Cold toughness of alloyed high-manganese steel

Philadelphia, USA. Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 85–89, March–April, 1993.     

A Fast Algorithm for Adaptive Prefix Coding

In this paper we present a new algorithm for adaptive prefix coding. Our algorithm encodes a text S of m symbols in O(m) time, i.e., in O(1) amortized time per symbol. The length of the encoded string is bounded above by (H+1)m+O(nlog ² m) bits where n is the alphabet size and H is the entropy. This is the first algorithm that adaptively encodes a text in O(m) time and achieves an almost optimal bound on the encoding length in the worst case. Besides that, our algorithm does not depend on an explicit code tree traversal. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT 2006). M. Karpinski’s work partially supported by a DFG grant, Max-Planck Research Prize, and IST grant 14036 (RAND-APX). Y. Nekrich’s work partially supported by IST grant 14036 (RAND-APX).     

An oscillatory neural model of multiple object tracking

An oscillatory neural network model of multiple object tracking is described. The model works with a set of identical visual objects moving around the screen. At the initial stage, the model selects into the focus of attention a subset of objects initially marked as targets. Other objects are used as distractors. The model aims to preserve the initial separation between targets and distractors while objects are moving. This is achieved by a proper interplay of synchronizing and desynchronizing interactions in a multilayer network, where each layer is responsible for tracking a single target. The results of the model simulation are presented and compared with experimental data. In agreement with experimental evidence, simulations with a larger number of targets have shown higher error rates. Also, the functioning of the model in the case of temporarily overlapping objects is presented.     

Note: Rotational compliance and instantaneous center of rotation in segmented and V-shaped notch hinges

This note shows a technique for the calculation of rotational compliance (stiffness) and develops a generalized mathematical model for the virtual center of rotation position in concave, segmented, and V-shaped notch hinges using Chebyshev's polynomials. The calculational results are in a good agreement with experimental data and finite element model verified output with estimated differences of less than 10%. This agreement shows that our tractable model is a general one for rotational compliance and the evaluation of a virtual center of rotation position in any type of concave flexure notch hinges.     

Temporal Reasoning for a Collaborative Planning Agent in a Dynamic Environment

We present a temporal reasoning mechanism for an individual agent situated in a dynamic environment such as the web and collaborating with other agents while interleaving planning and acting. Building a collaborative agent that can flexibly achieve its goals in changing environments requires a blending of real-time computing and AI technologies. Therefore, our mechanism consists of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) planning subsystem and a Real-Time (RT) scheduling subsystem. The AI planning subsystem is based on a model for collaborative planning. The AI planning subsystem generates a partial order plan dynamically. During the planning it sends the RT scheduling subsystem basic actions and time constraints. The RT scheduling subsystem receives the dynamic basic actions set with associated temporal constraints and inserts these actions into the agent's schedule of activities in such a way that the resulting schedule is feasible and satisfies the temporal constraints. Our mechanism allows the agent to construct its individual schedule independently. The mechanism handles various types of temporal constraints arising from individual activities and its collaborators. In contrast to other works on scheduling in planning systems which are either not appropriate for uncertain and dynamic environments or cannot be expanded for use in multi-agent systems, our mechanism enables the individual agent to determine the time of its activities in uncertain situations and to easily integrate its activities with the activities of other agents. We have proved that under certain conditions temporal reasoning mechanism of the AI planning subsystem is sound and complete. We show the results of several experiments on the system. The results demonstrate that interleave planning and acting in our environment is crucial.     

Fate of fertilizer 15N in intensive ridge cultivation with plastic mulching under a monsoon climate

Reducing nitrogen (N) leaching to groundwater requires an improved understanding of the effect of microtopography on N fate. Because of the heterogeneity between positions, ridge tilled fields, frequently used in intensive agriculture, should be treated as two distinct management units. In this study, we measured N dynamics in plastic-mulched ridges and bare furrows with the goal of developing more sustainable agricultural practices with optimal gains, namely crop production versus limited impacts on water quality. We investigated: (1) biomass production; (2) crop N uptake; (3) N retention in soil; and (4) N leaching using ¹⁵N fertilizer in a radish crop. Broadcast mineral N fertilizer application prior to planting resulted in high total leaching losses (of up to 390 N kg ha^?1). The application of plastic mulch in combination with local fertilizer management did not help to reduce N leaching. At all fertilizer N rates, the mean NO₃ ^? concentrations in seepage water were found to be above the WHO drinking water standard of 50 mg NO₃ ^? l^?1. To reduce NO₃ ^? leaching, we recommend: (1) decreasing the fertilizer N rates to a maximum of 150 kg N ha^?1; (2) applying fertilizer N in 3–4 split applications according to the plant’s N needs; (3) applying fertilizer N to the ridges (after their formation) to avoid losses from the furrows; and (4) increasing the soil organic matter content to enhance the water and nutrient retention by covering the furrows with plant residues.     

Cooper-like Pairing and Energy Gap Induced by Ion Electronic Polarizability

We explore the possibility that the ionic electron polarizabilities of the oxygen ions in the cuprates and bismutates and the polarizabilities of As and Se ions in the iron pnictides contribute to charge carrier pairing leading to high Tc superconductivity. Using the fact that the ionic polarization responds to an abrupt change in the electric field is practically instantaneous, we find that charge carriers attract each other in limited regions in the two carrier position space. The attractive potential is used to calculate quantum mechanically the Cooper-like pairing energy and wave function and the gap energy showing they are consistent with pairing and gap energies of high Tc superconductors. Qualitative considerations show that this model may explain the large pairing energy observed in high Tc superconductors, the very short inter-carrier distance, the fact that Tc vanishes at very low and very high doping levels, and the dramatic increase in Tc of a one-unit cell thick FeSe film grown on SrTiO₃ substrate.     

增加采样保持器的记忆电压的取值范围

采样保持器应用于模数转换器之前。基本的采样保持电路由两个放大运算器（A1和A2）.     

Overload, autonomy, and burnout as predictors of physicians' quality of care.

A model in which perceived overload and burnout mediated the relations of workload and autonomy with physicians' quality of care to their patients was examined. The study was based on data from 890 specialists representing six medical specialties. Including global burnout as well as its three first-order facets of physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, and emotional exhaustion improved the fit between the structural model and the data relative to an alternative model that included only global burnout. Workload (number of work hours) indirectly predicted quality of care through perceived overload. Additionally, the authors found that the paths from the first order factors of emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness predicted quality of care negatively, positively, and nonsignificantly, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)