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2010

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Articles 1081 - 1110 of 5375

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Multi-Electron Redox Materials For High Energy Density Electrodes, Xin-Ping Ai, Han-Xi Yang Aug 2010

Multi-Electron Redox Materials For High Energy Density Electrodes, Xin-Ping Ai, Han-Xi Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Various new energy technologies being developed require electrochemical energy batteries to have a real breakthrough in energy density and rate capability,which imposes a great challenge for electrochemists and materials chemists. Multi-electron redox reactions seem to open a promising avenue to create new batteries with dramatically enhanced energy densities. This paper describes simply our research works on the multi-electron redox systems,including metal boride anode,lithium alloying compounds and electrochemical conversion materials, and also discusses the problems hindering these systems for battery applications.


In Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopic Study Of Sulfur Adsorption On Polycrystalline Platinum Electrode Surface, Bolian Xu, In-Su Park, Ying Li, De-Jun Chen, Yuye J. Tong Aug 2010

In Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Spectroscopic Study Of Sulfur Adsorption On Polycrystalline Platinum Electrode Surface, Bolian Xu, In-Su Park, Ying Li, De-Jun Chen, Yuye J. Tong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The paper reports the first in situ surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroelectrochemistry study of sulfur adsorption and electro-oxidation on highly roughened polycrystalline Pt surface in both acidic and basic supporting electrolytes. The SERS spectra were taken at a constant electrode potential after accumulative electro-oxidation CVs of the Pt electrode with pre-adsorbed sulfur species and at different electrode potentials that were varied stepwise of the Pt electrode immersed in sulfur-containing electrolytes without pre-adsorbed sulfur species. In both cases,a dominant vibrational band at 299 cm-1 in acidic electrolyte but at 310 cm-1 in basic electrolyte was observed,which was assigned …


Preliminary Investigation Of Iron Protoporphyrin Sams On Platinum Electrodes By Surface Enhanced Vibrational Spectroscopies, Min Ma, Yao-Yue Yang, Han-Xuan Zhang, Wen-Bin Cai Aug 2010

Preliminary Investigation Of Iron Protoporphyrin Sams On Platinum Electrodes By Surface Enhanced Vibrational Spectroscopies, Min Ma, Yao-Yue Yang, Han-Xuan Zhang, Wen-Bin Cai

Journal of Electrochemistry

In situ SERS and ATR-SEIRAS were applied to investigate the electrochemical and structural properties of iron protoporphyrin IX (FePP) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Pt electrodes in 0. 1 mol· L -1 HClO4. The potential dependent SERS spectra of the FePP SAM on a roughened Pt electrode with the enhancement factor of ca. 40 were acquired with the excitation line of 514 nm. Analyses of SERS data over the potential region from 0. 5 to -0. 3 V enabled to obtain potential dependent adsorption isotherms,from which the formal redox potential could be estimated to be ca. -0. 2 V. …


Studies Of Oxidation Processes Of Adsorbed And Solution Co On Pt(110) Electrode By Cyclic Voltammetry And In Situ Ftirs, Li Tian, Jun-Tao Li, Jin-Yu Ye, Chun-Hua Zhen, Shi-Gang Sun Aug 2010

Studies Of Oxidation Processes Of Adsorbed And Solution Co On Pt(110) Electrode By Cyclic Voltammetry And In Situ Ftirs, Li Tian, Jun-Tao Li, Jin-Yu Ye, Chun-Hua Zhen, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The oxidation processes of adsorbed CO (COad) and solution phase CO (COsol) on Pt(110) electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. It has revealed that in comparison with COad on Pt(110) in a CO-free solution,the oxidation current peak of COsol in a CO-saturated solution is positively shifted ca. 168 mV,and the peak current density has been increased by 6. 70 times. Linear adsorbed CO (COL) is determined by in-situ FTIR spectroscopy as the main species,which is uniformly distributed on Pt (110) surface. In a CO-free solution,the onset potential of COL is measured by in-situ FTIRS ca. 0. …


Solid State Nmr Studies Of Lithium Manganese Silicate As Positive Electrode Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Hu Cheng, Zi-Geng Liu, Yi-Xiao Li, Zhong Chen, Yong Yang Aug 2010

