Potential applications of phase change materials in concrete technology

In internal curing, pre-wetted lightweight aggregates (LWA) serve as internal reservoirs to supply the extra water needed by the cementitious and pozzolanic components of the concrete during their hydration processes. Due to their porous nature and reasonably high absorption capacity, the LWA can also be filled with other materials, such as phase change materials (PCMs). In this paper, three potential applications of PCM-filled LWA in concrete technology are presented. In addition to the previously explored application of increasing the energy storage capacity of concrete in residential and commercial construction by using a PCM with a transition temperature near room temperature, applications for higher and lower temperature PCMs also exist. In the former case, a PCM can be used to reduce the temperature rise (and subsequent rate of temperature decrease) of a large concrete section during (semi)adiabatic curing, to minimize thermal cracking, etc. In the latter case, a PCM can perhaps reduce the number or intensity of freeze/thaw cycles experienced by a bridge deck or other concrete exposed to a winter environment. In this paper, these latter two applications are preliminarily explored from both experimental and modeling viewpoints.     

Impact of crosstalk induced beat noise on the size of semiconductor laser amplifier based optical space switch structures

The size limitation of a semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA) based optical matrix-vector multiplier (MVM) switch structure arising from amplifier noise and crosstalk is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Computer simulation reveals that the number of input/output channels in such a switch structure may be limited to less than 60/spl times/60 if the contrast ratio of each SLA is 20 dB or lower.     

Planar mirrors for image-based robot localization and 3-D reconstruction

Planar catadioptric vision sensors consist of a pinhole camera observing a scene being reflected on two (or more) planar mirrors. These systems have recently received an increasing attention because, unlike stereo cameras, can capture two views of the same scene without the need of hardware multi-camera synchronization and calibration. In this paper we explore the original scenario in which a robot manipulator, equipped with a pinhole camera on its end-effector, observes an unknown 3-D scene both directly and reflected through multiple mirrors. We present new multiple-view properties for this scenario and, based on these theoretical results, we present new image-based camera localization and new 3-D scene reconstruction algorithms. Extensive simulation and real-data experiments illustrate the theory and show the effectiveness of the proposed designs.     

应用网络编码的分组交换调度算法

网络编码理论与交换调度算法相结合重点是实现在联合输入输出排队（CIOQ）交换结构中提供组播服务。文章证明了对一个流中的分组进行线性网络编码可以承载不允许网络编码时不能够承载的交换流量模式,也就是说,网络编码允许CIOQ交换结构在实现组播服务时有更大的速率区域,并给出了基于图论方法的描述。运用增强冲突图的稳定集多面体等概念,文章证明了计算离线调度的问题可以简化成某种图染色问题,同时,也针对组播调度提出了一个称之为最大权重稳定集的在线调度算法。     

On the stopping distance of finite geometry LDPC codes

In this letter, the stopping sets and stopping distance of finite geometry LDPC (FG-LDPC) codes are studied. It is known that FG-LDPC codes are majority-logic decodable and a lower bound on the minimum distance can be thus obtained. It is shown in this letter that this lower bound on the minimum distance of FG-LDPC codes is also a lower bound on the stopping distance of FG-LDPC codes, which implies that FG-LDPC codes have considerably large stopping distance. This may explain in one respect why some FG-LDPC codes perform well with iterative decoding in spite of having many cycles of length 4 in their Tanner graphs.     

分子蒸馏技术的应用研究进展

介绍了分子蒸馏技术在热敏性有机化合物的提纯、食品和医药方面的分离纯化、精细化工产品、天然香料后处理等方面的应用现状。