback scheduling based only on external temperature records

Self-regulation through Goal Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander; Nafziger, Julia

2011-01-01

Goals are an important motivator. But little is known about why and how people set them. We address this issue in a model based on two stylized facts. i) Goals serve as reference points for performance. ii) Present-biased preferences create self-control problems. We show the power and limits...... of self-regulation through goals. Goals increase an individual's motivation - but only up to a certain point. And they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems may result in tougher goals; but for a severe present bias goals either lack motivating force, or are too painful...

Efficient point cloud data processing in shipbuilding: Reformative component extraction method and registration method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingyu Sun

2014-07-01

Full Text Available To survive in the current shipbuilding industry, it is of vital importance for shipyards to have the ship components’ accuracy evaluated efficiently during most of the manufacturing steps. Evaluating components’ accuracy by comparing each component’s point cloud data scanned by laser scanners and the ship’s design data formatted in CAD cannot be processed efficiently when (1 extract components from point cloud data include irregular obstacles endogenously, or when (2 registration of the two data sets have no clear direction setting. This paper presents reformative point cloud data processing methods to solve these problems. K-d tree construction of the point cloud data fastens a neighbor searching of each point. Region growing method performed on the neighbor points of the seed point extracts the continuous part of the component, while curved surface fitting and B-spline curved line fitting at the edge of the continuous part recognize the neighbor domains of the same component divided by obstacles’ shadows. The ICP (Iterative Closest Point algorithm conducts a registration of the two sets of data after the proper registration’s direction is decided by principal component analysis. By experiments conducted at the shipyard, 200 curved shell plates are extracted from the scanned point cloud data, and registrations are conducted between them and the designed CAD data using the proposed methods for an accuracy evaluation. Results show that the methods proposed in this paper support the accuracy evaluation targeted point cloud data processing efficiently in practice.

PLOTTAB, Curve and Point Plotting with Error Bars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: PLOTTAB is designed to plot any combination of continuous curves and/or discrete points (with associated error bars) using user supplied titles and X and Y axis labels and units. If curves are plotted, the first curve may be used as a standard; the data and the ratio of the data to the standard will be plotted. 2 - Method of solution: PLOTTAB: The program has no idea of what data is being plotted and yet by supplying titles, X and Y axis labels and units the user can produce any number of plots with each plot containing almost any combination of curves and points with each plot properly identified. In order to define a continuous curve between tabulated points, this program must know how to interpolate between points. By input the user may specify either the default option of linear x versus linear y interpolation or alternatively log x and/or log Y interpolation. In all cases, regardless of the interpolation specified, the program will always interpolate the data to the plane of the plot (linear or log x and y plane) in order to present the true variation of the data between tabulated points, based on the user specified interpolation law. Tabulated points should be tabulated at a sufficient number of x values to insure that the difference between the specified interpolation and the 'true' variation of a curve between tabulated values is relatively small. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: A combination of up to 30 curves and sets of discrete points may appear on each plot. If the user wishes to use this program to compare different sets of data, all of the data must be in the same units

PIMA Point of Care CD4+ Cell Count Machines in Remote MNCH Settings: Lessons Learned from Seven Districts in Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Mtapuri-Zinyowera, Sekesai; Chiyaka, Edward T.; Mushayi, Wellington; Musuka, Godfrey; Naluyinda-Kitabire, Florence; Mushavi, Angella; Chikwasha, Vasco

2013-01-01

An evaluation was commissioned to generate evidence on the impact of PIMA point-of-care CD4+ count machines in maternal and new-born child health settings in Zimbabwe; document best practices, lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations related to scale up of this new technology. A mixed methodology approach that included 31 in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in procurement, distribution, and use of the POC machines was employed. Additionally, data was also abstracted from 207 patient records from 35 sites with the PIMA POC CD4+ count machines and 10 other comparative sites without the machine. A clearer training strategy was found to be necessary. The average time taken to initiate clients on antiretroviral treatment (ART) was substantially less, 15 days (IQR-1-149) for sites with a PIMA POC machine as compared to 32.7 days (IQR-1-192) at sites with no PIMA POC machine. There was general satisfaction because of the presence of the PIMA POC CD4+ count machine at sites that also initiated ART. PMID:24847177

Multivariate Hermite interpolation on scattered point sets using tensor-product expo-rational B-splines

Science.gov (United States)

Dechevsky, Lubomir T.; Bang, Børre; Laksa˚, Arne; Zanaty, Peter

2011-12-01

At the Seventh International Conference on Mathematical Methods for Curves and Surfaces, To/nsberg, Norway, in 2008, several new constructions for Hermite interpolation on scattered point sets in domains in Rn,n∈N, combined with smooth convex partition of unity for several general types of partitions of these domains were proposed in [1]. All of these constructions were based on a new type of B-splines, proposed by some of the authors several years earlier: expo-rational B-splines (ERBS) [3]. In the present communication we shall provide more details about one of these constructions: the one for the most general class of domain partitions considered. This construction is based on the use of two separate families of basis functions: one which has all the necessary Hermite interpolation properties, and another which has the necessary properties of a smooth convex partition of unity. The constructions of both of these two bases are well-known; the new part of the construction is the combined use of these bases for the derivation of a new basis which enjoys having all above-said interpolation and unity partition properties simultaneously. In [1] the emphasis was put on the use of radial basis functions in the definitions of the two initial bases in the construction; now we shall put the main emphasis on the case when these bases consist of tensor-product B-splines. This selection provides two useful advantages: (A) it is easier to compute higher-order derivatives while working in Cartesian coordinates; (B) it becomes clear that this construction becomes a far-going extension of tensor-product constructions. We shall provide 3-dimensional visualization of the resulting bivariate bases, using tensor-product ERBS. In the main tensor-product variant, we shall consider also replacement of ERBS with simpler generalized ERBS (GERBS) [2], namely, their simplified polynomial modifications: the Euler Beta-function B-splines (BFBS). One advantage of using BFBS instead of ERBS

Interest point detection for hyperspectral imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Dorado-Muñoz, Leidy P.; Vélez-Reyes, Miguel; Roysam, Badrinath; Mukherjee, Amit

2009-05-01

This paper presents an algorithm for automated extraction of interest points (IPs)in multispectral and hyperspectral images. Interest points are features of the image that capture information from its neighbours and they are distinctive and stable under transformations such as translation and rotation. Interest-point operators for monochromatic images were proposed more than a decade ago and have since been studied extensively. IPs have been applied to diverse problems in computer vision, including image matching, recognition, registration, 3D reconstruction, change detection, and content-based image retrieval. Interest points are helpful in data reduction, and reduce the computational burden of various algorithms (like registration, object detection, 3D reconstruction etc) by replacing an exhaustive search over the entire image domain by a probe into a concise set of highly informative points. An interest operator seeks out points in an image that are structurally distinct, invariant to imaging conditions, stable under geometric transformation, and interpretable which are good candidates for interest points. Our approach extends ideas from Lowe's keypoint operator that uses local extrema of Difference of Gaussian (DoG) operator at multiple scales to detect interest point in gray level images. The proposed approach extends Lowe's method by direct conversion of scalar operations such as scale-space generation, and extreme point detection into operations that take the vector nature of the image into consideration. Experimental results with RGB and hyperspectral images which demonstrate the potential of the method for this application and the potential improvements of a fully vectorial approach over band-by-band approaches described in the literature.

Strong Convergence Iterative Algorithms for Equilibrium Problems and Fixed Point Problems in Banach Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shenghua Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We first introduce the concept of Bregman asymptotically quasinonexpansive mappings and prove that the fixed point set of this kind of mappings is closed and convex. Then we construct an iterative scheme to find a common element of the set of solutions of an equilibrium problem and the set of common fixed points of a countable family of Bregman asymptotically quasinonexpansive mappings in reflexive Banach spaces and prove strong convergence theorems. Our results extend the recent ones of some others.

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 development cookbook

CERN Document Server

Musters, Ed

2011-01-01

The plan of the book is to build a relationship with the Author as your personal guide through the most common "pattern" of SharePoint development. In cookbook style, you will be led carefully step by step through a comprehensive set of recipes. The practical example starts quickly and builds logically throughout the chapters to create a common theme. You will be developing coding techniques that you will be able to apply to the real world. In fact, this book will train you for the first SharePoint development project you will join. This book is written for the ASP.NET developer who wants to g

Schroedinger operators with point interactions and short range expansions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albeverio, S.; Hoeegh-Krohn, R.; Oslo Univ.

