Simulating the Formation of Protective Colors: Improvement of Experiments in Teaching

Students are very interested in the Inquiry experiment of Simulating the formation of protective colors. However, it is often influenced by the subjective factors of students in practice, so the simulation experiment is improved twice in teaching. After the second improvement, the experiment achieves good results

Towards Interactive Image Inpainting via Sketch Refinement

One tough problem of image inpainting is to restore complex structures in the corrupted regions. It motivates interactive image inpainting which leverages additional hints, e.g., sketches, to assist the inpainting process. Sketch is simple and intuitive to end users, but meanwhile has free forms with much randomness. Such randomness may confuse the inpainting models, and incur severe artifacts in completed images. To address this problem, we propose a two-stage image inpainting method termed SketchRefiner. In the first stage, we propose using a cross-correlation loss function to robustly calibrate and refine the user-provided sketches in a coarse-to-fine fashion. In the second stage, we learn to extract informative features from the abstracted sketches in the feature space and modulate the inpainting process. We also propose an algorithm to simulate real sketches automatically and build a test protocol with different applications. Experimental results on public datasets demonstrate that SketchRefiner effectively utilizes sketch information and eliminates the artifacts due to the free-form sketches. Our method consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art ones both qualitatively and quantitatively, meanwhile revealing great potential in real-world applications. Our code and dataset are available

Research Article Performance Monitoring and Analysis of the Photovoltaic Power Generation System Based on the PCI Data Acquisition Card

Abstract: In order to analyze the performance monitoring of the photovoltaic power generation system and achieve the optimal control between the energy storage and consumption, the paper has built a multifunctional performance monitoring system based on the virtual instrument technology. The voltage, current, power, environmental temperature and light intensity are collected via the 1716L-PCI data acquisition card and displayed in real time. After the analysis of the collected data, the system explores the performance of the photovoltaic power generation system. Meanwhile, in order to improve energy use efficiency, the system has set different control modes, including automatic mode, manual mode and custom mode, to discuss the optimal control between the load and the storage energy. The experiment results show that the system has flexible control ability, feasible analysis results and pratical value

Platforms for Parallel Processing of Task on GPU

Import 05/08/2014Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá zpracováním úloh na grafické kartě. Konkrétním typem úloh jsou paralelní třídící algoritmy. V první části práce se vyskytuje popis technologií CUDA a OpenCL, ve kterých je později třídící algoritmus implementován. Dále je rozebrán princip daného algoritmu a jeho implementace. Následuje profilování a optimalizace třídícího algoritmu. V poslední částí je testování algoritmů na různých grafických kartách a porovnání obou technologií.This thesis deals with the processing tasks to the graphics card. Specific types of tasks are selected sorting algorithms. The first part includes description CUDA and OpenCL technology in which sorting algorithm is implemented. Next it is described the principle of the algorithm and its implementation. Next step is profiling and optimization of sorting algorithm. The last part includes testing these algorithms on different graphics cards and a comparison of both technologies.460 - Katedra informatikydobř

A Piecewise Hysteresis Model for a Damper of HIS System

A damper of the hydraulically interconnected suspension (HIS) system, as a quarter HIS, is prototyped and its damping characteristic is tested to characterize the damping property. The force-velocity characteristic of the prototype is analyzed based on a set of testing results and accordingly a piecewise hysteresis model for the damper is proposed. The proposed equivalent parametric model consists of two parts: hysteresis model in low speed region and saturation model in high speed region which are used to describe the hysteresis phenomenon in low speed and nonhysteresis phenomenon in high speed, respectively. The parameters of the model are identified based on genetic algorithm by setting the constraints of parameters according to their physical significances and the corresponding testing results. The advantages of the model are highlighted by comparing to the nonhysteresis model and the permanent hysteresis model. The numerical simulation results are compared with the testing results to validate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed model. Finally, to further verify the proposed model’s wide applicability under different excitation conditions, its results are compared to the testing results in three-dimensional space. The research in this paper is significant for the dynamic analysis of the HIS vehicle

Theoretical line loss calculation method for low-voltage distribution network via matrix completion and ReliefF-CNN

Line loss is directly responsible for the management profitability of the grid company. The traditional method of calculating the theoretical line loss for Low Voltage Distribution Networks (LVDN) necessitates more electrical parameters. which cannot be obtained easily. Besides, due to the backward communication conditions of LVDN, the problem of smart meter data missing is significant, which poses a challenge to an exact theoretical line loss calculation. In an attempt to solve the issues above, a theoretical line loss computation approach via matrix completion and ReliefF-convolutional neural network (CNN) for LVDN is proposed. Firstly, a feature weighting algorithm based on ReliefF is presented to analyze the relevance of the electrical parameters, which can be obtained easily. Secondly, a theoretical line loss calculation method is proposed for CNN-based. In the view of the data missing problem, a matrix completion method based on singular value thresholding (SVT) is introduced to obtain the high-precision data, in order to enhance the calculation accuracy of the theoretical line loss calculation. Finally, the proposed method is tested on the data sample of 789 LVDNs. The results show that comparing with CNN, back-propagation and other methods, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the presented method can reduce by more than 90%. When data missing, the MAPE of the proposed method can reduce by more than 95% compared with the method without considering the data completion