Solid State Nmr Studies Of Lithium Manganese Silicate As Positive Electrode Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Hu Cheng, Zi-Geng Liu, Yi-Xiao Li, Zhong Chen, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Li2MnSiO4 cathode material for lithium ion batteries was synthesized by sol-gel assisted hydrothermal method. XRD,FTIR and SS-NMR were used to study the phase,structure and morphology of obtained samples. Electrochemical performance of cathode material was tested. The results show that the main phase of sample prepared was Li2MnSiO4,whereas a small amount of impurities (Li2CO3) were existed. The Li2MnSiO4 cathode material gave an initial discharging capacity of about 190 mAh·g -1. But this capacity faded rapidly during the cycling process due to the decomposition of Li …


Density Functional Theory Studies Of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy In Electrochemical Interfaces, Liu-Bin Zhao, De-Yin Wu, Bin Ren, Zhong-Qun Tian Aug 2010

Density Functional Theory Studies Of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy In Electrochemical Interfaces, Liu-Bin Zhao, De-Yin Wu, Bin Ren, Zhong-Qun Tian

Journal of Electrochemistry

Quantum chemical density functional theory and Raman scattering theory were used to study the bonding mechanism and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of pyridine adsorbed on transition metals (Ⅷ group) and coinage metals (IB group) . SERS studies of pyridine-metal systems have been reviewed. Chemical bonding mechanism as well as photo-driven charge transfer mechanism was considered to investigate the vibrational frequency shift and the enhancement of SERS intensity in electrochemical interfaces. Our theoretical results can be used to interpret the SERS phenomena dependent on metals,excitation wavelengths,and applied potentials.


Construction Cost Models, Barry Dikeman Aug 2010

Construction Cost Models, Barry Dikeman

Economics and Finance

The following are a series of cost estimate models similar in format to a typical engineer’s estimate that were developed in support of our financial impact assessment report for LD 1725. The models us current material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for the region to provide a comparative cost analysis of seven culvert replacement scenarios. The models provide information about what the cost impact of LD 1725 would be for typical culvert replacements in Maine. However, due to the inherent restrictions of the cost modeling framework we were not able to include the abundance of variables that would be …


Customer Management Analysis Of Irish Plumbing & Heating Distribution System: A Simulation Study, Amr Arisha, Amr Mahfouz, John Crowe, Finbarr Bennett Aug 2010

Customer Management Analysis Of Irish Plumbing & Heating Distribution System: A Simulation Study, Amr Arisha, Amr Mahfouz, John Crowe, Finbarr Bennett

Conference papers

The sudden burst of the property bubble, coupled with current global economic conditions has resulted in a huge decrease in demand for plumbing and heating fixtures in the Irish construction industry. Moreover, inefficient supply chain management policies have imposed further pressures on companies resulting in more system bottlenecks and unnecessary costs. Inventory management is seen as a functional area that can ease such bottlenecks and in turn increase supply chain efficiency, decrease costs and increase customer satisfaction. The challenge is to predict the balance of on-hand inventory and order quantity to optimise customer satisfaction and minimise inventory cost. It is …


Evaluating Effectiveness Of Best Management Practices To Control Accelerated Sedimentation Of The Morro Bay Estuary, Misgana K. Muleta Aug 2010

Evaluating Effectiveness Of Best Management Practices To Control Accelerated Sedimentation Of The Morro Bay Estuary, Misgana K. Muleta

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Morro Bay estuary, located on the central Coast of California approximately half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is one of the most important wetlands on the west Coast as it supports wide variety of habitats including numerous sensitive and endangered plant and animal species. Various studies have identified accelerated erosion and subsequent sedimentation as a major threat for sustainability of the bay. Watershed disturbances caused by agricultural activities are believed to be one of the major causes of the accelerated erosion and sedimentation. More than 200 conservation practices have been installed in the watershed since the mid-1990 …


Magneto-Optical Visualisation For High-Resolution Forensic Data Recovery Using Advanced Thin Film Nano-Materials, M Nur-E-Alam, Mikhail Vasiliev, Kamal Alameh, Craig Valli Aug 2010

Magneto-Optical Visualisation For High-Resolution Forensic Data Recovery Using Advanced Thin Film Nano-Materials, M Nur-E-Alam, Mikhail Vasiliev, Kamal Alameh, Craig Valli

International Cyber Resilience conference

We develop and characterise new high-performance nano-engineered magneto-optic materials for use in laser-microscopy- based magnetic field visualisers featuring high sensitivity and resolution, low cost and small size. This type of visualisers will make it possible for forensic experts to recover erased data previously stored in high- and ultrahigh-density magnetic disks and hard disk drives.


