Neuro-Fuzzy genetic system for selection of construction project managers

Choosing a project manager for a construction project—particularly, large projects—is a critical project decision. The selection process involves different criteria and should be in accordance with company policies and project specifications. Traditionally, potential candidates are interviewed and the most qualified are selected in compliance with company priorities and project conditions. Precise computing models that could take various candidates’ information into consideration and then pinpoint the most qualified person with a high degree of accuracy would be beneficial. On the basis of the opinions of experienced construction company managers, this paper, through presenting a fuzzy system, identifies the important criteria in selecting a project manager. The proposed fuzzy system is based on IF-THEN rules; a genetic algorithm improves the overall accuracy as well as the functions used by the fuzzy system to make initial estimates of the cluster centers for fuzzy c-means clustering. Moreover, a back-propagation neutral network method was used to train the system. The optimal measures of the inference parameters were identified by calculating the system’s output error and propagating this error within the system. After specifying the system parameters, the membership function parameters—which by means of clustering and projection were approximated—were tuned with the genetic algorithm. Results from this system in selecting project managers show its high capability in making high-quality personnel predictions

HEAVY VEHICLE VIBRATION - A CASE STUDY.

A method is presented for the digital simulation of multiple degrees-of-freedom lumped parameter vibrating systems with arbitrary constitutive elements in an inertial frame of reference. The geometry of the system is treated independently of the constitutive elements and as a result nonlinear (time domain) or linearised (frequency domain) calculations may be performed using a single input description. The method is used to simulate a 3-axle rigid heavy commercial vehicle for harsh vibrating conditions. Some of the assumptions to which the calculations are sensitive are examined. Agreement between the response of a 3-dimensional whole vehicle model and measurements on the test vehicle is satisfactory.

Biofunctionalization of PET/SiO2 surfaces for single molecule experiments and medical applications

PET/SiO2 layers were chemically modified to maintain immobilization of functional single molecules. GFP molecules provide an ideal system due to their stability and intrinsic fluorescence. GFP in vivo biotinylated within its NH2-terminal region and attached on the substrate via the biotinstreptavidin bond was further investigated with confocal microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). AFM revealed monolayered donut-like structures representing assemblies of biotinstreptavidinbiotinGFP immobilized onto PET/SiO2 surfaces via mPEG. In particular, regions with an approximate height of 12 nm, which approaches the molecular dimensions of the above complex given by molecular modeling, could be detected. The dimensions of the donut-like structures suggest a close-to-each-other positioning of the GFP molecules - which, however, retain their functionality, as evidenced by confocal microscopy. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Paintable band-edge liquid crystal lasers.

In this paper we demonstrate photonic band-edge laser emission from emulsion-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals. The lasing medium consists of dye-doped chiral nematic droplets dispersed within a polymer matrix that spontaneously align as the film dries. Such lasers can be easily formed on single substrates with no alignment layers. The system combines the self-organizing periodic structure of chiral nematic liquid crystals with the simplicity of the emulsion procedure so as to produce a material that retains the emission characteristics of band-edge lasers yet can be readily coated. Sequential and stacked layers demonstrate the possibility of achieving simultaneous multi-wavelength laser output from glass, metallic, and flexible substrates.

Generation of conjugate meshes for complex geometries for coupled multi-physics simulations

Over recent years we have developed and published research aimed at producing a meshing, geometry editing and simulation system capable of handling large scale, real world applications and implemented in an end-to-end parallel, scalable manner. The particular focus of this paper is the extension of this meshing system to include conjugate meshes for multi-physics simulations. Two contrasting applications are presented: export of a body-conformal mesh to drive a commercial, third-party simulation system; and direct use of the cut-Cartesian octree mesh with a single, integrated, close-coupled multi-physics simulation system. Copyright © 2010 by W.N.Dawes.

Lyapunov's stability and operational margin of grid-connected photovoltaic modules

Analyses of photovoltaic power generation based on Lyapunov's theorems are presented. The characteristics of the photovoltaic module and the power conditioning unit are analyzed in order to establish energy functions that assess the stability of solutions and define safe regions of operation. Furthermore, it is shown that grid-connected photovoltaic modules driven at maximum power may become unstable under normal grid transients. In such cases, stability can be maintained by allowing an operational margin defined as the energy difference between the stable and the unstable solutions of the system. Simulations show that modules cope well with grid transients when a sufficiently large margin is used.

A practical system for modelling body shapes from single view measurements

This paper describes an interactive system for quickly modelling 3D body shapes from a single image. It provides the user with a convenient way to obtain their 3D body shapes so as to try on virtual garments online. For the ease of use, we first introduce a novel interface for users to conveniently extract anthropometric measurements from a single photo, while using readily available scene cues for automatic image rectification. Then, we propose a unified probabilistic framework using Gaussian processes, which predict the body parameters from input measurements while correcting the aspect ratio ambiguity resulting from photo rectification. Extensive experiments and user studies have supported the efficacy of our system. This system is now being exploited commercially online1. © 2011. The copyright of this document resides with its authors.