Comparison of some probabilistic methods for analyzing slope stability problem

Abstract The study aims at comparing the results of different probabilistic methods such as the perturbation method, Spectral Stochastic Finite Element Method (SSFEM

SBMLsqueezer: A CellDesigner plug-in to generate kinetic rate equations for biochemical networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of complex biochemical models has been facilitated through the standardization of machine-readable representations like SBML (Systems Biology Markup Language). This effort is accompanied by the ongoing development of the human-readable diagrammatic representation SBGN (Systems Biology Graphical Notation). The graphical SBML editor CellDesigner allows direct translation of SBGN into SBML, and vice versa. For the assignment of kinetic rate laws, however, this process is not straightforward, as it often requires manual assembly and specific knowledge of kinetic equations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SBMLsqueezer facilitates exactly this modeling step via automated equation generation, overcoming the highly error-prone and cumbersome process of manually assigning kinetic equations. For each reaction the kinetic equation is derived from the stoichiometry, the participating species (e.g., proteins, mRNA or simple molecules) as well as the regulatory relations (activation, inhibition or other modulations) of the SBGN diagram. Such information allows distinctions between, for example, translation, phosphorylation or state transitions. The types of kinetics considered are numerous, for instance generalized mass-action, Hill, convenience and several Michaelis-Menten-based kinetics, each including activation and inhibition. These kinetics allow SBMLsqueezer to cover metabolic, gene regulatory, signal transduction and mixed networks. Whenever multiple kinetics are applicable to one reaction, parameter settings allow for user-defined specifications. After invoking SBMLsqueezer, the kinetic formulas are generated and assigned to the model, which can then be simulated in CellDesigner or with external ODE solvers. Furthermore, the equations can be exported to SBML, LaTeX or plain text format.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SBMLsqueezer considers the annotation of all participating reactants, products and regulators when generating rate laws for reactions. Thus, for each reaction, only applicable kinetic formulas are considered. This modeling scheme creates kinetics in accordance with the diagrammatic representation. In contrast most previously published tools have relied on the stoichiometry and generic modulators of a reaction, thus ignoring and potentially conflicting with the information expressed through the process diagram. Additional material and the source code can be found at the project homepage (URL found in the Availability and requirements section).</p

Study of advanced structures for HOT IR quantum detection

La détection IR quantique met classiquement en jeu l'absorption de photons dans le matériau semi-conducteur II-VI CdHgTe. Cet alliage présente la particularité de permettre un ajustage du gap du semi-conducteur aux longueurs d'onde couvrant toute la gamme IR en jouant simplement sur la composition de l'alliage, ce qui en fait un matériau de choix. Cependant,les petits gaps en jeu ici imposent un refroidissement des plans focaux à des températures généralement cryogéniques (typiquement la centaine de Kelvins). Ce refroidissement représente naturellement une limite importante dans l'exploitation, l'encombrement et le coût de tels détecteurs.Un des grands défis à venir dans le domaine de la détection IR quantique est la détection à plus haute température. Une figure de mérite populaire pour examiner le fonctionnement de ces détecteurs est le courant d'obscurité qui reflète son bruit, dans le cas d'un détecteur limité par le bruit de courant (shot noise). Or, du fait des propriétés électriques du matériau semi-conducteur utilisé, ce courant d'obscurité augmente fortement avec le réchauffement du détecteur et rend son utilisation impossible à haute température. De plus, un autre phénomène apparaît également limiter le fonctionnement de nos photo-détecteurs : à hautes températures apparaît du bruit 1/f dont l'origine n'est pas parfaitement comprise aujourd'hui (matériau bulk ou interfaces, le débats reste ouvert…).Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif de comprendre les phénomènes physique régissant le bruit 1/f dans les photodiodes CdHgTe à travers la variation d'un bon nombre de paramètres physique et géométriques en vue de mettre en évidence la ou les corrélations de ce bruit avec ces variantes.The IR sensor makes quantum conventionally involves the absorption of photons in the semiconductor CdHgTe II -VI material . This alloy has a feature to allow an adjustment of the gap of the semiconductor at wavelengths covering the whole IR range by simply varying the composition of the alloy, which makes it a material of choice . However, small gaps at stake here impose a focal cooling to cryogenic temperatures generally planes ( typically hundred Kelvins ) . This cooling naturally represents an important limitation in the operation , the size and cost of such detectors .One of the great challenges ahead in the field of quantum IR detection is the detection at higher temperatures . A figure of merit for popular review the operation of these sensors is the dark current , which reflects its sound , in the case of a noise-limited current ( shot noise) detector. However, because the electrical properties of the semiconductor material used , the dark current increases sharply with the heating of the detector and makes it impossible to use at high temperature . In addition, another phenomenon also appears to limit the functionality of our photo-detectors: high temperature appears on the 1 / f noise whose origin is not fully understood today ( or bulk material interfaces , the debate remains open ... ) .To understand the physical phenomena governing the 1 / f noise in HgCdTe photodiodes through the variation this thesis aims to lots of physical and geometrical parameters in order to highlight the correlations or noise with these variants