Analytic Treatment Of Vortex States In Cylindrical Superconductors In Applied Axial Magnetic Field, Andrei Ludu, J. Van Deun, M. V, Milosevic, A. Cuyt, F. M. Peeters Aug 2010

Analytic Treatment Of Vortex States In Cylindrical Superconductors In Applied Axial Magnetic Field, Andrei Ludu, J. Van Deun, M. V, Milosevic, A. Cuyt, F. M. Peeters

Publications

We solve the linear Ginzburg–Landau GL equation in the presence of a uniform magnetic field with cylindrical symmetry and we find analytic expressions for the eigenfunctions in terms of the confluent hypergeometric functions. The discrete spectrum results from an implicit equation associated to the boundary conditions and it is resolved in analytic form using the continued fractions formalism. We study the dependence of the spectrum and the eigenfunctions on the sample size and the surface conditions for solid and hollow cylindrical superconductors. Finally, the solutions of the nonlinear GL formalism are constructed as expansions in the linear GL eigenfunction basis …


Ebc Development For Hot-Pressed Y2O3/Al2O3 Doped Silicon Nitride Ceramics, Sivakumar Ramasamy, Surendra N. Tewari, Kang N. Lee, Ramakrishna T. Bhatt, Dennis S. Fox Aug 2010

Ebc Development For Hot-Pressed Y2O3/Al2O3 Doped Silicon Nitride Ceramics, Sivakumar Ramasamy, Surendra N. Tewari, Kang N. Lee, Ramakrishna T. Bhatt, Dennis S. Fox

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Multilayer EBCs of alcohol and sol-based slurries containing (a) 45% SiO2-34% Y2O3-%Al2O3, (b) mullite/Gd2SiO5 (88/12wt.%) with and without B2O3 addition, (c) mullite/rare-earth silicates (94/6wt.%, (Gd2SiO5, Lu2SiO5, Er2SiO5, and HfSiO4)), and (d) only mullite, were applied on hot pressed Y2O3/Al2O3 doped Si3N4 substrates. Of the four major EBC systems studied, only mullite/Gd2SiO5 (88/12wt.%) EBCs sintered in air at …


Improved Pcr Design For Mouse Dna By Training Finite State Machines, Salik R. Yadav, Steven M. Corns Aug 2010

Improved Pcr Design For Mouse Dna By Training Finite State Machines, Salik R. Yadav, Steven M. Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This project presents an updated method for classification of polymerase chain reaction primers in mice using finite state classifiers. This is done to compensate for many lab, organism and chemical specific factors that are costly. using Finite State Classifiers can help decrease the number of primers that fail to amplify correctly. for training these classifiers, five different evolutionary algorithms that use an incremental fitness reward are used. Variations to the number of generations and the values in the fitness reward are examined, and the resulting designs are presented. by controlling the fitness reward correctly, there is a potential to develop …


Cathode Polarizations Of A Cathode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Kevin Huang, Alessandro Zampieri, Martin Ise Aug 2010

Cathode Polarizations Of A Cathode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Kevin Huang, Alessandro Zampieri, Martin Ise

Faculty Publications

The concentration, activation, and total polarizations of the cathode in a cathode-supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) were theoretically and experimentally investigated. In the theoretical analysis, the exchange current density of the charge transfer was considered to be dependent on the PO2 determined by the preceding O2 diffusion, resulting in an interrelationship between activation and concentration polarizations. The established nonlinear polarization equations were then applied to solve the key parameters with area specific resistances and overpotentials of the polarizations experimentally measured by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on an operating cathode-supported SOFC. To ensure the consistency and meaningfulness of …


Validation Of A Micro-Ct Approach For Characterization Of Murine And Human Bone In Osteogenesis Imperfecta, John Jameson, Brooke Slavens, Robert Molthen, Peter Smith, Gerald F. Harris Aug 2010

