ACTNET: End-to-End Learning of Feature Activations and Multi-stream Aggregation for Effective Instance Image Retrieval

International Journal of Computer Vision - We propose a novel CNN architecture called ACTNET for robust instance image retrieval from large-scale datasets. Our key innovation is a learnable...     

Prediction of the maximum spoutable height in spout-fluid beds

The development of the semi-theoretical correlation in Hadzisdmajlovic et al. (1983) for predicting the maximum spoutable height in a spout-fluid bed, is observed to involve certain discrepancies. Based on their experimental data, a new correlation is proposed.     

Hydrogen limitation--a method for controlling the performance of membrane biofilm reactor for autotrophic denitrification of wastewater.

Hydrogen-driven denitrification using the fiber membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) was evaluated for consistent operation in tertiary wastewater treatment. The possibility of controlling the process rates, as well as biofilm parameters by supplying limited amounts of electron donor (hydrogen), was tested. Limiting the hydrogen supply proved to be efficient in controlling the biofilm growth and performance of the MBfR. Denitrification rates remained unchanged for both synthetic wastewater (SWW) and real municipal wastewater (MWW) effluent as well through the fluctuations in the substrate (NO3-N) concentration. The average denitrification rates were 0.50 (+/- 0.02) g NO3-N per day per m2 for SWW and 0.59 (+/- 0.04) g NO3-N per day per m2 for MWW. Biofilm density rather than thickness was the determining factor in substrate diffusion and biofilm sloughing, ultimately determining operating stability. Limited hydrogen supply assured constant volatile solids (VS) concentration in the biofilm. It was determined that VS/TS ratio higher than 0.25 assured stable biofilm operation. Decrease of VS/TS ratio below 0.25 led to shearing of the nonbiological outer layers of the biofilm. The values of chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile suspended solids (VSS) and total suspended solids (TSS) in the final effluent were stable and well below wastewater effluent guidelines. Substitutions of bicarbonate with gaseous carbon dioxide as the carbon source did not affect denitrification rates despite lower than optimum pH conditions.     

Grain boundary embrittlement in Cu-AI-Niβ-phase alloys

The grain boundary embrittlement in Cu-AI-Ni-phase alloys has been investigated. The study included both the bulk alloys and rapidly solidified ribbons. It was observed that the fracture characteristics and the phase transformations in rapidly solidified ribbons were similar to those in the bulk alloys. Various factors responsible for intergranular fracture were considered. It was found that intrinsic or extrinsic precipitates at the grain boundaries are not responsible for the embrittlement. It was further observed that the segregation of impurities does not occur at the grain boundaries and hence is not a factor contributing to the embrittlement. The intrinsic characteristics, however, appear to play an important role. These may include high elastic anisotropy, ordered structure and plastic incompatibility. Severe embrittlement in high-nickel alloys is associated with spinodal decomposition occurring in these alloys. The large grain size exhibited by these alloys is found not to be a significant factor contributing to the embrittlement.     

Ricinoleic acid inPhyllanthus niruri seed oil

Seed oil ofPhyllanthus niruri (Euphorbiaceae) contains 1.2% ricinoleic (12-hydroxy-cis-9-octadecenoic) acid, previously unknown in the genusPhyllanthus. Identification is based on thin layer and gas liquid chromatography, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry analysis as well as chemical methods. Other major components of the oil are linoleic acid (21%) and linolenic acid (51.4%). Presented at the ISF/AOCS World Congress, April 1980, New York City.     

Quantitative determination of castor oil in edible and heat-abused oils by13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Application of¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for detection of castor oil (CO) in various edible oils, such as coconut oil, palm oil, groundnut oil and mustard oil, is described. Characteristic signals observed at δ 132.4, δ 125.6, δ 71.3, δ 36.8 and δ 35.4 ppm, due to C10, C9, C12, C13 and C11 carbons of ricinoleic acid (RA) in CO, were selected for distinguishing it from edible oils. Quantitative¹³C NMR spectra of oils were recorded in CDCl₃ with a gated decoupling technique. The minimum detection limits for qualitative and quantitative analyses were 2.0 and 3.0%, respectively. The proposed method is simple, nondestructive and requires no sample pretreatment. Its application to heat-abused oils has also been demonstrated successfully without any of the interferences observed in most other methods.     

Abutilon indicum Seed Oil — Characterisation of HBr-Reactive Acids

The seed oil of Abutilon indicum (Malvaceae) contains three HBr-reactive fatty acids. These are shown to be cis-12,13-epoxyoleic (vernolic) acid, 1.6% 9,10-methylene-octadec-9-enoic (sterculic) acid, 0.9%; as well as 8,9-methylene-heptadec-8-enoic (malvalic) acid, 2.3%. Quantitative results are obtained by combining informations about the HBr-titration, the preparative thin layer separation of oxygenated and non-oxygenated acids, and gas liquid chromatographic analysis.     

Influence of nickel and molybdenum on the phase stability and mechanical properties of maraging steels

The effect of nickel and molybdenum concentrations on the phase transformation and mechanical properties of conventional 18Ni(350) maraging steel has been investigated. Both of these elements act as strong austenite stabilizers. When the concentration of molybdenum or nickel is greater than 7.5 or 24 wt %, respectively, the austenite phase remains stable up to room temperature. In both molybdenum- and nickel-alloyed steels, the austenite phase could be transformed to martensite by either dipping the material in liquid nitrogen or subjecting it to cold working. When 7.5 wt% Mo and 24 wt% Ni were added in combination, however, the austenite phase obtained at room temperature did not transform to martensite when liquid-nitrogen quenched or even when cold rolled to greater than 95% reduction. The aging response of these materials has also been investigated using optical, scanning electron, and scanning transmission electron microscopy.     

Switched reluctance motor modeling with on-line parameteridentification

A nonlinear model with on-line parameter estimation using recursive identification for switched reluctance motors (SRMs) is presented. The model is robust toward parameter variations in the motor or any system disturbances. The parameters of the model are adjusted to account for errors in rotor position, which allows the use of crude inexpensive position sensors. The proposed modeling approach allows self-tuning of SRMs in a production unit. The simulations and experiments performed to test the model demonstrate the accuracy of estimation of the model     

Identification of pole-like structures from mobile lidar data of complex road environment

Pole-like structures (PLSs) located in road environment are important roadway assets. They play a vital role in road safety inspection and road planning. The use of light detection and ranging (lidar) based mobile mapping technology for mapping of PLSs is an important area of research as it holds the potential for automation. Point cloud data of rural, peri-urban, and urban road environment are used in this study, which pose special challenge in view of the complexity of terrain, unlike well-planned roads, which have been the subject of interest in existing literature for identification of PLSs. A new five-step method is proposed in this article. The first two steps, i.e. ground filtering and voxelization of filtered non-ground points, are used for data size reduction. Next three steps are used to extract PLSs from reduced data. The proposed method was tested on point cloud data of three test sites having different levels of complexities. PLSs including partially occluded pole, tilted pole, pole situated very close to other objects, and vertical pole attached to tilted pole were accurately identified. Average correctness and completeness, respectively of 92.6% and 94.9%, were achieved in three different complex test sites, i.e. urban, peri-urban, and rural sites, respectively. Computation complexity shows that our proposed method delivers fast and computationally efficient solution for identifying the PLSs from volumetric mobile lidar point cloud. Impact of PLSs on road safety and road planning is also addressed for these selected test sites.