A Neural Networks Approach for Deriving Irrigation Reservoir Operating Rules

A neural networks approach is applied to the derivation of the operating rules of an irrigation supply reservoir. Operating rules are determined as a two step process: first, a dynamic programming technique, which determines the optimal releases byminimizing the sum of squared deficits, assumed as objective function, subject to various constraints is applied. Then, theresulting releases from the reservoir are expressed as a functionof significant variables by neural networks. Neural networks aretrained on a long period, including severe drought events, andthe operation rules so determined are validated on a differentshorter period. The behaviour of different operating rules is assessed by simulating reservoir operation and by computing several performance indices of the reservoir and crop yield through a soil water balance model. Results show that operating rules based on an optimization with constraints resembling real system operation criteria lead to a good performance both in normal and in drought periods, reducing maximum deficits and water spills.     

Calibration and validation of a solar thermal system model in Modelica

Recent advancements in the domain of modeling physical processes offer opportunities to use equation based modeling environments, such as Modelica, for the simulation of building heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The current work demonstrates Modelica capabilities in a case study of real building solar thermal system simulation. The simulated system is part of an innovative ENERGYbase building, designed according to the so called Passivhaus standard. Model calibration and validation procedure is developed to include optimization based parametric adjustments of component models using the monitoring data during a single week. The calibrated system adequately reproduces half a year of real system operation. Future work will concentrate on application of the developed calibration and validation methodology in the whole year overall building energy simulation.     

An ultrastructural study of spermiogenesis in two species of Sitophilus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

The spermiogenesis of Sitophilus zeamais and Sitophilus oryzae, the maize and the rice weevil, respectively, was studied by light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Sitophilus spp. is the most widespread and destructive primary pest of stored cereals in the world. The spermiogenesis occurs within cysts. There are approximately 256 germ line cells per cyst. Inside each cysts, all the spermatids are in the same stage of maturation. The ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of S. zeamais and S. oryzae is similar to that described for other beetles. The head is formed by a three-layered acrosome with the perforatorium, the acrosomal vesicle, the extra-acrosomal layer and the nucleus. The flagellum has the typical axoneme formed by a 9+9+2 microtubules arrangement, two mitochondrial derivatives and two accessory bodies. The typical pattern for Curculionidae spermatozoa described here may provide useful information for future phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily Curculionoidea.     

On the coexistence of power-controlled ultrawide-band systems with UMTS, GPS, DCS1800, and fixed wireless systems

Ultrawide bandwidth (UWB) wireless technology will play a key role in short-range wireless connectivity supporting very high bit rates availability, low power consumption, and location capabilities. UWB can be conveniently deployed in the design of wireless local and personal area networks, providing advanced integrated multimedia services to nomadic users within hot-spot areas. The very large bandwidth required by the UWB signals cannot be exclusively allocated; thus, UWB band overlaps with the bands allocated to many other narrow-band systems. Therefore, the assessment of the interference caused by UWB devices on already-existing systems is of primary importance to ensure coexistence and, therefore, to guarantee acceptance of UWB technology worldwide. We study the coexistence issues between an UWB-based system and universal mobile telecommunication systems, global positioning systems, DCS1800, and fixed wireless access systems and point-to-point (PP) links terminals. UWB interference is evaluated accounting for the UWB signal model, a realistic UWB master/slave system architecture with power-controlled terminals. Furthermore, we analyze the dependence of the UWB interference from the UWB signal parameters and demonstrate through computer simulation that, in all practical cases, a UWB system can coexist with the selected victim terminals without causing any dangerous interference.     

A Function Point-Like Measure for Object-Oriented Software

We present a method for estimating the size, and consequently effort and duration, of object oriented software development projects. Different estimates may be made in different phases of the development process, according to the available information. We define an adaptation of traditional function points, called Object Oriented Function Points, to enable the measurement of object oriented analysis and design specifications. Tools have been constructed to automate the counting method. The novel aspect of our method is its flexibility. An organization can experiment with different counting policies, to find the most accurate predictors of size, effort, etc. in its environment. The method and preliminary results of its application in an industrial environment are presented and discussed.     

On the Virtualization of CUDA Based GPU Remoting on ARM and X86 Machines in the GVirtuS Framework

The astonishing development of diverse and different hardware platforms is twofold: on one side, the challenge for the exascale performance for big data processing and management; on the other side, the mobile and embedded devices for data collection and human machine interaction. This drove to a highly hierarchical evolution of programming models. GVirtuS is the general virtualization system developed in 2009 and firstly introduced in 2010 enabling a completely transparent layer among GPUs and VMs. This paper shows the latest achievements and developments of GVirtuS, now supporting CUDA 6.5, memory management and scheduling. Thanks to the new and improved remoting capabilities, GVirtus now enables GPU sharing among physical and virtual machines based on x86 and ARM CPUs on local workstations, computing clusters and distributed cloud appliances.