Etude de structures avancées pour la détection IR quantique à haute température

The IR sensor makes quantum conventionally involves the absorption of photons in the semiconductor CdHgTe II -VI material . This alloy has a feature to allow an adjustment of the gap of the semiconductor at wavelengths covering the whole IR range by simply varying the composition of the alloy, which makes it a material of choice . However, small gaps at stake here impose a focal cooling to cryogenic temperatures generally planes ( typically hundred Kelvins ) . This cooling naturally represents an important limitation in the operation , the size and cost of such detectors .One of the great challenges ahead in the field of quantum IR detection is the detection at higher temperatures . A figure of merit for popular review the operation of these sensors is the dark current , which reflects its sound , in the case of a noise-limited current ( shot noise) detector. However, because the electrical properties of the semiconductor material used , the dark current increases sharply with the heating of the detector and makes it impossible to use at high temperature . In addition, another phenomenon also appears to limit the functionality of our photo-detectors: high temperature appears on the 1 / f noise whose origin is not fully understood today ( or bulk material interfaces , the debate remains open ... ) .To understand the physical phenomena governing the 1 / f noise in HgCdTe photodiodes through the variation this thesis aims to lots of physical and geometrical parameters in order to highlight the correlations or noise with these variants .La détection IR quantique met classiquement en jeu l'absorption de photons dans le matériau semi-conducteur II-VI CdHgTe. Cet alliage présente la particularité de permettre un ajustage du gap du semi-conducteur aux longueurs d'onde couvrant toute la gamme IR en jouant simplement sur la composition de l'alliage, ce qui en fait un matériau de choix. Cependant,les petits gaps en jeu ici imposent un refroidissement des plans focaux à des températures généralement cryogéniques (typiquement la centaine de Kelvins). Ce refroidissement représente naturellement une limite importante dans l'exploitation, l'encombrement et le coût de tels détecteurs.Un des grands défis à venir dans le domaine de la détection IR quantique est la détection à plus haute température. Une figure de mérite populaire pour examiner le fonctionnement de ces détecteurs est le courant d'obscurité qui reflète son bruit, dans le cas d'un détecteur limité par le bruit de courant (shot noise). Or, du fait des propriétés électriques du matériau semi-conducteur utilisé, ce courant d'obscurité augmente fortement avec le réchauffement du détecteur et rend son utilisation impossible à haute température. De plus, un autre phénomène apparaît également limiter le fonctionnement de nos photo-détecteurs : à hautes températures apparaît du bruit 1/f dont l'origine n'est pas parfaitement comprise aujourd'hui (matériau bulk ou interfaces, le débats reste ouvert…).Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif de comprendre les phénomènes physique régissant le bruit 1/f dans les photodiodes CdHgTe à travers la variation d'un bon nombre de paramètres physique et géométriques en vue de mettre en évidence la ou les corrélations de ce bruit avec ces variantes

