Endlessly Browsable Topic Recommendations

Some users of search engines may not want to (or may be unable to) type in or speak out a search query. As another example, users may have limited or no knowledge of popular search platforms or engines. There is currently no mechanism for a search engine to recommend related topics to a user to enable a semi-autonomous browsing experience that can be endless. This disclosure describes techniques that utilize a topic graph to enable users to browse topics or explore interesting and contextual information without requiring the entry of a search query

Effect of combination of light and drought stress on physiology and oxidative metabolism of rice plants

The realized productivity of crop plants is generally lower than the potential productivity due to the influence of one or more external stresses (biotic and abiotic). Simultaneous occurrence of combination of abiotic stresses, which is more common under field condition, results in compounded effect on functional processes. Main focus of the present work is the combined effect of drought and light (irradiance) on rice plants. Potted seedlings of four selected rice lines (viz., IR36, N22, CRD40 and Bhootmuri) were exposed to three different levels of drought stress (50%, 25%, 12.5% of water) along with control (100%) in combination with three different light intensities (high, medium and low) during experimental period. After 7 days of stress, plant height and relative water content (RWC) were relatively low while root length increased with increasing water stress level and light intensity. Protein content increased with increasing water stress and light intensity, while chlorophyll level was higher at higher light intensities. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, indicative of lipid peroxidation, increased with water stress only at high light intensities. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities increased with combined drought and light stress level, whereas catalase (CAT) activity was higher at higher light intensities. On the other hand, superoxide (O2.-) production, but not hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production was higher with increasing water stress and light intensity. It appears that light-induced ROS (O2.-) production under drought condition provoked oxidative stress, though a potential mechanism of tolerance was apparent through antioxidant system

Algorithmically Generated Visual Knowledge Panels

Information about a particular topic, e.g., in response to a search query, is sometimes presented in a concise user interface (UI) such as a knowledge card or panel. Such panels are typically text intensive and can be unsuitable for certain users, e.g., users that have limited reading capability, or those who prefer visual content. This disclosure describes techniques to render a visual knowledge panel, e.g., one that primarily includes images, videos, and other visual content. Per the techniques, the visual knowledge panel is algorithmically created by mapping a text knowledge panel to existing video or image content such as video Q&A, a short video, a story illustrated by slideshow, etc

Efficiently Approximating Query Optimizer Plan Diagrams

Given a parametrized n-dimensional SQL query template and a choice of query optimizer, a plan diagram is a color-coded pictorial enumeration of the execution plan choices of the optimizer over the query parameter space. These diagrams have proved to be a powerful metaphor for the analysis and redesign of modern optimizers, and are gaining currency in diverse industrial and academic institutions. However, their utility is adversely impacted by the impractically large computational overheads incurred when standard bruteforce exhaustive approaches are used for producing fine-grained diagrams on high-dimensional query templates. In this paper, we investigate strategies for efficiently producing close approximations to complex plan diagrams. Our techniques are customized to the features available in the optimizer’s API, ranging from the generic optimizers that provide only the optimal plan for a query, to those that also support costing of sub-optimal plans and enumerating rank-ordered lists of plans. The techniques collectively feature both random and grid sampling, as well as inference techniques based on nearest-neighbor classifiers, parametric query optimization and plan cost monotonicity. Extensive experimentation with a representative set of TPC-H and TPC-DS-based query templates on industrial-strength optimizers indicates that our techniques are capable of delivering 90 % accurate diagrams while incurring less than 15 % of the computational overheads of the exhaustive approach. In fact, for full-featured optimizers, we can guarantee zero error with less than 10 % overheads. These approximation techniques have been implemented in the publicly available Picasso optimizer visualization tool

Signal Correction of Load Cell Output Using Adaptive Method

Abstract: This paper presents a method of dynamic compensation of load cell response using Adaptive technique. The case is illustrated by showing how the response of a load cell can be improved. The load cell is a sensor, whose output gives an oscillatory response in which the measured values contribute to the response parameter. Thus, a compensation technique is used to track the variation of the measured values to facilitate the investigation using response compensation. The first step is to make a mathematical model of a load cell. Secondly, the output is digitized by a proper sampler and suitable A/D converter. After verifying the simulated output, a model of an adaptive technique will be made to minimize the oscillation in the output and the corrected digital data again converted to analog form by proper D/A converter for using in real system. The whole system constitutes a dynamic sensor for achieving compensation response