A multiple-building diffraction attenuation function expressed in terms of UTD coefficients for microcellular communications

This work presents an explicit formulation for multiple- edge diffraction for mobile radiowave propagation in terms of uniform theory of diffraction (UTD) coefficients when a spherical incident wave is considered. This solution can be used in an UTD context and sharply reduces the computing time over existing formulation. Results can be applied in the planning of microcellular systems

Studies on Spatial and Temporal solitons with varying dispersion,diffraction and nonlinearity

Department of Physics, Cochin University of Science and Technology

X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and Raman scattering study of K2BeF4 and comparation to other member of the (beta)-K2SO4 family with ferroelectric -paraelectric transition

Thermal analysis, powder diffraction, and Raman scattering as a function of the temperature were carried out on K2BeF4. Moreover, the crystal structure was determined at 293 K from powder diffraction. The compound shows a transition from Pna21 to Pnam space group at 921 K with a transition enthalpy of 5 kJ/mol. The transition is assumed to be first order because the compound shows metastability. Structurally and spectroscopically the transition is similar to those observed in (NH4)2SO4, which suggests that the low-temperature phase is ferroelectric. In order to confirm it, the spontaneous polarization has been computed using an ionic model.

Coherent patterns and self-induced diffraction of electrons on a thin nonlinear layer

Electron scattering on a thin layer where the potential depends self-consistently on the wave function has been studied. When the amplitude of the incident wave exceeds a certain threshold, a soliton-shaped brightening (darkening) appears on the layer causing diffraction of the wave. Thus the spontaneously formed transverse pattern can be viewed as a self-induced nonlinear quantum screen. Attractive or repulsive nonlinearities result in different phase shifts of the wave function on the screen, which give rise to quite different diffraction patterns. Among others, the nonlinearity can cause self-focusing of the incident wave into a beam, splitting in two "beams," single or double traces with suppressed reflection or transmission, etc.

A Reinforcement Learning Algorithm to Economic Dispatch Considering Transmission Losses

Reinforcement Learning (RL) refers to a class of learning algorithms in which learning system learns which action to take in different situations by using a scalar evaluation received from the environment on performing an action. RL has been successfully applied to many multi stage decision making problem (MDP) where in each stage the learning systems decides which action has to be taken. Economic Dispatch (ED) problem is an important scheduling problem in power systems, which decides the amount of generation to be allocated to each generating unit so that the total cost of generation is minimized without violating system constraints. In this paper we formulate economic dispatch problem as a multi stage decision making problem. In this paper, we also develop RL based algorithm to solve the ED problem. The performance of our algorithm is compared with other recent methods. The main advantage of our method is it can learn the schedule for all possible demands simultaneously.

Gaseous and leaching losses of carbon and nitrogen in irrigated organic farming of a coastal oasis in Oman

In der Dissertation wurden die Effekte verschiedener C/N-Verhältnisse und verschiedener Verhältnisse von strukturellen zu löslichen Kohlenhydraten (NDF/SC) von Dung, der in bewässerten Gemüsekulturen im Norden Omans appliziert wurde, untersucht. Im auf sandigen Böden durchgeführten Experiment wurden zwei Büffeldungvarianten zum einen mit einem C/N-Verhältnis von 19 und einem NDF/SC-Verhältnis von 17 (ORG1) und zum anderen mit einem C/N-Verhältnis von 25 und einem NDF/SC-Verhältnis von 108 (ORG2) verwendet. Das relevante faktorielle Anbausystem war eine zweijährige Rotation, bestehend aus Rettich gefolgt von Blumenkohl und Karotte. Eine signifikante Zunahme der Erträge, des Sproßdurchmessers und der Pflanzenhöhe von Blumenkohl (P<0,001) sowie der Konzentration von Askorbinsäure in den Wurzeln von Rettich (P<0,01) mit erhöhter Verfügbarkeit von N, P und K von ORG2 über ORG1 bis hin zur Mineraldünger-Kontrollbehandlung (MIN) konnte festgestellt werden. Innerhalb von 260 Tagen wurden für die gesamte Anbauperiode mit einem photoakustischen Infrarot-Multigasmonitor und einer damit verbundenen Haube bodenbürtige Gasemissionen gemessen. Die errechneten Nettobilanzen zeigten Überschüsse von N und P, welche von Defiziten für K begleitet waren. Die Kohlenstoff Nettobilanzen waren während des Untersuchungszeitraums negativ oder nicht konsistent. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter extremen klimatischen Bedingungen bewässerter sandiger Böden organische Kultivierung zuerst durch den Kohlenstoffgehalt von Dung und Boden und erst dann durch die applizierten Mengen an N, P und K limitiert wird. Es konnte festgestellt werden, dass Gasemissionen den größten Teil der N und C Verluste von bewässerten sandigen Böden im Norden Omans darstellen. Die Reduzierung von Treibhausgasen und Sickerverlusten sollte weiterhin im Fokus zukünftiger Untersuchungen stehen, um zur Entwicklung von nachhaltigen organischen Anbausystemen im Oman und anderen ariden tropischen Ländern beizutragen.

The diversity of postharvest losses in cassava value chains in selected developing countries

The extent of physical and economic postharvest losses at different stages of cassava value chains has been estimated in four countries that differ considerably in the way cassava is cultivated, processed and consumed and in the relationships and linkages among the value chain actors. Ghana incurs by far the highest losses because a high proportion of roots reach the consumers in the fresh form. Most losses occur at the last stage of the value chain. In Nigeria and Vietnam processors incur most of the losses while in Thailand most losses occur during harvesting. Poorer countries incur higher losses despite their capacity to absorb sub-standard products (therefore transforming part of the physical losses into economic losses) and less strict buyer standards. In monetary terms the impact of losses is particularly severe in Ghana and estimated at about half a billion US dollar per annum while in the other countries it is at the most about USD 50 million. This comparison shows that there are no “one-size-fits-all" solutions for addressing postharvest losses but rather these must be tailor-made to the specific characteristics of the different value chains.

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions in children with profound sensorineural hearing losses

This paper presents information on the reliability of distortion product otoacoustic emissions in children with profound sensorineural hearing losses.

Structure determination from powder diffraction data

Advances made over the past decade in structure determination from powder diffraction data are reviewed with particular emphasis on algorithmic developments and the successes and limitations of the technique. While global optimization methods have been successful in the solution of molecular crystal structures, new methods are required to make the solution of inorganic crystal structures more routine. The use of complementary techniques such as NMR to assist structure solution is discussed and the potential for the combined use of X-ray and neutron diffraction data for structure verification is explored. Structures that have proved difficult to solve from powder diffraction data are reviewed and the limitations of structure determination from powder diffraction data are discussed. Furthermore, the prospects of solving small protein crystal structures over the next decade are assessed.

GDASH: a grid-enabled program for structure solution from powder diffraction data

The simulated annealing approach to structure solution from powder diffraction data, as implemented in the DASH program, is easily amenable to parallelization at the individual run level. Very large scale increases in speed of execution can therefore be achieved by distributing individual DASH runs over a network of computers. The GDASH program achieves this by packaging DASH in a form that enables it to run under the Univa UD Grid MP system, which harnesses networks of existing computing resources to perform calculations.

MDASH: a multi-core-enabled program for structure solution from powder diffraction data

The simulated annealing approach to structure solution from powder diffraction data, as implemented in the DASH program, is easily amenable to parallelization at the individual run level. Modest increases in speed of execution can therefore be achieved by executing individual DASH runs on the individual cores of CPUs.