The smoothed extended finite element method

in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Engineering Computational Technology (2008)

This paper shows how the strain smoothing technique recently proposed by G.R.Liu [1] coined as smoothed finite element method (SFEM) can be coupled to partition of unity methods, namely extended finite ... [more ▼]

This paper shows how the strain smoothing technique recently proposed by G.R.Liu [1] coined as smoothed finite element method (SFEM) can be coupled to partition of unity methods, namely extended finite element method (XFEM) [2] to give birth to the smoothed extended finite element method (SmXFEM), which shares properties both with the SFEM and the XFEM. The proposed method suppresses the need to compute and integrate the derivatives of shape functions (which are singular at the tip in linear elastic fracture mechanics). Additionally, integration is performed along the boundary of the finite elements or smoothing cells and no isoparametric mapping is required, which allows elements of arbitrary shape. We present numerical results for cracks in linear elastic fracture mechanics problems. The method is verified on several examples and comparisons are made to the conventional XFEM. © 2008 Civil-Comp Press. [less ▲]

Damage assessment of a gradually damaged pre-stressed concrete bridge using static load tests and non-linear vibration characteristic

in International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering (2008)

Bearing capacity of SFRC flat slabs with openings in the column area: experimental and numerical investigation

in Proceedings of the 7th RILEM-Symposium of Fiber Reinforced Concrete (2008)

Structural Health Monitoring of a Composite Bridge

in International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC-XXVI) (2008)

Startle-Reaktion und Verarbeitungsleistung bei Heroinabhängigkeit

in Nervenarzt (2008), 79(Supplement 4), 300-300

Verzerrte Aufmerksamkeitslenkung auf Heroinreize bei opioidsubstituierten Patienten

in Sucht (2008), 54(3), 155-155

Adaptive and Dynamic Intrusion Detection by Means of Idiotypic Networks Paradigm

in The 21th IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), NIDISC Workshop. (2008)

In this paper we present a novel intrusion detection architecture based on Idiotypic Network Theory (INIDS), that aims at dealing with large scale network attacks featuring variable properties, like ... [more ▼]

In this paper we present a novel intrusion detection architecture based on Idiotypic Network Theory (INIDS), that aims at dealing with large scale network attacks featuring variable properties, like Denial of Service (DoS). The proposed architecture performs dynamic and adaptive clustering of the network traffic for taking fast and effective countermeasures against such high-volume attacks. INIDS is evaluated on the MIT'99 dataset and outperforms previous approaches for DoS detection applied to this set. [less ▲]

Influence of Inelastic Processes on Fast-Atom-Surface Diffraction

in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (2008), 133

Diffraction of fast helium atoms at alkali-halide surfaces under grazing angles of incidence shows intriguing diffraction patterns. The persistence of quantum coherence is remarkably strong, even though ... [more ▼]

Diffraction of fast helium atoms at alkali-halide surfaces under grazing angles of incidence shows intriguing diffraction patterns. The persistence of quantum coherence is remarkably strong, even though high surface temperatures and high (keV) kinetic energies of the incident atoms would strongly suggest the dominance of dissipative and decohering processes. The main source of decoherence is the excitation or absorption of surface vibrations upon impact. The momentum transfer between the surface and the incident helium atom depends on the amplitude of the thermal vibrations of the surface atoms and the energy of the incident particle. We present an ab initio simulation of the quantum diffraction of fast helium beams at a LiF (100) surface in the < 110 > direction, and compare with recent experimental diffraction data. [less ▲]

Attack and Improvement of a Secure S-Box Calculation Based on the Fourier Transform

in Advances in Cryptography (2008)

While there is hope – Existentianl fears, hopelessness and quality of life in cancer patients

in Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology. Halifax, Canada (2008)

Ad Hoc Collaborative Filtering for Mobile Networks

in Sensor Networks, Ubiquitous, and Trustworthy Computing, International Conference on (2008)

Visuo-auditory sensory substitution for mobility assistance: testing TheVIBE

in Workshop on Computer Vision Applications for the Visually Impaired (2008) (2008)

The Influence of Mutation on Protein-Ligand Docking Optimization: A Locality Analysis

in LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE (2008), 5199

Evolutionary approaches to protein-ligand docking typically use a real-value encoding and mutation operators based on Gaussian and Cauchy distributions. The choice of mutation is important for an ... [more ▼]

Evolutionary approaches to protein-ligand docking typically use a real-value encoding and mutation operators based on Gaussian and Cauchy distributions. The choice of mutation is important for an efficient algorithm for this problem. We investigate the effect of mutation operators by locality analysis. High locality means that small variations in the genotype imply small variations in the phenotype. Results show that Gaussian-based operators have stronger locality than Cauchy-based ones, especially if an annealing scheme is used to control the variance. [less ▲]