1984-01-01

We give a survey of recent results concerning Schroedinger operators with point interactions in R 3 . In the case where the point interactions are located at a discrete set of points we discuss results about the resolvent, the spectrum, the resonances and the scattering quantities. We also discuss the approximation of point interactions by short range local potentials (short range or low energy expansions) and the one electron model of a 3-dimensional crystal. Moreover we discuss Schroedinger operators with Coulomb plus point interactions, with applications to the determination of scattering lengths and of level shifts in mesic atoms. Further applications to the multiple well problem, to multiparticle systems, to crystals with random impurities, to polymers and quantum fields are also briefly discussed. (orig.)

Csf Based Non-Ground Points Extraction from LIDAR Data

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, A.; Zhang, W.; Shi, H.

2017-09-01

Region growing is a classical method of point cloud segmentation. Based on the idea of collecting the pixels with similar properties to form regions, region growing is widely used in many fields such as medicine, forestry and remote sensing. In this algorithm, there are two core problems. One is the selection of seed points, the other is the setting of the growth constraints, in which the selection of the seed points is the foundation. In this paper, we propose a CSF (Cloth Simulation Filtering) based method to extract the non-ground seed points effectively. The experiments have shown that this method can obtain a group of seed spots compared with the traditional methods. It is a new attempt to extract seed points

Microfluidic point-of-care diagnostics for resource-poor environments

Science.gov (United States)

Laksanasopin, Tassaneewan; Chin, Curtis D.; Moore, Hannah; Wang, Jennifer; Cheung, Yuk Kee; Sia, Samuel K.

2009-05-01

Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics have tremendous potential to improve human health in remote and resource-poor settings. However, the design criteria for diagnostic tests appropriate in settings with limited infrastructure are unique and challenging. Here we present a custom optical reader which quantifies silver absorbance from heterogeneous immunoassays. The reader is simple and low-cost and suited for POC diagnostics.

Optimal Power Flow by Interior Point and Non Interior Point Modern Optimization Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcin Połomski

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The idea of optimal power flow (OPF is to determine the optimal settings for control variables while respecting various constraints, and in general it is related to power system operational and planning optimization problems. A vast number of optimization methods have been applied to solve the OPF problem, but their performance is highly dependent on the size of a power system being optimized. The development of the OPF recently has tracked significant progress both in numerical optimization techniques and computer techniques application. In recent years, application of interior point methods to solve OPF problem has been paid great attention. This is due to the fact that IP methods are among the fastest algorithms, well suited to solve large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. This paper presents the primal-dual interior point method based optimal power flow algorithm and new variant of the non interior point method algorithm with application to optimal power flow problem. Described algorithms were implemented in custom software. The experiments show the usefulness of computational software and implemented algorithms for solving the optimal power flow problem, including the system model sizes comparable to the size of the National Power System.

Setting to earth for computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallego V, Luis Eduardo; Montana Ch, Johny Hernan; Tovar P, Andres Fernando; Amortegui, Francisco

2000-01-01

The program GMT allows the analysis of setting to earth for tensions DC and AC (of low frequency) of diverse configurations composed by cylindrical electrodes interconnected, in a homogeneous land or stratified (two layers). This analysis understands among other aspects: calculation of the setting resistance to earth, elevation of potential of the system (GPR), calculation of current densities in the conductors, potentials calculation in which point on the land surface (profile and surfaces), tensions calculation in passing and of contact, also, it carries out the interpretation of resistivity measures for Wenner and Schlumberger methods, finding a model of two layers

Extracting Corresponding Point Based on Texture Synthesis for Nearly Flat Textureless Object Surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Mao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Since the image feature points are always gathered at the range with significant intensity change, such as textured portions or edges of an image, which can be detected by the state-of-the-art intensity based point-detectors, there is nearly no point in the areas of low textured detected by classical interest-point detectors. In this paper we describe a novel algorithm based on affine transform and graph cut for interest point detecting and matching from wide baseline image pairs with weakly textured object. The detection and matching mechanism can be separated into three steps: firstly, the information on the large textureless areas will be enhanced by adding textures through the proposed texture synthesis algorithm TSIQ. Secondly, the initial interest-point set is detected by classical interest-point detectors. Finally, graph cuts are used to find the globally optimal set of matching points on stereo pairs. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is verified by three kinds of experiments, that is, the influence of point detecting from synthetic texture with different texture sample, the stability under the different geometric transformations, and the performance to improve the quasi-dense matching algorithm, respectively.

Exceptional points in open quantum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, Markus; Rotter, Ingrid

2008-01-01

Open quantum systems are embedded in the continuum of scattering wavefunctions and are naturally described by non-Hermitian Hamilton operators. In the complex energy plane, exceptional points appear at which two (or more) eigenvalues of the Hamilton operator coalesce. Although they are a countable set of single points in the complex energy plane and therefore of measure zero, they determine decisively the dynamics of open quantum systems. A powerful method for the description of open quantum systems is the Feshbach projection operator formalism. It is used in the present paper as a basic tool for the study of exceptional points and of the role they play for the dynamics of open quantum systems. Among others, the topological structure of the exceptional points, the rigidity of the phases of the eigenfunctions in their vicinity, the enhancement of observable values due to the reduced phase rigidity and the appearance of phase transitions are considered. The results are compared with existing experimental data on microwave cavities. In the last section, some questions being still unsolved, are considered

Uncertainty representation of grey numbers and grey sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yingjie; Liu, Sifeng; John, Robert

2014-09-01

In the literature, there is a presumption that a grey set and an interval-valued fuzzy set are equivalent. This presumption ignores the existence of discrete components in a grey number. In this paper, new measurements of uncertainties of grey numbers and grey sets, consisting of both absolute and relative uncertainties, are defined to give a comprehensive representation of uncertainties in a grey number and a grey set. Some simple examples are provided to illustrate that the proposed uncertainty measurement can give an effective representation of both absolute and relative uncertainties in a grey number and a grey set. The relationships between grey sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets are also analyzed from the point of view of the proposed uncertainty representation. The analysis demonstrates that grey sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets provide different but overlapping models for uncertainty representation in sets.

'Radiators with an IP address'. Intelligent house; 'Heizkoerper mit IP-Adresse'. Intelligentes Haus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crocoll, N.; Homburg, D. [Redaktionsbuero Stutensee (Germany)

2008-08-15

Buildings are the biggest energy consumers in Germany. Much energy can be saved by simple measures, but who indeed is careful enough to shut off all standby appliances, set their heating thermostats to antifreeze while ventilating or shut off the light if the sun shines for brief periods on a cloudy day? Intelligent building management has an enormous market potential here. Smart homes will be the buildings of the future. (orig.)

Describing Quadratic Cremer Point Polynomials by Parabolic Perturbations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Dan Erik Krarup

1996-01-01

We describe two infinite order parabolic perturbation proceduresyielding quadratic polynomials having a Cremer fixed point. The main ideais to obtain the polynomial as the limit of repeated parabolic perturbations.The basic tool at each step is to control the behaviour of certain externalrays.......Polynomials of the Cremer type correspond to parameters at the boundary of ahyperbolic component of the Mandelbrot set. In this paper we concentrate onthe main cardioid component. We investigate the differences between two-sided(i.e. alternating) and one-sided parabolic perturbations.In the two-sided case, we prove...... the existence of polynomials having an explicitlygiven external ray accumulating both at the Cremer point and at its non-periodicpreimage. We think of the Julia set as containing a "topologists double comb".In the one-sided case we prove a weaker result: the existence of polynomials havingan explicitly given...

A suitable model plant for control of the set fuel cell-DC/DC converter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andujar, J.M.; Segura, F.; Vasallo, M.J. [Departamento de Ingenieria Electronica, Sistemas Informaticos y Automatica, E.P.S. La Rabida, Universidad de Huelva, Ctra. Huelva - Palos de la Frontera, S/N, 21819 La Rabida - Palos de la Frontera Huelva (Spain)

2008-04-15

In this work a state and transfer function model of the set made up of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and a DC/DC converter is developed. The set is modelled as a plant controlled by the converter duty cycle. In addition to allow setting the plant operating point at any point of its characteristic curve (two interesting points are maximum efficiency and maximum power points), this approach also allows the connection of the fuel cell to other energy generation and storage devices, given that, as they all usually share a single DC bus, a thorough control of the interconnected devices is required. First, the state and transfer function models of the fuel cell and the converter are obtained. Then, both models are related in order to achieve the fuel cell+DC/DC converter set (plant) model. The results of the theoretical developments are validated by simulation on a real fuel cell model. (author)

Analysis of the effective point of measurement of a thimble chamber dosimeter set parallel to the X-ray beam axis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimono, Tetsunori; Nanbu, Hidekazu; Koshida, Kichiro; Kikuchi, Yuzo

2007-01-01

To measure the narrow beam used in stereotactic irradiation, installation of the ionization chamber parallel to the X-ray beam axis has been used instead of perpendicular installation. However, the definition of the effective point is a major problem in the parallel installation. In this study, we analyzed the effective point in parallel installation, and considered the prediction and evaluation of measurement point displacement. Relative dosimetry was carried out by installing the thimble ionization chamber in both perpendicular and parallel configurations. We then searched for the measurement point that coincided with the percentage depth dose (PDD) of the perpendicular installation by using the displacement of the measurement point of the parallel installation. We found that the effective point of measurement for relative photon beam dosimetry depends on every detail of the chamber design, including the cavity length and the cavity radius. Moreover, the effective point of measurement also depends on the beam quality and the field size. The amount of effective point displacement for the parallel installation was quantified with the linear expression of tissue peak ratio (TPR) 20, 10 . Our results showed that the amount of effective point displacement can be estimated by the ionization volume of the dosimeter and the energy used. (author)

A New Approximation Method for Solving Variational Inequalities and Fixed Points of Nonexpansive Mappings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klin-eam Chakkrid

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract A new approximation method for solving variational inequalities and fixed points of nonexpansive mappings is introduced and studied. We prove strong convergence theorem of the new iterative scheme to a common element of the set of fixed points of nonexpansive mapping and the set of solutions of the variational inequality for the inverse-strongly monotone mapping which solves some variational inequalities. Moreover, we apply our main result to obtain strong convergence to a common fixed point of nonexpansive mapping and strictly pseudocontractive mapping in a Hilbert space.

Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska ESI: M_MAMPT (Marine Mammal Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains biological resource data for seals and sea lions in Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Vector points in this data set represent locations...

Shot-noise-weighted processes : a new family of spatial point processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.N.M. van Lieshout (Marie-Colette); I.S. Molchanov (Ilya)

1995-01-01

textabstractThe paper suggests a new family of of spatial point processes distributions. They are defined by means of densities with respect to the Poisson point process within a bounded set. These densities are given in terms of a functional of the shot-noise process with a given influence

New drugs and patient-centred end-points in old age: setting the wheels in motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Mangoni, Arduino A; Pilotto, Alberto

2016-01-01

Older patients with various degrees of frailty and disability, a key population target of pharmacological interventions in acute and chronic disease states, are virtually neglected in pre-marketing studies assessing the efficacy and safety of investigational drugs. Moreover, aggressively pursuing established therapeutic targets in old age, e.g. blood pressure, serum glucose or cholesterol concentrations, is not necessarily associated with the beneficial effects, and the acceptable safety, reported in younger patient cohorts. Measures of self-reported health and functional status might represent additional, more meaningful, therapeutic end-points in the older population, particularly in patients with significant frailty and relatively short life expectancy, e.g. in the presence of cancer and/or neurodegenerative disease conditions. Strategies enhancing early knowledge about key pharmacological characteristics of investigational drugs targeting older adults are discussed, together with the rationale for incorporating non-traditional, patient-centred, end-points in this ever-increasing group.

Extreme boundary of space semi-additive functionals on finite set

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gayratbay F. Djabbarov

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The present paper is devoted to study of the extreme boundary of the convexcompact set of all semi-additive functionals on a finite-point compactum. We shall find some classes of extreme points of the space semi-additive functionals OS (n .

Determination of melting point of mixed-oxide fuel irradiated in a fast breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachibana, Toshimichi

1985-01-01

The melting point of fuel is important to set its in-reactor maximum temperature in fuel design. The fuel melting point measuring methods are broadly the filament method and the capsule sealing method. The only instance of measuring the melting point of irradiated mixed oxide (U, Pu)O 2 fuel by the filament method is by GE in the United States. The capsule sealing method, while the excellent means, is difficult in weld sealing the irradiated fuel in a capsule within the cell. In the fast reactor development program, the remotely operated melting point measuring apparatus in capsule sealing the mixed (U, Pu)O 2 fuel irradiated in the experimental FBR Joyo was set in the cell and the melting point was measured, for the first time in the world. (Mori, K.)

Integrating mHealth at point of care in low- and middle-income settings: the system perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallis, Lee; Blessing, Paul; Dalwai, Mohammed; Shin, Sang Do

2017-06-01

While the field represents a wide spectrum of products and services, many aspects of mHealth have great promise within resource-poor settings: there is an extensive range of cheap, widely available tools which can be used at the point of care delivery. However, there are a number of conditions which need to be met if such solutions are to be adequately integrated into existing health systems; we consider these from regulatory, technological and user perspectives. We explore the need for an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework, to avoid 'work around' solutions, which threaten patient confidentiality (such as the extensive use of instant messaging services to deliver sensitive clinical information and seek diagnostic and management advice). In addition, we will look at other confidentiality issues such as the need for applications to remove identifiable information (such as photos) from users' devices. Integration is dependent upon multiple technological factors, and we illustrate these using examples such as products made available specifically for adoption in low- and middle-income countries. Issues such as usability of the application, signal loss, data volume utilization, need to enter passwords, and the availability of automated or in-app context-relevant clinical advice will be discussed. From a user perspective, there are three groups to consider: experts, front-line clinicians, and patients. Each will accept, to different degrees, the use of technology in care - often with cultural or regional variation - and this is central to integration and uptake. For clinicians, ease of integration into daily work flow is critical, as are familiarity and acceptability of other technology in the workplace. Front-line staff tend to work in areas with more challenges around cell phone signal coverage and data availability than 'back-end' experts, and the effect of this is discussed.

Development of Temperature Control Solutions for Non-Instrumented Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NINAAT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamás Pardy

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Non-instrumented nucleic acid amplification tests (NINAAT are a novel paradigm in portable molecular diagnostics. They offer the high detection accuracy characteristic of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT in a self-contained device, without the need for any external instrumentation. These Point-of-Care tests typically employ a Lab-on-a-Chip for liquid handling functionality, and perform isothermal nucleic acid amplification protocols that require low power but high accuracy temperature control in a single well-defined temperature range. We propose temperature control solutions based on commercially available heating elements capable of meeting these challenges, as well as demonstrate the process by which such elements can be fitted to a NINAAT system. Self-regulated and thermostat-controlled resistive heating elements were evaluated through experimental characterization as well as thermal analysis using the finite element method (FEM. We demonstrate that the proposed solutions can support various NAAT protocols, as well as demonstrate an optimal solution for the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP protocol. Furthermore, we present an Arduino-compatible open-source thermostat developed for NINAAT applications.

Manhattan-World Urban Reconstruction from Point Clouds

KAUST Repository

Li, Minglei; Wonka, Peter; Nan, Liangliang

2016-01-01

Manhattan-world urban scenes are common in the real world. We propose a fully automatic approach for reconstructing such scenes from 3D point samples. Our key idea is to represent the geometry of the buildings in the scene using a set of well-aligned boxes. We first extract plane hypothesis from the points followed by an iterative refinement step. Then, candidate boxes are obtained by partitioning the space of the point cloud into a non-uniform grid. After that, we choose an optimal subset of the candidate boxes to approximate the geometry of the buildings. The contribution of our work is that we transform scene reconstruction into a labeling problem that is solved based on a novel Markov Random Field formulation. Unlike previous methods designed for particular types of input point clouds, our method can obtain faithful reconstructions from a variety of data sources. Experiments demonstrate that our method is superior to state-of-the-art methods. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.

On Recall Rate of Interest Point Detectors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aanæs, Henrik; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Pedersen, Kim Steenstrup

2010-01-01

in relation to the number of interest points, the recall rate as a function of camera position and light variation, and the sensitivity relative to model parameter change. The overall conclusion is that the Harris corner detector has a very high recall rate, but is sensitive to change in scale. The Hessian......In this paper we provide a method for evaluating interest point detectors independently of image descriptors. This is possible because we have compiled a unique data set enabling us to determine if common interest points are found. The data contains 60 scenes of a wide range of object types......, and for each scene we have 119 precisely located camera positions obtained from a camera mounted on an industrial robot arm. The scene surfaces have been scanned using structured light, providing precise 3D ground truth. We have investigated a number of the most popular interest point detectors. This is done...

Manhattan-World Urban Reconstruction from Point Clouds

KAUST Repository

Li, Minglei

2016-09-16

Manhattan-world urban scenes are common in the real world. We propose a fully automatic approach for reconstructing such scenes from 3D point samples. Our key idea is to represent the geometry of the buildings in the scene using a set of well-aligned boxes. We first extract plane hypothesis from the points followed by an iterative refinement step. Then, candidate boxes are obtained by partitioning the space of the point cloud into a non-uniform grid. After that, we choose an optimal subset of the candidate boxes to approximate the geometry of the buildings. The contribution of our work is that we transform scene reconstruction into a labeling problem that is solved based on a novel Markov Random Field formulation. Unlike previous methods designed for particular types of input point clouds, our method can obtain faithful reconstructions from a variety of data sources. Experiments demonstrate that our method is superior to state-of-the-art methods. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.

