Chaotic exploration and learning of locomotion behaviours

We present a general and fully dynamic neural system, which exploits intrinsic chaotic dynamics, for the real-time goal-directed exploration and learning of the possible locomotion patterns of an articulated robot of an arbitrary morphology in an unknown environment. The controller is modeled as a network of neural oscillators that are initially coupled only through physical embodiment, and goal-directed exploration of coordinated motor patterns is achieved by chaotic search using adaptive bifurcation. The phase space of the indirectly coupled neural-body-environment system contains multiple transient or permanent self-organized dynamics, each of which is a candidate for a locomotion behavior. The adaptive bifurcation enables the system orbit to wander through various phase-coordinated states, using its intrinsic chaotic dynamics as a driving force, and stabilizes on to one of the states matching the given goal criteria. In order to improve the sustainability of useful transient patterns, sensory homeostasis has been introduced, which results in an increased diversity of motor outputs, thus achieving multiscale exploration. A rhythmic pattern discovered by this process is memorized and sustained by changing the wiring between initially disconnected oscillators using an adaptive synchronization method. Our results show that the novel neurorobotic system is able to create and learn multiple locomotion behaviors for a wide range of body configurations and physical environments and can readapt in realtime after sustaining damage

Projection of the demand for fertilizer

노트 : Total consumption of commercial fertilizer in Korea has been increased at a rapid rate during the last two decades. In the period from 1952 to 1961, the consumption of fertilizer was 208 thousand metric tons. In the period from 1962 to 1971, the average consumption was increased to 442 thousand metric tons on the plant nutrient basis per year on the average. During the same period the total area of arable land was not increased, but there was a little increase in the rate of land utilization by the multi-cropping farmers. Therefore, the usage of fertilizer on the unit cultivated area has been doubled during the last two decades. This study proposes to quantify the potential demand for fertilizer by nutrients in Korea for policy making. All of the data used in this study, except land prices and the seed improvement index, are derived from official reports of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. In the time series analysis demand functions of total and individual nutrients are estimated using prices of total and individual nutrients, wage rates, machine prices, cropping acres, and technological changes as explanatory variables from 1960 to 1972 on an annual basis. All prices were constant in 1965. Linear and linear in logarithm equations are estimated under both assumptions of instantaneous quantity adjustment and on the belief that quantity adjustment takes place over time

Preparation of “Open/closed” pores of PLGA-microsphere for controlled release of protein drug

Poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid)  has been extensively used as a controlled release carrier for drug delivery due to its good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical strength. In this study, porous PLGA microspheres were fabricated by an emulsion-solvent evaporation technique using poly ethylene glycol (PEG) as an extractable porogen and loaded with  protein (lysozyme) by suspending them in protein solution. For controlled release of protein, porous microspheres containing lysozyme were treated with water-miscible solvents in aqueous phase for production of pore-closed microspheres. The surface morphology of microspheres were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for confirmation of its porous microstructure structure. Protein property after release was observed by enzymatic activity assay. The pore-closing process resulted in nonporous microspheres which exhibited sustained release patterns over an extended period

Experimental and theoretical investigation of phosphorus in-situ doping of germanium epitaxial layers

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We investigate phosphorus in-situ doping characteristics in germanium (Ge) during epitaxial growth by spreading resistance profiling analysis. In addition, we present an accurate model for the kinetics of the diffusion in the in-situ process, modeling combined growth and diffusion events. The activation energy and pre-exponential factor for phosphorus (P) diffusion are determined to be 1.91 eV and 3.75 x 10(-5) cm(2)/s. These results show that P in-situ doping diffusivity is low enough to form shallow junctions for high performance Ge devices. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserve

Anisotropic Dirac fermions in a Bi square net of SrMnBi2

We report the highly anisotropic Dirac fermions in a Bi square net of SrMnBi2, based on a first principle calculation, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and quantum oscillations for high-quality single crystals. We found that the Dirac dispersion is generally induced in the (SrBi)+ layer containing a double-sized Bi square net. In contrast to the commonly observed isotropic Dirac cone, the Dirac cone in SrMnBi2 is highly anisotropic with a large momentum-dependent disparity of Fermi velocities of ~ 8. These findings demonstrate that a Bi square net, a common building block of various layered pnictides, provide a new platform that hosts highly anisotropic Dirac fermions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure