1,574 research outputs found
Knowledge Transfer in Automatic Optimisation of Reconfigurable Designs
This paper presents a novel approach for automatic optimisation of reconfigurable design parameters based on knowledge transfer. The key idea is to make use of insights derived from optimising related designs to benefit future optimisations. We show how to use designs targeting one device to speed up optimisation of another device. The proposed approach is evaluated based on various applications including computational finance and seismic imaging. It is capable of achieving up to 35% reduction in optimisation time in producing designs with similar performance, compared to alternative optimisation methods
Fatigue cracking of aluminium alloy AlZn6Mg0.8Zr subjected to thermomechanical treatment
The paper presents the results of experimental test of the fatigue of aluminium alloy type AlZn6Mg0,8Zr exposed to various low temperature thermomechanical treatment. Basquin’s characteristics of fatigue have been determined in mechanical test on smooth specimens at a simple state of loading in conditions of alternating bending. The tests were carried out on a fatigue test stand constructed by the authors – MZGS 100. The development of fatigue cracking has been described based on metallographic and fractographic investigations of the fractured samples making use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results of qualitative microfractography of the tested samples in the low-cycle temporal range of fatigue strength revealed fractures of the transcrystalline quasi-cleavage type. It has also been found that local effects of intercrystalline brittle cracking of this type do occur
Home range size, habitat selection and roost use by the whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) in human-dominated montane landscapes
Our understanding of animal adaptations to human pressure is limited by the focus on rare
taxa, despite that common species are more significant in shaping structure, function and
service provision of ecosystems. Thus better understanding of their ecology and behavioural adjustments is central for drafting conservation actions. In this study, we used radiotelemetry on 21 individuals (10 females, 11 males) to provide data on spatial ecology, habitat selection and use of roosts of one of the commonest species, the whiskered bat (Myotis
mystacinus), inhabiting the Carpathian Mountains (southern Poland). We tested, whether
this species prefers natural over human-modified landscapes to seek prey and roosts. Mean
home range size of the whiskered bat in the Carpathian Mountains was 26.3 ha (SE ± 3.2,
Local Convex Hull) and 110 ha (SE ± 22.1, Minimum Convex Polygon with all locations),
and included between one and three patches, among which bats moved along linear environmental features, such as scrubby banks of streams or lines of trees. During foraging
whiskered bats selected small woodlands within agricultural landscapes, avoided large
mountain forests and open areas, and used built-up areas proportionally to their availability.
Whiskered bats occupied roosts located mainly in buildings (>97%), at an average altitude
of 547.9 m above sea level (SE ± 8.3). Roosts were used for 5.4 days, on average. Our
study shows that whiskered bats adapted well to the mosaic of semi-natural and anthropogenic habitats. It highlights the importance of buildings serving as roosts and small woodlands used as foraging areas in human-dominated montane landscapes
EVALUATION OF CONDITIONS CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM. INVESTIGATION INTO THE BASIN OF THE PARSĘTA RIVER
DOI: 10.2478/v10089-008-0021-7
Available on-line at:
http://www.bulletinofgeography.umk.pl
http://versita.com/bgssThe article presents the results of multidimensional evaluation of conditions concerning the development of tourism in rural areas of Parsęta basin. For the purpose the synthetic measure has been applied in reference to 27 variables divided into two groups: suitable for tourism or investing.
Having conducted the analysis of the selected variables, the investigated area was divided into three regions: the seaside at the North with very good conditions for the development of the touristic function as its core function, the central region, highly diversified with only moderate touristic capabilities, and finally the southern region, the lake district, with adequate features for the development of tourism
Testing the viability of the interacting holographic dark energy model by using combined observational constraints
Using the data coming from the new 182 Gold type Ia supernova samples, the
shift parameter of the Cosmic Microwave Background given by the three-year
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe observations, and the baryon acoustic
oscillation measurement from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and lookback
time measurements, we have performed a statistical joint analysis of the
interacting holographic dark energy model. Consistent parameter estimations
show us that the interacting holographic dark energy model is a viable
candidate to explain the observed acceleration of our universe.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in JCA
Drivers of organic molecular signatures in the Amazon River
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2021. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 35(6), (2021): e2021GB006938, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB006938.As climate-driven El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are projected to increase in frequency and severity, much attention has focused on impacts regarding ecosystem productivity and carbon balance in Amazonian rainforests, with comparatively little attention given to carbon dynamics in fluvial ecosystems. In this study, we compared the wet 2012 La Niña period to the following normal hydrologic period in the Amazon River. Elevated water flux during the La Niña period was accompanied by dilution of inorganic ion concentrations. Furthermore, the La Niña period exported 2.77 Tg C yr−1 more dissolved organic carbon (DOC) than the normal period, an increase greater than the annual amount of DOC exported by the Mississippi River. Using ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry, we detected both intra- and interannual differences in dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition, revealing that DOM exported during the dry season and the normal period was more aliphatic, whereas compounds in the wet season and following the La Niña event were more aromatic, with ramifications for its environmental role. Furthermore, as this study has the highest temporal resolution DOM compositional data for the Amazon River to-date we showed that compounds were highly correlated to a 6-month lag in Pacific temperature and pressure anomalies, suggesting that ENSO events could impact DOM composition exported to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, as ENSO events increase in frequency and severity into the future it seems likely that there will be downstream consequences for the fate of Amazon Basin-derived DOM concurrent with lag periods as described here.This work was partially supported by National Science Foundation grant OCE-1464396 to Robert G. M. Spencer and funding from the Harbourton Foundation to Robert G. M. Spencer, R. Max Holmes, and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink.2021-12-1
Cosmological constraints combining H(z), CMB shift and SNIa observational data
Recently H(z) data obtained from differential ages of galaxies have been
proposed as a new geometrical probe of dark energy. In this paper we use those
data, combined with other background tests (CMB shift and SNIa data), to
constrain a set of general relativistic dark energy models together with some
other models motivated by extra dimensions. Our analysis rests mostly on
Bayesian statistics, and we conclude that LCDM is at least substantially
favoured, and that braneworld models are less favoured than general
relativistic ones.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures; improved discussion, new figures, updated to
match published versio
Lorentz Invariance Violation induced time delays in GRBs in different cosmological models
Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) manifesting itself by energy dependent
modification of standard relativistic dispersion relation has recently
attracted a considerable attention. Ellis et al. previously investigated the
energy dependent time offsets in different energy bands on a sample of gamma
ray bursts and, assuming standard cosmological model, they found a weak
indication for redshift dependence of time delays suggestive of LIV. Going
beyond the CDM cosmology we extend this analysis considering also four
alternative models of dark energy (quintessence with constant and variable
equation of state, Chaplygin gas and brane-world cosmology). It turns out that
the effect noticed by Ellis et al. is also present in those models and is the
strongest for quintessence with variable equation of state.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur
Reconstructing the properties of dark energy from recent observations
We explore the properties of dark energy from recent observational data,
including the Gold Sne Ia, the baryonic acoustic oscillation peak from SDSS,
the CMB shift parameter from WMAP3, the X-ray gas mass fraction in cluster and
the Hubble parameter versus redshift. The model with curvature
and two parameterized dark energy models are studied. For the
model, we find that the flat universe is consistent with observations at the
confidence level and a closed universe is slightly favored by these
data. For two parameterized dark energy models, with the prior given on the
present matter density, , with ,
and , our result seems to suggest that the
trend of dependence for an evolving dark energy from a
combination of the observational data sets is model-dependent.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, To appear in JCA
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