Issues Mapping: A problem structuring method for addressing science and technology conflicts

There are new opportunities for the application of problem structuring methods to address science and technology risk conflicts through stakeholder dialogue. Most previous approaches to addressing risk conflicts have been developed from a traditional risk communication perspective, which tends to construct engagement between stakeholders based on the assumption that scientists evaluate technologies using facts, and lay participants do so based on their values. ‘Understanding the facts’ is generally privileged, so the value framings of experts often remain unexposed, and the perspectives of lay participants are marginalized. When this happens, risk communication methodologies fail to achieve authentic dialogue and can exacerbate conflict. This paper introduces ‘Issues Mapping’, a problem structuring method that enables dialogue by using visual modelling techniques to clarify issues and develop mutual understanding between stakeholders. A case study of the first application of Issues Mapping is presented, which engaged science and community protagonists in the genetic engineering debate in New Zealand. Participant and researcher evaluations suggest that Issues Mapping helped to break down stereotypes of both scientists and environmental activists; increased mutual understanding; reduced conflict; identified common ground; started building trust; and supported the emergence of policy options that all stakeholders in the room could live with. The paper ends with some reflections and priorities for further research.     

含有非圆形双孔的无限平板中应力的解析解研究

无限平板中含有任意形状单个孔的问题可以使用复变函数方法获得其应力解析解.对于无限平板中含有两个圆孔或两个椭圆孔的双连通域问题,也可以利用多种方法进行求解,比如双极坐标法、应力函数法、复变函数法以及施瓦茨交替法等.其中复变函数中的保角变换方法是获得应力解析解的一个重要方法.但目前尚未见到用此方法求解无限板中含有一个正方形孔和一个椭圆孔的问题.当板在无穷远处受有均布载荷和孔边作用垂直均布压力时,利用保角变换方法可以求解板中含有两个特定形状孔的问题.该方法将所讨论的区域映射成象平面里的一个圆环,其中最关键的一步是找出相应的映射函数.基于黎曼映射定理,提出了该映射函数一般形式,并利用最优化方法,找到了该问题的具体映射函数,然后通过孔边应力边界条件建立了求解两个解析函数的基本方程,获得了该问题的应力解析解.运用ANSYS有限单元法与结果进行了对比.研究了孔距、椭圆形孔大小和两孔布置方位对边界切向应力的影响,以及不同载荷下两孔中心线上应力分布规律.      

A screw dislocation near a non-elliptical piezoelectric inhomogeneity with internal uniform electroelastic field

Conformal mapping and analytic continuation are employed to prove the existence of an internal uniform electroelastic field inside a non-elliptical piezoelectric inhomogeneity interacting with a screw dislocation. We focus specifically on the case when the piezoelectric matrix surrounding the inhomogeneity is subjected to uniform remote anti-plane mechanical and in-plane electrical loading and a constraint is imposed between the remote loading and the screw dislocation. The constraint can be expressed in a relatively simple decoupled form by utilizing orthogonality relationships between two corresponding eigenvectors. The internal uniform electroelastic field is found to be independent of the presence of the screw dislocation; moreover, it can be expressed in decoupled form.     

Real-time sensing and three-dimensional display of far outdoor scenes based on asymmetric integral imaging

A new asymmetric integral imaging (AII) system for real-time pickup and three-dimensional (3-D) display of far outdoor scenes based on dynamic-pixel-mapping (DPM) is proposed. DPM is a digital process to transform the elemental images captured with a lens array into the perspective-variant object images (POIs) whose structures are matched with those of display lenses, where the orders of pixels in each POI are reversely mapped, and then capture a set of virtual elemental images (EIs) at the specific depth planes from the back-propagated POIs. This DPM enables an asymmetrical use of pickup and display lens arrays, allowing the long-ranged pickup of far outdoor scenes and their resolution-enhanced 3-D reconstruction. Experiments with a pair of pickup and display lens arrays whose pitches and focal lengths are given by 7.5 mm, 30 mm and 1.2 mm, 8 mm, respectively, show that the effective pickup-range and resolution of the proposed system have been increased up to 6 m and 1600×1600 pixels, respectively, from 0.064 m and 480×480 pixels of the conventional systems employing the same pickup and display lens arrays. In addition, experiments with an implemented test bed confirms that the proposed system can provide real-time 3-D images in 25 frames per second.     

