7,066 research outputs found

    Thermal plumes from staged multiport diffusers in a uniform quiescent environment

    Get PDF
    The behavior of thermal plumes discharged from staged diffusers has been investigated experimentally. A staged diffuser is a type of submerged multiport diffuser characterized by an offshore orientation of the individual nozzles. It is commonly employed for the discharge of heated water from coastal power plants into the ocean because of its effective mixing capability, which does not depend on the prevailing longshore-current directions. Experiments have been performed to measure the temperature distribution of the plume in quiescent receiving water. The three-dimensional thermal field is reconstructed from the results of two groups of measurements, the centerline experiments in which the temperature in the vertical plane along the diffuser axis is measured, and the scanning experiments in which the lateral temperature profiles are measured. The emphasis is on a homogeneous ambient receiving water, but a few illustrative experiments with ambient stratification have been carried out. The number of variables associated with the problem is very large, making it difficult to perform a generic study. Nevertheless, five of the variables (the number of ports, n, the initial jet diameter, D[sub]0, the horizontal orientation of the jet, [Greek alpha], the total discharge flow rate, Q[sub]T0, and the water depth, H) have been examined. Experimental observations support the hypothesis of a near field dominated by momentum jet mixing, and an intermediate field dominated initially by turbulent mixing and eventually by gravitational spreading. H, n and D[sub]0 are the governing parameters in both the near field and the intermediate field. By coupling dimensional analysis with experimental results, several empirical relationships have been established to give a first-order approximation relating the mean characteristics of the plume to the governing parameters. It is found that the near-field dilution can be described adequately by the simple jet model with an adjustment factor based on n. The dilution in the intermediate field, however, s relatively insensitive to n. It is also concluded that the horizontal orientation of the jet +-25[degrees] to the diffuser axis, helps to spread the plume over a wider extent, thereby reducing the maximum temperature rise. Results from stratified experiments indicate that for weak stratification, the dynamics of the plume are not significantly modified

    Bayesian Semi-supervised Learning with Graph Gaussian Processes

    Get PDF
    We propose a data-efficient Gaussian process-based Bayesian approach to the semi-supervised learning problem on graphs. The proposed model shows extremely competitive performance when compared to the state-of-the-art graph neural networks on semi-supervised learning benchmark experiments, and outperforms the neural networks in active learning experiments where labels are scarce. Furthermore, the model does not require a validation data set for early stopping to control over-fitting. Our model can be viewed as an instance of empirical distribution regression weighted locally by network connectivity. We further motivate the intuitive construction of the model with a Bayesian linear model interpretation where the node features are filtered by an operator related to the graph Laplacian. The method can be easily implemented by adapting off-the-shelf scalable variational inference algorithms for Gaussian processes.Comment: To appear in NIPS 2018 Fixed an error in Figure 2. The previous arxiv version contains two identical sub-figure

    Mobile Game: A Multiplayer Mobile Game via Bluetooth Technology for Nokia Series 60

    Get PDF
    The Final Year Project developed is 'Mobile Game: A Multiplayer Mobile Game via Bluetooth Technology for Nokia Series 60'. The existing mobile games are mostly a stand-alone application, which means the game can only be played by a player. Even with the availability of multiplayer mobile games in the market, the maximum number ofplayers of those games is two. The objective of this project is to study and develop a multiplayer (specifically three players) mobile game with Bluetooth technology as the connection means. The first part of this project would be the research and study pertaining to the development of multiplayer mobile game for three players using Bluetooth technology. The second part of the research pertains to the downside of Bluetooth technology and recommendations to improve the situation. The methodology used is the combination of waterfall and prototyping model. A mobile game application is produced as the end-product of this project. Meanwhile, the findings discover the details on the end-product development and also some discussion design issues and challenges as well as limitationof Bluetoothtechnology

    Parikh Matrices

    Get PDF
    Tajuk disertasi ini ialah "Parikh Matriks", iaitu suatu pembelajaran tentang ayat-ayat dan kombinatorik cirinya dalam topic "Kombinatorik atas ayat-ayat" yang luas. Dengan menggunakan matematikaI perjelasan ayat, ayat dikatakan ialah satu turutan simbol-simbol yang diambil daripada huruf-huruf ajab yang terdiri daripada suatu set yang mengandungi abjab-abjab symbol. Maka ayat-ayat membentuk berbagai objektif utama dalam pembelajaran berbagai jenis bahasa formal yang mana diketahui sebagai satu cabangan daripada computer sains teoritikal yang telah dikembangkan pada masa empat puluh tahun lalu. Konsep satu ayat punya Parikh vektor ialah mengira bilangan dan jenis kewujudan simbol huruf abjab yang ada dalam satu ayat maka merupakan suatu alat pembelajaran bahasa formal yang penting. Barubaru ini, Mateescu et.al(2001) memperkenalkan suatu teknik yang boleh dijelas dengan mudah, iaitu rekaan segi empat This dissertation titled "Parikh Matrices" is a study on words and their combinatorial properties and falls under the broad topic of "Combinatorics on Words". A word, mathematically speaking, is a sequence of symbols taken from an alphabet which is a set of symbols. Words constitute the central objects in the study of Formal languages which has evolved in the past four decades as a branch of theoretical computer science. The concept of a Parikh vector of a word, which counts the number of occurrences of symbols of the alphabet in the word, is an important tool in the study of formal languages. Recently Mateescu et.al (2001) introduced an apparently simple but ingenius technique of associating a specific kind of square matrix with every symbol of an ordered alphabet and associated a matrix with every word, using the operation of product of matrices

