Boundary element analysis of a plate on elastic foundations

The objective of this study is to examine the applicability of the boundary element method to analysing a plate on elastic foundation. The fundamental solution of the problem is presented as a Fourier-Bessel integral. For the computation of the values of the fundamental solution an algorithm was developed in which the Fourier-Bessel integral was decomposed into an alternative convergent sequence. Equations based on the direct and indirect boundary element method were derived for a plate situated on a one- or two-parametric elastic foundation. According to the theory presented, computer programs based on the direct and indirect boundary element method were developed. These programs can be used for examining the behaviour of a smooth-boundary plate on a one- or two-parametric elastic foundation. The computer programs were tested by several examples. The results obtained by using a small number of boundary elements compared favourably to the results obtained by a fine finite element mesh. The study shows that the boundary element method is applicable to the analysis of a plate on elastic foundation.     

Experiments with negative ions in3He superfluids

The interaction between negative ions and ³ He superfluids was studied by using a time-of-flight spectrometer having a 10^–3 relative resolution. The ions guided through a sample of rotating³He-A were found to be focused into the cores of the vortices present in this rotating superfluid. Two different types, with different core structures and presumably different numbers of circulation quanta associated with them, were found. The ion mobility along the vortex cores, _c , observed in the absence of external magnetic field, can be explained by the mobility anisotropy of the A phase, which indicates that the vortices are continuous, i.e., consist of the A phase even in the core. In finite magnetic fields, a qualitatively similar continuous vortex structure was found, a result compatible with the earlier nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, but also a new vortex type with an anomalously high _c was seen when the vortex sample was prepared adiabatically. The observed strong ion focusing indicates broken w-symmetry in the core textures. This is in contradiction with the earlier numerical calculations on the optimal continuous vortex texture. Experiments to observe trapping of ions into the vortex cores were performed both in A and B phases. No trapping could be detected. Mobility measurements in stationary liquid were extended down toT=0.3T _c . Comparison with the calculated transport coefficients yields _A (T)=1.32 _BCS (T) for the maximal A phase gap atP=29.3 bar, and _B (T)=1.12 _BCS (T) for the B phase gap at 4.8 bar. In the normal Fermi liquid a shallow minimum of ion mobility was detected aroundT2T _c =5 mK.     

Model microemulsions containing vegetable oils part 1: Nonionic surfactant systems

Nonionic microemulsions containing triglycerides and fatty acid esters as lipophilic components have been studied. The phase inversion temperature (PIT) of the systems was determined by a conductometric method. Partial phase diagrams were constructed in the phase inversion temperature range. Water solubilization capacity of the nonionic surfactant systems studied was dependent on surfactant and oil types in analogy to ordinary hydrocarbon systems. The PIT:s increased with increased molecular weight for both esters and triglycerides.     

Socially shared regulation of learning in CSCL: understanding and prompting individual- and group-level shared regulatory activities

The field of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is progressing instrumentally and theoretically. Nevertheless, few studies examine the effectiveness and efficiency of CSCL with respect to cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social issues, despite the fact that the role of regulatory processes is critical for the quality of students’ engagement in collaborative learning settings. We review the four earlier lines in developing support in CSCL and show how there has been a lack of work to support individuals in groups to engage in, sustain, and productively regulate their own and the group’s collaborative processes. Our aim is to discuss how our conceptual work in socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) contributes to effective and efficient CSCL, what tools are presently available, and what the implications of research on these tools are for future tool development.     

The movement patterns and the experiential components of virtual environments

Human movement in virtual environments (VEs) is a largely unstudied area, and there are no well-established methods of measuring it in VEs. Consequently, it is unclear how movement affects the experiential side of VEs. We introduce a novel method of measuring and modelling human movement. A specific information entropy-based modelling method enabled us to identify different movement patterns and analyse the experiential components related to them. The data was collected by registering the movement patterns of 68 participants who were in a virtual house doing a search task. The experiential side of the VE was measured with the Experimental Virtual Environment Questionnaire (EVEQ). Four movement patterns were identified. In addition, fluent movement in VEs was related to a high sense of presence. Moreover, the participants who moved fluently in the environment assessed their skills high. The results show how movement is related the way in which people experience the VE. The movement analysis method introduced here is applicable to other related research areas as well.     

