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The article offers information on various developments in the robotics industry. It states that the RASOR Makes the Scene ICRA 2008 that was conducted in Pasadena, California featured a Student Party with entertainment provided by the legendary rock band, RASOR! It also mentions that budding cartoonists or teams have submitted entries to the first ICRA Comics Contest which was organized by the Aude Billard and Jorge Cham. The winning cartoon entries of the LAAS-CNRS team for this competition are also presented.

This article presents commentary on 2003 nuclear and space radiation effects conference. The 40th Annual Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference was held from the July 21 to 25, 2003 at the DoubleTree Hotel, Monterey, California. The conference continued the tradition of being one of the premier international symposia on radiation effects in `electronic devices, circuits, systems, and materials. The conference was sponsored by the Institute of Electricals and Electronics Engineers Nuclear and Plasma Science Society Radiation Effects Committee.

The article reports on recipients of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Antennas and Propagation Society awards that will be presented at the 2008 Awards Banquet which will be held in San Diego, California on July 9. They include the Distinguished Achievement Award for Zoltan Cendes, the Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award for Weng C. Chew, the John Kraus Antenna Award for Daniel H. Schaubert and the 2008 S.A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award for Arthur D. Yaghjian.

The article presents the author's comment on the "2004 IEEE Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference." The December 2004 special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear science contains selected papers from the 41th Annual Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference, held in Monterey, California from July 19-23, 2004. Over 100 papers from the conference were submitted to the Guest Editor for consideration for year's special issue. This publication is the premier archival journal of research on space and nuclear radiation environments and effects on materials, devices, circuits and systems.

The article discusses the highlights of the 18th International Symposium on Electrical Insulation (ISEI) held at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in San Diego, California from June 6 to 9, 2010. Twenty-three nations submitted over 239 abstracts from various sources, including academia and electric utilities. More than 170 individuals attended the poster session for two hours of interaction and discussion. The Dakin Award was given to Doctor Steven Boggs, who was also the plenary session speaker.

Under the appropriately titled banner of "The Magic of Global Connectivity," IEEE GLOBECOM 2012 recently held its 55th annual event at the fabled Disneyland® Hotel in Anaheim, California with more than 2,500 attendees participating in 1,500 presentations focused on the "new world" of IPv6, smart grid, cloud computing and network infrastructure advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thin layers of phytoplankton have an important impact on coastal ocean ecology. The high spatial and temporal variability of such layers makes autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) ideal for their study. At the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI, Moss Landing, CA), the authors have used an AUV for obtaining repeated high-resolution surveys of thin layers in Monterey Bay, CA. The AUV is equipped with ten “gulpers” that can capture water samples when some feature is detected. In this paper, the authors present an adaptive triggering method for an AUV to capture water samples at chlorophyll fluorescence peaks in a thin layer. The algorithm keeps track of the fluorescence background level and the peaks' baseline in real time to ensure that detection is tuned to the ambient conditions. The algorithm crosschecks for concurrent high values of optical backscattering to ensure that sampling targets true particle peaks and not simply physiologically controlled fluorescence peaks. To let the AUV capture the thin layer's peak without delay, the algorithm takes advantage of the vehicle's sawtooth (i.e., yo-yo) trajectory: in one yo-yo cycle, the vehicle makes two crossings of the thin layer. On the first crossing, the vehicle detects the layer's fluorescence peak and saves the peak height; on the second crossing, as the fluorescence measurement reaches the saved peak height (plus meeting additional timing and depth conditions), a sampling is triggered. Based on the thin layer's vertical position in the vehicle's yo-yo profiles, the algorithm selects the pair of detection and triggering crossings so as to minimize the spacing between them. We use the algorithm to postprocess a data set of 20 AUV missions in the 2005 Layered Organization in the Coastal Ocean (LOCO) Experiment in Monterey Bay, CA, and compare its performance with that of a threshold triggering method. In October 2009, the presented method was field tested in an AUV mission in northern Monterey Bay, CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1 m long Nb3Sn dipole magnet HD2, fabricated and tested at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, represents a step towards the development of block-type accelerator quality magnets operating in the range of 13-15 T. The magnet design features two coil modules composed of two layers wound around a titanium-alloy pole. The layer 1 pole includes a round cutout to provide room for a bore tube with a clear aperture of 36 mm. After a first series of tests where HD2 reached a maximum bore field of 13.8 T, corresponding to an estimated peak field on the conductor of 14.5 T, the magnet was disassembled and reloaded without the bore tube and with a clear aperture increased to 43 mm. We describe in this paper the magnet training observed in two consecutive tests after the removal of the bore tube, with a comparison of the quench performance with respect to the previous tests. An analysis of the voltage signals recorded before and after training quenches is then presented and discussed, and the results of coil visual inspections reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multiclassification algorithm using multilayer perceptron neural network models. It tries to boost two conflicting main objectives of multiclassifiers: a high correct classification rate level and a high classification rate for each class. This last objective is not usually optimized in classification, but is considered here given the need to obtain high precision in each class in real problems. To solve this machine learning problem, we use a Pareto-based multiobjective optimization methodology based on a memetic evolutionary algorithm. We consider a memetic Pareto evolutionary approach based on the NSGA2 evolutionary algorithm (MPENSGA2). Once the Pareto front is built, two strategies or automatic individual selection are used: the best model in accuracy and the best model in sensitivity (extremes in the Pareto front). These methodologies are applied to solve 17 classification benchmark problems obtained from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) repository and one complex real classification problem. The models obtained show high accuracy and a high classification rate for each class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first 42 elements of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA-42) are beginning to deliver data at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in northern California. Scientists and engineers are actively exploiting all of the flexibility designed into this innovative instrument for simultaneously conducting surveys of the astrophysical sky and conducting searches for distant technological civilizations. This paper summarizes the design elements of the ATA, the cost savings made possible by the use of commercial off-the-shelf components, and the cost/ performance tradeoffs that eventually enabled this first snapshot radio camera. The fundamental scientific program of this new telescope is varied and exciting; some of the first astronomical results will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field measurements of dielectric properties of hypersaline deposits were realized over an arid site located in Death Valley, CA. The dielectric constant of salt and water mixtures is usually high but can show large variations, depending on the considered salt. We confirmed values observed on the field with laboratory measurements and used these results to model both the amplitude and phase behaviors of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) signal at C- and L-bands. Our analytical simulations allow reproducing specific copolar signatures observed in both Airborne SAR (AIRSAR) and Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR-C) data, corresponding to the saltpan of the Cottonball Basin. More precisely, the main objective of the present paper is to understand the influence of soil salinity as a function of soil moisture on the dielectric constant of soils and then on the backscattering coefficients recorded by airborne and spaceborne SAR systems. We also propose the copolarized backscattering ratio and phase difference as indicators of moistened and salt-affected soils. More precisely, we show that these copolar indicators should allow monitoring of the seasonal variations of the dielectric properties of saline deposits at both C- and L-bands. Because of the frequency dependence of the ionic conductivity, we also show that L-band SAR systems should be efficient tools for detecting both soil moisture and salinity, while C-band SAR systems are more suitable for the monitoring of soil moisture only. Through the study of terrestrial evaporitic environments by means of spaceborne SAR systems, our results could also be of great interest for defining future planetary missions, particularly for the exploration of Mars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General Electric, under contract with the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL), has successfully developed and tested a high speed, multimegawatt superconducting generator. The generator was built to demonstrate high temperature superconducting (HTS) generator technology for application in a high power density Multimegawatt Electric Power System (MEPS) for the Air Force. The demonstration tested the generator under load conditions up to 1.3 MW at over 10,000 rpm. The new MEPS generator achieved 97% efficiency including cryocooler losses. All test results indicate that the generator has a significant margin over the test points and that its performance is consistent with program specifications. This demonstration is the first successful full-load test of a superconducting generator for the Air Force. In this paper we describe the development of the generator and present some key test results used to validate the design. Extrapolation to a higher power density generator is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report the main test results obtained on the Poloidal Field Conductor Insert coil (PFI) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), built jointly by the EU and RF ITER parties, recently installed and tested in the CS Model Coil facility, at JAEA-Naka. During the test we (a) verified the DC and AC operating margin of the NbTi Cable-in-Conduit Conductor in conditions representative of the operation of the ITER PF coils, (b) measured the intermediate conductor joint resistance, margin and loss, and (c) measured the AC loss of the conductor and its changes once subjected to a significant number of Lorentz force cycles. We compare the results obtained to expectations from strand and cable characterization, which were studied extensively earlier. We finally discuss the implications for the ITER PF system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the superconducting magnet system of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER, 60 current leads for a total current of more than 2500 kA are needed. The use of High Temperature Superconductor current leads (HTS-CL) will reduce the resultant large refrigerator load considerably. Within the EU Fusion Technology Programme, the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and CRPP have developed and built a 70 kA HTS-CL demonstrator optimized for 50 K Helium operation. In 2004-2005, the CL was successfully tested with 50 K as well as 80 K Helium, and finally with LN2. In the meantime, ITER has decided to use HTS-CLs for the magnet system and China has taken the responsibility to provide the sc feeders for ITER including the current leads. In this paper, the performance of a 70 kA HTS-CL in fault conditions will be analysed using the FZK-CRPP demonstrator as a model. In particular, the quench performance and the safety behavior in case of a loss-of-flow accident (LOFA) will be described and an extrapolation of the leads performance in real ITER conditions will be given. Finally the effect of different shunt materials is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ITER Organization (10) and the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) are jointly developing the 68 kA current leads using High Temperature Superconductors for the superconducting Toroidal Field (TF) magnet system of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER. The proposed design consists of a conventional helium cooled heat exchanger operating between 65 K and 320 K and an HTS module covering the low temperature end using Bi-2223 tapes. The first HTS current lead prototypes will be tested in the EAST tokamak facility at ASIPP. This paper discusses the design of the first, 68 kA, TF HTS lead, which is the main emphasis of this first stage of the ITER current lead development program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the impact of integrating wind generation on the regulation and load following requirements of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). These requirements are simulated and compared for the study cases with and without wind generation impacts included into the study for the years 2006 and 2010. Regulation and load following models were built based on hour-ahead and five-minute ahead load and wind generation forecasts. In 2006, the CAISO system peaked at 50270 MW. Wind generation (at the installed capacity of 2600 MW) had limited impact on the requirement of load following and regulation in the CAISO Balancing Authority. However, in 2010 (with an expected installed capacity of approximately 6700 MW), this impact will significantly increase. The results provide very useful information for the CAISO to adjust its scheduling and real-time dispatch systems to reliably accommodate future wind generation additions within the CAISO Balancing Authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new learning algorithm for multitask pattern recognition (MTPR) problems. We consider learning multiple multiclass classification tasks online where no information is ever provided about the task category of a training example. The algorithm thus needs an automated task recognition capability to properly learn the different classification tasks. The learning mode is "online" where training examples for different tasks are mixed in a random fashion and given sequentially one after another. We assume that the classification tasks are related to each other and that both the tasks and their training examples appear in random during "online training." Thus, the learning algorithm has to continually switch from learning one task to another whenever the training examples change to a different task. This also implies that the learning algorithm has to detect task changes automatically and utilize knowledge of previous tasks for learning new tasks fast. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated for ten MTPR problems using five University of California at Irvine (UCI) data sets. The experiments verify that the proposed algorithm can indeed acquire and accumulate task knowledge and that the transfer of knowledge from tasks already learned enhances the speed of knowledge acquisition on new tasks and the final classification accuracy. In addition, the task categorization accuracy is greatly improved for all MTPR problems by introducing the reorganization process even if the presentation order of class training examples is fairly biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (i-SAIRAS) 08 held in February 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Topics include the development and launch of manipulators for optical sensors and low-Earth-orbit applications in Canada, the progress in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in Europe, and improvements in rover technologies in the U.S. The symposium featured Gianfranco Visentin, Mitsushige Oda, and Paul Schenker.