    Learning organization and mentoring practice: an empirical investigation

    Get PDF
    The Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry (AEC) of the 21st century is undergoing significant changes to address issues such as the economic integration, international partnering and globalization. These changes are initiating a challenge for AEC industry in regard to how to educate personnel to appropriately respond to the rapid change. A needs-driven approach to mentoring recognizes the fact that employees in the workplace are required to engage in continuous learning to keep pace with changes taking place inside the organization The foundation of this challenge focuses on how to facilitate learning organization and establish continuous human resource development throughout all levels of the organization. Organization has a great demand of transforming into learning organization. Quantitative research is designed in order to achieve four main objectives: 1) To validate ‘learning organization’ concept in Hong Kong AEC organizations 2) To set out the benchmark for learning organizations 3) To evaluate differences among demographics characteristics. 4) To determine the relationship between organizational learning cultures, mentoring practice, and organizational commitment. The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) is adopted in light of the review to access Hong Kong AEC industry toward learning organization. The questionnaire was administered to young professionals, and drew on responses from a total sample of 151 employees to gauge the progress towards learning organization and mentoring practice in local AEC industry. Emphasis has been placed on young professionals’ view towards organization to ensure learning and knowledge transfer as a means of increasing the knowledge base of workers and improving performance. The achievement of either could lead to improvements in overall performance.postprin

    Equivalence Tests For Repeated Measures

    Get PDF
    Equivalence tests from the null hypothesis significance testing framework are appropriate alternatives to difference tests for demonstrating lack of difference. For determining equivalence among more than two repeated measurements, recently developed equivalence tests include the omnibus Hotelling T2, the pairwise standardized test, the pairwise unstandardized test, and the two one-sided test for negligible trend. With Monte Carlo simulations, the current research evaluated Type I error rates and power rates for these equivalence tests to inform an applied data analytic strategy. Because results suggest that there is no one statistical test that is optimal across all situations, I compare the tests’ statistical behaviours to provide guidance in test selection. Specifically, test selection should be informed by the measurement level of the repeated outcome, correlation structure, and precision

    Flow pattern analysis for magnetic resonance velocity imaging

    Get PDF
    Blood flow in the heart is highly complex. Although blood flow patterns have been investigated by both computational modelling and invasive/non-invasive imaging techniques, their evolution and intrinsic connection with cardiovascular disease has yet to be explored. Magnetic resonance (MR) velocity imaging provides a comprehensive distribution of multi-directional in vivo flow distribution so that detailed quantitative analysis of flow patterns is now possible. However, direct visualisation or quantification of vector fields is of little clinical use, especially for inter-subject or serial comparison of changes in flow patterns due to the progression of the disease or in response to therapeutic measures. In order to achieve a comprehensive and integrated description of flow in health and disease, it is necessary to characterise and model both normal and abnormal flows and their effects. To accommodate the diversity of flow patterns in relation to morphological and functional changes, we have described in this thesis an approach of detecting salient topological features prior to analytical assessment of dynamical indices of the flow patterns. To improve the accuracy of quantitative analysis of the evolution of topological flow features, it is essential to restore the original flow fields so that critical points associated with salient flow features can be more reliably detected. We propose a novel framework for the restoration, abstraction, extraction and tracking of flow features such that their dynamic indices can be accurately tracked and quantified. The restoration method is formulated as a constrained optimisation problem to remove the effects of noise and to improve the consistency of the MR velocity data. A computational scheme is derived from the First Order Lagrangian Method for solving the optimisation problem. After restoration, flow abstraction is applied to partition the entire flow field into clusters, each of which is represented by a local linear expansion of its velocity components. This process not only greatly reduces the amount of data required to encode the velocity distribution but also permits an analytical representation of the flow field from which critical points associated with salient flow features can be accurately extracted. After the critical points are extracted, phase portrait theory can be applied to separate them into attracting/repelling focuses, attracting/repelling nodes, planar vortex, or saddle. In this thesis, we have focused on vortical flow features formed in diastole. To track the movement of the vortices within a cardiac cycle, a tracking algorithm based on relaxation labelling is employed. The constraints and parameters used in the tracking algorithm are designed using the characteristics of the vortices. The proposed framework is validated with both simulated and in vivo data acquired from patients with sequential MR examination following myocardial infarction. The main contribution of the thesis is in the new vector field restoration and flow feature abstraction method proposed. They allow the accurate tracking and quantification of dynamic indices associated with salient features so that inter- and intra-subject comparisons can be more easily made. This provides further insight into the evolution of blood flow patterns and permits the establishment of links between blood flow patterns and localised genesis and progression of cardiovascular disease.Open acces

    Writing Sample

    Get PDF
    Two stories. Li Bing (March 2010) and Maria Jumped Over the Wall (August 2010)
    corecore