Impulse Noise Detector Performance Measure Based on Intensity Volume

An accurate detector performance evaluation method provides a fair comparison platform and can also support in parameter optimization for existing Impulse noise detectors in the applications of medical imaging. The Impulse noise detector performance measure (INDPM) package is widely applied as tools for quantitative comparison among detectors, which contains recall measure, accuracy measure, precision measure, specificity measure and F-measure. However, these five measures suffer from limited accuracy in correctly evaluating the performance of a detector and are not in well agreement with human subjective evaluation. To solve this problem, five new measures are proposed by introducing a new concept of intensity volume to form a new Impulse noise detector performance package (IV-INDPM). Using a standard image dataset, we conduct experimental and comparative tests with 32 different original images and 5 different existing detectors. Results demonstrate the superior performance of each new measure within IV-INDPM in reaching a much closer agreement with human subjective evaluation, compared to existing measures in INDPM. Even though five new measures are efficient in evaluating detectors’ performance from different perspectives, a new benchmark algorithm (IND-BA) is proposed as a robust and overall metric for ease of general-purpose use by making the most of these five new measures. Comparison results demonstrate its efficiency and accuracy.     

The Effect of Aluminum in Solution on the Dissolution of Amorphous Silica and its Relation to Cementitious Systems

One of the most serious causes of degradation of concrete is the alkali–silica reaction. Amorphous silicates present in certain aggregates react with the alkaline pore solution of the concrete to form a gel, which absorbs water and swells, leading to the expansion of the concrete. It is known that the deleterious effects of ASR can be suppressed by the incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials in the concrete, but the mechanisms operating are not clear. In this article, we study a model system of amorphous silica plates in simulated pore solutions by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), to demonstrate that aluminum in solution can directly suppress the dissolution of amorphous silica under the highly alkaline conditions found in concrete. XPS shows that aluminum species are incorporated into the framework of the silica structure. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) images confirmed the reduction in dissolution of silica in solutions containing aluminum.     

Pulping Catalysts in Trees

Abstract

Several hardwood and softwood trees were analyzed for anthraqui-none-type components. Wood samples were reduced to a small size and extracted with an organic solvent; the extracts were then concentrated and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Low levels of AQ and anthrone components were detected using a sensitive selected-ion monitoring technique. Ten out of seventeen hardwood samples examined contained AQ-type components; however, the levels were typically below ～6 ppm. Such components were not observed for the few softwood samples that were examined. The AQs were more concentrated in the heart-wood of teak than in the sapwood. Extraction of cottonwood with an organic solvent had little effect on the ease of pulping of the wood.     

Application of Danckwerts-type boundary conditions to the modeling of the thermal behavior of metal hydride reactors

The paper presents a model-based investigation of a metal hydride reactor applied as a solid state hydrogen storage device. The elements of a metal hydride reactor are hydrogen supply duct, internal hydrogen distribution, hydride bed, reactor shell and the flow domain of the heat transfer fluid. Internal hydrogen distribution and hydride bed are porous media. Therefore, hydrogen flows through non-porous and porous regions during its reversible exothermic absorption and endothermic desorption, respectively. The interface between porous and non-porous regions is a discontinuity with respect to energy transport mechanisms. Hence, Danckwerts-type boundary conditions for the energy balance equation are introduced. Application of the first and second law of thermodynamics to the interface reveals that temperature jumps may occur at the hydrogen inlet but are not allowed at the hydrogen outlet. Exemplarily the loading behavior of a metal hydride storage tank based on sodium alanate is analyzed. It is demonstrated and experimentally validated that only Danckwerts-type boundary conditions predict the important cooling effect of the inlet hydrogen on the exothermic absorption process correctly.     

Studies of structure–transport relationships in biodegradable polymer microspheres for drug delivery using NMR cryodiffusometry

In order to rationally design polymer vehicles for controlled drug delivery it is important to completely understand the nature and mechanisms of the structural evolution of the polymer matrix that ultimately controls drug release kinetics. NMR cryoporometry has been used previously to study drug release from polymer vehicles. However, no previous studies have employed the integrated cryoporometry and PFG NMR method known as cryodiffusometry, or explored the potential of specialized cryoporometry techniques such as scanning loops. In this work it has been shown that the true extent of the variability in structural evolution and transport properties between different batches of PLGA polymer microspheres, made in different ways, would be missed if these data were not available. Cryoporometry scanning loops have been used to determine the overall network geometry. Cryoporometry freezing curves and PFG NMR have been used to study the evolution in the pore-scale connectivity and the larger-scale inter-connectedness of the nanoporous void space following immersion of microspheres in aqueous phase. The molecular weight of the polymer used, and the presence of drug in the synthesis, have both been shown to significantly affect the trajectory of the structural evolution.     

Residential response to critical-peak pricing of electricity: California evidence

This paper analyzes data from 483 households that took part in a critical-peak pricing (CPP) experiment between July and September 2004. Using a regression-based approach to quantify hourly baseline electric loads that would have occurred absent CPP events, we show a statistically significant average participant response in each hour. Average peak response estimates are provided for each of twelve experimental strata, by climate zone and building type. Results show that larger users respond more in both absolute and percentage terms, and customers in the coolest climate zone respond most as a percentage of their baseline load. Finally, an analysis involving the two different levels of critical-peak prices – $0.50/kWh and $0.68/kWh – indicates that households did not respond more to the higher CPP rate.     

An adaptive vision-based autopilot for mini flying machines guidance,navigation and control

The design of reliable navigation and control systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) based only on visual cues and inertial data has many unsolved challenging problems, ranging from hardware and software development to pure control-theoretical issues. This paper addresses these issues by developing and implementing an adaptive vision-based autopilot for navigation and control of small and mini rotorcraft UAVs. The proposed autopilot includes a Visual Odometer (VO) for navigation in GPS-denied environments and a nonlinear control system for flight control and target tracking. The VO estimates the rotorcraft ego-motion by identifying and tracking visual features in the environment, using a single camera mounted on-board the vehicle. The VO has been augmented by an adaptive mechanism that fuses optic flow and inertial measurements to determine the range and to recover the 3D position and velocity of the vehicle. The adaptive VO pose estimates are then exploited by a nonlinear hierarchical controller for achieving various navigational tasks such as take-off, landing, hovering, trajectory tracking, target tracking, etc. Furthermore, the asymptotic stability of the entire closed-loop system has been established using systems in cascade and adaptive control theories. Experimental flight test data over various ranges of the flight envelope illustrate that the proposed vision-based autopilot performs well and allows a mini rotorcraft UAV to achieve autonomously advanced flight behaviours by using vision.