23,697 research outputs found
The BIOEXPLOIT Project
The EU Framework 6 Integrated Project BIOEXPLOIT concerns the exploitation of natural plant biodiversity for the pesticide-free production of food. It focuses on the pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Septoria tritici, Blumeria graminis, Puccinia spp. and Fusarium spp. and on the crops wheat, barley, tomato and potato. The project commenced in October 2005, comprises 45 laboratories in 12 countries, and is carried out by partners from research institutes, universities, private companies and small-medium enterprises. The project has four strategic objectives covered in eight sub-projects. These objectives relate to (i) understanding the molecular components involved in durable disease resistance, (ii) exploring and exploiting the natural biodiversity in disease resistance, (iii) accelerating the introduction of marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering in the EU plant breeding industry, and (iv) coordinating and integrating resistance breeding research, providing training in new technologies, disseminating the results, and transferring knowledge and technologies to the industry
Probabilistic Reachability Analysis for Large Scale Stochastic Hybrid Systems
This paper studies probabilistic reachability analysis for large scale stochastic hybrid systems (SHS) as a problem of rare event estimation. In literature, advanced rare event estimation theory has recently been embedded within a stochastic analysis framework, and this has led to significant novel results in rare event estimation for a diffusion process using sequential MC simulation. This paper presents this rare event estimation theory directly in terms of probabilistic reachability analysis of an SHS, and develops novel theory which allows to extend the novel results for application to a large scale SHS where a very huge number of rare discrete modes may contribute significantly to the reach probability. Essentially, the approach taken is to introduce an aggregation of the discrete modes, and to develop importance sampling relative to the rare switching between the aggregation modes. The practical working of this approach is demonstrated for the safety verification of an advanced air traffic control example
Testing An Identification Algorithm for Extragalactic OB Associations Using a Galactic Sample
We have used a Galactic sample of OB stars and associations to test the
performance of an automatic grouping algorithm designed to identify
extragalactic OB associations. The algorithm identifies the known Galactic OB
associations correctly when the search radius (78 pc) is defined by the
observed stellar surface density. Galactic OB associations identified with a 78
pc search radius have diameters that are 3 times larger than OB
associations identified with a 22 pc search radius in M33. Applying the smaller
search radius to the Galactic data matches both the sizes and the number of
member stars between the two galaxies quite well. Thus, we argue that this and
similar algorithms should be used with a constant physical search radius,
rather than one which varies with the stellar surface density. Such an approach
would allow the identification of differences in the giant molecular cloud
populations and star formation efficiency under most circumstances.Comment: accepted to AJ; 16 pages, aas latex, 9 postscript figures; available
at http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/Wilson_Preprints/index.htm
Consumer acceptance of novel fruits and fruit products
The task of the Deliverable 1.3.7 Report on case studies of fruit innovations is to provide information on consumers' acceptance of innovative fruit and fruit products selected for case studies in Deliverable 1.3.2 List of selected fruit innovations, and to validate findings from previous stages of WP 1.3 research. The task of the Deliverable 1.3.9 List of characteristics for future fruit innovations is to provide a list of product characteristics and recommendations that can increase the success of fruit innovations in the future. This report presents results of case studies carried out in February and March, 2010, in four European countries: Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. It also presents product characteristics accepted by consumers and recommendations for development of future innovative fresh fruits and fruit products, as well as recommended strategies and policies, which were formulated on the basis of findings of case study and previous stages of WP1.3 research and their validation
On the construction of hierarchic models
One of the main problems in the field of model-based diagnosis of technical systems today is finding the most useful model or models of the system being diagnosed. Often, a model showing the physical components and the connections between them is all that is available. As systems grow larger and larger, the run-time performance of diagnostic algorithms decreases considerably when using these detailed models. A solution to this problem is using a hierarchic model. This allows us to first diagnose the system using an abstract model, and then use this solution to guide the diagnostic process using a more detailed model. The main problem with this approach is acquiring the hierarchic model. We give a generic hierarchic diagnostic algorithm and show how the use of certain classes of hierarchic models can increase the performance of this algorithm. We then present linear time algorithms for the automatic construction of these hierarchic models, using the detailed model and extra information about cost of probing points and invertibility of components
Polarization effects on the effective temperature of an ultracold electron source
The influence has been studied of the ionization laser polarization on the
effective temperature of an ultracold electron source, which is based on
near-threshold photoionization. This source is capable of producing both
high-intensity and high-coherence electron pulses, with applications in for
example electron diffraction experiments. For both nanosecond and femtosecond
photoionization, a sinusoidal dependence of the temperature on polarization
angle has been found. For most experimental conditions, the temperature is
minimal when the polarization coincides with the direction of acceleration.
However, surprisingly, for nanosecond ionization a regime exists when the
temperature is minimal when the polarization is perpendicular to the
acceleration direction. This shows that in order to create electron bunches
with the highest transverse coherence length, it is important to control the
polarization of the ionization laser. The general trends and magnitudes of the
temperature measurements are described by a model, based on the analysis of
classical electron trajectories; this model further deepens our understanding
of the internal mechanisms during the photoionization process. Furthermore, for
nanosecond ionization, charge oscillations as a function of laser polarization
have been observed; for most situations the oscillation amplitude is small
Metamodel for Tracing Concerns across the Life Cycle
Several aspect-oriented approaches have been proposed to specify aspects at different phases in the software life cycle. Aspects can appear within a phase, be refined or mapped to other aspects in later phases, or even disappear.\ud
Tracing aspects is necessary to support understandability and maintainability of software systems. Although several approaches have been introduced to address traceability of aspects, two important limitations can be observed. First, tracing is not yet tackled for the entire life cycle. Second, the traceability model that is applied usually refers to elements of specific aspect languages, thereby limiting the reusability of the adopted traceability model.We propose the concern traceability metamodel (CTM) that enables traceability of concerns throughout the life cycle, and which is independent from the aspect languages that are used. CTM can be enhanced to provide additional properties for tracing, and be instantiated to define\ud
customized traceability models with respect to the required aspect languages. We have implemented CTM in the tool M-Trace, that uses XML-based representations of the models and XQuery queries to represent tracing information. CTM and M-Trace are illustrated for a Concurrent Versioning System to trace aspects from the requirements level to architecture design level and the implementation
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