Discontinuous Double-shell Domes through Islamic eras in the Middle East and Central Asia: History, Morphology, Typologies, Geometry, and Construction

This paper presents a developed geometric approach for deriving the typologies and geometries of discontinuous double-shell domes in Islamic architecture. Common geometric attributes are created using a corpus of twenty one domes that were built in the Middle East and Central Asia, beginning from the early through to the late Islamic periods. An outline of the origin and development of the discontinuous double-shell domes and their morphological features are addressed. Using the al-Kashi geometrical essences, a four-centered profile as an initial shape is constructed based on new geometric parameters to deduce the geometric commonalities of the two aspects of formal language (typologies and geometries) of such domes. Common geometric prototypes for typical profiles shared by the study cases are generated and formulated according to a proposed system. The theoretical frame work for the formal language of discontinuous double-shell dome architecture is structured to indicate a moderate development of this sort of Islamic domes and highlight the specific geometric relationship between the Islamic domical configurations and practical mathematic rules for many decades. It can also be established a basic approach for considering the geometric compositional designs and the typological derivations of the other eastern domes.     

Impact of query intent and search context on clickthrough behavior in sponsored search

Implicit feedback techniques may be used for query intent detection, taking advantage of user behavior to understand their interests and preferences. In sponsored search, a primary concern is the user’s interest in purchasing or utilizing a commercial service, or what is called online commercial intent. In this paper, we develop a methodology for employing the content of search engine result pages (SERPs), along with the information obtained from query strings, to study characteristics of query intent, with a particular focus on sponsored search. Our work represents a step toward the development and evaluation of an ontology for commercial search, considering queries that reference specific products, brands, and retailers. Characteristics of query categories are studied with respect to aggregated user clickthrough behavior on advertising links. We present a model for clickthrough behavior that considers the influence of such factors as the location of ads and the rank of ads, along with query category. We evaluate our work using a large corpus of clickthrough data obtained from a major commercial search engine. In addition, the impact of query intent is studied on clickthrough rate, where a baseline model and the query intent model are compared for the purpose of calculating an expected ad clickthrough rate. Our findings suggest that query-based features, along with the content of SERPs, are effective in detecting query intent. Factors such as query category, the rank of an ad, and the total number of ads displayed on a result page relate to the context of the ad, rather than its content. We demonstrate that these context-related factors can have a major influence on expected clickthrough rate, suggesting that these factors should be taken into consideration when the performance of an ad is evaluated.     

SIMULTANEOUS STATE ESTIMATION AND LEARNING IN REPEATED COURNOT GAMES

The aim of this article is to propose that an intelligent agent can be able to decide properly in an incomplete information repeated Cournot game. The market model and the competitors’ decision models are not known to the players. The proposed agent employs a combination of the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) method and the Bayes classifier to predict the next action of its rivals, using the market decision history. The agent takes the predicted actions as an estimate of its next state and learns the expected payoff of its state-action pairs interactively using the reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. The results of the proposed agent's competition with two benchmark competitors in different simulated Cournot games are presented. The simulation results show that the proposed agent can significantly earn more payoffs in comparison with the two benchmark agents.     

Determination of scale elasticity in the existence of non-discretionary factors in performance analysis

Discretionary models of data envelopment analysis (DEA) assume that all inputs and outputs can be varied at the discretion of management or other users. In any realistic situation, however, there may exist “exogenously fixed” or non-discretionary factors that are beyond the control of a DMU’s management, which also need to be considered. In this paper, Banker’s definition of scale elasticity and returns to scale is modified so that it includes the non-discretionary factors, as well. Then, an efficient algorithm which is capable of determining scale elasticity in the existence of non-discretionary factors is provided.     

Introduction of an empirical classification system for evaluating tunneling impact on the discharge of springs (TIS) in the surrounding areas

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Water inflow caused by tunneling can have severe impacts on the springs’ discharge rate. If these impacts have not been predicted...     

The effect of MWNTs concentration and nanofiber orientation on mechanical properties of PAA nanocomposite nanofibrous web

In this research, nanocomposite nanofibrous webs of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)/multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were obtained via electrospinning. The effect of MWNTs concentration on the morphology and mechanical properties of PAA/MWNTs nanofibers was investigated by changing the MWNTs content from 0 to 5 wt%. The results showed that average diameter of nanofibers increased with increasing the MWNTs concentration and presence of MWNTs led to the enhancement of mechanical properties. Also, the results revealed that the strength, modulus, and elongation at break of samples increased 3.22, 2.70, and 4.27 fold, respectively, after adding 3 wt% of MWNTs. In addition, the effect of rotating speed of collector on the orientation of PAA nanofibers and its effect on mechanical properties was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies demonstrated that the degree of nanofibers orientation increased with the augmentation of drum speed to 25 rps. Moreover, the average nanofibers diameter decreased with the increase of drum speed. Improvement of nanofiber orientation resulted in superior mechanical properties that is, higher strength and modulus of aligned nanofiber layers were obtained in comparison to nonaligned layers (12.6 and 26.6 fold, respectively). POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3149–3159, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Diffusion Coefficient of Tin(II) Methanesulfonate in Ionic Liquid and Methane Sulfonic Acid (MSA) Solvent

Voltammetry and chronoamperometry for the electrodeposition of tin from Tin(II) methane sulfonate mixed with ionic liquid and methane sulfonate acid at room temperature was studied. Cyclic voltammetry shows redox waves of Tin(II), which proves that the electrodeposition of tin from Tin(II) methane sulfonate is a diffusion-controlled process. The diffusion coefficient of Tin(II) ions in the solvent mixture showed good agreement from both voltammetry and chronoamperometry results. The diffusion coefficient of Tin(II) in the mixture was much smaller than in aqueous solution, and it depends on the anion of the ionic liquid.