397,869 research outputs found

    Recent advances on recursive filtering and sliding mode design for networked nonlinear stochastic systems: A survey

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    Copyright © 2013 Jun Hu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Some recent advances on the recursive filtering and sliding mode design problems for nonlinear stochastic systems with network-induced phenomena are surveyed. The network-induced phenomena under consideration mainly include missing measurements, fading measurements, signal quantization, probabilistic sensor delays, sensor saturations, randomly occurring nonlinearities, and randomly occurring uncertainties. With respect to these network-induced phenomena, the developments on filtering and sliding mode design problems are systematically reviewed. In particular, concerning the network-induced phenomena, some recent results on the recursive filtering for time-varying nonlinear stochastic systems and sliding mode design for time-invariant nonlinear stochastic systems are given, respectively. Finally, conclusions are proposed and some potential future research works are pointed out.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant nos. 61134009, 61329301, 61333012, 61374127 and 11301118, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grant no. GR/S27658/01, the Royal Society of the UK, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

    Quantum cryptography: key distribution and beyond

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    Uniquely among the sciences, quantum cryptography has driven both foundational research as well as practical real-life applications. We review the progress of quantum cryptography in the last decade, covering quantum key distribution and other applications.Comment: It's a review on quantum cryptography and it is not restricted to QK

    Stochastic accumulation of feature information in perception and memory

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    It is now well established that the time course of perceptual processing influences the first second or so of performance in a wide variety of cognitive tasks. Over the last20 years, there has been a shift from modeling the speed at which a display is processed, to modeling the speed at which different features of the display are perceived and formalizing how this perceptual information is used in decision making. The first of these models(Lamberts, 1995) was implemented to fit the time course of performance in a speeded perceptual categorization task and assumed a simple stochastic accumulation of feature information. Subsequently, similar approaches have been used to model performance in a range of cognitive tasks including identification, absolute identification, perceptual matching, recognition, visual search, and word processing, again assuming a simple stochastic accumulation of feature information from both the stimulus and representations held in memory. These models are typically fit to data from signal-to-respond experiments whereby the effects of stimulus exposure duration on performance are examined, but response times (RTs) and RT distributions have also been modeled. In this article, we review this approach and explore the insights it has provided about the interplay between perceptual processing, memory retrieval, and decision making in a variety of tasks. In so doing, we highlight how such approaches can continue to usefully contribute to our understanding of cognition

    Does Phenomenal Consciousness Overflow Attention? An Argument from Feature-Integration

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    In the past two decades a number of arguments have been given in favor of the possibility of phenomenal consciousness without attentional access, otherwise known as phenomenal overflow. This paper will show that the empirical data commonly cited in support of this thesis is, at best, ambiguous between two equally plausible interpretations, one of which does not posit phenomenology beyond attention. Next, after citing evidence for the feature-integration theory of attention, this paper will give an account of the relationship between consciousness and attention that accounts for both the empirical data and our phenomenological intuitions without positing phenomenal consciousness beyond attention. Having undercut the motivations for accepting phenomenal overflow along with having given reasons to think that phenomenal overflow does not occur, I end with the tentative conclusion that attention is a necessary condition for phenomenal consciousness

    Direct Probing of Dispersion Quality of ZrO2 Nanoparticles Coated by Polyelectrolyte at Different Concentrated Suspensions.

