On sorting triangles in a delaunay tessellation

In a two-dimensional Delaunay-triangulated domain, there exists a partial ordering of the triangles (with respect to a vertex) that is consistent with the two-dimensional visibility of the triangles from that vertex. An equivalent statement is that a polygon that is star-shaped with respect to a given vertex can be extended, one triangle at a time, until it includes the entire domain. Arbitrary planar triangulations do not possess this useful property which allows incremental processing of the triangles.This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation's US-Italy Collaborative Research Program under Grant INT-8714578 and Information, Robotics, and Intelligent Research Grant IRI-8704781.     

Genetic programming of conventional features to detect seizure precursors

This paper presents an application of genetic programming (GP) to optimally select and fuse conventional features (C-features) for the detection of epileptic waveforms within intracranial electroencephalogram (IEEG) recordings that precede seizures, known as seizure precursors. Evidence suggests that seizure precursors may localize regions important to seizure generation on the IEEG and epilepsy treatment. However, current methods to detect epileptic precursors lack a sound approach to automatically select and combine C-features that best distinguish epileptic events from background, relying on visual review predominantly. This work suggests GP as an optimal alternative to create a single feature after evaluating the performance of a binary detector that uses: (1) genetically programmed features; (2) features selected via GP; (3) forward sequentially selected features; and (4) visually selected features. Results demonstrate that a detector with a genetically programmed feature outperforms the other three approaches, achieving over 78.5% positive predictive value, 83.5% sensitivity, and 93% specificity at the 95% level of confidence.     

Molecular structure and stereoelectronic properties of sarmazenil--a weak inverse agonist at the omega modulatory sites (benzodiazepine receptors): comparison with bretazenil and flumazenil

X-ray diffraction and ab initio MO theoretical calculations were used in order to investigate the structural and electronic properties of sarmazenil, a weak inverse agonist at the omega modulatory sites (benzodiazepine receptors). This compound was compared to bretazenil, a partial agonist, and to the antagonist flumazenil on the basis of structural and electronic data. The conformational and theoretical properties (interatomic pi overlap populations, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), the topology of frontier orbitals, and proton affinity) of these three imidazobenzodiazepinones were determined in order to analyse the stereoelectronic properties in relation with their distinct intrinsic efficacies at the omega modulatory sites.     

An alternative approach to weight function evaluation for an orthotropic crack

The use of the analytically decoupled near-tip displacement solutions as an alternative approach, is presented in this paper for the efficient finite element evaluation of the decoupled weight functions for an orthotropic 2-D crack. This alternative approach has been validated by directly comparing the prior weight function results with a symmetric mesh approach in the crack-tip neighborhood, and indirectly by comparing the calculated stress intensity factors (K_I(II)) values using the computed weight functions with available K_I(II) solutions of the 2-D mixed mode orthotropic cracks. In addition, this approach with analytically decoupled near-tip displacement solutions for calculating weight functions at all locations, can facilitate further extension of weight function evaluations to a more general 2-D anisotropic crack.     

Simulation and optimization of tool-life in manufacturing centers

This paper presents the development of an optimization and a computer-simulation model to evaluate the process plans of a manufacturing center by analyzing the effect of tool failure on system performance. The GPSS/PC simulation program that is used in this study has been built with variables, functions and matrices so that many experiments could be conducted with the model. Sensitivity analysis is presented and the developed model has proven to be useful in determining optimum sequencing of parts for various operating policies.