56 research outputs found
Identification of Evolving Rule-based Models.
No full textAn approach to identification of evolving fuzzy rule-based (eR) models is proposed. eR models implement a method for the noniterative update of both the rule-base structure and parameters by incremental unsupervised learning. The rule-base evolves by adding more informative rules than those that previously formed the model. In addition, existing rules can be replaced with new rules based on ranking using the informative potential of the data. In this way, the rule-base structure is inherited and updated when new informative data become available, rather than being completely retrained. The adaptive nature of these evolving rule-based models, in combination with the highly transparent and compact form of fuzzy rules, makes them a promising candidate for modeling and control of complex processes, competitive to neural networks. The approach has been tested on a benchmark problem and on an air-conditioning component modeling application using data from an installation serving a real building. The results illustrate the viability and efficiency of the approach. (c) IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy System
Consistency of Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites Within One Printing System
No full textPrevious research has shown that the material properties of a three-dimensional printed strain hardening cementitious composite (3DP-SHCC) can significantly vary, depending on the printing system with which it is produced. However, limited research has been performed on the reproducibility of hardened mechanical properties under identical printing conditions. In this study, the consistency of hardened properties, including compressive strength, flexural strength and deflection, and tensile strength and strain, was tested from materials printed during three separate but identical printing sessions. The research shows that with 3DP-SHCC, significant variations in mechanical properties between printing sessions can be expected.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Materials and Environmen
Carbon load in aquatic ecosystems affects the diversity and biomass of water biofilm consortia and the persistence of the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni within them
No full textThe influence of carbon load on autochthonous water microflora population distribution and diversity, and on the persistence of Campylobacter jejuni, was examined with a two-stage aquatic biofilm model. Serine was chosen since it is a carbon source utilised by C. jejuni and concentrations were chosen to reflect upper limits of amino acid load reported in surface water. The total viable count of the autochthonous biofilm microflora increased with increasing serine concentration (10-fold and 20-fold with 5nM and 5μM serine, respectively), as did the counts of the microflora in the planktonic phase. Differences in biofilm species distribution as determined by culture were small with changes in temperature or the addition of serine; but was markedly affected by serine as determined by light microscopy, becoming more luxuriant and dominated by long filamentous cells. The addition of serine to the water significantly and progressively reduced the persistence of C. jejuni, which decreased by 25% and 50% with serine concentrations of 5 nM and 5 μM respectively. We have demonstrated that carbon load affects the species diversity and density of both the planktonic and biofilm phase of aquatic autochthonous microflora. Although the survival of C. jejuni in water in a culturable form was sufficient for this to be an important vehicle for its transmission, carbon load significantly influenced survival an increase in serine concentration significantly reduced survival
Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha
No full textRonald M. Davidson is a contributing author, An Introduction to the Standards of Scriptural Authenticity in Indian Buddhism , pp. 291-325.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/religiousstudies-books/1063/thumbnail.jp
The relationship between eye-perception and voice-response in reading
No full textThis is a brief summary of a monograph published by the author in 1920 (Supplementary Educ. Mono. No. 17). Studies were made of the relationship between eye and voice in reading by means of photographic records of eye movements which were synchronized with dictaphone records of the voice. Good readers were found to differ from poor ones in length of eye-voice span, the eye keeping farther ahead of the voice in good readers; in length of the fixation pauses, the pauses being shorter in good readers; in number of fixations per line of print, the better readers having fewer fixations; and finally in relative length of eye-voice span in different parts of the sentence, the poor readers having a rather uniform and shorter span throughout the sentence, and the good readers having a long span at the beginning and a short span at the end of a sentence.The eye-voice span was found to be quite flexible and dependent on the character of the matter read, much more than on the mechanical arrangement of the printed matter. The knowledge of these differences between good and poor readers should be of great service in determining methods of instruction in reading
Numinous Awareness Is Never Dark
No full text