Designing convivial digital cities

in AI & Society (2008)

Transmission of values and intergenerational Solidarity in Luxembourg

in Presented at the 4th Congress of the European Society on Family Relations. Jyväskylä, Finland. (2008)

Change for the better or change for the worse? Perceived changes as a consequence of an adverse life event and their associations with ruminative thoughts.

in International Journal of Psychology (2008)

Capacity and Gain Analysis of a Reconfigurable MEMS Antenna

in Nordic Conference on Radio Science and Communications (RVK) (2008)

Stress: a second chance to consolidate your first impression

in Abstracts - Society for Neuroscience (2008), 38

A nation-wide, computer-based school monitoring program

in International Journal of Psychology (2008), 43(3/4), 860-862

The relationship between state, religions and school in Luxembourg. On the problematic situation of management of pluralism in today’s societies.

in Citizenship multiculturalism cosmopolitanism: proceedings from the international conference, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, 3-4 November 2007, Volume 1 (2007, November)

A Certified Email Protocol Using Key Chains

in Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications Workshops - Volume 01 (AINAW'07) (2007)

FIPA Communicative Acts in Defeasible Logic

in Proceedings of NRAC'07 (2007)

In agent communication languages, the inferences that can be made on the basis of a communicative action are inherently conditional, and non-monotonic. For exam- ple, a proposal only leads to a commitment ... [more ▼]

In agent communication languages, the inferences that can be made on the basis of a communicative action are inherently conditional, and non-monotonic. For exam- ple, a proposal only leads to a commitment, on the con- dition that it is accepted. And in a persuasion dialogue, assertions may later be retracted. In this paper we there- fore present a defeasible logic that can be used to express a semantics for agent communication languages, and to efficiently make inferences on the basis of communica- tive actions. The logic is non-monotonic, allows nested rules and mental attitudes as the content of communica- tive actions, and has an explicit way of expressing per- sistence over time. Moreover, it expresses that mental attitudes are publicly attributed to agents playing roles in the dialogue. To illustrate the usefulness of the logic, we reformalize the meta-theory underlying the FIPA se- mantics for agent communication, focusing on inform and propose. We show how composed speech acts can be formalized, and extend the semantics with an account of persuasion [less ▲]

Spaces - A Replication Scheme for Sharing Tagged Files in Hybrid Wireless Networks

in International Conference on Mobile Ubiquitous Computing, Systems, Services and Technologies (UBICOMM 2007) (2007)

Raman spectroscopy on single- and few-layer graphene

in AIP Conference Proceedings (2007), 893

We report on Raman measurements of single- and few-layer graphene flakes. Raman mapping in combination with scanning force microscopy allows us to locally relate the thickness of the graphite flake with ... [more ▼]

We report on Raman measurements of single- and few-layer graphene flakes. Raman mapping in combination with scanning force microscopy allows us to locally relate the thickness of the graphite flake with the spectral properties. It turns out that the width of the D' line is highly sensitive to the transition from single- to double-layer graphene. The defect-induced D line is found to be most prominent at steps between sections of different height and along the edge of the graphite flake. [less ▲]

Improvement of Load Bearing Capacity in Design of Anchor Plates with Headed Shear Studs in Concrete Columns

in 2nd International Symposium on Connections between Steel and Concrete (2007)

A typical constructional solution for load bearing elements at the intersection between steel and concrete in high-rise- as well as multi-storey-buildings is the anchor plate in steel. Tests on the ... [more ▼]

A typical constructional solution for load bearing elements at the intersection between steel and concrete in high-rise- as well as multi-storey-buildings is the anchor plate in steel. Tests on the positive effects of reinforcement in constructions with small edge distances such as columns and wall edges show that the design solutions still can be improved compared to the regulations in technical approvals. The ambition of this research is the determination of the load flux between anchor plate, concrete and reinforcement, improved design and use of shear/tension hanger reinforcement, reduction of allowable edge distances and increase of allowable load in combination with reinforcement. Tests with different topologies of anchor plates and concrete structures were conducted. Explored are the ultimate forces in correlation to edge distance, anchorage reinforcement and load eccentricity. These forces are compared to ultimate allowable forces which are calculated according to current technical approvals for headed studs. [less ▲]

Robust H∞ Filtering for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Stochastic Time-delay Systems

in Control Science and Engineering : Academic Forum of China PHD Students (2007)

The paper investigates a robust H∞ filtering design problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear stochastic time-delay system with state and exogenous disturbance-dependent noise. Assume the parameter ... [more ▼]

