A System for Representing and Using Real-World Knowledge

This report describes a knowledge-base system in which the information is stored in a network of small parallel processing elements ??de and link units ??ich are controlled by an external serial computer. This network is similar to the semantic network system of Quillian, but is much more tightly controlled. Such a network can perform certain critical deductions and searches very quickly; it avoids many of the problems of current systems, which must use complex heuristics to limit and guided their searches. It is argued (with examples) that the key operation in a knowledge-base system is the intersection of large explicit and semi-explicit sets. The parallel network system does this in a small, essentially constant number of cycles; a serial machine takes time proportional to the size of the sets, except in special cases.

Real-time investigation of the photodissociation dynamics of p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene

De-excited dynamics of p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene have been investigated by the femtosecond pump-probe method in a supersonic molecular beam. The yields of the parent ion and daughter ion are examined as a function of the delay time between the pump and probe laser pulses. The lifetime constants of excited p-chlorotoluene and p-dichlorobenzene are determined. Possible de-excitation mechanisms are suggested that the initially excited S-1 state is predissociative via the repulsive triplet state. The substituent effects of additional chlorine atom and methyl group are discussed. Moreover, for the first time, we observe a novel quantum beat oscillation in p-dichlorobenzene. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ligand modified real heterogeneous catalysts for fixed-bed hydroformylation of propylene

A novel ligand modified heterogeneous catalyst has been developed for hydroformylation of propylene, which showed excellent activity, selectivity and stability and need not be separated from the product after reaction in a fixed-bed reactor. The coordination bonds between triphenyl phosphine (PPh3) and Rh/SiO2 were confirmed by means of thermogravimetric (TG), solid-state P-31 NMR, XPS and FT-IR. Two types of active species for hydroformylation were formed, which were proved by in situ FT-IR techniques. The problem of metal leaching was greatly reduced by directly fastening Rh particles on the support, and the active Rh species that was responsible for the outstanding performance of propylene hydroformylation was tightly bound by the very strong metal-metal bonds. No sign of deactivation was observed over a period of more than 1000 h on the condition that PPh3 was added at 300-350 h of time on stream. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolving Controllers for Real Robots: A Survey of the Literature

Walker,J. and Garrett,S. and Wilson,M.S., 'Evolving Controllers for Real Robots: A Survey of the Literature', Adaptive Behavior, 2003, volume 11, number 3, pp 179--203, Sage

Direct observation of Schottky to Ohmic transition in Al-diamond contacts using real-time photoelectron spectroscopy

Evans D A, Roberts O R, Vearey-Roberts A R, Langstaff D P, Twitchen D J and Schwitters M 2007 Direct observation of Schottky to ohmic transition in Al-diamond contacts using realtime photoelectron spectroscopy Appl. Phys. Lett. 91 132114 doi:10.1063/1.2790779

Scattering poles near the real axis for two strictly convex obstacles

Iantchenko, A., (2007) 'Scattering poles near the real axis for two strictly convex obstacles', Annales of the Institute Henri Poincar? 8 pp.513-568 RAE2008

BitBox!: A case study interface for teaching real-time adaptive music composition for video games

Real-time adaptive music is now well-established as a popular medium, largely through its use in video game soundtracks. Commercial packages, such as fmod, make freely available the underlying technical methods for use in educational contexts, making adaptive music technologies accessible to students. Writing adaptive music, however, presents a significant learning challenge, not least because it requires a different mode of thought, and tutor and learner may have few mutual points of connection in discovering and understanding the musical drivers, relationships and structures in these works. This article discusses the creation of ‘BitBox!’, a gestural music interface designed to deconstruct and explain the component elements of adaptive composition through interactive play. The interface was displayed at the Dare Protoplay games exposition in Dundee in August 2014. The initial proof-of- concept study proved successful, suggesting possible refinements in design and a broader range of applications.

Informe final y cuaderno de diseño. Regional Centro Oriente, municipio del Guamo departamento Tolima. Asesoría en diseñoen el Oficio de Costura con trenza de palma real

10 hojas : cuadros.

By-paths to forgotten folks; stories of real life in Baptist home mission fields, by Coe Hayne. Ed. by the Department of missionary education, Board of education of the Northern Baptist convention.

http://www.archive.org/details/bypathstoforgott00haynrich

PROPAGATION OF SONIC BOOMS THROUGH A REAL, STRATIFIED ATMOSPHERE

Sonic boom propagation in a quiet) stratified) lossy atmosphere is the subject of this dissertation. Two questions are considered in detail: (1) Does waveform freezing occur? (2) Are sonic booms shocks in steady state? Both assumptions have been invoked in the past to predict sonic boom waveforms at the ground. A very general form of the Burgers equation is derived and used as the model for the problem. The derivation begins with the basic conservation equations. The effects of nonlinearity) attenuation and dispersion due to multiple relaxations) viscosity) and heat conduction) geometrical spreading) and stratification of the medium are included. When the absorption and dispersion terms are neglected) an analytical solution is available. The analytical solution is used to answer the first question. Geometrical spreading and stratification of the medium are found to slow down the nonlinear distortion of finite-amplitude waves. In certain cases the distortion reaches an absolute limit) a phenomenon called waveform freezing. Judging by the maturity of the distortion mechanism, sonic booms generated by aircraft at 18 km altitude are not frozen when they reach the ground. On the other hand, judging by the approach of the waveform to its asymptotic shape, N waves generated by aircraft at 18 km altitude are frozen when they reach the ground. To answer the second question we solve the full Burgers equation and for this purpose develop a new computer code, THOR. The code is based on an algorithm by Lee and Hamilton (J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 906-917, 1995) and has the novel feature that all its calculations are done in the time domain, including absorption and dispersion. Results from the code compare very well with analytical solutions. In a NASA exercise to compare sonic boom computer programs, THOR gave results that agree well with those of other participants and ran faster. We show that sonic booms are not steady state waves because they travel through a varying medium, suffer spreading, and fail to approximate step shocks closely enough. Although developed to predict sonic boom propagation, THOR can solve other problems for which the extended Burgers equation is a good propagation model.

