A Nonvolatile Organic Memory Device Using ITO Surfaces Modified by Ag‐Nanodots

We report on a single‐layer organic memory device made of poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) embedded between an Al electrode and ITO modified with Ag nanodots (Ag‐NDs). Devices exhibit high ON/OFF switching ratios of 10⁴. This level of performance could be achieved by modifying the ITO electrodes with some Ag‐NDs that act as trapping sites, reducing the current in the OFF state. Temperature dependence of the electrical characteristics suggest that the current of the low‐resistance state can be attributed to Schottky charge tunnelling through low‐resistance pathways of Al particles in the polymer layer and that the high‐resistance state can be controlled by charge trapping by the Al particles and Ag‐NDs.     

Gender differences in career decision making: The content and structure of preferences.

To identify possible sources of the observed differences in the career choices of women and men, three facets of career preferences were examined: the relative importance attributed to career-related aspects, the within-aspect preferences (i.e., desirable characteristics of occupations), and the structure of aspects derived from these within-aspect preferences. The career-related preferences of 2,000 young adults who were in the process of making their career decisions were analyzed. These career-related preferences were elicited during their dialogues with a computer-assisted career guidance system. The analyses revealed (a) only small gender differences in the relative importance of the aspects, (b) considerable gender differences in the within-aspect preferences, and (c) certain gender differences in the structure of aspects. The findings and their possible theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing and evaluating language courseware

The paper sets out twenty proposals for the development and evaluation of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) programs. These proposals emerge from special characteristics of language instruction and of the use of computers to assist in language instruction. We combine theoretically-based assumptions with empirical findings drawn from investigation of language courseware for Hebrew speakers in Israel. We first list four unique features of language instruction: (1) the object-language-meta-language distinction; (2) computer as written medium vs. language as primary spoken medium; (3) teaching of second language skills vs. linguistics; (4) the computer as an electronic tool vs. the computer as a cognitive entity simulating the speaker. We then show how these unique characteristics of language instruction (mother-tongue and foreign language) impose special proposals on language courseware. These proposals should be observed in the development of language courseware and in the evaluation of such programs. Clearly, these proposals integrate with general courseware proposals. Michal Ephratt (Ph.D., computational linguistics) completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Rochester. She has been on the staff of the Dept. of Hebrew Linguistics, University of Haifa, since 1988. Some of her publications include Root-Pattern Array: The Main Tool of Hebrew Word Formation (Hebrew University, 1985); and What's in a Joke? in Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language and Knowledge-based Systems (Springer-Verlag, 1990).This paper is based on work the author did as a consultant in the National Courseware Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Education. I wish to thank Esther Diamant, head of the department, for making the study possible.     

Battery State-Of-Charge Based Altitude Controller for Small, Low Cost Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are typically driven by Lithium polymer batteries. The batteries have their own dynamics, which changes during discharge. Classical approaches to altitude control assume a time-invariant system and therefore fail. Adaptive controllers require an identified system model which is often unavailable. Battery dynamics can be characterized and used for a battery model-based controller. This controller is useful in situations when no feedback from actuators (such as RPM or thrust) is available. After measuring the battery dynamics for two distinct types of batteries, a controller is designed and experimentally verified, showing a consistent performance during entire discharge test and a consequent flight verification.     

Method of classifier selection using the genetic approach

Abstract: The paper presents a novel machine learning algorithm used for training a compound classifier system that consists of a set of area classifiers. Area classifiers recognize objects derived from the respective competence area. Splitting feature space into areas and selecting area classifiers are two key processes of the algorithm; both take place simultaneously in the course of an optimization process aimed at maximizing the system performance. An evolutionary algorithm is used to find the optimal solution. A number of experiments have been carried out to evaluate system performance. The results prove that the proposed method outperforms each elementary classifier as well as simple voting.     

The joint movement of pebbles in solving the ($$N^2-1$$)-puzzle suboptimally and its applications in rule-based cooperative path-finding

The present paper deals with the problem of solving the (\(n^2 - 1\))-puzzle and cooperative path-finding (CPF) problems sub-optimally by rule-based algorithms. To solve the puzzle, we need to rearrange \(n^2 - 1\) pebbles in the \(n \times n\)-sized square grid using one vacant position to achieve the goal configuration. An improvement to the existing polynomial-time algorithm is proposed and experimentally analyzed. The improved algorithm represents an attempt to move pebbles in a more efficient way compared to the original algorithm by grouping them into so-called snakes and moving them together as part of a snake formation. An experimental evaluation has shown that the snakeenhanced algorithm produces solutions which are 8–9 % shorter than the solutions generated by the original algorithm. Snake-like movement has also been integrated into the rule-based algorithms used in solving CPF problems sub-optimally, which is a closely related task. The task in CPF consists in moving a group of abstract robots on an undirected graph to specific vertices. The robots can move to unoccupied neighboring vertices; no more than one robot can be placed in each vertex. The (\(n^2 - 1\))-puzzle is a special case of CPF where the underlying graph is a 4-connected grid and only one vertex is vacant. Two major rule-based algorithms for solving CPF problems were included in our study—BIBOX and PUSH-and-SWAP (PUSH-and-ROTATE). The use of snakes in the BIBOX algorithm led to consistent efficiency gains of around 30 % for the (\(n^2 - 1\))-puzzle and up to 50 % in for CPF problems on biconnected graphs with various ear decompositions and multiple vacant vertices. For the PUSH-and-SWAP algorithm, the efficiency gain achieved from the use of snakes was around 5–8 %. However, the efficiency gain was unstable and hardly predictable for PUSH-and-SWAP.     

