On the Universal Computing Power of Amorphous Computing Systems

Amorphous computing differs from the classical ideas about computations almost in every aspect. The architecture of amorphous computers is random, since they consist of a plethora of identical computational units spread randomly over a given area. Within a limited radius the units can communicate wirelessly with their neighbors via a single-channel radio. We consider a model whose assumptions on the underlying computing and communication abilities are among the weakest possible: all computational units are finite state probabilistic automata working asynchronously, there is no broadcasting collision detection mechanism and no network addresses. We show that under reasonable probabilistic assumptions such amorphous computing systems can possess universal computing power with a high probability. The underlying theory makes use of properties of random graphs and that of probabilistic analysis of algorithms. To the best of our knowledge this is the first result showing the universality of such computing systems. This research was carried out within the institutional research plan AV0Z10300504 and partially supported by the GA ČR grant No. 1ET100300517 and GD201/05/H014. A preliminary, shorter version of this paper has been presented at the Third Conference on Computability in Europe, CiE 2007, Siena, Italy, June 2007 and published in the proceedings from this conference.     

The fields and currents of a thin biconical antenna. The parameters of a radiating antenna

A theoretical analysis of the operation of a thin radiating biconical antenna is given. Formulas are obtained for the current distribution in the antenna and its input impedance. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 43–47, January, 2008.     

Effect of heat treatment on the structural and phase transformations and mechanical properties of TiNi alloy subjected to severe plastic deformation by torsion

Effect of annealing on the structural and phase transformations and mechanical properties of large-size samples of the Ti_49.4Ni_50.6 alloy preliminary subjected to severe plastic deformation by torsion under a high pressure (HPT) is studied. The study was performed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, and measurements of mechanical properties. The annealing was found to result in the nanocrystallization of initial samples amorphized by HPT. In this alloy, the high-strength uniform nanostructured state is formed the size of nanocrystalline grains of which and the mechanical properties depend on the temperature and time of annealing.     

A unified systolic array for adaptive beamforming

We present a new algorithm and systolic array for adaptive beamforming. Our approach improves on McWhirter's pioneering work in two respects. First, our algorithm uses only orthogonal transformations and thus should have better numerical properties. Second, the algorithm can be implemented on one single p × p triangular array of programmable processors that offers a throughput of one residual element per cycle.     

Constructing maximal slicings from geometry

Summary We present an optimal algorithm to determine whether a placement of N isothetic non-overlapping rectangles (macros) can be represented by a slicing tree, and if so, to find a representation of minimal height. A slicing is a recursive partition of the overall bounding rectangle, by straight horizontal or vertical cuts, into rectangular regions, each one containing exactly one macro. The algorithm first determines a representation of the empty space of the placement by means of maximally extended horizontal and vertical channels. A second phase then generates a maximal slicing tree (an ordered tree with unbounded degree and maximal branching, i.e., minimal height) in a top-down fashion. The complexity of each phase is O(N log N). The problem arises in steps (1) and (2) of our top-down approach to VLSI custom chip design, which consists of (1) floorplanning by slicing, (2) hierarchicial global wiring, and (3) detailed layout of macros.On leave from: Laboratory of Information Processing Science, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, FinlandOn leave from: Dipartimento di Elettrotecnica, Elettronica e Informatica, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Valerio, 10-34127 Trieste, Italy     

Wideband folded L-slot shorted-patch antenna

A folded L-slot patch antenna with a short-circuited wall is presented. By introducing triple-resonance, a coaxial-fed one-fifth wavelength-long patch antenna can achieve an impedance bandwidth of up to 76% (SWR<2) and a peak gain as high as 8.5 dBi. Both measured and simulated results are presented.     

海外家庭影院视听室设计赏析

原来这个房间是一个书房,里面还可以用作办公和看一下电视,其实和很多人的房间没有太大区别。房子的主人在选择视听室的问题上花费了大量时间,但据我们观察发现,虽然其他的房间条件都不错,作为视听室是可以考虑的,但是在空间的比例上来说,这个小书房是最好的了。听了我们的意见之后,屋主也是这样认     

Structure and properties of hot-rolled strips obtained from titanium chips without chip remelting

Introduction of hydrogen technology provided hot-rolling fabrication of thin strips from chips of VT1-0 titanium alloy without chip remelting. It is established that the plasticity of strips made from this alloy largely depends on the presence of excess dispersed particles in the structure. It is assumed that they are the sparingly soluble oxides formed during the destruction in the course of pressure treatment of the oxide film retained on the chip surface. After homogenization, which can be combined with vacuum annealing for hydrogen removal, the structure and mechanical properties of the strips obtained by hydrogen technology correspond to the characteristics of semifinished products fabricated by ingot technology.     

Electrocatalytic Processes on PbO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Electrodes at High Anodic Potentials

The determination of the electrocatalytic activity and selectivity of electrodes with respect to the target process is considered to be of interest both in the theoretical aspect for the development of electrocatalysis theory and in application for efficient electrocatalysts which can be used in electrochemical systems for wastewater treatment. The purpose of the given work was to identify the relationship between the chemical and phase composition of materials based on lead dioxide, their physicochemical properties, and their electrocatalytic activity. The main research methods were quasi-stationary polarization and impedance spectroscopy, photocolorimetry, fluorescent and spectrophotometry in the UV and visible regions, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and high performance liquid chromatography (analysis of the solutions). It was shown that the modification of lead dioxide by ionic additives results in significant changes in the electrocatalytic activity of the system in respect to the oxygen evolution reaction and electrochemical oxidation reactions of organic compounds. It was found that, at low polarizations, the oxygen evolution reaction is limited by the electrochemical desorption step (the second electron transfer), and its overpotential at PbO₂-modified electrodes increases in the order that coincides with the dependence in which the number of oxygen-containing particles strongly bound to the electrode surface increases. It was found that the rate of oxidation of organic substances on the anode materials involved is directly proportional to the amount of oxygen-containing radicals formed on the electrode during the water oxidation.     

Preparation and characterization of hydroxyapatite from eggshell

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) was successfully produced by using recycled eggshell. The observed phases of the synthesised materials were dependent on the mechanochemical activation method (ball milling and attrition milling). The structures of the HAp were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Attrition milling proved to be more efficient than ball milling, as resulted nanosize, homogenous HAp even after milling.