Resonant waves in the gap between two advancing barges

The gap resonance between two advancing rectangular barges in side-by-side arrangement is investigated using a 3-D Rankine source method. A modified Sommerfeld radiation condition accounting for Doppler shift is applied for the low forward speed problem when the scattered waves could propagate ahead of the barges. Numerical studies are conducted to investigate various factors which will influence the wave resonance in the narrow gap with particular attention paid on the forward speed effect and its coupling effects with gap width and draft. It is found that in the absence of forward speed, the trapped water surface oscillates like a flexible plate and the wave flow within the gap behaves like a standing wave. When the two barges are travelling ahead, the resonant wave patterns within the gap are reshaped. Additionally, the resonant frequencies shift to lower value and are compressed within a narrow range. Gap resonances are reduced by the augment of gap width. The effect of draft is shown to be associated with resonant modes. Draft effect becomes less pronounced at higher order resonant modes. Furthermore, both gap width and draft effects on gap resonance are found to be independent from forward speed

Progressive sequence matching for ADL plan recommendation

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are indicatives of a person's lifestyle. In particular, daily ADL routines closely relate to a person's well-being. With the objective of promoting active lifestyles, this paper presents an agent system that provides recommendations of suitable ADL plans (i.e., selected ADL sequences) to individual users based on the more active lifestyles of the others. Specifically, we develop a set of quantitative measures, named wellness scores, spanning the evaluation across the physical, cognitive, emotion, and social aspects based on his or her ADL routines. Then we propose an ADL sequence learning model, named Recommendation ADL ART, or RADLART, which proactively recommends healthier choices of activities based on the learnt associations among the user profiles, ADL sequence, and wellness scores. For empirical evaluation, extensive simulations have been conducted to assess the improvement in wellness scores for synthetic users with different acceptance rates of the provided recommendations. Experiments on real users further show that recommendations given by RADLART are generally more acceptable by the users because it takes into considerations of both the user profiles and the performed activities.NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)Accepted versio

Infrared and Visible Image Fusion Based on Oversampled Graph Filter Banks

The infrared image (RI) and visible image (VI) fusion method merges complementary information from the infrared and visible imaging sensors to provide an effective way for understanding the scene. The graph filter bank-based graph wavelet transform possesses the advantages of the classic wavelet filter bank and graph representation of a signal. Therefore, we propose an RI and VI fusion method based on oversampled graph filter banks. Specifically, we consider the source images as signals on the regular graph and decompose them into the multiscale representations with M-channel oversampled graph filter banks. Then, the fusion rule for the low-frequency subband is constructed using the modified local coefficient of variation and the bilateral filter. The fusion maps of detail subbands are formed using the standard deviation-based local properties. Finally, the fusion image is obtained by applying the inverse transform on the fusion subband coefficients. The experimental results on benchmark images show the potential of the proposed method in the image fusion applications

Basic perceptual changes that alter meaning and neural correlates of recognition memory

It is difficult to pinpoint the border between perceptual and conceptual processing, despite their treatment as distinct entities in many studies of recognition memory. For instance, alteration of simple perceptual characteristics of a stimulus can radically change meaning, such as the color of bread changing from white to green. We sought to better understand the role of perceptual and conceptual processing in memory by identifying the effects of changing a basic perceptual feature (color) on behavioral and neural correlates of memory in circumstances when this change would be expected to either change the meaning of a stimulus or to have no effect on meaning (i.e., to influence conceptual processing or not). Abstract visual shapes (squiggles) were colorized during study and presented during test in either the same color or a different color. Those squiggles that subjects found to resemble meaningful objects supported behavioral measures of conceptual priming, whereas meaningless squiggles did not. Further, changing color from study to test had a selective effect on behavioral correlates of priming for meaningful squiggles, indicating that color change altered conceptual processing. During a recognition memory test, color change altered event-related brain potential correlates of memory for meaningful squiggles but not for meaningless squiggles. Specifically, color change reduced the amplitude of frontally distributed N400 potentials (FN400), indicating that these potentials indicated conceptual processing during recognition memory that was sensitive to color change. In contrast, color change had no effect on FN400 correlates of recognition for meaningless squiggles, which were overall smaller in amplitude than for meaningful squiggles (further indicating that these potentials signal conceptual processing during recognition). Thus, merely changing the color of abstract visual shapes can alter their meaning, changing behavioral and neural correlates of memory

