Geostatistical computing of acoustic maps in the presence of barriers

Acoustic maps are the main diagnostic tools used by authorities for addressing the growing problem of urban acoustic contamination. Geostatistics models phenomena with spatial variation, but restricted to homogeneous prediction regions. The presence of barriers such as buildings introduces discontinuities in prediction areas. In this paper we investigate how to incorporate information of a geographical nature into the process of geostatistical prediction. In addition, we study the use of a Cost-Based distance to quantify the correlation between locations.     

Parabolicity and Hyperbolicity Conditions for Boundary Elements of Surfaces

Mathematical Notes -     

Improved charge transport in dye-sensitized solar cells employing viscous non-volatile electrolytes

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a viscous non-volatile electrolyte were prepared by utilizing anatase TiO₂ nanorods (synthesized via oriented attachment) as a photoanode material. One promising way to enhance the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs employing viscous electrolytes is to increase ion conductivity by increasing the salt concentration. This is accompanied by an acceleration of the charge recombination reaction and the limiting of the overall conversion efficiency. The results showed that a TiO₂ nanorod electrode enables more favorable electron transport than a conventional nanoparticle-based electrode due to the improved electron diffusion length and the large intrinsic surface area.     

The effect of air exposure on palladium–copper composite membranes

It was found that when electrolessly deposited thin Pd and Pd–Cu membranes were exposed to air at temperatures above 350 °C, their H₂ flux increased substantially immediately after the air exposure, then decreased to a new steady-state value. While this was a quasi-reversible change for the H₂ flux, the flux of insoluble species, such as N₂, irreversibly increased with every air exposure but by a much smaller extent. The extent of these changes was found to be dependent on the exposure time and the temperature of the tests. Thus, we decided to investigate the effect of gas exposures on the properties of these materials.

Palladium and palladium–copper films, prepared by electroless deposition on ceramic supports, and commercial foils were exposed to air, hydrogen and helium at 500 and 900 °C for times varying from 1 h to 1 week with the objective of determining the effect of the different exposure conditions on the surface morphology, the flux of different penetrants and the crystalline structure of the materials. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to study the changes occurring in the films under those conditions.

It was observed that the exposure of both the electroless films and the foils to hydrogen and air markedly modified their surface morphology. The hydrogen exposure tended to smooth the surface features whereas the oxygen exposure created new surface features such holes and large peaks. Additionally it was found that the air exposure produced some oxidation of the film to create PdO.

These results suggested that a common hypothesis stating that air oxidation just cleans the surface of the membrane might not be sufficient to explain all of those changes. A contributing effect of air exposure may be the increase in surface area due to the formation of palladium oxide. However, the extent of the surface area increase was insufficient to explain the increase in steady-state H₂ flux.     

关于年龄相关的种群扩散系统的最优边界控制计算的惩罚移位法

研究了惩罚移位法应用于一类种群扩散系统最优边界控制的计算,构造了其逼近程序,并证明了这种方法的收敛性.     

High accuracy time and space transform method for advection–diffusion equation in an unbounded domain

A new numerical method called high accuracy time and space transform method (TSTM) is introduced to solve the advection–diffusion equation in an unbounded domain. By a spatial transform, the advection–diffusion equation in the unbounded domain Rⁿ is converted to one on the bounded domain [?1, 1]ⁿ, and the Laplace transform is applied to eliminate time dependency. The consequent boundary value problem is solved by collocation on Chebyshev points. To face the well‐known computational challenge represented by the numerical inversion of the Laplace transform, Talbot's method is applied, consisting of numerically integrating the Bromwich integral on a special contour by means of trapezoidal or midpoint rules. Numerical experiments illustrate that TSTM has exponential rate in time and space. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalizing Mutational Equations for Uniqueness of Some Nonlocal 1st-Order Geometric Evolutions

The mutational equations of Aubin extend ordinary differential equations to metric spaces (with compact balls). In first-order geometric evolutions, however, the topological boundary need not be continuous in the sense of Painlevé–Kuratowski. So this paper suggests a generalization of Aubin’s mutational equations that extends classical notions of dynamical systems and functional analysis beyond the traditional border of vector spaces: Distribution-like solutions are introduced in a set just supplied with a countable family of (possibly non-symmetric) distance functions. Moreover their existence is proved by means of Euler approximations and a form of “weak” sequential compactness (although no continuous linear forms are available beyond topological vector spaces). This general framework is applied to a first-order geometric example, i.e. compact subsets of ℝ ^N evolving according to the nonlocal properties of both the current set and its proximal normal cones. Here neither regularity assumptions about the boundaries nor the inclusion principle are required. In particular, we specify sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of these solutions.      

一个创新网络动态性的仿真模型

提出了一个关于创新网络动态性研究的仿真模型,模型较为全面地考察了网络的形成过程和不同的角色在创新和网络中的作用,研究结论指出:网络的形成是由于创新主体为适应创新的复杂性而寻求资源互补效应的动态相互作用的结果,中小型企业的个体在网络演化的早期和中期起了重要的作用,合作体的作用主要发挥在中后期.     

Mazur-Ulam定理的一个注记

本文的主要结论是给出了一个更广泛形式的Mazur-Ulam定理.讨论的对象是实的赋准范空间,满等距算子被减弱成其像空间构成一个加法子群的算子.最后给出的推论推广了Skof的一个结果.     

Light scattering near and from interfaces using evanescent wave and ellipsometric light scattering

The broad range of interface light scattering investigations in recent years shows the power and the versatility of these techniques to address new and open questions in colloid and interface science and the soft condensed matter field. Structural information for polymers, liquid crystals, or colloids close to planar or spherical colloidal interfaces are either captured with long range light scattering resolution, or in a complementary approach by high resolution ellipsometric techniques. Of special interest is the dynamic behavior close to or in interfaces, since it determines material properties and responses to external fields. Due to the broad dynamical range and the high scattering contrast for visible light, interface light scattering is a key to elucidate soft matter interfacial dynamics. This contribution reviews experimental and related theoretical approaches for interface light scattering and further gives an overview of achievements based on such techniques.