Validation Of A Micro-Ct Approach For Characterization Of Murine And Human Bone In Osteogenesis Imperfecta, John Jameson, Brooke Slavens, Robert Molthen, Peter Smith, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Comprehensive Reduced-Order Models Of Electrostatically Actuated Mems Switches And Their Dynamics Including Impact And Bounce, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj Aug 2010

Comprehensive Reduced-Order Models Of Electrostatically Actuated Mems Switches And Their Dynamics Including Impact And Bounce, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

As MEMS technology develops it is becoming better understood that MEMS designers must account for the large uncertainties characteristic of the relevant manufacturing processes. Uncertainty quantification tasks the designer with evaluating many different possible outcomes from the manufacturing process which creates a demand for models that are accurate and comprehensive, yet fast to evaluate. This work presents a comprehensive reduced-order model of electrostatically actuated switches incorporating a range of effects that are typically included only in FE modeling codes. Specifically, the model accounts for variable electrode geometry, stretching of centerline or large displacement effects, fringing field, squeeze film and rarefied …


A Time-Independent Finite Difference Analysis Of Viscous Flow Across A Translating Circular Cylinder, Chih-Chun Chu, Yi-Hsiang Yu, Bang-Fuh Chen, Tin-Kan Hung Aug 2010

A Time-Independent Finite Difference Analysis Of Viscous Flow Across A Translating Circular Cylinder, Chih-Chun Chu, Yi-Hsiang Yu, Bang-Fuh Chen, Tin-Kan Hung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A time-independent finite difference scheme is developed and applied to analyze the viscous flow past a translating circular cylinder. In this scheme, the instantaneous moving cylinder face is mapped to a fixed boundary and the computational domain is, therefore, time independent. Large Reynolds number and high oscillating frequency of moving cylinder are used in the analysis. The finite difference approximation and algorithm were validated by the reported numerical simulation and flow visualization. The vorticity and streamline patterns developments were described and discussed. The surface vorticity distribution and position of separation point versus phases of oscillating stages were discussed. The flow …


Vfife Method Applied For Offshore Template Structures Upgraded With Damper System, Po-Yen Chang, Hsien Hua Lee, Guo-Wei Tseng, Pei-Yin Chung Aug 2010

Vfife Method Applied For Offshore Template Structures Upgraded With Damper System, Po-Yen Chang, Hsien Hua Lee, Guo-Wei Tseng, Pei-Yin Chung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, a plane frame element derived from vector form intrinsic finite element (VFIFE) method is adapted and applied to study the dynamic responses of an offshore template platform subject to wave forces. Furthermore, this vector form intrinsic finite element is modified in order to incorporate a visco-elastic material, which has excellent energyabsorption ability, to a damping device installed in the structural system to mitigate the wave-induced vibration. The method adopted in this study is a scheme similar to the one by updating the geometry of the structural system during the calculation of each time step, which is also …


Design And Application Of An Image-Processing-Based Fuzzy Autopilot For Small-Boat Approaching Maneuvers, Sin-Der Lee, Ching-Yaw Tzeng, Young-Zehr Kehr, Chih-Kai Kang, Chi-Chun Huang Aug 2010

Design And Application Of An Image-Processing-Based Fuzzy Autopilot For Small-Boat Approaching Maneuvers, Sin-Der Lee, Ching-Yaw Tzeng, Young-Zehr Kehr, Chih-Kai Kang, Chi-Chun Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents an image-processing-based fuzzy autopilot scheme for accomplishing small-boat approaching maneuvers in a harbor environment. In the proposed approach, two canvas targets are arranged in cascade on the quayside to form a leading line. The targets are detected by a charge coupled device (CCD) camera mounted on the bow of the boat, and their geometric centers are computed by a Hue- and Saturation-based image-processing scheme. The autopilot system calculates the current heading deviation and tracking deviation angles of the boat by analyzing the displacements of the target centers relative to the CCD center line. These angles are then …


Reuse The Bed Ash From Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion On Mortar Mixture, Hui-Mi Hsu, An Cheng, Sao-Jeng Chao Aug 2010

Reuse The Bed Ash From Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion On Mortar Mixture, Hui-Mi Hsu, An Cheng, Sao-Jeng Chao