As new antenna designs require higher frequencies and smaller sizes, traditional large-scale antenna measurement systems become ill-suited for such measurements. External mixing, room-sized chambers, and expensive test equipment add large costs and burdens to antenna measurement systems. A smaller and more cost-effective system is presented in this paper. Using the bipolar planar scanning technique developed at UCLA, a portable millimeter-wave antenna measurement system has recently been constructed. The system was designed to fit on the end of a standard optical table, and enjoys the space- saving and accuracy inherent to the bipolar planar configuration. Simple construction of the chamber allows for relatively easy assembly and disassembly, and allows movement of the system from one table to another, if needed. Antennas of diameters up to 24 in can be accommodated, and scan planes of up to a diameter of 60 in can be measured. Millimeter-wave frequencies from around 30 GHz to 67 GHz can be measured, with potential extension to higher frequencies. Planar near- field-to-far-field techniques are used to construct the antenna's far-field patterns from the measured near field. In particular, the post processing follows the OSI/FFT method for pattern reconstruction and diagnostics. The design of the scanner configuration allows the incorporation of the phase-retrieval techniques developed for the bipolar configuration. These phase- less measurements allow the use of scalar millimeter-wave test equipment, with much lower cost than comparable vector test equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind power production is variable, but also has diurnal and seasonal patterns. These patterns differ between sites, potentially making electric power from some wind sites more valuable for meeting customer loads or selling in wholesale power markets. This paper investigates whether the timing of wind significantly affects the value of electricity from sites in California and the Northwestern United States. We use both measured and modeled wind data and estimate the time-varying value of wind power with both financial and load-based metrics. We find that the potential difference in wholesale market value between better-correlated and poorly correlated wind sites is modest, on the order of 5%-10%. A load-based metric, power production during the top 10% of peak load hours, varies more strongly between sites, suggesting that the capacity value of different wind projects could vary by as much as 50% based on the timing of wind alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation in a phased-array system is considered for a non-Gaussian noise environment. In this paper, a robust M-estimation scheme based on Huber's loss function with an adaptive threshold is proposed. The method is evaluated using experimental data from the University of California, Los Angeles, 60-GHz antenna-array system. It is shown that the proposed method enables a decreased sensitivity of the DOA estimates with respect to noise components having heavy-tailed distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the events at the Computer History Museum of Mountain View, California, for the winter quarter of 2008. Finding aids for the papers of authors including Harwood Kolsky, Gene Amdahl, and Edmund Berkeley were added to the Online Archive of California by the Museum. Also, the SAP collection was rescued from destruction by the Museum staff, and were catalogued and placed at the new offsite storage facility in Milpitas, California. An obituary for Donald Lee Stevens was also presented.