Recycling air-cooled blast furnace slag in fiber reinforced alkali-activated mortar

Fiber reinforced alkali-activated materials (FR-AAM) present as one type of sustainable and resilient materials. However, the thermal degradation mechanism of FR-AAM remains unclear. In this study, FR-AAM incorporating air-cooled blast furnace slag (ACBF), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and different types of fibers (steel, glass, and polypropylene) are produced and exposed to elevated temperatures. Test results show that ACBF (replacing 30% of river sand) improved the thermal resistance of FR-AAM due to the ameliorated interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and channels for the release of vapor pressure. Relatively, steel fibers better retain mechanical performance, whilst polypropylene fibers better provide channels for the release of vapor pressure after melting. Gel decomposition and micro crack development are the main causes for the thermal deterioration of FR-AAM. Based on non-destructive tests, damage degree is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the usability and deterioration coefficient (K) is adopted to controll the strength retention of FR-AAM at high temperatures. Economically and environmentally, the development of FR-AAM is promising in shaping a sustainable and resilient future.The authors would like to thank the financial supports from the Science and Technology Research and Development Program Project of China railway group limited (Key Project, No.:2021-Key-08)

Pectin alleviates the pulmonary inflammatory response induced by PM2.5 from a pig house by modulating intestinal microbiota

This study aimed to investigate whether dietary fiber pectin can alleviate PM2.5-induced pulmonary inflammation and the potential mechanism. PM2.5 samples were collected from a nursery pig house. The mice were divided into three groups: the control group, PM2.5 group and PM2.5 + pectin group. The mice in the PM2.5 group were intratracheally instilled with PM2.5 suspension twice a week for four consecutive weeks, and those in the PM2.5 + pectin group were subject to the same PM2.5 exposure, but fed with a basal diet supplemented with 5% pectin. The results showed that body weight and feed intake were not different among the treatments (p > 0.05). However, supplementation with pectin relieved PM2.5-induced pulmonary inflammation, presenting as slightly restored lung morphology, decreased mRNA expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-17 in the lung, decreased MPO content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BLAF), and even decreased protein levels of IL-1β and IL-6 in the serum (p < 0.05). Dietary pectin altered the composition of the intestinal microbiota, increasing the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and decreasing the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes. At the genus level, short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria, such as Bacteroides, Anaerotruncus, Prevotella 2, Parabacteroides, Ruminococcus 2 and Butyricimonas, were enriched in the PM2.5 +pectin group. Accordingly, dietary pectin increased the concentrations of SCFAs, including acetate, propionate, butyrate and valerate, in mice. In conclusion, dietary fermentable fiber pectin can relieve PM2.5-induced pulmonary inflammation via alteration of intestinal microbiota composition and SCFA production. This study provides a new insight into reducing the health risk associated with PM2.5 exposure

Genome-wide analysis and characterization of Aux/IAA family genes related to fruit ripening in papaya (Carica papaya L.)

Abstract Background Auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) family genes encode short-lived nuclear proteins that mediate the responses of auxin-related genes and are involved in several plant developmental and growth processes. However, how Aux/IAA genes function in the fruit development and ripening of papaya (Carica papaya L.) is largely unknown. Results In this study, a comprehensive identification and a distinctive expression analysis of 18 C. papaya Aux/IAA (CpIAA) genes were performed using newly updated papaya reference genome data. The Aux/IAA gene family in papaya is slightly smaller than that in Arabidopsis, but all of the phylogenetic subfamilies are represented. Most of the CpIAA genes are responsive to various phytohormones and expressed in a tissues-specific manner. To understand the putative biological functions of the CpIAA genes involved in fruit development and ripening, quantitative real-time PCR was used to test the expression profiling of CpIAA genes at different stages. Furthermore, an IAA treatment significantly delayed the ripening process in papaya fruit at the early stages. The expression changes of CpIAA genes in ACC and 1-MCP treatments suggested a crosstalk between auxin and ethylene during the fruit ripening process of papaya. Conclusions Our study provided comprehensive information on the Aux/IAA family in papaya, including gene structures, phylogenetic relationships and expression profiles. The involvement of CpIAA gene expression changes in fruit development and ripening gives us an opportunity to understand the roles of auxin signaling in the maturation of papaya reproductive organs