The Extraction of Vegetation Points from LiDAR Using 3D Fractal Dimension Analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haiquan Yang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR, a high-precision technique used for acquiring three-dimensional (3D surface information, is widely used to study surface vegetation information. Moreover, the extraction of a vegetation point set from the LiDAR point cloud is a basic starting-point for vegetation information analysis, and an important part of its further processing. To extract the vegetation point set completely and to describe the different spatial morphological characteristics of various features in a LiDAR point cloud, we have used 3D fractal dimensions. We discovered that every feature has its own distinctive 3D fractal dimension interval. Based on the 3D fractal dimensions of tall trees, we propose a new method for the extraction of vegetation using airborne LiDAR. According to this method, target features can be distinguished based on their morphological characteristics. The non-ground points acquired by filtering are processed by region growing segmentation and the morphological characteristics are evaluated by 3D fractal dimensions to determine the features required for the determination of the point set for tall trees. Avon, New York, USA was selected as the study area to test the method and the result proves the method’s efficiency. Thus, this approach is feasible. Additionally, the method uses the 3D coordinate properties of the LiDAR point cloud and does not require additional information, such as return intensity, giving it a larger scope of application.

On the Cut-off Point for Combinatorial Group Testing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Paul; Klasner, N.; Wegener, I.

1999-01-01

is answered by 1 if Q contains at least one essential object and by 0 otherwise. In the statistical setting the objects are essential, independently of each other, with a given probability p combinatorial setting the number k ... group testing is equal to p* = 12(3 - 5), i.e., the strategy of testing each object individually minimizes the average number of queries iff p >= p* or n = 1. In the combinatorial setting the worst case number of queries is of interest. It has been conjectured that the cut-off point of combinatorial...

Maximum power point tracker for photovoltaic power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Arcidiacono, V.; Corsi, S.; Lambri, L.

The paper describes two different closed-loop control criteria for the maximum power point tracking of the voltage-current characteristic of a photovoltaic generator. The two criteria are discussed and compared, inter alia, with regard to the setting-up problems that they pose. Although a detailed analysis is not embarked upon, the paper also provides some quantitative information on the energy advantages obtained by using electronic maximum power point tracking systems, as compared with the situation in which the point of operation of the photovoltaic generator is not controlled at all. Lastly, the paper presents two high-efficiency MPPT converters for experimental photovoltaic plants of the stand-alone and the grid-interconnected type.

Operation and Management of Thermostatically Controlled Loads for Providing Regulation Services to Power Grids

Science.gov (United States)

Vanouni, Maziar

The notion of demand-side participation in power systems operation and control is on the verge of realization because of the advancement in the required technologies an tools like communications, smart meters, sensor networks, large data management techniques, large scale optimization method, etc. Therefore, demand-response (DR) programs can be one of the prosperous solutions to accommodate part of the increasing demand for load balancing services which is brought about by the high penetration of intermittent renewable energies in power systems. This dissertation studies different aspects of the DR programs that utilized the thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) to provide load balancing services. The importance of TCLs among the other loads lie on their flexibility in power consumption pattern while the customer/end-user comfort is not (or minimally) impacted. Chapter 2 discussed a previously presented direct load control (DLC) to control the power consumption of aggregated TCLs. The DLC method performs a power tracking control and based on central approach where a central controller broadcasts the control command to the dispersed TCLs to toggle them on/off. The central controller receives measurement feedback from the TCLs once per couple of minutes to run a successful forecast process. The performance evaluation criteria to evaluate the load balancing service provided by the TCLs are presented. The results are discussed under different scenarios and situation. The numerical results show the proper performance of the DLC method. This DLC method is used as the control method in all the studies in this dissertation. Chapter 3 presents performance improvements for the original method in Chapter 2 by communicating two more pieces of information called forecast parameters (FPs). Communicating improves the forecast process in the DLC and hence, both performance accuracy and the amount of tear-and-wear imposed on the TCLs. Chapter 4 formulates a stochastic

Computing fixed points of nonexpansive mappings by $\\alpha$-dense curves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. García

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Given a multivalued nonexpansive mapping defined on a convex and compact set of a Banach space, with values in the class of convex and compact subsets of its domain, we present an iteration scheme which (under suitable conditions converges to a fixed point of such mapping. This new iteration provides us another method to approximate the fixed points of a singlevalued nonexpansive mapping, defined on a compact and convex set into itself. Moreover, the conditions for the singlevalued case are less restrictive than for the multivalued case. Our main tool will be the so called $\\alpha$-dense curves, which will allow us to construct such iterations. Some numerical examples are provided to illustrate our results.

Collimator settings and performance in 2011 and 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruce, R.; Assmann, R.W.; Burkart, F.; Cauchi, M.; Deboy, D.; Lari, L.; Redaelli, S; Rossi, A.; Salvachua, B.; Valentino, G.; Wollmann, D.

2012-01-01

Collimator settings and performance are key parameters for deciding the reach in intensity and β* in order to conclude on possible limits for the 2012 run, a summary is first given of the relevant running experience in 2011 and the collimation-related MDs. These include among others tight collimator settings, a quench test, and aperture measurements. Based on the 2011 experience, we conclude on possible running scenarios for 2012 in terms of collimator settings, intensity and β* from the collimation point of view. (authors)

Collimation settings and performance in 2011 and 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruce, R; Assmann, R W; Burkart, F; Cauchi, M; Deboy, D; Lari, L; Redaelli, S; Rossi, A; Salvachua, B; Valentino, G; Wollmann, D [European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva (Switzerland)

2012-07-01

Collimator settings and available aperture are key parameters for deciding the reach in intensity and β*. In order to conclude on possible limits for the 2012 run, a summary is first given of the relevant running experience in 2011 and the collimation-related MDs. These include among others tight collimator settings, a quench test, and aperture measurements. Based on the 2011 experience, we conclude on possible running scenarios for 2012 in terms of collimator settings, intensity and β* from the collimation point of view.

Collimation settings and performance in 2011 and 2012

CERN Document Server

Bruce, R; Burkart, F; Cauchi, M; Deboy, D; Lari, L; Redaelli, S; Rossi, A; Salvachua, B; Valentino, G; Wollmann, D

2012-01-01

Collimator settings and available aperture are key parameters for deciding the reach in intensity and β*. In order to conclude on possible limits for the 2012 run, a summary is first given of the relevant running experience in 2011 and the collimation-related MDs. These include among others tight collimator settings, a quench test, and aperture measurements. Based on the 2011 experience, we conclude on possible running scenarios for 2012 in terms of collimator settings, intensity and β* from the collimation point of view.

International urodynamic basic spinal cord injury data set

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Craggs, M.; Kennelly, M.; Schick, E.

2008-01-01

of the data set was developed after review and comments by members of the Executive Committee of the International SCI Standards and Data Sets, the ISCoS Scientific Committee, ASIA Board, relevant and interested (international) organizations and societies (around 40) and persons and the ISCoS Council......: Variables included in the International Urodynamic Basic SCI Data Set are date of data collection, bladder sensation during filling cystometry, detrusor function, compliance during filing cystometry, function during voiding, detrusor leak point pressure, maximum detrusor pressure, cystometric bladder...

Self-similar motion of three point vortices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aref, Hassan

2010-01-01

One of the counter-intuitive results in the three-vortex problem is that the vortices can converge on and meet at a point in a finite time for certain sets of vortex circulations and for certain initial conditions. This result was already included in Groumlbli's thesis of 1877 and has since been ...

Development of Fuzzy Logic Control for Vehicle Air Conditioning System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Nasution

2008-08-01

Full Text Available A vehicle air conditioning system is experimentally investigated. Measurements were taken during the experimental period at a time interval of one minute for a set point temperature of 22, 23 and 24oC with internal heat loads of 0, 1 and 2 kW. The cabin temperature and the speed of the compressor were varied and the performance of the system, energy consumption and energy saving ware analyzed. The main objective of the experimental work is to evaluate the energy saving obtained when the fuzzy logic control (FLC algorithm, through an inverter, continuously regulates the compressor speed. It demonstrates better control of the compressor operation in terms of energy consumption as compared to the control by using a thermostat imposing On/Off cycles on the compressor at the nominal frequency of 50 Hz. The experimental set-up consists of original components from the air conditioning system of a compact passenger vehicle. The experimental results indicate that the proposed technique can save energy and improve indoor comfort significantly for vehicle air conditioning systems compared to the conventional (On/Off control technique.

Searching for fixed point combinators by using automated theorem proving: A preliminary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wos, L.; McCune, W.