For the superconducting magnet system of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER, 60 current leads for a total current of more than 2500 kA are needed. To reduce the resultant large refrigerator load at 4.5 K, High Temperature Superconductor current leads (HTS-CL) could be used. Therefore, EFDA CSU Garching had launched a development program for a 70 kA HTS-CL demonstrator. The Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and CRPP developed and built this CL optimized for 50 K Helium operation. In 2004, the CL was successfully tested in the TOSKA facility at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The very encouraging results lead to testing this CL with 80 K Helium because ITER provides a large 80 K Helium cooling capacity for the thermal shields. At the end of last year, the test could be successfully performed demonstrating that high current capacity current leads can be stably operated at about 80–85 K. Recently, the CL was retested using liquid nitrogen which would be an interesting alternative option. In this paper, the test results for the 80 K He cooling operation as well as for the operation with LN2 are presented and compared to the results obtained before for nominal conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF) program is progressing through a series of physics and technology demonstrations leading to an inertial fusion power plant. The High Current Experiment (HCX) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is exploring the physics of intense beams with high line-charge density. Superconducting focusing quadrupoles were developed for magnetic transport studies at the HCX. A baseline design was selected following several pre-series models. Optimization of the baseline design led to the development of a first prototype that achieved a conductor-limited gradient of 132 T/m in a 70 mm bore, without training, with measured field errors at the 0.1% level. Based on these results, the magnet geometry and fabrication procedures were adjusted to improve the field quality. These modifications were implemented in a second prototype. In this paper, the optimized design is presented and comparisons between the design harmonics and magnetic measurements performed on the new prototype are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural landscape of high-performance computing stretches from superscalar uniprocessor to explicitly parallel systems to dedicated hardware implementations of algorithms. Single-purpose hardware can achieve the highest performance and uniprocessors can be the most programmable. Between these extremes, programmable and reconfigurable architectures provide a wide range of choice in flexibility, programmability, computational density, and performance. The UCSC Kestrel parallel processor strives to attain single-purpose performance while maintaining user programmability. Kestrel is a single-instruction stream, multiple- data stream (SIMD) parallel processor with a 512-element linear array of 8-bit processing elements. The system design focuses on efficient high-throughput DNA and protein sequence analysis, but its programmability enables high performance on computational chemistry, image processing, machine learning, and other applications. The Kestrel system has had unexpected longevity in its utility due to a careful design and analysis process. Experience with the system leads to the conclusion that programmable SIMD architectures can excel in both programmability and performance. This paper presents the architecture, implementation, applications, and observations of the Kestrel project at the University of California at Santa Cruz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that although scholarly authors and graduate students do not deserve any special consideration when it comes to plagiarism, there are other factors to consider when discussing plagiarism among undergraduate students. In a study undertaken at the California State University, plagiarism was determined to be widespread among undergraduates and technologies are needed to assist faculty in identifying and punishing miscreants. The problem of intentional plagiarism that everyone decries might be smaller that publicity-seeking headlines imply. Research has proved that properly educating students about how and when to cite the work of others in their papers could reduce the rates of plagiarism.