The paper investigates a robust H∞ filtering design problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear stochastic time-delay system with state and exogenous disturbance-dependent noise. Assume the parameter uncertainty is norm-bounded and the system dynamic is modeled by Ito-type stochastic differential equations. The aim of this work is to design a linear, delayless, uncertainties independent state estimator such that for all admissible uncertainties as well as exogenous disturbances, the dynamics of the estimation error is stochastically exponential stable in mean square and independent of the time-delay. Sufficient conditions are proposed to guarantee the existence of desired robust H∞ filtering via linear matrix inequalities (LMI). Numerical example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. [less ▲]

Do male and female adolescents differ in the effect of individual and family characteristics on their use of psychotropic drugs?

in Abstract book of 10th European Congress of Psychology (2007)

Objectives. To assess the effects of individual and family characteristics on psychotropic drug use among male and female adolescents. Design and methods. The sample included 2,396 subjects attending two ... [more ▼]

Objectives. To assess the effects of individual and family characteristics on psychotropic drug use among male and female adolescents. Design and methods. The sample included 2,396 subjects attending two middle schools and two high schools. Respondents completed self-administered questionnaires covering gender, age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use, tiredness during the daytime, self-reported personality traits, family conditions, and psychotropic drug use. The data were analyzed using logistic models. Results. The prevalence of frequent psychotropic drug use (for headache, tiredness, nervousness/anxiety, insomnia) was 43.0% overall; twice as high among girls than boys. In girls, frequent psychotropic drug use was associated with frequent tiredness during the daytime (adjusted odds ratio OR 2.03, 95%CI 1.61-2.57), smoking (2.02, 1.50-2.71), alcohol use (1.34, 1.04-1.74), higher body mass index (18 kg/m2, 1.54, 1.16-2.04), poor family atmosphere (1.33, 1.03-1.72), and being worried (1.93, 1.53-2.43) or easily becoming irritable (1.28, 1.01-1.62). In boys the factors with significant ORs were frequent tiredness during the daytime (2.21, 1.67-2.93), alcohol use (1.52, 1.15-2.01), and being worried (1.70, 1.28-2.26) or easily becoming irritable (1.42, 1.06-1.89); univariate analysis revealed a significant relationship with smoking and family atmosphere. An association was also observed for illicit drug in both sexes and for age17 years in girls. Conclusions. Individual and family characteristics have marked influences on psychotropic drug use among both male and female adolescents. This finding may be useful for the psychologists, the physicians, the parents and the school staff to be more aware of the risks and to find remedial measures. [less ▲]

Damage Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures by the Observation of Non-linear Dynamic Behaviour

in Proceedings of the International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (2007)

Development of Light Concrete Bricks with Improved Heat-Insulating Properties

in Proceedings of the third Scottish Conference for Postgraduate Researchers of the Built & Natural Environment – ProBE 2007 (2007)

Dynamiques territoriales et marché du travail : le rôle du travail frontalier dans l'espace Saar-Lor-Lux

in Les dynamiques territoriales : débats et enjeux des différents approches disciplinaires (2007)

The aim of this paper is to analyse the reasons for the rapid development of cross-border work in the geographic space named “Great Region” or “Saar-Lor-Lux area”, a geographical sphere in the middle of ... [more ▼]

The aim of this paper is to analyse the reasons for the rapid development of cross-border work in the geographic space named “Great Region” or “Saar-Lor-Lux area”, a geographical sphere in the middle of continental Europe composed of several regional areas (Lorraine in France, Wallonie in Belgium, Rhénanie-Palatinat and Sarre in Germany) and one state (the Great Duchy of Luxembourg). The cross-border work is analysed as a regulation factor of these regional labor markets. A specific socio-economical context and the definition of national and supranational statutory frameworks favor its development. These differences in social and economic development of the concerned geographical areas favor the growth of cross-border work. It allows to make up for manpower shortages in some economic activity sectors and to remedy the problems related to qualifications. [less ▲]

Health status among French, Polish and Romanian students

in Health Psychology and Society. Congressboock (2007)

Research question. Students face many school and living difficulties which alter health status and favour substance use which were assessed in this study among university students from France, Poland and ... [more ▼]