1988-09-01

In this report, we establish that the use of an automated theorem- proving program to study deep questions from mathematics and logic is indeed an excellent move. Among such problems, we focus mainly on that concerning the construction of fixed point combinators---a problem considered by logicians to be significant and difficult to solve, and often computationally intensive and arduous. To be a fixed point combinator, Θ must satisfy the equation Θx = x(Θx) for all combinators x. The specific questions on which we focus most heavily ask, for each chosen set of combinators, whether a fixed point combinator can be constructed from the members of that set. For answering questions of this type, we present a new, sound, and efficient method, called the kernel method, which can be applied quite easily by hand and very easily by an automated theorem-proving program. For the application of the kernel method by a theorem-proving program, we illustrate the vital role that is played by both paramodulation and demodulation---two of the powerful features frequently offered by an automated theorem-proving program for treating equality as if it is ''understood.'' We also state a conjecture that, if proved, establishes the completeness of the kernel method. From what we can ascertain, this method---which relies on the introduced concepts of kernel and superkernel---offers the first systematic approach for searching for fixed point combinators. We successfully apply the new kernel method to various sets of combinators and, for the set consisting of the combinators B and W, construct an infinite set of fixed point combinators such that no two of the combinators are equal even in the presence of extensionality---a law that asserts that two combinators are equal if they behave the same. 18 refs

Searching for fixed point combinators by using automated theorem proving: A preliminary report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wos, L.; McCune, W.

1988-09-01

In this report, we establish that the use of an automated theorem- proving program to study deep questions from mathematics and logic is indeed an excellent move. Among such problems, we focus mainly on that concerning the construction of fixed point combinators---a problem considered by logicians to be significant and difficult to solve, and often computationally intensive and arduous. To be a fixed point combinator, THETA must satisfy the equation THETAx = x(THETAx) for all combinators x. The specific questions on which we focus most heavily ask, for each chosen set of combinators, whether a fixed point combinator can be constructed from the members of that set. For answering questions of this type, we present a new, sound, and efficient method, called the kernel method, which can be applied quite easily by hand and very easily by an automated theorem-proving program. For the application of the kernel method by a theorem-proving program, we illustrate the vital role that is played by both paramodulation and demodulation---two of the powerful features frequently offered by an automated theorem-proving program for treating equality as if it is ''understood.'' We also state a conjecture that, if proved, establishes the completeness of the kernel method. From what we can ascertain, this method---which relies on the introduced concepts of kernel and superkernel---offers the first systematic approach for searching for fixed point combinators. We successfully apply the new kernel method to various sets of combinators and, for the set consisting of the combinators B and W, construct an infinite set of fixed point combinators such that no two of the combinators are equal even in the presence of extensionality---a law that asserts that two combinators are equal if they behave the same. 18 refs.

Some remarks on good sets

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

A subset S of is said to be full, if S is a maximal good set in 1S × 2S ืทททื nS. ([3], p. 183). Two points .... assume there is a p for which |np|= |mp|. Then. ∑k j=1 nj xj = 0 ..... M G Nadkarni for suggesting the problems and for encouragement and ...

FINDING CUBOID-BASED BUILDING MODELS IN POINT CLOUDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Nguatem

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an automatic approach for the derivation of 3D building models of level-of-detail 1 (LOD 1 from point clouds obtained from (dense image matching or, for comparison only, from LIDAR. Our approach makes use of the predominance of vertical structures and orthogonal intersections in architectural scenes. After robustly determining the scene's vertical direction based on the 3D points we use it as constraint for a RANSAC-based search for vertical planes in the point cloud. The planes are further analyzed to segment reliable outlines for rectangular surface within these planes, which are connected to construct cuboid-based building models. We demonstrate that our approach is robust and effective over a range of real-world input data sets with varying point density, amount of noise, and outliers.

A new approach for determination of break points for protection co-ordination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Askarian Abyaneh, H.; Razavi, F.; Al-Dabbagh, M.; Kazemi; Kargar, H.; Jannatian, M.

2003-01-01

Interconnected power system networks are multi lop structured. Settings determination of all overcurrent and distance relays in such networks can be in different forms and complicated. The main problem is the determination of starting points i. e. the location of starting relays in the producer for settings, which is referred to as break points. In this paper, a new approach based on graph theory is introduced in which the relevant matrices dimensions are reduced. The method is flexible and achievement of the desired solution can obtained in a relatively short time

Modeling spatial variability of sand-lenses in clay till settings using transition probability and multiple-point geostatistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessler, Timo Christian; Nilsson, Bertel; Klint, Knud Erik

2010-01-01

(TPROGS) of alternating geological facies. The second method, multiple-point statistics, uses training images to estimate the conditional probability of sand-lenses at a certain location. Both methods respect field observations such as local stratigraphy, however, only the multiple-point statistics can...... of sand-lenses in clay till. Sand-lenses mainly account for horizontal transport and are prioritised in this study. Based on field observations, the distribution has been modeled using two different geostatistical approaches. One method uses a Markov chain model calculating the transition probabilities...

Global Dynamical Systems Involving Generalized -Projection Operators and Set-Valued Perturbation in Banach Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun-zhi Zou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A new class of generalized dynamical systems involving generalized f-projection operators is introduced and studied in Banach spaces. By using the fixed-point theorem due to Nadler, the equilibrium points set of this class of generalized global dynamical systems is proved to be nonempty and closed under some suitable conditions. Moreover, the solutions set of the systems with set-valued perturbation is showed to be continuous with respect to the initial value.

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Mississippi: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for gulls and terns in Mississippi. Vector points in this data set represent bird nesting sites. Species...

On the Computational Content of the Krasnoselski and Ishikawa Fixed Point Theorems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kohlenbach, Ulrich

2001-01-01

This paper is part of a case study in proof mining applied to non-effective proofs in nonlinear functional analysis. More specifically, we are concerned with the fixed point theory of nonexpansive selfmappings f of convex sets C in normed spaces. We study Krasnoselski and more general so-called K......This paper is part of a case study in proof mining applied to non-effective proofs in nonlinear functional analysis. More specifically, we are concerned with the fixed point theory of nonexpansive selfmappings f of convex sets C in normed spaces. We study Krasnoselski and more general so...... and Shafrir (1992) to unbounded sets C. Our explicit bounds also imply new qualitative results concerning the independence of the rate of asymptotic regularity from various data....

Western Alaska ESI: SOCECON (Socioeconomic Resource Points and Lines)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains human-use resource data for airports, mining sites, area boundaries, and scenic rivers in Western Alaska. Vector points and lines in this data...

Natural Preconditioning and Iterative Methods for Saddle Point Systems

KAUST Repository

Pestana, Jennifer; Wathen, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

or the discrete setting, so saddle point systems arising from the discretization of partial differential equation problems, such as those describing electromagnetic problems or incompressible flow, lead to equations with this structure, as do, for example

Finding a single point of truth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sokolov, S.; Thijssen, H. [Autodesk Inc, Toronto, ON (Canada); Laslo, D.; Martin, J. [Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, CA (United States)

2010-07-01

Electric utilities collect large volumes of data at every level of their business, including SCADA, Smart Metering and Smart Grid initiatives, LIDAR and other 3D imagery surveys. Different types of database systems are used to store the information, rendering data flow within the utility business process extremely complicated. The industry trend has been to endure redundancy of data input and maintenance of multiple copies of the same data across different solution data sets. Efforts have been made to improve the situation with point to point interfaces, but with the tools and solutions available today, a single point of truth can be achieved. Consolidated and validated data can be published into a data warehouse at the right point in the process, making the information available to all other enterprise systems and solutions. This paper explained how the single point of truth spatial data warehouse and process automation services can be configured to streamline the flow of data within the utility business process using the initiate-plan-execute-close (IPEC) utility workflow model. The paper first discussed geospatial challenges faced by utilities and then presented the approach and technology aspects. It was concluded that adoption of systems and solutions that can function with and be controlled by the IPEC workflow can provide significant improvement for utility operations, particularly if those systems are coupled with the spatial data warehouse that reflects a single point of truth. 6 refs., 3 figs.

On the sighting of unicorns: A variational approach to computing invariant sets in dynamical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Junge, Oliver; Kevrekidis, Ioannis G.

2017-06-01

We propose to compute approximations to invariant sets in dynamical systems by minimizing an appropriate distance between a suitably selected finite set of points and its image under the dynamics. We demonstrate, through computational experiments, that this approach can successfully converge to approximations of (maximal) invariant sets of arbitrary topology, dimension, and stability, such as, e.g., saddle type invariant sets with complicated dynamics. We further propose to extend this approach by adding a Lennard-Jones type potential term to the objective function, which yields more evenly distributed approximating finite point sets, and illustrate the procedure through corresponding numerical experiments.

Exploring the reference point in prospect theory: gambles for length of life.