Generating heavy particles with energy and momentum conservation

We propose a novel algorithm, called REGGAE, for the generation of momenta of a given sample of particle masses, evenly distributed in Lorentz-invariant phase space and obeying energy and momentum conservation. In comparison to other existing algorithms, REGGAE is designed for the use in multiparticle production in hadronic and nuclear collisions where many hadrons are produced and a large part of the available energy is stored in the form of their masses. The algorithm uses a loop simulating multiple collisions which lead to production of configurations with reasonably large weights.

Program summary

Program title: REGGAE (REscattering-after-Genbod GenerAtor of Events)Catalogue identifier: AEJR_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEJR_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen?s University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1523No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 9608Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: C++Computer: PC Pentium 4, though no particular tuning for this machine was performed.Operating system: Originally designed on Linux PC with g++, but it has been compiled and ran successfully on OS X with g++ and MS Windows with Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition, as well.RAM: This depends on the number of particles which are generated. For 10 particles like in the attached example it requires about 120 kB.Classification: 11.2Nature of problem: The task is to generate momenta of a sample of particles with given masses which obey energy and momentum conservation. Generated samples should be evenly distributed in the available Lorentz-invariant phase space.Solution method: In general, the algorithm works in two steps. First, all momenta are generated with the GENBOD algorithm. There, particle production is modeled as a sequence of two-body decays of heavy resonances. After all momenta are generated this way, they are reshuffled. Each particle undergoes a collision with some other partner such that in the pair center of mass system the new directions of momenta are distributed isotropically. After each particle collides only a few times, the momenta are distributed evenly across the whole available phase space. Starting with GENBOD is not essential for the procedure but it improves the performance.Running time: This depends on the number of particles and number of events one wants to generate. On a LINUX PC with 2 GHz processor, generation of 1000 events with 10 particles each takes about 3 s.     

Structural Abnormalities of the Optic Nerve and Retina in Huntington’s Disease Pre-Clinical and Clinical Settings

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin protein. HD-related pathological remodelling has been reported in HD mouse models and HD carriers. In this study, we studied structural abnormalities in the optic nerve by employing Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) in pre-symptomatic HD carriers of Caucasian origin. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate ultrastructural changes in the optic nerve of the well-established R6/2 mouse model at the symptomatic stage of the disease. We found that pre-symptomatic HD carriers displayed a significant reduction in the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness, including specific quadrants: superior, inferior and temporal, but not nasal. There were no other significant irregularities in the GCC layer, at the macula level and in the optic disc morphology. The ultrastructural analysis of the optic nerve in R6/2 mice revealed a significant thinning of the myelin sheaths, with a lamellar separation of the myelin, and a presence of myelonoid bodies. We also found a significant reduction in the thickness of myelin sheaths in peripheral nerves within the choroids area. Those ultrastructural abnormalities were also observed in HD photoreceptor cells that contained severely damaged membrane disks, with evident vacuolisation and swelling. Moreover, the outer segment of retinal layers showed a progressive disintegration. Our study explored structural changes of the optic nerve in pre- and clinical settings and opens new avenues for the potential development of biomarkers that would be of great interest in HD gene therapies.     

Oxidative Damage in Sporadic Colorectal Cancer: Molecular Mapping of Base Excision Repair Glycosylases MUTYH and hOGG1 in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage and resulting mutations play a role in colorectal carcinogenesis. Impaired equilibrium between DNA damage formation, antioxidant status, and DNA repair capacity is responsible for the accumulation of genetic mutations and genomic instability. The lesion-specific DNA glycosylases, e.g., hOGG1 and MUTYH, initiate the repair of oxidative DNA damage. Hereditary syndromes (MUTYH-associated polyposis, NTHL1-associated tumor syndrome) with germline mutations causing a loss-of-function in base excision repair glycosylases, serve as straight forward evidence on the role of oxidative DNA damage and its repair. Altered or inhibited function of above glycosylases result in an accumulation of oxidative DNA damage and contribute to the adenoma-adenocarcinoma transition. Oxidative DNA damage, unless repaired, often gives rise G:C > T:A mutations in tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes with subsequent occurrence of chromosomal copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity. For instance, G>T transversions in position c.34 of a KRAS gene serves as a pre-screening tool for MUTYH-associated polyposis diagnosis. Since sporadic colorectal cancer represents more complex and heterogenous disease, the situation is more complicated. In the present study we focused on the roles of base excision repair glycosylases (hOGG1, MUTYH) in colorectal cancer patients by investigating tumor and adjacent mucosa tissues. Although we found downregulation of both glycosylases and significantly lower expression of hOGG1 in tumor tissues, accompanied with G>T mutations in KRAS gene, oxidative DNA damage and its repair cannot solely explain the onset of sporadic colorectal cancer. In this respect, other factors (especially microenvironment) per se or in combination with oxidative DNA damage warrant further attention. Base excision repair characteristics determined in colorectal cancer tissues and their association with disease prognosis have been discussed as well.