Support for Internet-Based Commonsense Processing – Causal Knowledge Discovery Using Japanese “If” Forms

Abstract. This paper introduces our method for causal knowledge re-trieval from the Internet resources, its results and evaluation of using it in utterance creation process. Our system automatically retrieves common-sensical knowledge from the Web resources by using simple web-mining and information extraction techniques. For retrieving causal knowledge the system uses three of specific several Japanese “if ” forms. From the results we can conclude that Japanese web pages indexed by a common search engine spiders are enough to discover common causal relationships and this knowledge can be used for making Human-Computer Interfaces sound more natural and interesting than while using classic methods

An approach for particle sinking velocity measurements in the 3–400 μm size range and considerations on the effect of temperature on sinking rates

The flux of organic particles below the mixed layer is one major pathway of carbon from the surface into the deep ocean. The magnitude of this export flux depends on two major processes—remineralization rates and sinking velocities. Here, we present an efficient method to measure sinking velocities of particles in the size range from approximately 3–400 μm by means of video microscopy (FlowCAM®). The method allows rapid measurement and automated analysis of mixed samples and was tested with polystyrene beads, different phytoplankton species, and sediment trap material. Sinking velocities of polystyrene beads were close to theoretical values calculated from Stokes’ Law. Sinking velocities of the investigated phytoplankton species were in reasonable agreement with published literature values and sinking velocities of material collected in sediment trap increased with particle size. Temperature had a strong effect on sinking velocities due to its influence on seawater viscosity and density. An increase in 9 °C led to a measured increase in sinking velocities of ~40 %. According to this temperature effect, an average temperature increase in 2 °C as projected for the sea surface by the end of this century could increase sinking velocities by about 6 % which might have feedbacks on carbon export into the deep ocean

Efficient modelling approach for transient coupled electro-thermal simulation on the example of a D2PAK application

This contribution derives an efficient approach to model a coupled electro-thermal design problem for transient system simulation, using an analogue simulator, like SPICE. It introduces the electrical and thermal modelling procedures and the coupling of both models. The electrical model is based on the fundamental equations of semiconductor physics. Using the respective physical parameters the model can easily be adapted to an existing component. The thermal model is based on a modified Foster model, extracted from transient FEM simulation results using thermal unit step responses. During the coupled transient simulation the electrical behaviour of each electrical component will be influenced on its self-heating and the coupled heating of active components in vicinity. The approach can also be applied to other coupled problems in MEMS, where a thermal coupling is important. The method will be demonstrated on the example of a D2PAK application, assembled on a PCB, using four MOSFET transistors