A state of art survey on zz-structures

Zz-structures are particular data structures capable of representing both hypertextual information and contextual interconnections among different information. The focus of this paper is to stimulate new research on this topic, by providing, in a state of the art survey, a short description and comparison of all the material that, to the best of our knowledge, is related to zz-structures: informal and formal descriptions, implementations, languages, demonstrations, projects and applitudes of zz-structures; in fact, despite their large use in different fields, the literature lacks of an exhaustive and up-to-date description of them

A formal description of zz-structures

The focus of this paper is on particular and innovative structures for storing, linking and manipulating information: The zz-structures. In the last years, we worked at the formalization of these structures, retaining that the description of the formal aspects can provide a better understanding of them, and can also stimulate new ideas, projects and research. This work presents our contribution for a deeper discussion on zz-structures

Large scale Binder jet printing using waste materiais

Additive manufacturing (AM) is especially suited for unique objects or low production batches since it does not require expensive tooling. The AM market has undergone enormous growth, even though there is still a significant limitation in this technology type when producing large parts. Powder bed technology, particularly binder jetting, allows the production of several types of materials. The print size is directly related to the machine’s build volume size when using powder bed technology. Moreover, materials used in powder bed processes are usually high-cost materials, making large prints not affordable. Instead of working with high-cost types of powder, it is possible to replace them with low cost, biodegradable materials, like wood, or waste materials like ground tire (GTW). Using materials such as this allows low-cost production parts while contributing to the incorporation of residues that otherwise would have to be discarded, with a low environmental impact. This work studies the usage of waste materials in small grains and calibrated dust with different sizes as a matrix in a binder jetting machine with a build volume of 1m3. Wood dust and GTW are being studied and additives can be added to the bulk material to affect the powder deposit ability, printing behavior, final part properties and post-processing behavior. It was possible to produce test specimens, but the machine had to be refilled each layer manually. The rest of the printing process was made automatically, producing specimens that were tested successfully

Bare-handed 3D drawing in augmented reality

Head-mounted augmented reality (AR) enables embodied in situ drawing in three dimensions (3D).We explore 3D drawing interactions based on uninstrumented, unencumbered (bare) hands that preserve the user’s ability to freely navigate and interact with the physical environment. We derive three alternative interaction techniques supporting bare-handed drawing in AR from the literature and by analysing several envisaged use cases. The three interaction techniques are evaluated in a controlled user study examining three distinct drawing tasks: planar drawing, path description, and 3D object reconstruction. The results indicate that continuous freehand drawing supports faster line creation than the control point-based alternatives, although with reduced accuracy. User preferences for the different techniques are mixed and vary considerably between the different tasks, highlighting the value of diverse and flexible interactions. The combined effectiveness of these three drawing techniques is illustrated in an example application of 3D AR drawing

Whatever Happened to the Frankenfish ?: The FDA\u27s Foot-Dragging on Transgenic Salmon

AquaBounty Technologies has genetically modified the Atlantic salmon through the introduction of a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon, which allows the fish to reach market size almost twice as quickly as its farmed counterparts. The research began more than two decades ago. The company secured licenses for the patents that emerged out of this research, and its plans to commercialize the transgenic salmons (branded “AquAdvantage”) took shape more than a decade ago. In late 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appeared to be on the verge of authorizing production, but, more than two years later, the company continues to await the agency’s blessing. With AquaBounty facing bankruptcy, a group of biotechnology researchers and entrepreneurs wrote President Obama to denounce the political meddling that apparently had stalled the review process. Shortly thereafter, the FDA took a tentative further step toward approval, issuing a draft environmental assessment (EA) at the end of 2012. In explaining why it would allow no more than sixty days for the submission of written comments, the agency noted that its draft EA different little from the one that it had made available more than two years earlier, which makes one wonder what exactly it had done during the interim. If history is any guide, this next step in what has become a tortuous review process does not portend imminent approval: the FDA again will receive thousands of largely duplicative adverse public comments, and members of Congress representing constituents threatened economically by approval of the AquAdvantage salmon again will pressure the agency. Will regulatory officials manage to ignore the static this time around when they seemed incapable of doing so just two years earlier

