Using bayesian networks to model agent relationships

An agent-society of the future is envisioned to be as complex as a human society. Just like human societies, such multiagent systems (MAS) deserve an in-depth study of the dynamics, relationships, and interactions of the constituent agents. An agent in a MAS may have only approximate a priori estimates of the trustworthiness of another agent. But it can learn from interactions with other agents, resulting in more accurate models of these agents and their dependencies together with the influences of other environmental factors. Such models are proposed to be represented as Bayesian or belief networks. An objective mechanism is presented to enable an agent elicit crucial information from the environment regarding the true nature of the other agents. This mechanism allows the modeling agent to choose actions that will produce guaranteed minimal improvement of the model accuracy. The working of the proposed maxim in entropy procedure is demonstrated in a multiagent scenario.     

Experimental analysis of heat transfer through multiple reflecting bodies in a reactor-based cooling vault

In a nuclear reactor power plant, massive amount of heat generated in the reactor core causes the Reactor vault (RV) temperature to rise, which should be maintained at a permissible temperature range of 65°C–80°C. In order to address this issue we propose to incorporate thermal insulation, which consists of thin stainless steel (SS) sheets of 0.1?mm-thick stacked with uniform gap between them, introduced between the core and RV. The SS sheets (emissivity?=?0.05) are of highly polished, reflective type (mirror finish conforming to No. 8 as per ASTM A480/480M), which are made in the form of panels of suitable size and shape covering the entire outer contour. These types of insulations work on the principle of thermal radiation shielding Heat radiations from the reactor core falling on these reflective plates are reflected back thereby restricting the heat flux into the RV concrete. In order to estimate the effectiveness, 10 such plates are arranged over a length of 150?mm inside a casing made of an insulating material. A plate heater attached at the one end produces the desired heat transfer to analyse the thermal behaviour of the reflective plates. Thermocouples are attached to each plate to understand the temperature distribution in the system. Solidworks simulation and numerical calculations will be carried out.     

Gravitational effects on compact shaping and microstructure during liquid-phase sintering

Liquid-phase sintering is routinely used to consolidate dense components. However, there are several problems during liquidphase sintering that have their origin in gravitational effects. Under terrestrial conditions, this technique is generally limited to high solid contents to ensure structural stability and net-shaping. In addition, there are several unresolved issues pertaining to microstructural evolution and compact reshaping during sintering. Experimental conditions present during microgravity processing have allowed liquid-phase sintering over a wider range of solid-liquid ratios than is possible on Earth. A rare opportunity was provided to conduct extensive liquid-phase-sintering experiments on tungsten heavy alloys aboard the space shuttle Columbia as part of the International Microgravity Lab and Microgravity Space Lab. Early results from these experiments show novel behavior associated with microgravity both in microstructural and macrostructural evolution. For more information, contact A. Upadhyaya, Pennsylvania State University, P/M Lab, 118 Research West, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-6809, (814) 865-2121; fax (814) 863-8211; e-mail axu3@psu.edu.     

Effect of Cooling Rate and Chemical Composition on Microstructure and Properties of Naturally Cooled Vanadium-Microalloyed Steels

Samples from two V-microalloyed steels (0.05 wt pct V) having different C and N levels, namely high-C low-N steel, HCLN (0.22 wt pct C, 0.007 wt pct N) and low-C high-N steel, LCHN (0.06 wt pct C, 0.013 wt pct N) were naturally cooled from 1373 K (1100 °C) to room temperature over a range of cooling rates (0.07 to 3.33 K/s). Samples from a plain C-Mn steel (0.06 wt pct C, 0.007 wt pct N) were also subjected to the same heat treatment for comparison. The effect of cooling rate and steel composition on microstructures, precipitates, and tensile properties has been investigated. Due to the presence of large fraction of harder constituents, like pearlite and bainite, HCLN steel showed higher strength and lower ductility than LCHN steel. LCHN steel, on the other hand, showed good combination of strength and ductility due to its predominantly ferrite matrix with precipitation strengthening. The V-precipitate size was more refined and the precipitate density was higher in HCLN steel than that in LCHN steel. This observation confirms the importance of C content in V-microalloyed steel in terms of precipitation strengthening. An intermediate cooling rate (~1.4 K/s) has been found to be the optimum choice in order to maximize the precipitation strengthening in V-containing steels.     

Experimental investigation and heat transfer process on longitudinal fins with different notch configuration

Heat transfer enhancement can be achieved by surface modification of fins using different notches. Fin arrays find wide applications in heat transfer studies and other fluid flow processes. The key factor is the fin geometry, which is much significant in the fin arrays. An experimental investigation of mixed convection heat transfer on rectangular fins with triangular notch, circular notch and without notch in a horizontal rectangular channel for a wide range of modified Rayleigh numbers and different flow rates has been carried out. From this investigation, it has been found that circular notch plays efficiently in heat transfer rate.     

Detection,tracking, and recognition of isolated multi-stroke gesticulated characters

Pattern Analysis and Applications - The detection and tracking of the bare hand are the most vital stages in the bare hand gesticulated character recognition system. Applying detection and tracking...