Science.gov (United States)

van Osch, Sylvie M C; van den Hout, Wilbert B; Stiggelbout, Anne M

2006-01-01

Attitude toward risk is an important factor determining patient preferences. Risk behavior has been shown to be strongly dependent on the perception of the outcome as either a gain or a loss. According to prospect theory, the reference point determines how an outcome is perceived. However, no theory on the location of the reference point exists, and for the health domain, there is no direct evidence for the location of the reference point. This article combines qualitative with quantitative data to provide evidence of the reference point in life-year certainty equivalent (CE) gambles and to explore the psychology behind the reference point. The authors argue that goals (aspirations) in life influence the reference point. While thinking aloud, 45 healthy respondents gave certainty equivalents for life-year CE gambles with long and short durations of survival. Contrary to suggestions from the literature, qualitative data argued that the offered certainty equivalent most frequently served as the reference point. Thus, respondents perceived life-year CE gambles as mixed. Framing of the question and goals set in life appeared to be important factors behind the psychology of the reference point. On the basis of the authors' quantitative and qualitative data, they argue that goals alter the perception of outcomes as described by prospect theory by influencing the reference point. This relationship is more apparent for the near future as opposed to the remote future, as goals are mostly set for the near future.

A mixture model for robust point matching under multi-layer motion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiayi Ma

Full Text Available This paper proposes an efficient mixture model for establishing robust point correspondences between two sets of points under multi-layer motion. Our algorithm starts by creating a set of putative correspondences which can contain a number of false correspondences, or outliers, in addition to the true correspondences (inliers. Next we solve for correspondence by interpolating a set of spatial transformations on the putative correspondence set based on a mixture model, which involves estimating a consensus of inlier points whose matching follows a non-parametric geometrical constraint. We formulate this as a maximum a posteriori (MAP estimation of a Bayesian model with hidden/latent variables indicating whether matches in the putative set are outliers or inliers. We impose non-parametric geometrical constraints on the correspondence, as a prior distribution, in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS. MAP estimation is performed by the EM algorithm which by also estimating the variance of the prior model (initialized to a large value is able to obtain good estimates very quickly (e.g., avoiding many of the local minima inherent in this formulation. We further provide a fast implementation based on sparse approximation which can achieve a significant speed-up without much performance degradation. We illustrate the proposed method on 2D and 3D real images for sparse feature correspondence, as well as a public available dataset for shape matching. The quantitative results demonstrate that our method is robust to non-rigid deformation and multi-layer/large discontinuous motion.

Optimization of a dual-fuel heating system utilizing an EMS a maintain persistence of measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolpert, J.S.; Wolpert, S.B.; Martin, G.

1993-01-01

An older small office building was subjected to a program substituting gas for electric heat to reduce energy cost and improve comfort for approximately one year and was permanently instituted, with the installation of an energy management system (EMS) the following year. This paper will present a description of the facility, its usage patterns, and the measures taken to introduce the fuel-switching program. The impacts on energy usage and cost as well as comfort will also be reported. This program was initiated by a preliminary audit of the facility conducted by the service contractor in conjunction with the area gas wholesaler. During the audit it was observed that the heating set points for the gas-fired equipment was kept fairly low. This was the result of the desire to keep the cooling set point low and the use of auto-changeover thermostats. The result of this was that the system utilized the gas heat to come up to 68-70 degrees with the majority of the zones then relying on their electric heat to bring temperatures into the 73-75 degrees range. In addition to impacting energy costs, this approach generated numerous comfort complaints. As a further electric penalty, the low cooling set point resulted in a heavy reliance on electric heat (reheat) all summer. The basis of the proposed strategy was to reduce the heavy usage of electric heat by making the building comfortable through reliance more heavily on gas heat. This was tested by raising the heating set points for the RTUS. The success of this approach, along with the comfort considerations and the desire for further savings, led to the installation of an EMS. This allowed further refinements of the control strategy, which are briefly described. When completed, the fuel-switching led to an increase in annual gas costs of 125% with a corresponding decrease in electric cost of nearly 30% for an annual utility cost savings of over 19%

Managing distance and covariate information with point-based clustering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter A. Whigham

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Geographic perspectives of disease and the human condition often involve point-based observations and questions of clustering or dispersion within a spatial context. These problems involve a finite set of point observations and are constrained by a larger, but finite, set of locations where the observations could occur. Developing a rigorous method for pattern analysis in this context requires handling spatial covariates, a method for constrained finite spatial clustering, and addressing bias in geographic distance measures. An approach, based on Ripley’s K and applied to the problem of clustering with deliberate self-harm (DSH, is presented. Methods Point-based Monte-Carlo simulation of Ripley’s K, accounting for socio-economic deprivation and sources of distance measurement bias, was developed to estimate clustering of DSH at a range of spatial scales. A rotated Minkowski L1 distance metric allowed variation in physical distance and clustering to be assessed. Self-harm data was derived from an audit of 2 years’ emergency hospital presentations (n = 136 in a New Zealand town (population ~50,000. Study area was defined by residential (housing land parcels representing a finite set of possible point addresses. Results Area-based deprivation was spatially correlated. Accounting for deprivation and distance bias showed evidence for clustering of DSH for spatial scales up to 500 m with a one-sided 95 % CI, suggesting that social contagion may be present for this urban cohort. Conclusions Many problems involve finite locations in geographic space that require estimates of distance-based clustering at many scales. A Monte-Carlo approach to Ripley’s K, incorporating covariates and models for distance bias, are crucial when assessing health-related clustering. The case study showed that social network structure defined at the neighbourhood level may account for aspects of neighbourhood clustering of DSH. Accounting for

Nearshore bars and the break-point hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Sallenger, A.H.; Howd, P.A.

1989-01-01

The set of hypotheses calling for bar formation at the break point was tested with field data. During two different experiments, waves were measured across the surf zone coincident with the development of a nearshore bar. We use a criterion, based on the wave height to depth ratio, to determine the offshore limit of the inner surf zone. During the first experiment, the bar became better developed and migrated offshore while remaining well within the inner surf zone. During the second experiment, the surf zone was narrower and we cannot rule out the possibility of break point processes contributing to bar development. We conclude that bars are not necessarily coupled with the break point and can become better developed and migrate offshore while being in the inner surf zone landward from initial wave breaking in the outer surf zone. ?? 1989.

Application of point system in the project control of Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie ahai

2005-01-01

Schedule control and cost control are very complicated issues even we set up the detail schedules and engineering measurements requirements for erection of a nuclear power project. In order to solve these problems, a Point System is used in Ling Ao (LA) Nuclear Power Project. This paper introduces the method. The Point System is a measurement system of workload. The measurement unit of any erection works is a Point only. A Point of workload is defined as the equivalent measurement quantities, which could be completed by a relevant skill worker within an hour. A set of procedure manuals for different installations has been set up. The calculation models of equipment installation, piping, cabling are addressed for example in the paper. The application of the Point System in the schedule control is shown in the paper. The following issues are highlighted: to define the duration of a piping activity in the Project Level 2 Schedule, to draught the curves of Point Schedules for different erection fields, to analyze the productive efficiency, to define erection quota of each month for different erection teams, to follow up the erection progress on site. The application of the Point System in the payment of erection contract is outlined. The calculation formula of a monthly payment is given. The advantage of the payment calculation method is discussed, for example, more accurate, very easy and clearly to check the measurement quantities completed on site, to control lump-sum cost. (authors)

Measures of Noncircularity and Fixed Points of Contractive Multifunctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marrero Isabel

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In analogy to the Eisenfeld-Lakshmikantham measure of nonconvexity and the Hausdorff measure of noncompactness, we introduce two mutually equivalent measures of noncircularity for Banach spaces satisfying a Cantor type property, and apply them to establish a fixed point theorem of Darbo type for multifunctions. Namely, we prove that every multifunction with closed values, defined on a closed set and contractive with respect to any one of these measures, has the origin as a fixed point.

The Effect of Distributed Practice in Undergraduate Statistics Homework Sets: A Randomized Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Crissinger, Bryan R.

2015-01-01

Most homework sets in statistics courses are constructed so that students concentrate or "mass" their practice on a certain topic in one problem set. Distributed practice homework sets include review problems in each set so that practice on a topic is distributed across problem sets. There is a body of research that points to the…

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Hudson River: SENSITIV (Sensitive Area Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains human-use resource data for sensitive areas along the Hudson River. Vector points in this data set represent sensitive areas. This data set...

The Purification Method of Matching Points Based on Principal Component Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DONG Yang

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The traditional purification method of matching points usually uses a small number of the points as initial input. Though it can meet most of the requirements of point constraints, the iterative purification solution is easy to fall into local extreme, which results in the missing of correct matching points. To solve this problem, we introduce the principal component analysis method to use the whole point set as initial input. And thorough mismatching points step eliminating and robust solving, more accurate global optimal solution, which intends to reduce the omission rate of correct matching points and thus reaches better purification effect, can be obtained. Experimental results show that this method can obtain the global optimal solution under a certain original false matching rate, and can decrease or avoid the omission of correct matching points.