Recent experimental campaigns provided the opportunity to measure radio wave propagation and atmospheric conditions with the $X$ -band beacon-receiver (XBBR) array system. The system consists of vertical arrays of transmitters and receivers for measuring the $X$ -band propagation. Measurements near the sea surface can be used to obtain information regarding the refractivity profile of the lower atmosphere. Since ducted propagation acts as a leaky waveguide, the vertical array elements in various transmit and receive height combinations effectively observe differing combinations of the modal components propagating in the duct, the use of multiple combinations improves the estimation of duct properties. The aforementioned measurement campaigns occurred near the coast of southern California; the SoCal 2013 experiment and the Scripps Pier Campaign. During both campaigns, the propagation loss recorded at each of the receivers from each of the transmitters, standardized by the total received power, was compared to variable terrain radio parabolic equation model predictions in order to estimate the evaporation duct height (EDH). Point meteorological data were recorded and used with the Navy Atmospheric Vertical Surface Layer Model to obtain in situ measurements of the EDH. Comparisons show strong correlation between EDH values inferred from XBBR measurements and meteorological information. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Cerro Prieto geothermal field (CPGF) lies at the step-over between the imperial and the Cerro Prieto faults in northern Baja California, Mexico. While tectonically this is the most active section of the southern San Andreas Fault system, the spatial and temporal deformation in the area is poorly resolved by the sparse global positioning system (GPS) network coverage. Moreover, interferograms from satellite observations spanning more than a few months are decorrelated due to the extensive agricultural activity in this region. Here we investigate the use of frequent, short temporal baseline interferograms offered by the new Sentinel-1A satellite to recover two components of deformation time series across these faults. Following previous studies, we developed a purely geometric approach for image alignment that achieves better than 1/200 pixel alignment needed for accurate phase recovery. We construct interferometric synthetic aperture radar time series using a coherence-based small baseline subset method with atmospheric corrections by means of common-point stacking. We did not apply enhanced spectral diversity because the burst discontinuities are generally small (<1.4 mm) and can be effectively captured during the atmospheric corrections. With these algorithms, the subsidence at CPGF is clearly resolved. The maximum subsidence rate of 160 mm/yr, due to extraction of geothermal fluids and heat, dominates the ~40 mm/yr deformation across the proximal ends of the imperial, the Cerro Prieto, and the indiviso faults. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A calendar of events is presented for Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers(IEEE) Computer Society events around the world in 2007. From April 16-20, 2007, the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering will take place in Istanbul, Turkey. From May 6-10, the IEEE VLSI Test Symposium will take place in Berkeley, California. On May 7 until the 9, the 10th IEEE International Symposium on Object, Component, & Service-Oriented Real-Time Distributed Computing will take place in Santorini, Greece. From May 7-11, the 8th International Conference on Mobile Data Management will take place in Mannheim, Germany.

