The proposed European Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) is the first attempt to elaborate a general legal framework for AI carried out by any major global economy. As such, the AIA is likely to become a point of reference in the larger discourse on how AI systems can (and should) be regulated. In this article, we describe and discuss the two primary enforcement mechanisms proposed in the AIA: the conformity assessments that providers of high-risk AI systems are expected to conduct, and the post-market monitoring plans that providers must establish to document the performance of high-risk AI systems throughout their lifetimes. We argue that the AIA can be interpreted as a proposal to establish a Europe-wide ecosystem for conducting AI auditing, albeit in other words. Our analysis offers two main contributions. First, by describing the enforcement mechanisms included in the AIA in terminology borrowed from existing literature on AI auditing, we help providers of AI systems understand how they can prove adherence to the requirements set out in the AIA in practice. Second, by examining the AIA from an auditing perspective, we seek to provide transferable lessons from previous research about how to refine further the regulatory approach outlined in the AIA. We conclude by highlighting seven aspects of the AIA where amendments (or simply clarifications) would be helpful. These include, above all, the need to translate vague concepts into verifiable criteria and to strengthen the institutional safeguards concerning conformity assessments based on internal checks.
This paper introduces a Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) design capable of producing an incremental input resistance in the ohmic range, for input signals in the microampere range, such as are encountered in the design of instrumentation for electrochemical ampero-metric sensors, optical-sensing and current-mode circuits. This low input-resistance is achieved using an input stage incorporating negative feedback. In a Cadence simulation of an exemplary design using a 180 nm CMOS process and operating with?±?1.8 V supply rails, the input resistance is 1.05 ohms and the power dissipation is 93.6 µW. The bandwidth, for a gain of 100 dBohm, exceeded 9 MHz. For a 1µA, 1 MHz sinusoidal input signal the Total Harmonic Distortion, with this gain, is less than 1%. The input referred noise current with zero photodiode capacitance is 2.09 pA/√Hz and with a photodiode capacitance of 2pF is 8.52 pA/√Hz. Graphical data is presented to show the effect of a photodiode capacitance varying from 0.5 to 2 pF, when the TIA is used in optical sensing. In summary, the required very low input resistance, at a low input current level (µA) is achieved and furthermore a Table is included comparing the characteristics and a widely used Figure of Merit (FOM) for the proposed TIA and similar published low-power TIAs. It is apparent from the Table that the FOM of the proposed TIA is better than the FOMs of the other TIAs mentioned.
The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in the poor prognosis of many cancers. However, there is a knowledge gap concerning how multicellular communication among the critical players within the TME contributes to such poor outcomes. Using epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) as a model, we show how crosstalk among cancer cells (CC), cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF), and endothelial cells (EC) promotes EOC growth. We demonstrate here that co-culturing CC with CAF and EC promotes CC proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and that co-implantation of the three cell types facilitates tumor growth in vivo. We further demonstrate that disruption of this multicellular crosstalk using gold nanoparticles (GNP) inhibits these pro-tumorigenic phenotypes in vitro as well as tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, GNP treatment reduces expression of several tumor-promoting cytokines and growth factors, resulting in inhibition of MAPK and PI3K-AKT activation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition - three key oncogenic signaling pathways responsible for the aggressiveness of EOC. The current work highlights the importance of multicellular crosstalk within the TME and its role for the aggressive nature of EOC, and demonstrates the disruption of these multicellular communications by self-therapeutic GNP, thus providing new avenues to interrogate the crosstalk and identify key perpetrators responsible for poor prognosis of this intractable malignancy. 相似文献
In this study, one-dimensional detonations in ammonia/hydrogen-air mixtures are numerically investigated by solving the fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations with detailed chemistry. Pulsating instabilities with single-mode are observed during the detonation wave propagation, accompanied by periodic coupling and decoupling of the lead shock wave and the reactive front. The ratio between driver pressure and initial pressure determines the overdrive degree and thus the oscillatory mode of detonation for a premixture with certain composition. The effects of hydrogen dilution and mixture equivalence ratio on pulsating detonations are also examined under a constant driver pressure. The growing hydrogen fraction in fuel blends significantly increases the oscillation frequency. In addition, the pulsating detonation frequency rises with increasing equivalence ratio under fuel-lean conditions, peaks under stoichiometric conditions, and falls under fuel-rich conditions as the equivalence ratio increases further. Evolutions of reactants, main intermediate radicals, and products are analysed in both fuel-lean and fuel-rich conditions. A chemical explosive mode analysis further confirms the highly-autoignitive nature of the mixture in the induction zone between reaction front and shock front where thermal diffusion plays a negligible role. 相似文献
The gas purging states affect electricity output and energy storage capacity of unitized regenerative fuel cells. In this study, a model of unitized regenerative fuel cell is established. Cell voltages and operating temperatures influences on the dynamic distribution of thermal fluid during purging process and the discharge of residual liquid water in electrolytic cell mode are investigated. The motivation of the present study is better understanding the gas purging characteristics and its effect on reaction behaviors of unitized regenerative fuel cells. Simulation results reveal a significant influence of purging gas temperature on the water flooding and a great effect of operating voltage on the water diffusion. The operating temperature of electrolytic cell model almost has little effect on purging results at different cell temperature and the same purging gas temperature. When the purging gas temperature is changed, higher temperatures of cell and purging gas facilitate liquid water discharging out from the cell regions. In cell water flooding situation, when having large liquid content, the purging gas has little effects on the water expelling process. 相似文献