Level set method for image segmentation based on moment competition

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Hai; Wang, Xiao-Feng; Huang, De-Shuang; Jin, Jing; Wang, Hong-Zhi; Li, Hai

2015-05-01

We propose a level set method for image segmentation which introduces the moment competition and weakly supervised information into the energy functional construction. Different from the region-based level set methods which use force competition, the moment competition is adopted to drive the contour evolution. Here, a so-called three-point labeling scheme is proposed to manually label three independent points (weakly supervised information) on the image. Then the intensity differences between the three points and the unlabeled pixels are used to construct the force arms for each image pixel. The corresponding force is generated from the global statistical information of a region-based method and weighted by the force arm. As a result, the moment can be constructed and incorporated into the energy functional to drive the evolving contour to approach the object boundary. In our method, the force arm can take full advantage of the three-point labeling scheme to constrain the moment competition. Additionally, the global statistical information and weakly supervised information are successfully integrated, which makes the proposed method more robust than traditional methods for initial contour placement and parameter setting. Experimental results with performance analysis also show the superiority of the proposed method on segmenting different types of complicated images, such as noisy images, three-phase images, images with intensity inhomogeneity, and texture images.

Markov Random Field Restoration of Point Correspondences for Active Shape Modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hilger, Klaus Baggesen; Paulsen, Rasmus Reinhold; Larsen, Rasmus

2004-01-01

In this paper it is described how to build a statistical shape model using a training set with a sparse of landmarks. A well defined model mesh is selected and fitted to all shapes in the training set using thin plate spline warping. This is followed by a projection of the points of the warped...

Coverage of space by random sets

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Consider the non-negative integer line. For each integer point we toss a coin. If the toss at location i is a. Heads we place an interval (of random length) there and move to location i + 1,. Tails we move to location i + 1. Coverage of space by random sets – p. 2/29 ...

Projections onto Convex Sets Super-Resolution Reconstruction Based on Point Spread Function Estimation of Low-Resolution Remote Sensing Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chong Fan

2017-02-01

Full Text Available To solve the problem on inaccuracy when estimating the point spread function (PSF of the ideal original image in traditional projection onto convex set (POCS super-resolution (SR reconstruction, this paper presents an improved POCS SR algorithm based on PSF estimation of low-resolution (LR remote sensing images. The proposed algorithm can improve the spatial resolution of the image and benefit agricultural crop visual interpolation. The PSF of the highresolution (HR image is unknown in reality. Therefore, analysis of the relationship between the PSF of the HR image and the PSF of the LR image is important to estimate the PSF of the HR image by using multiple LR images. In this study, the linear relationship between the PSFs of the HR and LR images can be proven. In addition, the novel slant knife-edge method is employed, which can improve the accuracy of the PSF estimation of LR images. Finally, the proposed method is applied to reconstruct airborne digital sensor 40 (ADS40 three-line array images and the overlapped areas of two adjacent GF-2 images by embedding the estimated PSF of the HR image to the original POCS SR algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method yields higher quality of reconstructed images than that produced by the blind SR method and the bicubic interpolation method.

Optimality Conditions in Differentiable Vector Optimization via Second-Order Tangent Sets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez, Bienvenido; Novo, Vicente

2004-01-01

We provide second-order necessary and sufficient conditions for a point to be an efficient element of a set with respect to a cone in a normed space, so that there is only a small gap between necessary and sufficient conditions. To this aim, we use the common second-order tangent set and the asymptotic second-order cone utilized by Penot. As an application we establish second-order necessary conditions for a point to be a solution of a vector optimization problem with an arbitrary feasible set and a twice Frechet differentiable objective function between two normed spaces. We also establish second-order sufficient conditions when the initial space is finite-dimensional so that there is no gap with necessary conditions. Lagrange multiplier rules are also given

Consistency of Trend Break Point Estimator with Underspecified Break Number

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingjing Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the consistency of trend break point estimators when the number of breaks is underspecified. The consistency of break point estimators in a simple location model with level shifts has been well documented by researchers under various settings, including extensions such as allowing a time trend in the model. Despite the consistency of break point estimators of level shifts, there are few papers on the consistency of trend shift break point estimators in the presence of an underspecified break number. The simulation study and asymptotic analysis in this paper show that the trend shift break point estimator does not converge to the true break points when the break number is underspecified. In the case of two trend shifts, the inconsistency problem worsens if the magnitudes of the breaks are similar and the breaks are either both positive or both negative. The limiting distribution for the trend break point estimator is developed and closely approximates the finite sample performance.

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Florida Panhandle: INVERTPT (Invertebrate Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for threatened/endangered invertebrate species for the Florida Panhandle. Vector points in this data set...

Atomic and vibrational origins of mechanical toughness in bioactive cement during setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tian, Kun V.; Yang, Bin; Yue, Yuanzheng

2015-01-01

Bioactive glass ionomer cements (GICs) have been in widespread use for B40 years in dentistry and medicine. However, these composites fall short of the toughness needed for permanent implants. Significant impediment to improvement has been the requisite use of conventional destructive mechanical...... interfacial configurations. Contrary to convention, we find setting is non-monotonic, characterized by abrupt features not previously detected, including a glass–polymer coupling point, an early setting point, where decreasing toughness unexpectedly recovers, followed by stress-induced weakening of interfaces...

Geometrical setting of solid mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiala, Zdenek

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Solid mechanics within the Riemannian symmetric manifold GL (3, R)/O (3, R). → Generalized logarithmic strain. → Consistent linearization. → Incremental principle of virtual power. → Time-discrete approximation. - Abstract: The starting point in the geometrical setting of solid mechanics is to represent deformation process of a solid body as a trajectory in a convenient space with Riemannian geometry, and then to use the corresponding tools for its analysis. Based on virtual power of internal stresses, we show that such a configuration space is the (globally) symmetric space of symmetric positive-definite real matrices. From this unifying point of view, we shall analyse the logarithmic strain, the stress rate, as well as linearization and intrinsic integration of corresponding evolution equation.

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Florida Panhandle: REPTPT (Reptile Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for threatened and endangered reptiles/amphibians for the Florida Panhandle. Vector points in this data set...

Goal setting as a self-regulation mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suvorov, A.; van de Ven, J.

2009-01-01

We develop a theory of self-regulation based on goal setting for an agent with present-biased preferences. Preferences are assumed to be reference-dependent and exhibit loss aversion, as in prospect theory. The reference point is determined endogenously as an optimal self-sustaining goal. The

Goal setting as a self-regulation mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suvorov, A.; van de Ven, J.

2008-01-01

We develop a theory of self-regulation based on goal setting for an agent with present-biased preferences. Preferences are assumed to be reference-dependent and exhibit loss aversion, as in prospect theory. The reference point is determined endogenously as an optimal self-sustaining goal. The

HIV Point-of-Care Testing in Canadian Settings: A Scoping Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Minichiello, Alexa; Swab, Michelle; Chongo, Meck; Marshall, Zack; Gahagan, Jacqueline; Maybank, Allison; Hot, Aurélie; Schwandt, Michael; Gaudry, Sonia; Hurley, Oliver; Asghari, Shabnam

2017-01-01

HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) was approved for use in Canada in 2005 and provides important public health benefits by providing rapid screening results rather than sending a blood sample to a laboratory and waiting on test results. Access to test results soon after testing (or during the same visit) is believed to increase the likelihood that individuals will receive their results and improve access to confirmatory testing and linkages to care. This paper reviews the literature on the utilization of HIV POCT across Canadian provinces. We searched OVID Medline, Embase, EBM Reviews, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and 20 electronic grey literature databases. All empirical studies investigating HIV POCT programs in Canada published in French or English were included. Searches of academic databases identified a total of 6,091 records. After removing duplicates and screening for eligibility, 27 records were included. Ten studies are peer-reviewed articles, and 17 are grey literature reports. HIV POCT in Canada is both feasible and accepted by Canadians. It is preferred to conventional HIV testing (ranging from 81.1 to 97%), and users are highly satisfied with the testing process (ranging between 96 and 100%). The majority of studies demonstrate that HIV POCT is feasible, preferred, and accepted by diverse populations in Canada. Losses to follow-up and linkage rates are also good. However, more research is needed to understand how best to scale up HIV POCT in contexts that currently have very limited or no access to testing.

Sewerage Collection Lines - MO 2014 Springfield Sewer Dead Points (SHP)

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — This data set was prepared for the City of Springfield by the GIS Section of the Information Systems Department. This is a point file that shows manholes, lampholes,...