This article presents a list of upcoming events, which include the IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing from September 17, 2007 to September 19, 2007 in Irvine, California, the IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications, and Computer Networks from September 27, 2007 to September 29, 2007 in Split, Croatia, and the ACM Workshop on Mobile Video on September 28, 2007 in Augsburg, Germany.

The BaBar experiment's computing resources are geographically spread out. A direct consequence of this is that a large amount of data is transferred between sites. Providing easy management and access to these data is a challenging task. To accomplish this task we are employing the storage resource broker (SRB), developed at the San Diego Super Computing Center, to manage the BaBar data files and to replicate them between Tier-A centers. The system has been tested between the computing centers l'Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Partictiles (CC-IN2P3), Lyon, France, and at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA, and this paper discusses our experience with a view to production use. We describe how the system could be used to manage the data import/export between the computing sites and how it fits into building a BaBar data grid. We also explain how a user benefits from this system to access and obtain data in an easy and transparent fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's view on the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and National Radio Science Meeting in San Diego, California on July 5-12, 2008. It states that the highlight of the symposium is the Awards banquet where George Uslenghi and W. Ross Stone, the long-time society volunteers are given recognition. It also notes that another memorable part during the symposium is the special session organized in honor of late Professor Donald Dudley.

Highlights the 22nd annual VLSI Test Symposium organized by the International Electric and Electronic Engineering Test Technology Technical Council under the leadership of general chairman André Ivanov and program chairman Irith Pomeranz at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa in California. Total number of attendees; Theme of the conference; Keynote speakers.

Given the frequency of power outages caused by recent crises, including high-impact natural disasters, power and energy supply must be more resilient and cost effective. Owing to this necessity, this article presents a grid-connected multicarrier energy microgrid, which can provide continuous energy for both electrical and heating load demands at a low cost. The model employs a demand response (DR) scheme based on time of use and integrates with the proposed microgrid. Several energy sources—photovoltaics, batteries, a combined heat and power unit, and associated dispatch strategy—are optimized using the deterministic mixed-integer linear programming algorithm. The proposed model is tested in a hospital of California, USA. The results show the benefits of the DR program in terms of techno-economic output when compared to the system without its implementation. Several simulation results also demonstrate the model’s effectiveness and resiliency in maintaining a continuous energy supply in the midst of power outages at various times of the year while lowering costs. Furthermore, a comparative study with the existing methods is performed, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed technique as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea surface nitrate (SSN) is an important parameter to characterize physical and biogeochemical processes, particularly to quantify oceanic new primary production, yet its remote estimation from satellite has been difficult due to the complex relationships between environmental variables and SSN. In the central and southern sections of the California Current System (CSCCS), this challenge is attempted through modeling, validation, and extensive tests in different oceanic scenarios. Specifically, using extensive SSN datasets collected by many cruises spanning 40 years (1978–2018) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) estimated sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a (Chl), a stacking random forest (SRF) model of SSN has been developed and validated with a spatial resolution of ~4 km. The model showed an overall performance of root mean square difference (RMSD) $=0.83\,\,\mu $ mol/kg, with coefficient of determination ($R^{2}) =0.87$ , mean bias $= -0.11\,\,\mu $ mol/kg, and mean ratio = 1.15 for SSN ranging between 0.05 and $19.90~\mu $ mol/kg ($N =1034$). Furthermore, tests of the model with its original parameterization for the upwelling period, oceanic period, and winter period all showed satisfactory performance with an overall RMSD of 1.95 $\mu $ mol/kg. The sensitivity of the SRF model to uncertainties of MODIS SST and Chl was examined, with induced uncertainties of $\le 2.22~\mu $ mol/kg. The extensive evaluation and sensitivity tests indicated the robustness of the SRF model in estimating SSN in the study area of the CSCCS, and it could serve as a robust approach for other regions once sufficient in situ SSN data are available for model calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers brief information on several symposiums titled "IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting" to be held in several states of the U.S. including California, Manitoba and Mississippi from 2014 to 2017.

