Landmark-based spatial memory in birds (Parus atricapillus and Columba livia): The use of edges and distances to represent spatial positions.

Birds' use of landmarks to identify spatial locations was examined. Black-capped chickadees (Parus atricapillus) and pigeons (Columba livia) searched for hidden food on a 120-cm–2 tray. In each task the target was near an edge with a nearby landmark. On occasional unrewarded tests the landmark was either left in its usual position, shifted parallel to the edge, shifted perpendicular to the edge, or shifted diagonally. On diagonal landmark shifts the birds shifted their searching more in the parallel direction than in the perpendicular, which violates the predictions of the vector sum model (K. Cheng, 1989). In some cases the birds maintained their searching at a constant perpendicular distance under all landmark shifts. This suggests that perpendicular distance to an edge forms an element in determining where to search on the basis of landmarks. Chickadees and pigeons performed similarly, which suggests similarity in the way they encode locations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boundary Procedures for Summation-by-Parts Operators

Four different methods of imposing boundary conditions for the linear advection-diffusion equation and a linear hyperbolic system are considered. The methods are analyzed using the energy method and the Laplace transform technique. Numerical calculations are done, considering in particular the case when the initial data and boundary data are inconsistent.     

Reducing energy-related CO2 emissions using accelerated weathering of limestone

The use and impacts of accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL; reaction: CO₂+H₂O+CaCO₃→Ca²⁺+2(HCO₃⁻) is explored as a CO₂ capture and sequestration method. It is shown that significant limestone resources are relatively close to a majority of CO₂-emitting power plants along the coastal US, a favored siting location for AWL. Waste fines, representing more than 20% of current US crushed limestone production (>10⁹ tonnes/yr), could provide an inexpensive or free source of AWL carbonate. With limestone transportation then as the dominant cost variable, CO₂ mitigation costs of $3-$4/tonne appear to be possible in certain locations. Perhaps 10–20% of US point–source CO₂ emissions could be mitigated in this fashion. It is experimentally shown that CO₂ sequestration rates of 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻⁵ moles/sec per m² of limestone surface area are achievable, with reaction densities on the order of 10⁻² tonnes CO₂ m⁻³day⁻¹, highly dependent on limestone particle size, solution turbulence and flow, and CO₂ concentration. Modeling shows that AWL would allow carbon storage in the ocean with significantly reduced impacts to seawater pH relative to direct CO₂ disposal into the atmosphere or sea. The addition of AWL-derived alkalinity to the ocean may itself be beneficial for marine biota.     

弹性变形对仿人机器人步态规划的影响分析

仿人机器人行走步态研究的理论、方法及建模均未考虑系统各部件弹性变形的影响，导致行走实验结果与理论步态规划存在较大的差异，制约了步行质量的提高和连续快速稳定步行的实现。本文运用ANSYS有限元软件，针对清华大学研制的THBIP—Ⅰ型仿人机器人样机，建立精确的有限元模型，进行步行运动弹性变形及其对步态规划影响的有限元仿真分析，在此基础上提出了对步态规划进行局部修正完善的方法，步行实验证明该有限元模型及仿真分析结果是有效的。     

Comparison of corrosion-resistance and hydrogen permeation properties of Zn-Ni, Zn-Ni-Cd and Cd coatings on low-carbon steel

Zn-Ni-Cd alloy was electroplated from an alkaline sulfate bath under potentiostatic conditions. The corrosion and hydrogen permeation characteristics of Zn-Ni-Cd alloy coatings electrodeposited from alkaline bath were studied and compared with those of Cd and Zn-Ni coatings obtained using commercial baths. Zn-Ni-Cd alloy was electroplated from an alkaline sulfate bath under potentiostatic conditions. The corrosion potential of this Zn-Ni-Cd coating was −0.62 V vs. SCE, which is still negative potential compared to iron. The corrosion rate of Zn-Ni-Cd coated steel was 0.073 mm y⁻¹, which is estimated in a solution at a pH of 7. This value is much lower than the corrosion rate of Zn-Ni alloy (0.502 mm y⁻¹) and Cd (0.306 mm y⁻¹) coatings deposited from commercial baths. Zn-Ni-Cd alloys are also demonstrated to have superior hydrogen permeation inhibition properties compared to Cd and Zn-Ni coatings. Kinetic parameters of hydrogen permeation such as the transfer coefficient, α, the modified exchange current density, i₀^′, thickness dependent adsorption-absorption rate constant, k^″, recombination rate constant, k₃, surface hydrogen coverage, θ_s, were evaluated by applying a mathematical model to analyze experimental results.     

High resolution solid state 13C n.m.r. of butadiene grafted polypropylene

¹H dipolar decoupled ¹³C n.m.r. experiments with the aid of the magic angle spinning technique have been used to determine the graft content and the isomer content of the polybutadiene grafts in a graft copolymer with isotactic polypropylene.     

A minimal kinematic model for serial robot calibration using POE formula

Traditional methods based on the product of exponentials (POE) formula are parametrically continuous and complete for the calibration of the kinematic parameters of serial robots. However, these methods are not minimal due to the constraints of joint twists. This paper puts forward a new POE-based model, whose parameters are totally independent and conform to the formula of minimality. This is the first model that simultaneously satisfies the requirements of parametric continuity, completeness, and minimality with uniform and generic modeling rules. The proposed approach avoids the operations of normalization and orthogonalization which are necessary redundancy elimination steps with the traditional model. Simulations on a SCARA robot and experiments on an ABB IRB 120 robot prove that the new model outperforms in convergence, accuracy, and efficiency.