An experiment for showing some kind of artificial understanding

In this paper we design an experiment which can be depicted as a simple scenario, a very limited 'world'. In this world, there are an actor that can pursue a project and an observer that is keeping its eyes on the actor. We try to show in the experiment that the observer can to some degree understand the actor based on its knowledge and some metaphors, i.e. understand what the actor is doing and why. As the conclusion of this experiment, we try to show some features of 'understanding'. These are (1) that 'understanding' has to be based on some preliminary knowledge; (2) that 'understanding' is a process of incremental learning; (3) that, as for symbolic systems, some metaphors are necessary for mapping real entities into concepts in mind.     

Residual stresses and transformation toughening in MoSi2 composites reinforced with partially stabilized zirconia

The results of study of the effects of yttria stabilization (0–6 mol.%) on the room-temperature fracture behavior and toughening mechanisms in zirconia-reinforced MoSi₂ are presented in this paper. Transformation toughening is shown to occur only in composites reinforced with zirconia particles stabilized with 2 mol.% yttria. However, the fracture toughness levels are comparable in the other composites with yttria levels between 0 and 6 mol.%. Toughening in the other composites is attributed to the combined effects of residual stress, microcrack shielding/anti-shielding and/or crack deflection. A rigorous micromechanics-based model is presented for the estimation of residual stress levels in brittle materials reinforced with phases that can transform during cooling or under stress. The model is applied successfully to the rationalization of the observed fracture and toughening phenomena.     

Propagation of a quasi-shear horizontal acoustic wave in Z-Xlithium niobate plates [and conductivity sensor application]

It is found that an acoustic wave which is nearly polarized in the shear horizontal (SH) direction can propagate along the X axis of a Z-cut lithium niobate plate if the ratio h/λ, where h=plate thickness and λ=acoustic wavelength, is less than about 0.5. Attractive properties of this quasi-SH wave include: (1) phase velocity nearly constant for all values of h/λ; (2) ability to propagate in contact with a liquid medium; and (3) electromechanical coupling coefficient as high as 0.15. These properties make the wave attractive for use in a variety of sensor and signal processing applications. An example of sensor applications is illustrated by using the wave to measure conductivity of liquids (aqueous KCl solution). The frequency of a 12-MHz quasi-SH mode oscillator fabricated on a 0.48 wavelength thick Z-X lithium niobate plate is found to vary by more than 80 kHz for variation in KCI concentration from 0 to 0.15%     

Permeation of Zidovudine and Probenecid from Oily Bases Containing Alcohols Through Rat Skin

Permeation of zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, AZT) and probenecid from oily bases containing an alcohol through rat skin was examined. Isopropyl myristate (IPM), as an oily vehicle, showed a penetration enhancing effect for AZT and probenecid. Ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol were used as additives in IPM and were examined for their own permeation and the enhancing effect on the permeation of AZT and probenecid. The skin permeation of AZT and probenecid from IPM was enhanced by addition of the alcohol in IPM. The degree of the enhancement was decreased with increasing lipophilicity of the alcohol used. me permeation rate of the drug from those systems was shown to be governed by penetration-enhancing effects of the oily base and alcohol, and the penetration of the alcohol itself through the skin.     

Modeling Power Supply Noise in Delay Testing

Excessive power supply noise during test can cause overkill. This article discusses two models for supply noise in delay testing and their application to test compaction. The proposed noise models avoid complicated power network analysis, making them much faster than existing power noise analysis tools. can cause performance degradation and     

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film transistor arrays fabricated by digital lithography

A jet-printed digital-lithographic method, in place of conventional photolithography, was used to fabricate 64 /spl times/ 64 pixel (300 /spl mu/m pitch) matrix addressing thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays. The average hydrogenated amorphous silicon TFT device within an array had a threshold voltage of /spl sim/3.5 V, carrier mobility of 0.7 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, subthreshold slope of 0.76 V/decade, and an on/off ratio of 10/sup 8/.     

Catalytic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with carbon dioxide: promotional effect of antimony in supported vanadium–antimony oxide catalyst

Alumina-supported vanadium oxide, VO_x/Al₂O₃, and binary vanadium–antimony oxides, VSbO_x/Al₂O₃, have been tested in the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with carbon dioxide and characterized by S_BET, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction and CO₂ pulse methods. VSbO_x/Al₂O₃ exhibited enhanced catalytic activity and especially on-stream stability compared to VO_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Incorporation of antimony into VO_x/Al₂O₃ increased dispersion of active VO_x species, enhanced redox properties of the systems and formed a new mixed vanadium–antimony oxide phase in the most catalytically efficient V_0.43Sb_0.57O_x/Al₂O₃ system.     

TennisViewer: a browser for competition trees

A tennis novice watching a match for the first time might be surprised that the crowd erupts with cheers when a player wins one point, then barely applauds when he wins the next. The crowd is not necessarily fickle; some points are genuinely more important than others because a tennis match is hierarchically structured. One match consists of several sets. One set consists of several games. One game consists of several points. The match-winning point is the most important one. How can we make that importance visible? Our goal is to let a fan, a player, or a coach examine tennis data visually, extract the interesting parts, and jump from one item to another quickly and easily. The visualization tool should help parse the elements of a match. We developed an interactive system called TennisViewer to visualize the dynamic, tree-structured data representing a tennis match. It provides an interface for users to quickly explore tennis match information. The visualization tool reveals the overall structure of the match as well as the fine details in a single screen. It uses a 2D display of translucent layers, a design that contains elements of Tree-Maps and of the Visual Scheduler system, which was designed to help faculty and students identify mutually available (transparent) time slots when arranging group meetings. TennisViewer provides MagicLens filters to explore specialized views of the information and a time-varying display to animate all or part of a match     

Acoustical tomography based on the second-order Born transformperturbation approximation

Reconstruction algorithms and their numerical examples of acoustical tomography based on the second-order Born transform perturbation approximation are presented. The reconstruction algorithms in the second-order Born approximation are similar in form to those in the first-order Born approximation. Replacing the angular spectrum of the scattered wave in the first-order case by the result of applying a first-order operator to the angular spectrum of the scattered wave or applying a second-order operator to the angular spectrum of the incident wave leads to the second-order reconstruction algorithms. Also, comparisons of reconstruction algorithms of the first- and second-order Born approximations are given, and they show that the second-order Born approximation algorithms have a distinct advantage over the first-order approximations in many cases     

A three-dimensional non-epitaxial atomistic growth model for thin-film deposition: effect of surface mobility

The effect of the atomic mobility on a film surface has been studied by using a three-dimensional atomistic thin-film deposition model which simulates three-dimensional thin-film images, surface profiles and cross-sectional area pictures. In addition, quantitative results of surface RMS roughness, average film thickness, atomic coordination number and its distribution, and solid fraction of the deposited thin films, were obtained from the simulations. When the film surface mobility increased from 0.3 to 3.0, RMS roughness decreased from 6.5 to 1.1, solid fraction increased from 0.27 to 0.56 and average film thickness decreased from 40 to 28, due to the reduction of the voids within the film. The full-width half magnitude of the atomic coordination distribution became narrower indicating the increased degree of crystallization. With increase in surface mobility crossing the boundary to 1.5, the film evolved from a porous or loose columnar structure with voids, to a densely packed fibrous grain structure which can be categorized by the zone structure models.