A calendar of computer-related events for January to November 2010 is presented which includes the IEEE International Workshop on Wireless, Mobile and Ubiquitous Technology in Education in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the PerCom 2010 International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications in Mannheim, Germany and International Conference on Data Engineering in Long Beach, California.

Information about several papers discussed at the International Magnetics Conference (Intermag 2009) on May 4-8, 2009 at the Convention Center in Sacramento, California is presented. Topics include current-induced domain-wall motions, electric field control on magnetism and spin hall effects. The conference featured Dr. Stanley R. Trout, Dr. Roger Wood and Dr. Shan Wang.

The article provides updates on the activities of Test Technology Technical Committee (TTTC). The 2008 International Test Conference was held in Santa Clara, California on October 26-31, 2008. The conference was centered on the electronic test of devices, boards, and systems which cover from design verification to process and design improvement. Among the upcoming events for TTTC in 2009 include the Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference (DATE 09) on Nice, France on April 20-24, 2009.

The article presents information on the author's opinion on the research papers on magnetic recording discussed at the 16th Annual Magnetic Recording Conference held at Stanford University, Stanford, California from August 15-17, 2005.

As in many other fields of science and technology, college students in computer engineering do not come into full contact with the key ideas and challenges of their chosen discipline until the third year of their studies. This situation poses a problem in terms of keeping the students motivated as they labor through their foundational, basic science, and general education coursework. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Computer Engineering Program has sought to remedy this problem by offering a required freshman seminar, entitled "Ten Puzzling Problems in Computer Engineering." This pass/not-pass seminar, which meets once a week and is graded based solely on attendance, introduces the students to some of the most challenging problems faced by computer engineers in their daily professional endeavors and at the frontiers of research. To accomplish this feat in a nontechnical way, these problems are related to popular mathematical and logical puzzles. Each class session (60-75 mm) begins by introducing the students to puzzles of a particular kind and letting them participate in formulating solutions. General solution methods for the puzzles are then discussed by the instructor, who then proceeds to demonstrate how the puzzles and their solution strategies are related to real technical challenges in computer engineering. The new one-unit course was well received during its first two offerings in spring 2007 and spring 2008, and its continuation is planned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new instrument for the characterization of superconducting materials as a function of Magnetic Field, Temperature and Strain, was designed, constructed and tested at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). A U-shaped bending spring was selected, since that design has proven to enable accurate characterizations of a multitude of superconducting materials for more than a decade. The new device is validated though measurements on very high current Rod Restack Processed (RRP) Internal-Tin (IT) wires, for which we will present initial results, including parameterizations of the superconducting phase boundaries and comparisons with other wire types. Accurate parametrization of modern high magnetic field conductors is important for the analysis of the performance of magnet systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sun glint obscures the radiance originating from within the water, but it also mirrors the solar radiance after transmission through the atmosphere. The difference between a glint-contaminated pixel and a nearby nonglint pixel from a spectral image prior to atmospheric correction yields a direct estimate of the spectral transmission of solar radiance which can then be used both to confirm atmospheric models and to retrieve an estimate of remote sensing reflectance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details a writing sequence course for engineering at the University of California in Santa Barbara's College of Engineering. Types of engineering documents created during the course; Outreach to the engineering community resulting from the engineering genres in the sequence, their identification and their teaching; Applicability of the methods used to short courses.