Learning to search & track dynamic targets with graph representations

Autonomous robots have been widely applied to search and rescue missions for information gathering about target locations. This process needs to be continuously replanned based on new observations in the environment. For dynamic targets, the robot needs to not only discover them but also keep tracking their positions. Previous works focus on...

A small sample data-driven method: User needs elicitation from online reviews in new product iteration

Eliciting user needs from mass online reviews is playing a significant role in the product iteration process. Efficient user needs elicitation does achieve considerable benefits for maintaining higher competitiveness and a speedier lifecycle. However, there is inevitably an online review scarcity about new products due to the short time on...

Study on vertical vibration and transmission characteristics of railway ballast using impact hammer test

The vertical vibration and transmission characteristics of ballast are key factors that affect the dynamic stability of railway track structures and control the settlement of ballasted beds. Therefore, the following study was conducted to explore this topic. Firstly, through an impact hammer test on a ballast sensor with embedding chip, the...

Valorization of Small Alkanes by Biocatalytic Oxyfunctionalization

The oxidation of alkanes into valuable chemical products is a vital reaction in organic synthesis. This reaction, however, is challenging, owing to the inertness of C−H bonds. Transition metal catalysts for C−H functionalization are frequently explored. Despite chemical alternatives, nature has also evolved powerful oxidative enzymes (e. g.,...

Highly Water-Permeable Metal-Organic Framework MOF-303 Membranes for Desalination

New membrane materials with excellent water permeability and high ion rejection are needed. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising candidates by virtue of their diversity in chemistry and topology. In this work, continuous aluminum MOF-303 membranes were prepared on α-Al2O3 substrates via an in situ hydrothermal synthesis method. The...

An end-to-end geometric deficiencies elimination algorithm for 3D meshes

The 3D mesh is an important representation of geometric data. It is widely used in computer graphics and has attracted more attention in computer vision community recently. However, in the generation of mesh data, geometric deficiencies (e.g., duplicate elements, degenerate faces, isolated vertices, self-intersection, and inner faces) are...

Comparative Study on the Early Stage of Skid Resistance Development between Polyurethane-Bound Porous Mixture and Asphalt Mixture

Polyurethane-bound porous mixture (PPM) is a new type of pavement material that has shown some potential for overcoming common asphalt mixtures mechanical failures. However, little research has been done on its skid resistance performance. This work presents a comparative study of the skid resistance development between PPM and asphalt...

A Blockchain Consensus Protocol With Horizontal Scalability

Blockchain systems have the potential to decentralise many traditionally centralised systems. However, scalability remains a key challenge. Without a horizontally scalable solution, where performance increases by adding more nodes to the system, blockchain systems remain unsuitable for ubiquitous use. We design a novel blockchain system called...

Stochastic Optimal Control Based on Monte Carlo Simulation and Least-Squares Regressiond

In the financial engineering field, many problems can be formulated as stochastic control problems. A unique feature of the stochastic control problem is that uncertain factors are involved in the evolution of the controlled system and thus the objective function in the stochastic control is typically formed by an expectation operator. There are...

Accurate and Robust Numerical Methods for the Dynamic Portfolio Management Problem

This paper enhances a well-known dynamic portfolio management algorithm, the BGSS algorithm, proposed by Brandt et al. (Review of Financial Studies, 18(3):831–873, 2005). We equip this algorithm with the components from a recently developed method, the Stochastic Grid Bundling Method (SGBM), for calculating conditional expectations. When solving...

Accurate and Robust Numerical Methods for the Dynamic Portfolio Management Problem

This paper enhances a well-known dynamic portfolio management algorithm, the BGSS algorithm, proposed by Brandt et al. (Review of Financial Studies, 18(3):831–873, 2005). We equip this algorithm with the components from a recently developed method, the Stochastic Grid Bundling Method (SGBM), for calculating conditional expectations. When...

Efficient optimization methods for freeway management and control

Due to the rapid growth of human population, and jobs being distributed unevenly in different locations, daily commuting is required more than ever, which in its turn is creating a huge socio-economic issue: traffic congestion. In order to prevent, or at least to alleviate this problem, trafficmanagement and control is urgently required. This...

Accelerated Iterative Adaptive Gaussian Mixture Smoother (IAGS) with Optimal Bandwidth h

Accelerate the iterative adaptive Gaussian mixture smoother by introducing a new measure of model nonlinearity, a adaptive way to generate the optimal bandwidth h.

The application of a tandem dike system in Vietnam

In the low-lying coastal regions coastal defense structures are usually designed with a main function to protect the hinterland from highly vulnerable of sea flooding. Sea dikes are usually the most common and important elements which form the coastal flood defense system. Sea dikes are designed at a pre-defined circumstance and requirement. For...

Theoretical modeling of ship motions and capsizing in large and steep waves

Numerical analysis of the green function for the ship wave resistance problem