Correction to: The effect of various simultaneous sources of mechanical error in the estimators of correlation causing deflation in reliability: seeking the best options of correlation for deflation-corrected reliability

Behaviormetrika - The article “The effect of various simultaneous sources of mechanical error in the estimators of correlation causing deflation in reliability: seeking the best options of...     

A coarse-grain reconfigurable architecture for multimedia applications supporting subword and floating-point calculations

Signal processors exploiting ASIC acceleration suffer from sky-rocketing manufacturing costs and long design cycles. FPGA-based systems provide a programmable alternative for exploiting computation parallelism, but the flexibility they provide is not as high as in processor-oriented architectures: HDL or C-to-HDL flows still require specific expertise and a hardware knowledge background. On the other hand, the large size of the configuration bitstream and the inherent complexity of FPGA devices make their dynamic reconfiguration not a very viable approach. Coarse-grained reconfigurable architectures (CGRAs) are an appealing solution but they pose implementation problems and tend to be application specific. This paper presents a scalable CGRA which eases the implementation of algorithms on field programmable gate array (FPGA) platforms. This design option is based on two levels of programmability: it takes advantage of performance and reliability provided by state-of-the-art FPGA technology, and at the same time it provides the user with flexibility, performance and ease of reconfiguration typical of standard CGRAs. The basic cell template provides advanced features such as sub-word SIMD integer and floating-point computation capabilities, as well as saturating arithmetic. Multiple reconfiguration contexts and partial run-time reconfiguration capabilities are provided, tackling this way the problem of high reconfiguration overhead typical of FPGAs. Selected instances of the proposed architecture have been implemented on an Altera Stratix II EP2S180 FPGA. On this system, we mapped some common DSP, image processing, 3D graphics and audio compression algorithms in order to validate our approach and to demonstrate its effectiveness by benchmarking the benefits achieved.     

数字图像的质量评价

图像质量评价的使用已成为图像信息工程的基础技术之一。本文对目前一些典型的数字图像质量介方法进行了简要综述,并着重介绍了一种基于视觉兴趣的图像质量评价方法,最后指出了图像质量评价研究可能发展的方向。     

Bridging the physical and virtual worlds by local connectivity-based physical selection

The prevalent visions of ambient intelligence emphasise natural interaction between user and functions and services embedded in the environment or available through mobile devices. In these scenarios the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly gear into each other, making crossing the border between these worlds natural or even invisible to the user. The bottleneck in reaching these scenarios appear in the natural mapping between the physical objects and their virtual counterparts. The emergence of local connectivity in mobile devices opens possibilities for implementing novel user interface paradigms to enhance this mapping. We present physical selection paradigm for implementing an intuitive human technology interaction for mobile devices. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the paradigm we implemented two experimental set-ups using commercially available smart phones with IrDA connectivity. The experiments involved selecting a website by physically pointing at its symbol and making a phone call by pointing at an icon representing the person to be called. In tentative user experiments the physical selection method was more time-efficient and it was perceived more positively by the users than a conventional method.

Electrostatic image theory for two anisotropic half-spaces

An image solution for the canonical electrostatic problem of a point charge in an anisotropic half-space bounded by another anisotropic half-space is presented. The image source is obtained in operator form by using Fourier-transformed Maxwell equations and transmission line theory. After applying Heaviside operator calculus the image operator can be interpreted as a combination of a point charge and a sector of planar charge. The new theory is shown to coincide with the previously known image solutions of less general anisotropic media. In addition to being applicable to any physically feasible anisotropic medium of electrostatics, the method can be used for steady-current conductivity problems via a duality transformation.