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper investigates mortars consisting of various circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) bed ash contents. The CFBC bed ash used in this study was obtained from Taiwan’s petroleum industry. This study presents experimental results on the flowability, compressive strength, drying shrinkage, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) of mortar samples containing CFBC bed ash. The initial surface absorption tests (ISAT) and rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT) of mortar were used to measure water absorption and the ability to resist chloride ion characteristics for different mortar samples containing CFBC bed ash. CFBC bed ash is X-ray amorphous and …


An Analytical Solution To The Modified Mild-Slope Equation For Waves Propagating Around A Circular Conical Island, Sung-Shan Hsiao, Chun-Ming Chang, Chih-Chung Wen Aug 2010

An Analytical Solution To The Modified Mild-Slope Equation For Waves Propagating Around A Circular Conical Island, Sung-Shan Hsiao, Chun-Ming Chang, Chih-Chung Wen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

There are many analytical solutions to the mild-slope equation that employ Hunt’s direct solution of linear dispersion [7] to solve wave-scattering problems involving varying quiescent depths. The advantage of Hunt’s direct solution of linear dispersion is that it can extend the range of applicability of the mild-slope equation from long-wave to deep-wave conditions. However, because the bottom curvature and slope-squared terms are neglected, the mild-slope equation cannot preserve mass conservation. In this investigation, we derived an analytic solution of the modified mild-slope equation for a conical island by adopting Hunt’s direct solution of linear dispersion to be applicable to intermediate …


Shape Optimization Of One-Chamber Mufflers With Perforated Intruding Tubes Using A Simulated Annealing Method, Ying-Chun Chang, Min-Chie Chiu, Wang-Chuan Liu Aug 2010

Shape Optimization Of One-Chamber Mufflers With Perforated Intruding Tubes Using A Simulated Annealing Method, Ying-Chun Chang, Min-Chie Chiu, Wang-Chuan Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

It has been noted that the application of high performance, compact mufflers is the future for modern factories where place is at a premium. However, as research on mufflers equipped with extended tubes has been exhausted, and frankly at the juncture, shown to be inadequate (unsuitable), attention has turned to mufflers conjugated with perforated intruding tubes which can dramatically increase acoustical performance. Therefore, the focus of this paper is not only to analyze the sound transmission loss (STL) of a one-chamber open-ended perforated muffler but also to optimize the best design shape within a limited space. In this paper, the …


Siphoning Sea Water Back Into The Engine In Fast Boats, Osman Azmi Ozsoysal Aug 2010

Siphoning Sea Water Back Into The Engine In Fast Boats, Osman Azmi Ozsoysal

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A failure investigation has been conducted on the exhaust system of a high speed marine diesel engine in Turkish ambulance boats. Premature failures were reported on the poor starting, on the loss of power, on the lubricating oil leakage and on the engine overload. It was observed some significant tracks of sea water found its way into the exhaust passages from condensation of the salt water vapour and also from entering some sea water into the exhaust system. In order to initiate a more accurate cause investigation, the engine went through an overhaul inspection, in which it was determined that …


Numerical Optimization Of A Three-Chamber Muffler Hybridized With A Side Inlet And A Perforated Tube By Sa Methodm, Min-Chie Chiu Aug 2010

Numerical Optimization Of A Three-Chamber Muffler Hybridized With A Side Inlet And A Perforated Tube By Sa Methodm, Min-Chie Chiu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Research on new techniques of multi-chamber mufflers equipped with a side inlet and an internal non-perforated tube has been well addressed and developed; however, the research work of multi-chamber mufflers in conjunction with side inlet and internal perforated tubes which may efficiently increase the acoustical performance is rare. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to not only analyze the sound transmission loss (STL) of three-chamber side mufflers with a perforated tube but also to optimize their best design shape under a limited space. In this paper, both the generalized decoupling technique and plane wave theory in solving the …


The Role Of Non-Financial Features Related To Corporate Governance In Business Crisis Prediction, Fengyi Lin, Deron Liang, Wing-Sang Chu Aug 2010

The Role Of Non-Financial Features Related To Corporate Governance In Business Crisis Prediction, Fengyi Lin, Deron Liang, Wing-Sang Chu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Recent outbreak of corporate financial crises worldwide has brought attention to the need for a new international financial architecture which rests on crisis prediction and crisis management. It is therefore both desirable and vital to explore new predictive techniques for providing early warnings aganist bankruptcy. Financial data have been widely used by researchers to predict financial distress or business crisis, but few studies exploit the use of non-financial indicators related to corporate governance to construct business crisis prediction model. This article introduces into the field of business crisis prediction model based on a combination of both financial and corporate governance …