Speculative Concurrency Control for Real-Time Databases

In this paper, we propose a new class of Concurrency Control Algorithms that is especially suited for real-time database applications. Our approach relies on the use of (potentially) redundant computations to ensure that serializable schedules are found and executed as early as possible, thus, increasing the chances of a timely commitment of transactions with strict timing constraints. Due to its nature, we term our concurrency control algorithms Speculative. The aforementioned description encompasses many algorithms that we call collectively Speculative Concurrency Control (SCC) algorithms. SCC algorithms combine the advantages of both Pessimistic and Optimistic Concurrency Control (PCC and OCC) algorithms, while avoiding their disadvantages. On the one hand, SCC resembles PCC in that conflicts are detected as early as possible, thus making alternative schedules available in a timely fashion in case they are needed. On the other hand, SCC resembles OCC in that it allows conflicting transactions to proceed concurrently, thus avoiding unnecessary delays that may jeopardize their timely commitment.

Timeliness via Speculation for Real-Time Databases

Various concurrency control algorithms differ in the time when conflicts are detected, and in the way they are resolved. In that respect, the Pessimistic and Optimistic Concurrency Control (PCC and OCC) alternatives represent two extremes. PCC locking protocols detect conflicts as soon as they occur and resolve them using blocking. OCC protocols detect conflicts at transaction commit time and resolve them using rollbacks (restarts). For real-time databases, blockages and rollbacks are hazards that increase the likelihood of transactions missing their deadlines. We propose a Speculative Concurrency Control (SCC) technique that minimizes the impact of blockages and rollbacks. SCC relies on the use of added system resources to speculate on potential serialization orders and to ensure that if such serialization orders materialize, the hazards of blockages and roll-backs are minimized. We present a number of SCC-based algorithms that differ in the level of speculation they introduce, and the amount of system resources (mainly memory) they require. We show the performance gains (in terms of number of satisfied timing constraints) to be expected when a representative SCC algorithm (SCC-2S) is adopted.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Towards Physically-Correct Specifications of Embedded Real-Time Systems

Predictability — the ability to foretell that an implementation will not violate a set of specified reliability and timeliness requirements - is a crucial, highly desirable property of responsive embedded systems. This paper overviews a development methodology for responsive systems, which enhances predictability by eliminating potential hazards resulting from physically-unsound specifications. The backbone of our methodology is a formalism that restricts expressiveness in a way that allows the specification of only reactive, spontaneous, and causal computation. Unrealistic systems — possessing properties such as clairvoyance, caprice, infinite capacity, or perfect timing — cannot even be specified. We argue that this "ounce of prevention" at the specification level is likely to spare a lot of time and energy in the development cycle of responsive systems - not to mention the elimination of potential hazards that would have gone, otherwise, unnoticed.

Dynamic Window-Constrained Scheduling for Real-Time Media Streaming

This paper describes an algorithm for scheduling packets in real-time multimedia data streams. Common to these classes of data streams are service constraints in terms of bandwidth and delay. However, it is typical for real-time multimedia streams to tolerate bounded delay variations and, in some cases, finite losses of packets. We have therefore developed a scheduling algorithm that assumes streams have window-constraints on groups of consecutive packet deadlines. A window-constraint defines the number of packet deadlines that can be missed in a window of deadlines for consecutive packets in a stream. Our algorithm, called Dynamic Window-Constrained Scheduling (DWCS), attempts to guarantee no more than x out of a window of y deadlines are missed for consecutive packets in real-time and multimedia streams. Using DWCS, the delay of service to real-time streams is bounded even when the scheduler is overloaded. Moreover, DWCS is capable of ensuring independent delay bounds on streams, while at the same time guaranteeing minimum bandwidth utilizations over tunable and finite windows of time. We show the conditions under which the total demand for link bandwidth by a set of real-time (i.e., window-constrained) streams can exceed 100% and still ensure all window-constraints are met. In fact, we show how it is possible to guarantee worst-case per-stream bandwidth and delay constraints while utilizing all available link capacity. Finally, we show how best-effort packets can be serviced with fast response time, in the presence of window-constrained traffic.

AIDA-Based Real-Time Fault-Tolerant Broadcast Disks

The proliferation of mobile computers and wireless networks requires the design of future distributed real-time applications to recognize and deal with the significant asymmetry between downstream and upstream communication capacities, and the significant disparity between server and client storage capacities. Recent research work proposed the use of Broadcast Disks as a scalable mechanism to deal with this problem. In this paper, we propose a new broadcast disks protocol, based on our Adaptive Information Dispersal Algorithm (AIDA). Our protocol is different from previous broadcast disks protocols in that it improves communication timeliness, fault-tolerance, and security, while allowing for a finer control of multiplexing of prioritized data (broadcast frequencies). We start with a general introduction of broadcast disks. Next, we propose broadcast disk organizations that are suitable for real-time applications. Next, we present AIDA and show its fault-tolerance and security properties. We conclude the paper with the description and analysis of AIDA-based broadcast disks organizations that achieve both timeliness and fault-tolerance, while preserving downstream communication capacity.