An automatic marker for vector graphics drawing tasks

In recent years, the SVG file format has grown increasingly popular, largely due to its widespread adoption as the standard image format for vector graphics on the World Wide Web. However, vector graphics predate the modern Web, having served an important role in graphic and computer-aided design for decades prior to SVG's adoption as a web standard. Vector graphics are just as - if not more - relevant than ever today. As a result, training in vector graphics software, particularly in graphic and other creative design fields, forms an important part of the skills development necessary to enter the industry. This study explored the feasibility of a web application that can automatically mark/assess drawing tasks completed in popular vector graphics editors such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Inkscape. This prototype has been developed using a collection of front-end and back-end web technologies, requiring that users need only a standards-compliant, modern web browser to submit tasks for assessment. Testing was carried out to assess how the application handled SVG markup produced by different users and vector graphics drawing software; and whether the assessment/scoring of submitted tasks was inline with that of a human marker. While some refinement is required, the application assessed six different tasks, submitted eleven times over by as many individuals, and for the greater part was successful in reporting scores in line with that of the researcher. As a prototype, serving as a proof of concept, the project proved the automatic marker a feasible concept. Exactly how marks should be assigned, for which criteria, and how much instruction should be provided are aspects for further study; along with support for curved path segments, and automatic task generation

Forest Road Network and Transportation Engineering – State and Perspectives

The paper reviews traditional and computer-assisted road network layout approaches and brings them together in an overall stream of development. It results in the main finding that changes in the representation of the road network layout problem triggered major scientific advancements. A systematic, 2D transport geometry representation emerged in the 1870s and led to the mathematical derivation of optimal road spacing. The representation of road network and harvest layout problem as a mathematical graph and the solution of the corresponding linear programming problem, triggered a representational shift in the early 1970s. The broad availability of digital elevation models DEMs at the beginning of the 1990s was another representational innovation, enabling an automatic road route layout on the terrain DEM surface. The most recent shift consisted of systems to semi-automatically, concurrently laying out harvest/transport-network problems on DEMs in the mid-1990s. The review identifies challenges for future research, among which the extension of the concurrent harvest/road-network layout systems for multi-objective functions is the first importance. Considering that scientific advancement is mostly going along with changes in problem representations, research should explore improved representations for lattice type terrain representation, among which triangular irregular network (TIN) meshes seem to be the first interest. Additional paths for improvements are the integration of road network planning with detailed road engineering, the refinement of optimization problems formulations, and the cross-national adaptation of road network planning courses to operations-research-based approaches

CARGC Briefs Volume I: ISIS Media

The essays that comprise CARGC Briefs Volume I: ISIS Media began their lives as presentations at a small, by-invitation workshop, “Emerging Work on Communicative Dimensions of Islamic State,” held on May 3-4, 2017 at the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication. Consistent with CARGC’s mission to mentor early-career scholars, the workshop was a non-public event featuring graduate students, some affiliated with the Jihadi Networks of Communication and CultureS (JINCS) research group at CARGC, and others from around the United States and the world, in addition to postdocs and faculty members. Parameters were purposefully broad to encourage independent thought and intellectual exploration: contributors were asked to write short essays focusing on any single aspect of Islamic State that was part of their research. The result is a group of fascinating essays: using mostly primary sources (textual, visual, or audio-visual), examining several media platforms and modalities, considering multiple levels of theoretical deployment and construction, and shedding light on various aspects of Islamic State communication against the broad back drop of history, ideology and geopolitics, the following include some of the most innovative approaches to Islamic State to date, and promise a wave of fresh voices on one of the most important challenges to global order.https://repository.upenn.edu/cargc_briefs/1000/thumbnail.jp

Rapid Growth of Dense and Long Carbon Nanotube Arrays and Its Application in Spinning Thread

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a dependable allotrope of carbon, are foreseen to lead technology further to its reach. Also, the most researched carbon allotrope in its form. Drawable CNTs have recently unraveled numerous possible applications utilizing vertically aligned CNTs also termed as “CNT forest.” In recent years, the rapid growth of dense and long carbon nanotube arrays has succeeded in surpassing its challenges by synthesizing dense and long CNT arrays. Length, density, and drawability tuning in the synthesis of CNT arrays have always been a complex issue lately. However, numerous research techniques emerged focusing on length and density control. Hence, this book chapter aids in unveiling the current achievements in the growth of dense and long CNT arrays and their application in spinning threads or CNT yarns with numerous other possible applications