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    This study reports useful application of the electrokinetic sonic amplitude (ESA) technique in combination with rheometry and electron microscopy techniques for direct probing the stability of low and high-concentrated zirconia (ZrO2) nanosuspensions in the presence of an alkali-free anionic polyelectrolyte dispersant Dolapix CE64. A comparative study of the electrokinetic characteristics and the rheological behavior of concentrated ZrO2 nanosuspensions has been done. Good agreement was obtained from relationship between the electrokinetic characteristics (zeta potential, ESA signal), viscosity, and its pH dependence for each concentrated ZrO2 nanosuspension with different dispersant concentration in the range of 0.9-1.5 mass%. A nanoscale colloidal hypothesis is proposed to illustrate that the addition of different amounts of dispersant influences on both the stability and the electrokinetic and rheological properties of concentrated ZrO2 nanosuspensions. It is found that an optimum amount of 1.4 mass% dispersant at the inherent pH (>9.2) can be attached fully onto the nanoparticles with sufficient electrosteric dispersion effects, suitable for casting applications. Supplementary scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analyses followed by colorization effect were taken to verify the visible interaction between dispersant and nanoparticles surfaces. SEM and HR-TEM images proved the existence of visible coverage of dispersant on the surface of individual nanoparticles and showed that thin polyelectrolyte layers were physically bound onto the particles' surfaces. This study will be of interest to materials scientists and engineers who are dealing with dispersion technology, nanoparticle surface treatments, functionalization, characterization, and application of bio/nanoparticle suspensions at various concentrations using different types of polymers

    Interactions, structure and properties in poly(lactic acid)/thermoplastic polymer blends

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    Blends were prepared from poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and three thermoplastics, polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Rheological and mechanical properties, structure and component interactions were determined by various methods. The results showed that the structure and properties of the blends cover a relatively wide range. All three blends have heterogeneous structure, but the size of the dispersed particles differs by an order of magnitude indicating dissimilar interactions for the corresponding pairs. Properties change accordingly, the blend containing the smallest dispersed particles has the largest tensile strength, while PLA/PS blends with the coarsest structure have the smallest. The latter blends are also very brittle. Component interactions were estimated by four different methods, the determination of the size of the dispersed particles, the calculation of the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter from solvent absorption, from solubility parameters, and by the quantitative evaluation of the composition dependence of tensile strength. All approaches led to the same result indicating strong interaction for the PLA/PMMA pair and weak for PLA and PS. A general correlation was established between interactions and the mechanical properties of the blends

    Classical light vs. nonclassical light: Characterizations and interesting applications

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    We briefly review the ideas that have shaped modern optics and have led to various applications of light ranging from spectroscopy to astrophysics, and street lights to quantum communication. The review is primarily focused on the modern applications of classical light and nonclassical light. Specific attention has been given to the applications of squeezed, antibunched, and entangled states of radiation field. Applications of Fock states (especially single photon states) in the field of quantum communication are also discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figures, a review on applications of ligh

    DNA end resection by Dna2–Sgs1–RPA and its stimulation by Top3–Rmi1 and Mre11–Rad50–Xrs2

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    The repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination requires processing of broken ends. For repair to start, the DSB must first be resected to generate a 3′-single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) overhang, which becomes a substrate for the DNA strand exchange protein, Rad51 (ref. 1). Genetic studies have implicated a multitude of proteins in the process, including helicases, nucleases and topoisomerases. Here we biochemically reconstitute elements of the resection process and reveal that it requires the nuclease Dna2, the RecQ-family helicase Sgs1 and the ssDNA-binding protein replication protein-A (RPA). We establish that Dna2, Sgs1 and RPA constitute a minimal protein complex capable of DNA resection in vitro. Sgs1 helicase unwinds the DNA to produce an intermediate that is digested by Dna2, and RPA stimulates DNA unwinding by Sgs1 in a species-specific manner. Interestingly, RPA is also required both to direct Dna2 nucleolytic activity to the 5′-terminated strand of the DNA break and to inhibit 3′ to 5′ degradation by Dna2, actions that generate and protect the 3′-ssDNA overhang, respectively. In addition to this core machinery, we establish that both the topoisomerase 3 (Top3) and Rmi1 complex and the Mre11–Rad50–Xrs2 complex (MRX) have important roles as stimulatory components. Stimulation of end resection by the Top3–Rmi1 heterodimer and the MRX proteins is by complex formation with Sgs1 (refs 5, 6), which unexpectedly stimulates DNA unwinding. We suggest that Top3–Rmi1 and MRX are important for recruitment of the Sgs1–Dna2 complex to DSBs. Our experiments provide a mechanistic framework for understanding the initial steps of recombinational DNA repair in eukaryotes
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