Social collaborative filtering using local dynamic overlapping community detection

The Journal of Supercomputing - Recommender systems play an important role in dealing with the problems caused by the great and growing amount of information, and the collaborative filtering method...     

The implementation of time-domain diakoptics in the FDTD method

The time-domain diakoptics is implemented in the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method with two types of connecting interfaces: i) directional interface (TLM-type), and ii) total-field interface (FDTD-type). The FDTD-type interface provides a more efficient way to realize time-domain diakoptics than TLM, especially for device optimization problems. To emulate the TLM-type interface in FDTD, two novel algorithms are developed in this paper. One is to implement an ultra-wideband absorbing boundary on the excitation plane during excitation. The other is to separate directional waves without the knowledge of incident waves. For a large circuit with cascaded modules, sequential and parallel algorithms are provided to connect them. With these connecting algorithms, time-domain diakoptics is one candidate method to realize modular and parallel computation in FDTD simulations. The validity of these algorithms is confirmed by comparison with simulated results from Microwave SPICE     

Experience classification for transfer learning in traffic signal control

In recent years, due to the drastic rise in the number of vehicles and the lack of sufficient infrastructure, traffic jams, air pollution, and fuel consumption have increased in cities. The optimization of timing for traffic lights is one of the solutions for the mentioned problems. Many methods have been introduced to deal with these problems, including reinforcement learning. Although a great number of learning-based methods have been used in traffic signal control, they suffer from poor performance and slow learning convergence. In this paper, a transfer learning-based method for traffic signal control has been proposed. Multi-agent system has also been used for modelling the traffic network and transfer learning has been used to make reinforcement learning agents transfer their experience to each other. Furthermore, a classifier has been utilized to classify the transferred experiences. The results show that using the proposed method leads to a significant improvement on average delay time and convergence time of the learning process.

     

Bidirectional teleportation of a pure EPR state by using GHZ states

In the present paper, a novel bidirectional quantum teleportation protocol is proposed. By using entanglement swapping technique, two GHZ states are shared as a quantum channel between Alice and Bob as legitimate users. In this scheme, based on controlled-not operation, single-qubit measurement, and appropriate unitary operations, two users can simultaneously transmit a pure EPR state to each other, While, in the previous protocols, the users can just teleport a single-qubit state to each other via more than four-qubit state. Therefore, the proposed scheme is economical compared with previous protocols.     

Joint analysis of SAR,LIDAR and aerial imagery for simultaneous extraction of land cover,DTM and 3D shape of buildings

What information may be extracted over urban area by means of joint analysis of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) remote sensing data? We exploit aerial, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Laser Induced Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data to characterize precisely the Presidio area in San Francisco. We discriminate between different objects in the scene using their 2D and 3D characteristics. The final product of the analysis is a set of raster or vector information layers providing land covers, 3D building shapes and Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of the Presidio. This paper investigates the relative merits of the collected data in retrieving each of these information layers, and examines how automatic algorithms to extract land cover, Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and 3D building shape could be integrated in a processing chain.     

Methodology for Improving Quality of Instruction

This paper describes a Teaching Effectiveness Improvement Program based on a multidisciplinary approach and the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles. The success of the program underscored the value of cross-functional teams for teaching effectiveness improvement programs. In the case study discussed in this paper, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, the University administration and students participated extensively in framing the requirements and the structure of the program. The program was implemented in the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati to improve teaching effectiveness over the last three years. The Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle was used as a framework for improving teaching. The Student evaluations of faculty were used to measure the effectiveness of this program and the results are very promising.     

Extreme Two‐Phase Cooling from Laser‐Etched Diamond and Conformal,Template‐Fabricated Microporous Copper

This paper reports the first integration of laser‐etched polycrystalline diamond microchannels with template‐fabricated microporous copper for extreme convective boiling in a composite heat sink for power electronics and energy conversion. Diamond offers the highest thermal conductivity near room temperature, and enables aggressive heat spreading along triangular channel walls with 1:1 aspect ratio. Conformally coated porous copper with thickness 25 µm and 5 µm pore size optimizes fluid and heat transport for convective boiling within the diamond channels. Data reported here include 1280 W cm^?2 of heat removal from 0.7 cm² surface area with temperature rise beyond fluid saturation less than 21 K, corresponding to 6.3 × 10⁵ W m^?2 K^?1. This heat sink has the potential to dissipate much larger localized heat loads with small temperature nonuniformity (5 kW cm^?2 over 200 µm × 200 µm with <3 K temperature difference). A microfluidic manifold assures uniform distribution of liquid over the heat sink surface with negligible pumping power requirements (e.g., <1.4 × 10^?4 of the thermal power dissipated). This breakthrough integration of functional materials and the resulting experimental data set a very high bar for microfluidic heat removal.     

Using flower pollinating with artificial bees (FPAB) technique to determine machinable volumes in process planning for prismatic parts

Process planning (PP) has an important role in manufacturing systems design and operations. Volume decomposition and machinable volumes (MVs) or machining features determination is the core activity in process planning. This process requires extraction of elementary volumes (EVs), merging or clustering EVs to construct feasible MVs and finally selecting an optimal combination of MVs. Development of MVs is an important activity, so that better solution is obtained by better developed MVs. Generation of limited number of MVs or machining features, which is often performed by experts may miss the optimal solution. Also, using exact methods such as combinatorial optimization not only generate infeasible MVs, but also require an excessive amount of computational time. In this research, the meta-heuristic procedure of flower pollinating by artificial bees (FPAB) is used in manufacturing context to generate and assess the feasibility of MVs. Furthermore, a set-covering method is used to select the optimal solution. The performance of the proposed model is assessed through some numerical examples. The encouraging results of the numerical examples demonstrate good performance of the proposed method in machining feature or machinable volumes determination problem (MVDP).     

Superhydrophobic Graphene Foams

The static and dynamic wetting properties of a 3D graphene foam network are reported. The foam is synthesized using template‐directed chemical vapor deposition and contains pores several hundred micrometers in dimension while the walls of the foam comprise few‐layer graphene sheets that are coated with Teflon. Water contact angle measurements reveal that the foam is superhydrophobic with an advancing contact angle of ～163 degrees while the receding contact angle is ～143 degrees. The extremely water repellent nature of the foam is also confirmed when impacting water droplets are able to completely rebound from the surface. Such superhydrophobic graphene foams show potential in a variety of applications ranging from anti‐sticking and self‐cleaning to anti‐corrosion and low‐friction coatings.