Numinous Awareness is Never Dark examines the issue of whether enlightenment in Zen Buddhism is sudden or gradual: that is, something achieved in a sudden flash of insight, or through the gradual development of a sequential series of practices. In Excerpts, the Korean Zen master Chinul (1158-1210) offers one of the most thorough treatments of this “sudden/gradual issue” in all of premodern East Asian Buddhist literature, including extensive quotations from a wide range of his predecessors in Chinese and Korean Buddhism on the sudden/gradual issue. In Chinul’s analysis, enlightenment is actually both sudden and gradual: an initial sudden awakening to the numinous awareness, the buddha-nature, that is inherent in all sentient beings, followed by gradual cultivation that removes the deep-seated habitual proclivities of thought and conduct that continue to appear even after awakening. Chinul’s preferred approach of “sudden awakening/gradual cultivation” becomes emblematic of the subsequent Korean Buddhist tradition. In addition to an extensive study of the contours of the sudden/gradual debate in Buddhist thought and practice, the book also includes a complete, copiously annotated translation of Chinul’s magnum opus. In Buswell’s treatment, Chinul’s Excerpts emerges as the single most influential work ever written by a Korean Buddhist author.</p
Government policies and indigenous rights:: a case study of the San and the Saami
No full textVarious approaches adopted by state governments towards their respective indigenous populations, as they pertain to the Saami of Sweden and Norway, and to the San living in Namibia and Botswana, have been examined, and their impact on the socio-cultural, economic and political aspects of these societies assessed. This dissertation further analyses the rationale behind the implementation of these policies and concludes that the arguments used to justify government intervention were frequently flawed: earlier policies introduced during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were based on perceptions that native populations were 'inferior' and expendable whereas more recent government strategies revealed an inadequate understanding and appreciation of the indigenous groups to which the policies were directed. As a consequence, the Saami and San were dispossessed of their lands, forcibly assimilated into the majority population, and even subjected to campaigns of sterilisation (the Saami) and genocide (the San). It is argued that, although widespread abhorrence of these policies eventually resulted in their demise, renewed threats to the cultural traditions of the Saami and the San have appeared in the form of national economic industries including tourism, energy provision and mineral extraction. The thesis asserts that these new threats have been instrumental in stimulating ethno-political mobilisation and the formation of 'grassroots’' movements amongst the two indigenous groups. Paradoxically, a degree of acceptance of government policies among these indigenous groups has led to conflicts and fragmentation within these movements resulting from the desire by some members to maintain cultural traditions and the wish by others to access the higher living standards enjoyed by the majority populations. The impact of earlier and contemporary anthropological theory on the formulation of government policies has also been examined and adjudged to have had both beneficial and adverse impacts
1976 UM Machias Commencement Program
No full textThe 65th Commencement Ceremony of the University of Maine at Machias was held on May 23, 1976, in the Health & Physical Education Building. This official program documents the ceremony proceedings, including musical selections by the Machias Bay Community Chorus, keynote remarks by Maine author and humorist John Gould, and the conferring of degrees by President Buswell. The program includes a complete list of graduates receiving Bachelor of Science, Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Business Technology diplomas, with honors distinctions noted. It also features a historical overview of academic regalia and a tribute to Dr. William L. Powers, the first principal of Washington State Normal School. This document serves as a valuable archival record of higher education in rural Maine during the mid-1970s
Digital Fabrication with Cement-Based Materials: Process Classification and Case Studies
No full textThe need for methods for forming concrete has existed for as long as concrete has been used in constructing the built environment. Creating flat, rectilinear formers have traditionally been the cost and time efficient default for the majority of applications. The desire for greater design freedom and the drive to automate construction manufacturing is providing a platform for the continued development of a family of processes called Digital Fabrication with Concrete (DFC) technologies. DFC technologies are many and varied. Much of the material science theory is common, but the process steps vary significantly between methods, creating challenges as we look towards performance comparison and standardisation. Presented here is a framework to help identify and describe process differences and a showcase of DFC application case studies that explain the processes behind a sub-set of the technologies available.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Applied Mechanic
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