2,251 research outputs found
Simplified half-life methods for the analysis of kinetic data
The analysis of reaction rate data has as its goal the determination of the order rate constant which characterize the data. Chemical reactions with one reactant and present simplified methods for accomplishing this goal are considered. The approaches presented involve the use of half lives or other fractional lives. These methods are particularly useful for the more elementary discussions of kinetics found in general and physical chemistry courses
Triggered memory-based swarm optimization in dynamic environments
This is a post-print version of this article - Copyright @ 2007 Springer-VerlagIn recent years, there has been an increasing concern from the evolutionary computation community on dynamic optimization problems since many real-world optimization problems are time-varying. In this paper, a triggered memory scheme is introduced into the particle swarm optimization to deal with dynamic environments. The triggered memory scheme enhances traditional memory scheme with a triggered memory generator. Experimental study over a benchmark dynamic problem shows that the triggered memory-based particle swarm optimization algorithm has stronger robustness and adaptability than traditional particle swarm optimization algorithms, both with and without traditional memory scheme, for dynamic optimization problems
Device for in-situ cleaving of hard crystals
Cleaving crystals in a vacuum chamber is a simple method for obtaining
atomically flat and clean surfaces for materials that have a preferential
cleaving plane. Most in-situ cleavers use parallel cutting edges that are
applied from two sides on the sample. We found in ambient experiments that
diagonal cutting pliers, where the cleavage force is introduced in a single
point instead of a line work very well also for hard materials. Here, we
incorporate the diagonal cutting plier principle in a design compatible with
ultra-high vacuum requirements. We show optical microscopy (mm scale) and
atomic force microscopy (atomic scale) images of NiO(001) surfaces cleaved with
this device.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures Submitted to Review of Scientific Instruments
(2005
Assessing Spontaneous Combustion Instability with Nonlinear Time Series Analysis
Considerable interest lies in the ability to characterize the onset of spontaneous instabilities within liquid propellant rocket engine (LPRE) combustion devices. Linear techniques, such as fast Fourier transforms, various correlation parameters, and critical damping parameters, have been used at great length for over fifty years. Recently, nonlinear time series methods have been applied to deduce information pertaining to instability incipiency hidden in seemingly stochastic combustion noise. A technique commonly used in biological sciences known as the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis has been extended to the combustion dynamics field, and is introduced here as a data analysis approach complementary to linear ones. Advancing, a modified technique is leveraged to extract artifacts of impending combustion instability that present themselves a priori growth to limit cycle amplitudes. Analysis is demonstrated on data from J-2X gas generator testing during which a distinct spontaneous instability was observed. Comparisons are made to previous work wherein the data were characterized using linear approaches. Verification of the technique is performed by examining idealized signals and comparing two separate, independently developed tools
Simplified rate-law integration for reactions which are first order in each of two reactants
A simple procedure for integrating the rate law for chemical reactions which are first order in each of two reactants is presented
Theory and Application of Dissociative Electron Capture in Molecular Identification
The coupling of an electron monochromator (EM) to a mass spectrometer (MS)
has created a new analytical technique, EM-MS, for the investigation of
electrophilic compounds. This method provides a powerful tool for molecular
identification of compounds contained in complex matrices, such as
environmental samples. EM-MS expands the application and selectivity of
traditional MS through the inclusion of a new dimension in the space of
molecular characteristics--the electron resonance energy spectrum. However,
before this tool can realize its full potential, it will be necessary to create
a library of resonance energy scans from standards of the molecules for which
EM-MS offers a practical means of detection. Here, an approach supplementing
direct measurement with chemical inference and quantum scattering theory is
presented to demonstrate the feasibility of directly calculating resonance
energy spectra. This approach makes use of the symmetry of the
transition-matrix element of the captured electron to discriminate between the
spectra of isomers. As a way of validating this approach, the resonance values
for twenty-five nitrated aromatic compounds were measured along with their
relative abundance. Subsequently, the spectra for the isomers of nitrotoluene
were shown to be consistent with the symmetry-based model. The initial success
of this treatment suggests that it might be possible to predict negative ion
resonances and thus create a library of EM-MS standards.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Database tomography for commercial application
Database tomography is a method for extracting themes and their relationships from text. The algorithms, employed begin with word frequency and word proximity analysis and build upon these results. When the word 'database' is used, think of medical or police records, patents, journals, or papers, etc. (any text information that can be computer stored). Database tomography features a full text, user interactive technique enabling the user to identify areas of interest, establish relationships, and map trends for a deeper understanding of an area of interest. Database tomography concepts and applications have been reported in journals and presented at conferences. One important feature of the database tomography algorithm is that it can be used on a database of any size, and will facilitate the users ability to understand the volume of content therein. While employing the process to identify research opportunities it became obvious that this promising technology has potential applications for business, science, engineering, law, and academe. Examples include evaluating marketing trends, strategies, relationships and associations. Also, the database tomography process would be a powerful component in the area of competitive intelligence, national security intelligence and patent analysis. User interests and involvement cannot be overemphasized
Adaptive intelligence applied to numerical optimisation
The article presents modification strategies theoretical comparison and experimental results achieved by adaptive heuristics applied to numerical optimisation of several non-constraint test functions. The aims of the study are to identify and compare how adaptive search heuristics behave within heterogeneous search space without retuning of the search parameters. The achieved results are summarised and analysed, which could be used for comparison to other methods and further investigation
Deep swarm: Nested particle swarm optimization
A new generation of particle swarm optimization (PSO) has been developed that automatically evolves optimal or near-optimal values for parameters of the PSO algorithm such as population size and neighborhood size, and, if used, parameters of associated neural network(s), such as number of hidden processing elements (PEs). Called Deep Swarm, it is a nested version of PSO, and comprises swarms within a swarm
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