Bounds for the fundamental solutions of elliptic and parabolic equations

It is shown that any elloptic or parabolic operator in nondivergence form with measurable coefficients has a global fundamental solution verifying certain pointwise bounds.     

Studies on defect formation in femtosecond laser-irradiated PMMA and PDMS

We report here our results on the spectroscopic and elemental analysis of femtosecond (fs) laser-modified regions in polymers of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in the context of defect formation and emission in the visible region. Different physical and chemical models are used to explain the changes in modified regions. We found that the emission intensity, recorded from the fs-modified regions of polymers, decreased over time to a constant value. We also demonstrate that these materials are suitable for the preparation of the microstructures en route for light guiding applications. The fs laser-irradiated regions exhibited paramagnetic behavior as was confirmed from electron spin resonance studies through the formation of peroxide-type free radicals. Raman mapping was performed in the modified regions which consisted of defects and found that the modulations in intensity are predominant in the central portion of the structure compared to edges. Elemental analysis has been performed in the modified regions using field emission scanning electron microscope instrument and energy-dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy to estimate the percentage contents of individual elements which resulted in defect formation such as paramagnetic and optical centers.     

Hybrid projection method for generalized mixed equilibrium problem and fixed point problem of infinite family of asymptotically quasi-?-nonexpansive mappings in Banach spaces

In this paper, we consider a hybrid projection method for finding a common element in the set of fixed points of a infinite family of asymptotically quasi-?-nonexpansive mappings and in the set of solutions of a generalized mixed equilibrium problem. Some strong convergence theorems of common elements are established in a uniformly smooth and strictly convex Banach space which has the Kadec-Klee property. The results presented in the paper improve and extend some recent results.     

Multi-objective optimal design of feedback controls for dynamical systems with hybrid simple cell mapping algorithm

This paper presents a study of multi-objective optimal design of full state feedback controls. The goal of the design is to minimize several conflicting performance objective functions at the same time. The simple cell mapping method with a hybrid algorithm is used to find the multi-objective optimal design solutions. The multi-objective optimal design comes in a set of gains representing various compromises of the control system. Examples of regulation and tracking controls are presented to validate the control design.     

Strong Convergence Theorems for the Generalized Viscosity Implicit Rules of Asymptotically Nonexpansive Mappings in the Intermediate Sense in Hilbert Spaces

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce the generalized viscosity implicit rules of one asymptotically nonexpansive mapping in the intermediate sense in Hilbert spaces. We obtain some strong convergence theorems under certain assumptions imposed on the parameters. We also give a numerical example to support our main results. The results obtained in this paper improve and extend many recent ones in this culture.     

Target extraction from blurred trace infrared images with a superstring galaxy template algorithm

Accurate and efficient targets extraction from blurred trace infrared images has very important meaning for latent trace evidence collection in crime scene. Based on the superstring theory, a superstring galaxy template extraction algorithm for infrared trace target is presented. First, all of the pixels are divided into three classes: target pixels, background pixels and blurred pixels. Next, the superstring template characteristics for every pixel in a blurred infrared image are calculated as the features of each pixel. Finally, a galaxy covering algorithm is proposed, target pixels and background pixels are used for training the galaxy covering domain of every galaxy classifiers, and these classifiers will divide each blurred pixel into two classes: a target pixel or a background pixel. Experimental results indicate that the superstring galaxy template algorithm can improve the target extraction rate and reduce the extraction error rate.