An On-Board Field Area Meter For Agricultural Machinery, Yuan-Yong Hsu, Kuo-Ching Chiou, Cheng-Ta Chung, Tsung-Hua Hsu Aug 2010

An On-Board Field Area Meter For Agricultural Machinery, Yuan-Yong Hsu, Kuo-Ching Chiou, Cheng-Ta Chung, Tsung-Hua Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this work, an on-board field area meter with simple structure and low cost is developed on agricultural machinery in order to measure the cultivated area. It consists of a simple compass for position measurement and a proximity switch for distance measurement. Furthermore, an 8051 series microprocessor is employed to perform the calculations required for calibration and contour integral. The device is designed to be operated in either manual or automatic mode. Field tests carried out on a peanut gathering machine and a corn harvester show that the errors of the measured area in both operation modes are less than …


Risk Evaluation Of Ship Dynamic Stability In Regular Waves, Zhan-Jun Long, Seung-Keon Lee, Han-Suk Choi Aug 2010

Risk Evaluation Of Ship Dynamic Stability In Regular Waves, Zhan-Jun Long, Seung-Keon Lee, Han-Suk Choi

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, a method combined with the existing approaches is proposed for evaluating and predicting the safety of ship rolling in regular waves. Based on the uncoupled equation of a single degree of freedom, the nonlinear ship rolling in waves is presented and the differential equation is integrated in the time domain by the fourth order Runge-Kutta algorithm. The erosion of the safe basins of a ship roll equation is simulated and the survival probability of a typical ship is studied according to the statistical and simulation results. The numerical results show that the survival probabilities of ship excited …


Vector Quantization Based On Steady-State Memetic Algorithm, Chien-Min Ou Aug 2010

Vector Quantization Based On Steady-State Memetic Algorithm, Chien-Min Ou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A novel memetic algorithm (MA) for the design of vector quantizers (VQs) is presented in this paper. The algorithm uses steady-state genetic algorithm (GA) for the global search and K-means algorithm for the local improvement. As compared with the usual MA using the generational GA for global search, the proposed MA dramatically reduces the computational time for VQ training. In addition, it attains a near global optimal solution, and its performance is insensitive to the selection of initial codewords. Numerical results show that it can save more than 70% of computation time while maintaining a comparable performance as previous MA


Experimental Study On The Influence Of Geometrical Configuration Of Porous Floating Breakwater On Performance, Huan-Yu Wang, Zhao-Chen Sun Aug 2010

Experimental Study On The Influence Of Geometrical Configuration Of Porous Floating Breakwater On Performance, Huan-Yu Wang, Zhao-Chen Sun

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The general aims of this paper were to present a novel floating breakwater fabricated with large numbers of diamondshaped blocks and find out the favorable characteristics of geometrical configurations basing on wave attenuation and mooring force debasement. The research are expected to offer a little of information for the design of floating breakwater. Four sorts (with equal number of blocks) of geometrical configurations had been involved in the contrasting analyses. Various factors including water depth, relative width of the floating body and wave steepness were considered. The results had shown that the proposed porous floating breakwater revealed favorable performance and …


In Vitro Evaluation Of Mechanical Heart Valve Performance Using A Novel Test Chamber In An Automated Mock Circulatory Loop, Antonio Walker Aug 2010

In Vitro Evaluation Of Mechanical Heart Valve Performance Using A Novel Test Chamber In An Automated Mock Circulatory Loop, Antonio Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Valvular heart disease (VHD) continues to have significant effects on many people’s lives, with numbers expected to grow tremendously over the next few years. Individuals suffering from severe valvular heart disease usually require a heart valve transplant in order to restore the native valve’s vital unidirectional flow regulation. Therefore, artificial heart valve (AHV) research is of very high importance. Previous research studies have provided substantial input in the realm of AHV design relative to durability, thrombotic and hemolytic potential, and overall functionality. However, modifications continue to be warranted due to limitations in the accuracy and time efficiency of the in …