Fast-MoCo: Boost Momentum-based Contrastive Learning with Combinatorial Patches

Contrastive-based self-supervised learning methods achieved great success in recent years. However, self-supervision requires extremely long training epochs (e.g., 800 epochs for MoCo v3) to achieve promising results, which is unacceptable for the general academic community and hinders the development of this topic. This work revisits the momentum-based contrastive learning frameworks and identifies the inefficiency in which two augmented views generate only one positive pair. We propose Fast-MoCo - a novel framework that utilizes combinatorial patches to construct multiple positive pairs from two augmented views, which provides abundant supervision signals that bring significant acceleration with neglectable extra computational cost. Fast-MoCo trained with 100 epochs achieves 73.5% linear evaluation accuracy, similar to MoCo v3 (ResNet-50 backbone) trained with 800 epochs. Extra training (200 epochs) further improves the result to 75.1%, which is on par with state-of-the-art methods. Experiments on several downstream tasks also confirm the effectiveness of Fast-MoCo.Comment: Accepted for publication at the 2022 European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV 2022

Response of reinforced mortar‑less interlocking brick wall under seismic loading

Mortar-less construction with interlocking bricks has many advantages, such as improved construction efficiency and relatively low requirements on labour skills. Nevertheless, the seismic performance of interlocking brick structures is not well understood yet. In this paper, laboratory tests and numerical modelling are carried out to investigate the seismic behaviour of interlocking brick walls. Laboratory shaking table tests are performed on a scaled reinforced mortar-less interlocking brick wall. The response and damage modes under in-plane seismic loading are investigated. A detailed numerical model is then generated and validated with the laboratory testing data. Unlike the conventional masonry wall that diagonal shear damage governs the failure, the interlocking brick wall exhibits rocking responses, whose damage is mainly at the two bottom corners of the wall. Full-scale interlocking brick walls are then modelled and compared with conventional concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls bonded by mortar. Comparisons are made between the seismic resistances and damage modes of the two walls. The influences of ground motion intensities, vertical components of seismic excitations and different seismic time histories on the seismic behaviour of the interlocking brick wall are examined. It is found that the interlocking brick wall has a higher seismic resistance capacity than the conventional CMU wall. Inter-brick friction is the main energy dissipation mechanism in the interlocking brick wall. Because of the rocking response, vertical component of the ground motion significantly influences the damage of interlocking brick wall. The interlocking brick wall is insensitive to velocity pulses of ground motions due to its relatively high natural frequency

Broadband NIR-emitting Te cluster-doped glass for smart light source towards night-vision and NIR spectroscopy applications

Broadband near-infrared (NIR)-emitting materials are crucial components of the next generation of smart NIR light sources based on blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Here, we report a Te cluster-doped borate glass, which exhibits ultra-broadband emission around 980 nm with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 306 nm under blue light excitation. We propose adjustments of glass chemistry and processing condition as a means for topo-chemical tailoring of the NIR photoemission characteristics in such materials. Through implementing strongly reducing conditions during glass melting, Te clusters with broad NIR photoluminescence can be generated and stabilized once the melt is vitrified to the glassy state. Tunability of the NIR emission peak over the wavelength range of 904 to 1026 nm is possible in this way, allowing for fine adjustments of spectral properties relative to the stretching vibrations of common chemical bonds, for example, in water, proteins, and fats. This potentially enables high sensitivity in NIR spectroscopy. We further demonstrate potential application of glass-converted LEDs in night vision.</p

Research on Longitudinal Collapse Mode and Control of the Continuous Bridge under Strong Seismic Excitations

Bridge collapse events are common in major earthquakes around the world, among which continuous girder bridges are the most involved. In order to explore the collapse mechanism of a continuous girder bridge in an earthquake, the collapse mode of a two-span continuous girder bridge specimen which had been studied by the shaking table test was analyzed. Then, on the basis of the conventional plate rubber bearing system, the collapse control strategies which were high damping rubber bearing, fluid viscous damper, lock-up clutch control methods were discussed. It is found that high damping rubber bearing can delay the collapse time but the collapse mode remains the same; lock-up clutch has the best displacement control effect for the superstructure, but its energy consumption performance is not as good as that of a fluid viscous damper; high damping rubber bearing is quite suitable for protecting the substructure under short-period ground motion to avoid the bridge collapse caused by the failure of piers; fluid viscous damper and lock-up clutch are suitable for protecting the superstructure under long ground seismic motion to avoid the bridge non-use resulted from girder lowering; three collapse control methods can improve the anti-collapse ability of the bridge specimen, although no matter which control method is used, the bridge specimen may still collapse under strong earthquakes, but the target of postponing collapse time can be realized by means of various effective control methods