An Investigation on Noisy Environments in Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization

In addition to satisfying several competing objectives, many real-world applications are also characterized by a certain degree of noise, manifesting itself in the form of signal distortion or uncertain information. In this paper, extensive studies are carried out to examine the impact of noisy environments in evolutionary multiobjective optimization. Three noise-handling features are then proposed based upon the analysis of empirical results, including an experiential learning directed perturbation operator that adapts the magnitude and direction of variation according to past experiences for fast convergence, a gene adaptation selection strategy that helps the evolutionary search in escaping from local optima or premature convergence, and a possibilistic archiving model based on the concept of possibility and necessity measures to deal with problem of uncertainties. In addition, the performances of various multiobjective evolutionary algorithms in noisy environments, as well as the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed features are examined based upon five benchmark problems characterized by different difficulties in local optimality, nonuniformity, discontinuity, and nonconvexity     

Pile Response Adjacent to Braced Excavation

The excavation of soil for the construction of basements or cut-and-cover tunnels results in ground movements. One particular concern is that the excavation-induced lateral soil movements may adversely affect any nearby pile foundation. The lateral loads imposed by the soil movements induce bending moments and deflections in the pile, which may lead to structural distress and failure. This paper presents the results of an actual full-scale instrumented study that was carried to examine the behavior of an existing pile due to nearby excavation activities resulting from the construction of a 16 m deep cut-and-cover tunnel. The pile was located 3 m behind a 0.8 m thick diaphragm wall. Excavation to the formation level that was 16 m below the ground surface resulted in a maximum lateral pile movement of 28 mm. A simplified numerical procedure based on the finite-element method was used to analyze the pile response. Generally, the theoretical predictions were in reasonable agreement with the measured results.     

Integrated-optic dispersion slope equalizer for N/spl times/ several tens of Gb/s WDM transmission

We report a dispersion slope equalizer on a planar lightwave circuit for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission. This device consists of an array of lattice-formed equalizers with different compensation values fabricated on one wafer and arrayed-waveguide gratings for wavelength multi/demultiplexing. We describe its configuration, operational principle, parameter design, fabrication, and measured characteristics in detail. N/spl times/20 and N/spl times/40 Gb/s slope equalizers were fabricated and their characteristics agreed well with designed values. We also report a reduction in the bias electrical power needed for thermooptic phase shifters in the equalizer array that we realized by employing a phase trimming technique normally used for optical switches.     

Software‐processed edge‐ and level‐adaptive overdrive (SELAO) method for high‐quality motion pictures

Abstract— In this paper, a software‐processed edge‐ and level‐adaptive overdrive (SELAO) method, which is a novel overdrive technique that utilizes not only a temporal change of gray levels but also a spatial edge intensity of motion pictures, is proposed. The SELAO method is a software video‐processing technology to improve motion‐picture quality rendered on LCDs more than is possible with a conventional SLAO method without edge‐adaptive overdrive, and it works in real time on commonly used personal computers (PCs).     

Miscibility of some hydroxyl-containing polymers with poly(acetonyl methacrylate), poly(tetrahydropyranyl-2-methacrylate), and poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate)

Poly(tetrahydropyranyl-2-methacrylate) (PTHPMA) was found to be miscible with Poly(vinyl phenol) (PVPH), Poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol A) (Phenoxy), and Poly(styrene-co-allyl alcohol) (PSAA). However, Poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate) (PCHMA) is immiscible with all these three hydroxyl-containing polymers. Poly(acetonyl methacrylate) (PACMA) was found to be miscible with PVPH but immiscible with Phenoxy and PSAA. Miscible PTHPMA-Phenoxy blends showed lower critical solution temperature behavior.     

Ionic transport studies of the glassy silver vanadomolybdate system

Ionic conductivity of the Ag₂O-MoO₃-V₂0₅ system has been studied over a wide range of frequency, temperature and composition. A narrower glass forming region has been found in comparison to the corresponding Ag₂O-MoO₃-P₂O₅ and Ag₂O-B₂O₃-P₂O₅ systems. The highest conductivity at room temperature, _rt, = 3.21 × 10^–6–1 cm^–1 (d.c.) with an activation energy,E _act, of 0.466 eV, was observed for the glass former's ratio of unity. Further, it reached a maximum value of 2.2 × 10^–2¨-1 cm^–1 withE _act = 0.153 eV when the oxide-base glass was dissolved with Agl. D.c. conductivity, hopping rate and relaxation time in the present system have been found to be characterized by the same activation energy.     

Miscibility of poly(methoxymethyl methacrylate) and poly(methylthiomethyl methacrylate) with poly(vinylidene fluoride)

Summary The miscibility behaviour of poly(methoxymethyl methacrylate) (PMOMA) and poly(methylthiomethyl methacrylate) (PMTMA) with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was examined by differential scanning calorimetry. PMOMA/PVDF blend system was judged to be miscible on the bases of the presence of a single, composition-dependent glass transition for the blend and a pronounced melting point depression of the PVDF component. Furthermore, lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behaviour was observed for all PMOMA/PVDF blends. PMTMA/PVDF blends were found to be immiscible. Based on the melting point depression of PVDF in PMOMA/PVDF blends, the interaction parameter B was found to be -14.5 J/cm³.