Preparation of Material for Adsorption Ag(I) in the Solution

The application of silver in electronics, jewelry, catalytic and other industries often produces a large amount of silver-containing wastewater, which causes serious impact to the surrounding environment and human health, while silver has a certain economic value attached to it. Therefore, how to effectively treat and recover Ag(?) from the silver-containing wastewater is a hot topic of concern at present. In order to seek an efficient and environmentally friendly adsorbent, this paper compared the adsorption efficiency of purified, thermally modified, acid modified and thermally-acid modified Bentonite on silver, selected an economical and reasonable purified clay as a carrier, and then completed the preparation of modified Bentonite as well as the optimization of conditions with sodium silicate as a surfactant and 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane as a modifier. The experiments showed that under the conditions of sodium silicate dosage of 15% of Bentonite, Bentonite and modifier dosage of 1:1, solution pH of 9, temperature of 45 °C and modification time of 5 h, the synthesized sulfhydryl modified Bentonite has good adsorption performance on Ag(?), and its adsorption capacity can reach 293.7 mg·g-1

Application and Curative Effect of Micro-implant Anchorage in Orthodontics

Purpose: To explore and analyze the curative effects of micro - implant anchorages in orthodontics.Methods: A retrospective analysis of 65 patients undergoing orthodontic treatment in Department of Stomatology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Shandong, China was carried out. Thirty four cases in the treatment group were treated with a micro-implant as the anchorage, while 31 cases of the control group were treated with a palatal bar and facebow as the anchorage, and the curative results of the two groups were then compared.Results: After a 13-month treatment, both anchorages were clinically effective, but the micro-implant anchorage showed higher efficacy. Measurement indices for the test group, including sella-nasion - A point (SNA) angle (- 1.88 ± 0.71), sella-nasion-B point (SNB) angle (1.39 ± 0.42), A point - nasion - B point (ANB) angle (- 2.40 ± 0.83), upper central incisor - lower central incisor (U1 - L1) angle (25.79 ± 5.90), upper central incisor - sella - nasion (U1 - SN) angle (- 10.13 ± 3.68), lower central incisor – mandibular plane (L1 - MP) angle (- 4.22 ± 0.45), upper central incisor - nasion - A point (U1 - NA) angle (- 1.32 ± 1.35) and lower central incisor - nasion - B point (L1 - NB) angle (- 1.32 ± 1.35) of the test group were significantly different those of the control group Overbite (OB), overjet (OJ), intercanine width and the width of the first molars of treatment and control groups were also remarkably). Moreover, micro-implant was observed to be more stable during treatment.Conclusion: Compared with traditional anchorages, micro-implants possess the advantages of slighter trauma, simpler operation, more reliable curative effect and high stability.Keywords: Micro-implant anchorage, Orthodontics, Facebow anchorage, Oral medicine, Clinical efficac

Dynamic Inventory and Pricing Policy in a Periodic-Review Inventory System with Finite Ordering Capacity and Price Adjustment Cost

We consider a dynamic inventory control and pricing optimization problem in a periodic-review inventory system with price adjustment cost. Each order occurs with a fixed ordering cost; the ordering quantity is capacitated. We consider a sequential decision problem, where the firm first chooses the ordering quantity and then the sale price to maximize the expected total discounted profit over the sale horizon. We show that the optimal inventory control is partially characterized by a s, s′, p policy in four regions, and the optimal pricing policy is dependent on the inventory level after the replenishment decision. We present some numerical examples to explore the effects of various parameters on the optimal pricing and replenishment policy

FUS-NLS/Transportin 1 complex structure provides insights into the nuclear targeting mechanism of FUS and the implications in ALS

The C-terminal nuclear localization sequence of FUsed in Sarcoma (FUS-NLS) is critical for its nuclear import mediated by transportin (Trn1). Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) related mutations are clustered in FUS-NLS. We report here the structural, biochemical and cell biological characterization of the FUS-NLS and its clinical implications. The crystal structure of the FUS-NLS/Trn1 complex shows extensive contacts between the two proteins and a unique α-helical structure in the FUS-NLS. The binding affinity between Trn1 and FUS-NLS (wide-type and 12 ALS-associated mutants) was determined. As compared to the wide-type FUS-NLS (K(D) = 1.7 nM), each ALS-associated mutation caused a decreased affinity and the range of this reduction varied widely from 1.4-fold over 700-fold. The affinity of the mutants correlated with the extent of impaired nuclear localization, and more importantly, with the duration of disease progression in ALS patients. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the nuclear targeting mechanism of FUS and illustrates the significance of FUS-NLS in ALS

Ultimate structural and fatigue damage loads of a spar-type floating wind turbine

This study addresses the ultimate structural and fatigue damage loads of a spar-type offshore floating wind turbine under joint excitations of wind and wave. Aero-hydro-servo-elastic coupled analysis is performed in time-domain to capture the dynamic responses of the floating wind turbine. Based on the mean up-crossing rate method, the short-term ultimate structural load is estimated. The cumulative fatigue damage load is computed with the S-N method. It is shown that the low-level ultimate load is mostly influenced by wind forces whereas the high-level ultimate load is more closely related to wave forces. The wave excitations dominate the fatigue damage at tower top and tower base, whereas the mooring line fatigue damage is more sensitive to the wind forces