Superfluid-insulator transition in disordered boson systems

We review the localization problem in two dimensions for interacting bosons in a random potential. This problem is intimately related to the study of ⁴ He adsorbed in porous media, Josephson junction arrays, disordered superconducting films and vortex glasses. Using path integral Monte Carlo techniques, we find a superfluid, a localized or Bose glass insulator with gapless excitations, and (at commensurate densities) a Mott insulator with a finite gap to excitations.     

Active learning for on-road vehicle detection: a comparative study

In recent years, active learning has emerged as a powerful tool in building robust systems for object detection using computer vision. Indeed, active learning approaches to on-road vehicle detection have achieved impressive results. While active learning approaches for object detection have been explored and presented in the literature, few studies have been performed to comparatively assess costs and merits. In this study, we provide a cost-sensitive analysis of three popular active learning methods for on-road vehicle detection. The generality of active learning findings is demonstrated via learning experiments performed with detectors based on histogram of oriented gradient features and SVM classification (HOG–SVM), and Haar-like features and Adaboost classification (Haar–Adaboost). Experimental evaluation has been performed on static images and real-world on-road vehicle datasets. Learning approaches are assessed in terms of the time spent annotating, data required, recall, and precision.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(o-ethoxyaniline): A processable conducting polymer

The synergic effect of the substituentlike ethoxy group on the electronic properties of conducting polyaniline was investigated. The presence of substituents affects not only the electrochemical polymerization window but also brings about changes in optical and electronic properties of the parent polymer polyaniline. The study indicates that electrochemical polymerization of (o-ethoxyaniline) yields a conducting polymer that shows a multiple color transition (yellow → green) on switching the potential between the reduced and oxidized states with an electrochromic response time of 40 ms in addition to its solubility in dimethyl sulfoxide, N-methyl pyrrolidinone, etc. However, the chemical polymerization of the monomer yields a crimson red polymer that is less conducting but has solubility in ethanol/methanol. Evaluation of this alcohol soluble polymer as a corrosion inhibitor for iron in acidic medium shows that it offers corrosion inhibition efficiency of 90%. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Tensile properties and morphology of S2Cl2 treated PVC-g-butly rubber

Summary We have grafted butyl rubber from PVC under a variety of conditions. The physical-mechanical properties of these graft copolymers have been examined both before and after extraction with hexane of the ungrafted butyl rubber. We have found a significant increase in the tensile strength of these materials upon S₂Cl₂ treatment (curing) in THF solution. This increase was observed even with unextracted copolymers. Electron micrograph studies suggest that curing causes an aggregation of the butyl rubber segments into crosslinked domains.     

Effect of agitation in the hydrogenation of castor oil

Castor oil was hydrogenated to evaluate the effect of agitation during hydrogenation. The turbine and propeller impellers were evaluated during hydrogenation of castor oil at various temperatures, pressures, and catalyst concentrations. The effect of impeller position in the agitator at definite oil depth was also evaluated. Hydrogenation of castor oil at 130°C, 2.0 kg/cm² hydrogen gas pressure with 0.5% Ni catalyst for 6 h while using two turbine impellers fitted in an agitator, one close to the reactor bottom and another at a height just below the top oil layer, revolving at 350 rpm, resulted in a product of a iodine value of 4.1, hydroxyl value of 156.4, and slip point of 84°C.     

An extensible and lightweight architecture for adaptive server applications

Server applications augmented with behavioral adaptation logic can react to environmental changes, creating self‐managing server applications with improved quality of service at runtime. However, developing adaptive server applications is challenging due to the complexity of the underlying server technologies and highly dynamic application environments. This paper presents an architecture framework, the Adaptive Server Framework (ASF), to facilitate the development of adaptive behavior for legacy server applications. ASF provides a clear separation between the implementation of adaptive behavior and the business logic of the server application. This means a server application can be extended with programmable adaptive features through the definition and implementation of control components defined in ASF. Furthermore, ASF is a lightweight architecture in that it incurs low CPU overhead and memory usage. We demonstrate the effectiveness of ASF through a case study, in which a server application dynamically determines the resolution and quality to scale an image based on the load of the server and network connection speed. The experimental evaluation demonstrates the performance gains possible by adaptive behavior and the low overhead introduced by ASF. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simple laser velocimeter that uses photoconductive semiconductors to measure optical frequency differences

The dc photocurrents generated by steady-state moving space-charge fields inside photoconductive semiconductors containing deep level donors and traps can be used to determine the relative frequency differences between the two interfering optical fields that establish the space-charge fields. A simple laser velocimeter that uses a semi-insulating GaAs:Cr sample to detect the Doppler frequency shift between two laser beams is demonstrated.     

Congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles type 2, an inherited exotropic strabismus fixus, maps to distal 11q13

The extraocular fibrosis syndromes are congenital ocular-motility disorders that arise from dysfunction of the oculomotor, trochlear, and abducens nerves and/or the muscles that they innervate. Each is marked by a specific form of restrictive paralytic ophthalmoplegia with or without ptosis. Individuals with the classic form of congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (CFEOM1) are born with bilateral ptosis and a restrictive infraductive external ophthalmoplegia. We previously demonstrated that CFEOM1 is caused by an autosomal dominant locus on chromosome 12 and results from a developmental absence of the superior division of the oculomotor nerve. We now have mapped a variant of CFEOM, exotropic strabismus fixus ("CFEOM2"). Affected individuals are born with bilateral ptosis and restrictive ophthalmoplegia with the globes "frozen" in extreme abduction. This autosomal recessive disorder is present in members of three consanguineous Saudi Arabian families. Genetic analysis of 70 individuals (20 affected individuals) reveals linkage to markers on chromosome 11q13, with a combined LOD score of 12.3 at the single nonrecombinant marker, D11S1314. The 2.5-cM CFEOM2 critical region is flanked by D11S4196/D11S4162 and D11S4184/1369. Two of the three families share a common disease-associated haplotype, suggesting a founder effect for CFEOM2. We hypothesize that CFEOM2 results from an analogous developmental defect to CFEOM1, one that affects both the superior and inferior divisions of the oculomotor nerve and their corresponding alpha motoneurons and extraocular muscles.