Intelligent handling of data by integration of commonsense reasoning

Any intelligent problem solving system should be able, given the known data on a case, to decide whether some item of information is true, false or unknown. In this paper the way in which various forms of commonsense reasoning can be integrated to provide such decisions is described. To this end three structural types of knowledge defined over data, and four strategies for exploiting these structures, are identified. ‘Decide-Status’ integrates the reasoning strategies into a task frame. This frame structure not only integrates the reasoning but also affords the appropriate facilities for providing strategic justifications for its conclusions, if required.     

Maturation ponds, rock filters and reedbeds in the UK: statistical analysis of winter performance.

Wastewater treatment technologies suitable for serving large populations are generally reliable and reasonably cost-effective, yet they are almost always financially inappropriate for small communities (< 2,000 p.e.). Comparative cost data suggests that waste stabilization ponds should be an attractive option for small communities, yet perceptions relating to land costs, climate and effluent quality have limited their application in the UK. This paper details typical UK land costs, climate and winter performance data for a pilot-scale waste stabilization pond with various upgrading technologies: system A, two tertiary maturation ponds in series; B, two tertiary maturation ponds in series followed by a reed bed channel; C, a control rock filter; D, an aerated rock filter; and E, a constructed wetland. System D was found to perform best, closely followed by system B.     

Performance of a non‐load‐bearing steel stud gypsum board wall assembly: Experiments and modelling

A gypsum wall assembly was exposed to an intense real‐scale compartment fire. For the wall assembly, temperatures were measured at the exposed face, within the stud cavity, and at the unexposed face during the fire exposure. Total heat flux gauges were used to measure the temporal variation of the energy incident on the walls, and cameras, both visual and infrared, were used to image the unexposed face of the wall assembly during the fire exposure. The behaviour of the wall assembly under the fire load is discussed as are current model results for a simulation of the fire test. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phase Shifter for a 915 MHz Phased Array Hyperthermia System

This paper describes a design for an analog phase shifter operating at 915 MHz and suitable for use in a phased array microwave hyperthermia system. Here, the major operating constraint was minimization of amplitude variation over a 1800 phase shift, whereas previous phase shifters were designed to obtain a linear relationship between phase and control voltage. The result is a simple, inexpensive hybrid coupler phase shifter that operates over a narrow bandwidth and provides 180°of continuous phase shift with input powers up to 1 W.     

THE LOW CYCLE IMPACT FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF PEARLITIC PLAIN CARBON STEELS

The results of Stan ton and Bairstow (1908) have been reanalyzed to yield information on the composition dependence of the low cycle impact fatigue properties of pearlitic plain carbon steels. It has been found that the energy absorbed per impact, E_i, and the number of impacts are failure, N_f, are related by the equation: In this equation q is determined by the carbon, manganese and silicon contents of the steel; E_o is the impact endurance limit; and C and D are constants. The curve represented by this equation intersects that representing the Johnson-Keller high cycle impact fatigue equation at a value of log_eN_f equal to 1/C. Thus, the transition from low to high cycle impact fatigue occurs at this value of log_eN_f.     

封装与测试——解决功率电子器件的热问题

纽约州立大学Buffalo分校电子封装实验室正在为美国海军开发新型的功率电子封装，在一些极端苛刻的工作条件下（比如在军舰和战机上）．它们能够解决大电流密度、高温和大的温度梯度所引起的种种问题。这类功率电子封装还有可能很快进入民用产品。     

Tracing success: graphical methods for analysing successful collaborative problem solving

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the use of trace diagrams for analysing collaborative problem solving. The paper describes a study where trace diagrams were used to analyse joint navigation in a virtual environment. Ten pairs of undergraduates worked together on a distributed virtual task to collect five flowers using two bees with each participant controlling one of the bees. This task is used extensively in research on multi-robot systems. The joint navigation of the pairs was analysed using trace diagrams. They showed that more successful pairs divided the task up, showed very little overlap and very little backtracking. Whereas, the less successful pairs, showed no task division, there was significant overlap and extensive backtracking. From this analysis we developed numerical measures of task division, overlap and backtracking. Task division was significantly and negatively related with task performance. Backtracking and overlap were significantly and positively correlated.     

Case Study of an Aerosol Explosion and a Method to Determine Explosion Temperatures

A failure analysis case study is presented for a two-piece aerosol containing tetrafluoroethane, commonly referred to as Refrigerant 134a. A gentleman was preparing to recharge the air conditioning system of an automobile when the bottom exploded off the aerosol container, propelling the body of the aerosol container like a rocket, which hit the man in the eye and blinded him in that eye. The aerosol was never connected to the air conditioner, therefore backpressure from the air conditioner (AC) compressor was ruled out as a cause for the explosion. The objective of the study was to determine why the aerosol exploded. Several recently developed test methods were used, including two types of heat-to-burst tests and a puncture chamber to measure the pressure-versus-temperature behavior of aerosols. More common test methods were also used, such as water bath pressure tests, hydro pressure burst tests, pneumatic pressure burst tests, hardness measurements, weight measurements, metallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and an accident scenario recreation. A semi-empirical correlation between the hardness and weights of the container bottoms was used to determine the explosion temperature and/or pressure. This semi-empirical correlation agrees in principle with an analysis of the explosion pressures using finite-element analysis (FEA). The root cause for the explosion was determined to be a lack of strength of the bottom of the two-piece aerosol coupled with heating the aerosol to temperatures significantly above room temperature.