We present here a combined study on the photoelectrochemical activity of highly active Nitrogen doped titanium dioxide thin-film using experiments and First principle density (DFT) based calculation. Hybridization of N 2p with O 2p and localized valence band upshifting leads to the reduction in band-gap of N–TiO2. To validate theoretical findings, the role of nitrogen in TiO2 is revisited with a focus on partial crystallinity. The best-case photoelectrode, nanostructured partially crystalline nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (PCNDTO) offered photocurrent density of 24.3 mA/cm2 at 1 V versus saturated calomel electrode (SCE). The absence of well-defined peaks and long-range order in XRD pattern and Raman spectrum respectively suggests partially crystallinity. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images confirm the presence of TiO2 crystals in the amorphous matrix. High photoelectrochemical response can be attributed to the abundance of hydroxyl groups, high electrochemical active surface area, reduced charge transfer resistance, and reduced charge carrier recombination rate. 相似文献
Hybrid fuel cell battery electric vehicles require complex energy management systems (EMS) in order to operate effectively. Poor EMS can result in a hybrid system that has low efficiency and a high rate of degradation of the fuel cell and battery pack. Many different types of EMS have been reported in the literature, such as equivalent consumption minimisation strategy and fuzzy logic controllers, which typically focus on a single objective optimisations, such as minimisation of H2 usage. Different vehicle and system specifications make the comparison of EMSs difficult and can often lead to misleading claims about system performance. This paper aims to compare different EMSs, against a range of performance metrics such as charge sustaining ability and fuel cell degradation, using a common modelling framework developed in MATLAB/Simulink - the Electric Vehicle Simulation tool-Kit (EV-SimKit). A novel fuzzy logic controller is also presented which mutates the output membership function depending on fuel cell degradation to prolong fuel cell lifetime – the Mutative Fuzzy Logic Controller (MFLC). It was found that while certain EMSs may perform well at reducing H2 consumption, this may have a significant impact on fuel cell degradation, dramatically reducing the fuel cell lifetime. How the behaviour of common EMS results in fuel cell degradation is also explored. Finally, by mutating the fuzzy logic membership functions, the MFLC was predicted to extend fuel cell lifetime by up to 32.8%. 相似文献
The harmless disposal of lead paste in the spent lead-acid batteries (LABs) remains an enormous challenge in traditional pyrometallurgical recycling. Here, we introduced a hydrometallurgical method for the recycling of the spent LABs’ waste to obtain the β-PbO as a novel zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) active material. The obtained β-PbO exhibits ultra-flat charge/discharge voltage platforms (0.21 mV/(mAh g?1)) and stable specific capacity. During the charge/discharge, the β-PbO spontaneously triggers the formation of (ZnSO4)[Zn(OH)2]3·5H2O (ZHS) micro-sheets as a surface passivation layer. Moreover, the ex-situ X-ray spectra reveal that the reversible phase transformation occurs between PbSO4 and Pb with the assistance of ZHS by adjusting the PH value on the electrode-electrolyte interface. The synergistic two-phase-reaction mechanism generates ultra-flat voltage platforms upon the charge/discharge. This “energy-saving and environment-friendly” recycling route eliminates the major source of emission of pollution particulates/gases compared to the traditional pyrometallurgical recycling, while at the same time replacing energy-consuming and environmentally detrimental processes of synthesis of current ZIBs cathodes. 相似文献
Alumina–silica composite aerogels have drawn vast attention due to their enhanced thermal stability compared to pristine alumina aerogels. However, they are generally weakly-crystallized and tend to experience inevitable sintering and significant surface area loss especially above 1200 °C. In this study, we developed a hydrothermal treatment and supercritical drying strategy for synthesizing novel, well-crystallized, silica-modified boehmite aerogels and fiber-reinforced composites. For the prepared aerogel, network coarsening was significantly hindered and the α-Al2O3 transition was completely prevented even at 1400 °C. As a result, the aerogel exhibits extremely high surface area maintenance (87 % and 53 % after 1300 °C and 1400 °C calcination, respectively) and low linear shrinkage (14 % after 1300 °C calcination) at elevated temperatures. The composite with good toughness shows excellent heat resistance and thermal insulating performance up to 1500 °C. These findings provide a general, direct new idea to improve the thermal tolerance of alumina-based aerogels and extend their applications to higher temperatures. 相似文献
Glass-ceramic, which has negligible dielectric loss, high mechanical strength, excellent drop resistance, low CTE, and low density for lightweight design, is the best option for the back cover of mobile devices in the 5 G era. Herein, the effect of P2O5 on the phase separation and crystallization of MgO–Al2O3–SiO2-TiO2 glass-ceramics is studied. The incorporation of P2O5 in the glass structure leads to phase separation, in which the P and Mg-enriched phase was formed in the glass matrix, and promotes the increase of Tg. With the increase of P2O5 content, the precipitated crystals change significantly. First, the silicate crystals (Mg2SiO4) disappear, whereas the phosphate crystals (LiMgPO4) emerge when 2 mol% P2O5 is introduced. Second, titanate crystal (MgTi2O5) can not be observed when 4 mol% P2O5 is introduced. The Ti5O9 crystals appear simultaneously with LiMgPO4 crystals and transform to rutile TiO2 crystals at high temperature. Interestingly, the needle-like rutile TiO2 crystals, which is 300 nm long and 20 nm wide, have been found in a glass with 4 mol% P2O5. The large L/D ratio of needle-like crystals increases the hardness significantly from 6.08 GPa to 7.14 GPa. Similar to other fiber reinforced composites, this needle-like crystals provide a new strategy to improve the mechanical properties of glass ceramics. 相似文献