Research question. Students face many school and living difficulties which alter health status and favour substance use which were assessed in this study among university students from France, Poland and Romania. Methods. In total 934 French, 480 Polish, and 195 Romanian students from the Universities of Metz, Iaşi, and Silésie, completed a self-administred questionnaire. The data were analyzed using adjusted odds ratios (OR) and variance analysis taking age and sex into account, vs. French. Results. Mean age 20 (SD = 2) years. Female represented 58% French and 80% Polish/Romanian. Although most students were satisfied with their university integration (81-97%), many students had deteriorated heath status compared with the period before the university (13-22%), suffered from tiredness (11-85%), nervousness (42-56%), sleep disorders (19-48%), financial difficulty (15-39%), and being alone (8-23%). Were also common increasing tobacco use (15-32%), alcohol use every day (15-40%), tranquilizer pill use (1-6%), hashish/marijuana use (2-42%), suicide thinking (15-19%), and frequent consultation of health professionals (7-30%). Bad heath status was more frequent among French and Romanian overall, and suicide thinking among Polish. Higher PSS-14 and GHQ-12 scores among Polish compared with their French counterparts who used more hashish/marijuana. Satisfied social support was similar between the three groups. Conclusion. A better guidance for those who are in need of adapted mental health care seem nevertheless recommended to support them through their university success. [less ▲]

Willingness to support the elderly: The view of adult children and the elderly

in Abstract paper of the XXIX International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany (2007)

What You should Believe

in Proceedings of The 19th Belgian-Dutch Conference on Artificial Intelligence (BNAIC 2007) (2007)

Choosing Your Beliefs

in Normative Multi-agent Systems (2007)

This paper presents and discusses a novel approach to indeterministic belief revision. An indeterministic belief revision operator assumes that, when an agent is confronted with a new piece of information ... [more ▼]

This paper presents and discusses a novel approach to indeterministic belief revision. An indeterministic belief revision operator assumes that, when an agent is confronted with a new piece of information, it can revise its belief sets in more than one way. We define a rational agent not only in terms of what it believes but also of what it desires and wants to achieve. Hence, we propose that the agent's goals play a role in the choice of (possibly) one of the several available revision options. Properties of the new belief revision mechanism are also investigated. [less ▲]

Breaking the silence – Mortality salience, state anxiety and coping strategies in the context of cancer

in Abstract paper of the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology. Winnipeg, Canada (2007)

Distinguishing Propositional and Action Commitment in Agent Communication

in Proceedings of CMNA'07 (2007)

Our goal is to extend agent communication lan- guages for persuasion dialogues. We distinguish action commitments from propositional commit- ments, because both limit future moves, but an action ... [more ▼]

Our goal is to extend agent communication lan- guages for persuasion dialogues. We distinguish action commitments from propositional commit- ments, because both limit future moves, but an action commitment is fulfilled when the hearer believes that the action is performed, whereas a propositional commitment is fulfilled only when the hearer concedes to the proposition – where con- cessions are the absence of a belief to the con- trary, and prevent further challenges. Using a com- mon model for both kind of commitments and a role-based semantics of agent communication lan- guages, we show how propositional commitments are related to public beliefs and action commit- ments to public goals [less ▲]

Roles in Coordination and in Agent Deliberation: A Merger of Concepts

in Proceedings of AWESOME07 (2007)

In this paper we generalize and merge two models of roles used in multiagent systems which address complementary aspects: enacting roles and communication among roles in an organization or institution. We ... [more ▼]

In this paper we generalize and merge two models of roles used in multiagent systems which address complementary aspects: enacting roles and communication among roles in an organization or institution. We do this by proposing a metamodel of roles and specializing the metamodel to fit two existing models. We show how the two approaches can be integrated since they deal with complementary aspects: [1] focuses on roles as a way to specify interactions among agents, and, thus, it emphasizes the public character of roles. [2] focuses instead on how roles are played, and thus it emphasizes the private aspects of roles: how the beliefs and goals of the roles become the beliefs and goals of the agents. The former approach focuses on the dynamics of roles in function of the communication process. The latter approach focuses on the internal dynamics of the agents when they start playing a role or shift the role they are currently playing. [less ▲]

Adding Roles to Relationship Patterns

in Proceedings of WOA07 (2007)

In this paper we study how roles can be added to patterns modelling relationships in Object Oriented programming, and which new relationship patterns can be introduced using roles. Relationships can be ... [more ▼]

In this paper we study how roles can be added to patterns modelling relationships in Object Oriented programming, and which new relationship patterns can be introduced using roles. Relationships can be introduced in programming languages either by reducing them to attributes of the objects which participate in the relationship, or by modelling the relationship itself as a class whose instances have the participants of the relationships among their attributes. However, even if roles have been recognized as an essential component of relationships, also in modelling languages like UML, they have not been introduced in Object Oriented programming when it is necessary to model relationships. Introducing roles allows to add attributes and behaviors to the participants in the relationship, rather than to the relationship itself, and to distinguish natural types as classes participating in the relationships from the roles the participants acquire in the relationships. In this paper we show how the role model proposed in powerJava can be used to endow relationships with roles, both in the relationship as attribute and in the relationship object pattern. Finally, since these patterns have different advantages and limitations, we propose a third pattern based on roles which benefits from the advantages of the two previous patterns when modelling relationships. [less ▲]