A higher order shear deformable finite element for homogeneous plates

A C° finite element is introduced for the analysis of thick plates with transverse shear and normal strain and nonlinear in-plane displacement distribution with respect to the plate thickness. The warping theory proposed by Hassis [1] is used for the equations governing the plate deformation. The analytical solutions of the plate deformation theory were compared with other higher-order theories and found to be predicting the thick plate behavior reasonably well. Based on this higher order shear deformation theory, an eight-node finite element is introduced for thick plates, and a computer program is developed. The warping functions used in the formulations presented simpler equations than the other higher order homogeneous models. The proposed element incorporates bending-stretching coupling via the additional terms introduced in the displacement field. Some example problems are solved and the results are compared with the exact and other mathematical solutions available in the literature. For comparison, both stress and displacement results are investigated. The results of the proposed element are found to be in good agreement with the literature. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.National Science Foundation: INT-0096875 National Council for Scientific Research MISAG-NSF-2The support by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)-Turkey (MISAG-NSF-2) and the National Science Foundation (NSF)-USA (INT-0096875) is gratefully acknowledged. Appendix 1 The transverse normal modes: ? n = Cos ? n x 3 h + 1 2 + Cos h ? n x 3 h + 1 2 -R n Sin ? n x 3 h + 1 2 + Sin h ? n x 3 h + 1 2 where R 1 =0.9825 , R 2 =1.008 , R 3 =1.0 , R 4 =1.0 ? 1 =4.730 , ? 2 =7.853 , ? 3 =10.996 , ? 4 =14.137. The longitudinal modes: ? n = Cos n? x 3 h + 1 2 . Appendix 2 Studying Eq. (5) and the definition of transverse and longitudinal modes given in Appendix 1 , one can see that there are integrations of ? n , ? n , ? 3 ? n and ? 3 ? n to be carried out over x 3 . Some of these integrations result in zero, as in the extensional–bending coupling stiffness matrix. With this, some uncoupled effects appear in the element stiffness matrix. For example, when two modes for longitudinal and transverse warping are considered, element stiffness matrix becomes = K e k ee 0 k bb sym. k ei 1,1 k bi 1,1 k ii 1,1 k et 1,1 0 k it 1,1 k tt 1,1 k ei 1,2 k bi 1,2 k ii 1,2 k ti 1,2 k ii 2,2 0 k bt 1,2 k it 1,2 0 k it 2,2 k tt 2,2 Here we list the integrals resulting with zero ? -h / 2 h / 2 ? 1 d x 3 =0 ; ? -h / 2 h / 2 ( ? 3 ? 1 ) x 3 d x 3 =0 ; ? -h / 2 h / 2 ? 1 ? 2 d x 3 =0 ; ? -h / 2 h / 2 ( ? 3 ? 2 )( ? 3 ? 1 )d x 3 =0 ; ? -h / 2 h / 2 ( ? 3 ? 2 )d x 3 =0 ; ? -h / 2 h / 2 ( ? 3 ? 2 )d x 3 =0. The size of the element stiffness matrix therefore, becomes (88×88) for the eight-node element considered in this study

Evaluating and tracking circuit-switched telephone calls using web browsers on mobile devices

Current phone calls using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) involve costs for the enduser, provide limited call data for network operators and currently impose limitations on the type of devices that have PSTN connectability. This thesis implements and evaluates a system in which a mobile web browser connects a phone call from a smartphone to the PSTN utilizing Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) technology whilst maintaining sufficient audio qualityand providing a non-obtrusive user interface. The methods for this thesis included, performing a literature study, the evaluation of existing solutions and software, and the implementation of a web application prototype. The web application was successfully connected to the PSTN using preexisting software, sipML5 and Asterisk. WebSockets was used for signaling and the G.711 audio codec was used for the audio path. The ability to utilize real-time communication in a web browser proved successful. The use of real-time communication also made it possible to extract more extensive call data. Additional benefits were also noted and included, potential cost reduction for end-users, expansion of the type of devices with PSTN connectability, and the ability togather greater call data such as browser history, environments and coordinates. The user experience was evaluated by performing interviews