Reaction of cobalt in SO2 atmospheric at elevated temperatures

The reaction rate of cobalt in SO2 argon environments was measured at 650 C, 700 C, 750 C and 800 C. Product scales consist primarily of an interconnected sulfide phase in an oxide matrix. At 700 C to 800 C a thin sulfide layer adjacent to the metal is also observed. At all temperatures, the rapid diffusion of cobalt outward through the interconnected sulfide appears to be important. At 650 C, the reaction rate slows dramatically after five minutes due to a change in the distribution of these sulfides. At 700 C and 750 C the reaction is primarily diffusion controlled values of diffusivity of cobalt (CoS) calculated from this work show favorable agreement with values of diffusivity of cobalt (CoS) calculated from previous sulfidation work. At 800 C, a surface step becomes rate limiting

On the Complexity of the Equivalence Problem for Probabilistic Automata

Checking two probabilistic automata for equivalence has been shown to be a key problem for efficiently establishing various behavioural and anonymity properties of probabilistic systems. In recent experiments a randomised equivalence test based on polynomial identity testing outperformed deterministic algorithms. In this paper we show that polynomial identity testing yields efficient algorithms for various generalisations of the equivalence problem. First, we provide a randomized NC procedure that also outputs a counterexample trace in case of inequivalence. Second, we show how to check for equivalence two probabilistic automata with (cumulative) rewards. Our algorithm runs in deterministic polynomial time, if the number of reward counters is fixed. Finally we show that the equivalence problem for probabilistic visibly pushdown automata is logspace equivalent to the Arithmetic Circuit Identity Testing problem, which is to decide whether a polynomial represented by an arithmetic circuit is identically zero.Comment: technical report for a FoSSaCS'12 pape

Pallet management system: a study of the implementation of UID/RFID technology for tracking shipping materials within the Department of Defense Distribution network

MBA Professional ReportThe purpose of this MBA project is to identify the typical pallet utilization for the Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin (DDJC) shipments to the Defense Distribution Depot San Diego (DDDC). That information will be used as the basis for suggesting a standardized reutilization management system for wood and non-wood pallets. This project will provide analysis for the inclusion of Radio Frequency Identification, and Unique Item Identification in conjunction with bar code technology for the improvement of asset visibility within the Department of Defense's supply network.http://archive.org/details/palletmanagement1094510336Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

On rationality of nonnegative matrix factorization

Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is the problem of decomposing a given nonnegative n × m matrix M into a product of a nonnegative n × d matrix W and a nonnegative d × m matrix H. NMF has a wide variety of applications, including bioinformatics, chemometrics, communication complexity, machine learning, polyhedral combinatorics, among many others. A longstanding open question, posed by Cohen and Rothblum in 1993, is whether every rational matrix M has an NMF with minimal d whose factors W and H are also rational. We answer this question negatively, by exhibiting a matrix M for which W and H require irrational entries. As an application of this result, we show that state minimization of labeled Markov chains can require the introduction of irrational transition probabilities. We complement these irrationality results with an NP- complete version of NMF for which rational numbers suffice

Electrical Stimulation Modulates High γ Activity and Human Memory Performance.

Direct electrical stimulation of the brain has emerged as a powerful treatment for multiple neurological diseases, and as a potential technique to enhance human cognition. Despite its application in a range of brain disorders, it remains unclear how stimulation of discrete brain areas affects memory performance and the underlying electrophysiological activities. Here, we investigated the effect of direct electrical stimulation in four brain regions known to support declarative memory: hippocampus (HP), parahippocampal region (PH) neocortex, prefrontal cortex (PF), and lateral temporal cortex (TC). Intracranial EEG recordings with stimulation were collected from 22 patients during performance of verbal memory tasks. We found that high γ (62-118 Hz) activity induced by word presentation was modulated by electrical stimulation. This modulatory effect was greatest for trials with poor memory encoding. The high γ modulation correlated with the behavioral effect of stimulation in a given brain region: it was negative, i.e., the induced high γ activity was decreased, in the regions where stimulation decreased memory performance, and positive in the lateral TC where memory enhancement was observed. Our results suggest that the effect of electrical stimulation on high γ activity induced by word presentation may be a useful biomarker for mapping memory networks and guiding therapeutic brain stimulation

Human Verbal Memory Encoding Is Hierarchically Distributed in a Continuous Processing Stream.

Processing of memory is supported by coordinated activity in a network of sensory, association, and motor brain regions. It remains a major challenge to determine where memory is encoded for later retrieval. Here, we used direct intracranial brain recordings from epilepsy patients performing free recall tasks to determine the temporal pattern and anatomical distribution of verbal memory encoding across the entire human cortex. High γ frequency activity (65-115 Hz) showed consistent power responses during encoding of subsequently recalled and forgotten words on a subset of electrodes localized in 16 distinct cortical areas activated in the tasks. More of the high γ power during word encoding, and less power before and after the word presentation, was characteristic of successful recall and observed across multiple brain regions. Latencies of the induced power changes and this subsequent memory effect (SME) between the recalled and forgotten words followed an anatomical sequence from visual to prefrontal cortical areas. Finally, the magnitude of the memory effect was unexpectedly found to be the largest in selected brain regions both at the top and at the bottom of the processing stream. These included the language processing areas of the prefrontal cortex and the early visual areas at the junction of the occipital and temporal lobes. Our results provide evidence for distributed encoding of verbal memory organized along a hierarchical posterior-to-anterior processing stream