Reusable Aspect Models

in Abstract book of 11th Workshop on Aspect Oriented Modeling, AOM at Models’07 (2007)

Absorption of BN nanotubes under the influence of a perpendicular electric field

in Physica Status Solidi B. Basic Research (2007), 244(11), 4288-4292

We calculate the optical absorption spectra of prototype (6,6) and (9,9) BN nanotubes in the presence of a perpendicular electric field. This model mimics a gated BN nanotube device. Even though the band ... [more ▼]

We calculate the optical absorption spectra of prototype (6,6) and (9,9) BN nanotubes in the presence of a perpendicular electric field. This model mimics a gated BN nanotube device. Even though the band-gap of the tubes decreases strongly as a function of the electric field strength, the absorption spectrum of the pure tubes remains remarkably constant up to high field-strength. We show that, in contrast, the levels which are responsible for defect-mediated photo-luminescence are shifted by the electric field. We address the use of BN nanotubes for optoelectronic applications. 0 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. [less ▲]

An Intelligent Visualization and Decision Support System for decentralized Wastewater Treatment Plants.

in Advanced Sanitation Conference, 12./13.03.2007 Aachen. (2007)

SANA - Network Protection through artificial Immunity

in Abstract book of 2nd International Workshop on Theory of Computer Viruses (TCV 2007) (2007)

Correlation properties of large scale fading based on Indoor measurements

in IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (2007)

Statistical channel models are attractive for their simplicity but sometimes lack in precision. In to improve modelling accuracy, statistical model parameters, which are dependent on the environment, are ... [more ▼]

Statistical channel models are attractive for their simplicity but sometimes lack in precision. In to improve modelling accuracy, statistical model parameters, which are dependent on the environment, are extended to include spatial and temporal correlation. In outdoor scenarios these parameters are assumed constant over large areas of several wavelengths hence the name large scale parameters. This paper studies the large scale fading (LSF) and the applicability of bringing this previously used outdoor variable to the indoor case. The impacts of the model of the LSF on the outdoor system-performance have been studied and several relevant models have been proposed for outdoor cases. We present the intra-site autocorrelation as well as the inter-site cross correlation of the LSF for an indoor channel. The results are based on two separate measurement campaigns conducted at KTH, Stockholm and TUI, Ilmenau, using a single mobile station (MS) and multiple base stations (BSs) to investigate such models. We observe that the areas under which the LSF could be assumed constant are, in indoor scenarios, so small that it can be assumed independent from one local area to another. Furthermore, we find results that point towards the existence of inter-site correlation in some specific scenarios. [less ▲]

Full Diversity Detection in MIMO Systems with a Fixed-Complexity Sphere Decoder

in Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (2007)

Associations of deprivation with musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and disabilities

in Psychology and Health (2007)

A Normative Multi-Agent Systems Approach to the Use of Conviviality for Digital Cities

in Coordination, Organizations, Institutions, and Norms in Agent Systems III (2007)

Respiratory muscle tension as a determinant of breathlessness in individuals with high and low anxiety sensitivity

in Psychophysiology (2007), 44

Partnerverlust im Alter: Zwischen Bewältigungsverhalten und Lebenszufriedenheit

in Abstract book of 45. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie (2006)

AGNOSCO - Identification of Infected Nodes with artificial Ant Colonies

in Abstract book of 6th International Conference on Recent Advances in Soft Computing (RASC 2006) (2006)

Interaction among objects via roles: sessions and affordances in powerJava

in Proceedings of Principles and Practice of Programming in Java (PPPJ'06) (2006)

In this paper we present a new vision in object oriented programming languages where the objects' attributes and operations depend on who is interacting with them. This vision is based on a new definition ... [more ▼]

In this paper we present a new vision in object oriented programming languages where the objects' attributes and operations depend on who is interacting with them. This vision is based on a new definition of the notion of role, which is inspired to the concept of affordance as developed in cognitive science. The current vision of objects considers attributes and operations as being objective and independent from the interaction. In contrast, in our model interaction with an object always passes through a role played by another object manipulating it. The advantage is that roles allow to define operations whose behavior changes depending on the role and the requirements it imposes, and to define session aware interaction, where the role maintains the state of the interaction with an object. Finally, we discuss how roles as affordances can be introduced in Java, building on our language powerJava. [less ▲]