PowerPivot for Business Intelligence Using Excel and SharePoint

CERN Document Server

Ralston, Barry

2011-01-01

PowerPivot comprises a set of technologies for easy access to data mining and business intelligence analysis from Microsoft Excel and SharePoint. Power users and developers alike can create sophisticated, online analytic processing (OLAP) solutions using PowerPivot for Excel, and then share those solutions with other users via PowerPivot for SharePoint. Data can be pulled in from any of the leading database platforms, as well as from spreadsheets and flat files. PowerPivot for Business Intelligence Using Excel and SharePoint is your key to mastering PowerPivot. The book takes a scenario-based

Maximum power point tracker based on fuzzy logic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daoud, A.; Midoun, A.

2006-01-01

The solar energy is used as power source in photovoltaic power systems and the need for an intelligent power management system is important to obtain the maximum power from the limited solar panels. With the changing of the sun illumination due to variation of angle of incidence of sun radiation and of the temperature of the panels, Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) enables optimization of solar power generation. The MPPT is a sub-system designed to extract the maximum power from a power source. In the case of solar panels power source. the maximum power point varies as a result of changes in its electrical characteristics which in turn are functions of radiation dose, temperature, ageing and other effects. The MPPT maximum the power output from panels for a given set of conditions by detecting the best working point of the power characteristic and then controls the current through the panels or the voltage across them. Many MPPT methods have been reported in literature. These techniques of MPPT can be classified into three main categories that include: lookup table methods, hill climbing methods and computational methods. The techniques vary according to the degree of sophistication, processing time and memory requirements. The perturbation and observation algorithm (hill climbing technique) is commonly used due to its ease of implementation, and relative tracking efficiency. However, it has been shown that when the insolation changes rapidly, the perturbation and observation method is slow to track the maximum power point. In recent years, the fuzzy controllers are used for maximum power point tracking. This method only requires the linguistic control rules for maximum power point, the mathematical model is not required and therefore the implementation of this control method is easy to real control system. In this paper, we we present a simple robust MPPT using fuzzy set theory where the hardware consists of the microchip's microcontroller unit control card and

Point efficiency of the notion in multi objective programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kampempe, B.J.D.; Manya, N.L.

2010-01-01

The approaches to the problem of multi-objective linear programming stochastic (PLMS) which have been proposed so far in the literature are not really satisfactory (9,11), so we want, in this article, to approach the problem of PLMS using the concept of efficiency point. It is also necessary to define what is meant by efficiency point in the context of PLMS. This is precisely the purpose of this article. In fact, it seeks to provide specific definitions of effective solutions that are not only mathematically consistent, but also have significance to a decision maker faced with such a decision problem. As a result, we have to use the concept of dominance in the time of PLMS, in the context where one has ordinal preference but no utility functions. In this paper, we propose to further explore the concepts of dominance and efficiency point. Indeed, the whole point P effective solutions are usually very broad and as we shall see, it can be identical to X. Accordingly, we will try to relax the definition of dominance relation >p in order to obtain other types of dominance point less demanding and generating subsets may be more effective especially interesting for a decision maker. We shall have to distinguish two other families of dominance relations point : the dominance and dominance scenario test, and within sets of efficient solutions proposed by these last two relations, we will focus on subsets of efficient solutions called sponsored and unanimous. We will study the properties of these various relationships and the possible links between the different effective resulting sets in order to find them and to calculate them explicitly. Finally we will establish some connections between different notions of efficiency and timely concept of Pareto-efficient solution on the deterministic case (PLMD)

Freeze-dried plasma at the point of injury: from concept to doctrine.

Science.gov (United States)

Glassberg, Elon; Nadler, Roy; Gendler, Sami; Abramovich, Amir; Spinella, Philip C; Gerhardt, Robert T; Holcomb, John B; Kreiss, Yitshak

2013-12-01

While early plasma transfusion for the treatment of patients with ongoing major hemorrhage is widely accepted as part of the standard of care in the hospital setting, logistic constraints have limited its use in the out-of-hospital setting. Freeze-dried plasma (FDP), which can be stored at ambient temperatures, enables early treatment in the out-of-hospital setting. Point-of-injury plasma transfusion entails several significant advantages over currently used resuscitation fluids, including the avoidance of dilutional coagulopathy, by minimizing the need for crystalloid infusion, beneficial effects on endothelial function, physiological pH level, and better maintenance of intravascular volume compared with crystalloid-based solutions. The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps policy is that plasma is the resuscitation fluid of choice for selected, severely wounded patients and has thus included FDP as part of its armamentarium for use at the point of injury by advanced life savers, across the entire military. We describe the clinical rationale behind the use of FDP at the point-of-injury, the drafting of the administration protocol now being used by Israel Defense Forces advanced life support providers, the process of procurement and distribution, and preliminary data describing the first casualties treated with FDP at the point of injury. It is our hope that others will be able to learn from our experience, thus improving trauma casualty care around the world.

Thermal conductivity at a disordered quantum critical point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartnoll, Sean A.; Ramirez, David M.; Santos, Jorge E.

2016-01-01

Strongly disordered and strongly interacting quantum critical points are difficult to access with conventional field theoretic methods. They are, however, both experimentally important and theoretically interesting. In particular, they are expected to realize universal incoherent transport. Such disordered quantum critical theories have recently been constructed holographically by deforming a CFT by marginally relevant disorder. In this paper we find additional disordered fixed points via relevant disordered deformations of a holographic CFT. Using recently developed methods in holographic transport, we characterize the thermal conductivity in both sets of theories in 1+1 dimensions. The thermal conductivity is found to tend to a constant at low temperatures in one class of fixed points, and to scale as T"0"."3 in the other. Furthermore, in all cases the thermal conductivity exhibits discrete scale invariance, with logarithmic in temperature oscillations superimposed on the low temperature scaling behavior. At no point do we use the replica trick.

Lixiviation of heavy metals of hazardous industrial wastes by means of thermostatized columns and design of a pilot plant; Lixiviacion de metales pesados de residuos industriales peligrosos por medio de columnas termostatizadas y diseno de una planta piloto

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vite T, J.; Leon, C.C. de [ININ, 52045 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico); Vite T, M.; Soto T, J.L. [IPN, SEPI, ESIME 07738 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)]. e-mail: jvite@nuclear.inin.mx

2006-07-01

purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of lixiviation of heavy metals, using thermostatized columns and hazardous industrial residual wastes: those by the volume with which are generated and its high toxicity, its represent a great problem for it treatment and disposition, in this work a diagram of a pilot plant for extraction of heavy metals is included. The process and equipment were patented in United States and in Mexico. For the development of this study four thermostated columns were used that were coupled. The waste were finely milled and suspended in an aqueous pulp adding of 10 - 40gL{sup -1} of mineral acid or sodium hydroxide until reaching an interval of pH of 2,5,7 and 10. Its were used of 4-10 gL{sup -1} of a reducer agent and of 0.3-1.5 g of a surfactant agent. In some cases with this method was possible to remove until 100% of heavy metals. It was used Plasma Emission Spectroscopy to determine the concentrations of the cations in the lixiviation liquors. For studying the metallic alloys the X-ray diffraction technique was used. (Author)

Thermostatic tissue platform for intravital microscopy: 'the hanging drop' model.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlovic, Dragan; Frieling, Helge; Lauer, Kai-Stephan; Bac, Vo Hoai; Richter, Joern; Wendt, Michael; Lehmann, Christian; Usichenko, Taras; Meissner, Konrad; Gruendling, Matthias

2006-11-01

Intravital microscopy imposes the particular problem of the combined control of the body temperature of the animal and the local temperature of the observed organ or tissues. We constructed and tested, in the rat ileum microcirculation preparation, a new organ-support platform. The platform consisted of an organ bath filled with physiological solution, and contained a suction tube, a superfusion tube, an intestine-support hand that was attached to a micromanipulator and a thermometer probe. To cover the intestine we used a cover glass plate with a plastic ring glued on its upper surface. After a routine procedure (anaesthesia, monitoring and surgery), the intestine segment (2-3 cm long) was gently exteriorized and placed on the 'hand' of the organ support. A small part of the intestine formed a small 'island' in the bath that was filled with physiological salt solution. The cover glass was secured in place. The physiological salt solution from the superfusion tube, which was pointed to the lower surface of the cover glass, formed a 'hanging drop'. The objective of the microscope was then immersed into distilled water that was formed by the cover glass plastic ring. The 'hanging drop' technique prevented any tissue quenching, ensured undisturbed microcirculation, provided for stable temperature and humidity, and permitted a clear visual field.

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: New Hampshire: NESTS (Nest Points)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for nesting birds in New Hampshire. Vector points in this data set represent locations of nesting osprey...

Speeding up Coarse Point Cloud Registration by Threshold-Independent Baysac Match Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Z.; Lindenbergh, R.; Pu, S.

2016-06-01