Response correction techniques for surrogate‐based design optimization of microwave structures

Simulation‐based optimization has become an important design tool in microwave engineering. However, using electromagnetic (EM) solvers in the design process is a challenging task, primarily due to a high‐computational cost of an accurate EM simulation. In this article, we present a review of EM‐based design optimization techniques exploiting response‐corrected physically based low‐fidelity models. The surrogate models created through such a correction can be used to yield a reasonable approximation of the optimal design of the computationally expensive structure under consideration (high‐fidelity model). Several approaches using this idea are reviewed including output space mapping, manifold mapping, adaptive response correction, and shape‐preserving response prediction. A common feature of these methods is that they are easy to implement and computationally efficient. Application examples are provided. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012.     

Hyperphagia modifies FA profiles of plasma phospholipids,plasma FFA,and adipose tissue TAG

Hyperphagia was achieved by continuous intracerebroventricular infusion of a melanocortin receptor antagonist (HS024; Neosystem, Strasbourg, France) in rats. The effects of hyperphagia on FA composition and concentration of plasma phospholipids (PL), plasma FFA, and adipose tissue TAG were studied in rats for 8 d [short-term hyperphagia (STH); n=8], or 28 d [longterm hyperphagia (LTH); n=9]. The control rats were treated with artificial cerebrospinal fluid for 8 d (n=8) or 28 d (n=10). The rats were fed the same regular diet. In STH rats the plasma PL and fasting plasma FFA contained higher concentrations of saturated FA (SFA) and monounsaturated FA (MUFA), and plasma FFA contained lower n−6 PUFA than in the control rats. In LTH rats the plasma PL contained higher concentrations of SFA, MUFA, and n−3 PUFA and higher proportions of 16∶1n−7 and 18∶1n−9 at the expense of 18∶2n−6 than in the control rats. In LTH rats the abundant dietary intake of 18∶2n−6 did not enrich 18∶2n−6 of the plasma PL or adipose tissue TAG. In LTH rats the fasting plasma FFA contained more than twofold higher concentrations of SFA and MUFA, and higher proportions of 16∶1n−7 and 18∶1n−9 at the expense of 18∶2n−6 than in the control rats. This animal obesity model shows that LTH affects the FA composition and concentration of plasma PL, plasma FFA, and adipose tissue TAG, a result consistent with changes associated with increased risk of various diseases in humans. These results also demonstrate that LTH alters the FA composition of plasma PL and adipose tissue TAG in a way that does not reflect the FA composition of dietary fat.     

Optimisation of hybrid tandem metal active gas welding using Gaussian process regression

In this paper, an additional filler wire with opposite polarity was inserted in tandem flux cored arc welding process to increase the welding speed and deposition rate. In this hybrid welding, the optimisation of welding parameters is required to improve the bead geometry which directly indicates the welding quality. However, the correlation between the parameters and the bead geometry is hard to identify, so the process parameters are usually selected intuitively by the experienced engineers. Therefore, welding process modelling is constructed with the Gaussian process regression model, and parameter optimisation is performed with sequential quadratic programming optimisation algorithm. The proposed modelling optimisation process is verified by performing the welding experiment using the parameters that are optimised by the proposed process.     

Mercury contamination in spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus: An assessment of liver, kidney, blood, and nervous system health

Marine fishes in South Florida (Florida Keys-Florida Bay-Everglades region) accumulate higher concentrations of mercury (Hg) in their tissues than similar fishes from other areas of the southeastern U.S., though it is not known whether these elevated levels affect fish health. In this study, we used quantifiable pathological and biochemical indicators to explore Hg-associated differences in marine fish from South Florida, where Hg contamination is high, and from Indian River Lagoon, Florida, which served as a reference area. Hg concentrations in all tissues of mature spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) from South Florida were significantly higher than those from Indian River Lagoon and were within the threshold range of those in studies where effects of Hg exposure have been observed. The distribution of Hg among tissues followed the same trend in both areas, with the greatest concentration in kidney tissue, followed by liver, muscle, brain, gonad, and red blood cells. Blood-plasma biochemistry showed that concentrations of iron, inorganic phosphate, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly less in South Florida. Also, fructosamine and alkaline phosphatase were significantly less in South Florida. Liver histology revealed that pyknosis/necrosis, interstitial inflammation, and bile duct hyperplasia were found only in seatrout from South Florida, and steatosis/glycogen was more frequently found in Indian River Lagoon specimens. In renal tissue, interstitial inflammation, glomerular dilatation and thickening, and tubular degeneration and necrosis were more frequently found in South Florida specimens. Changes in the liver cytoskeleton and morphology may explain some of the differences in blood parameters between study areas. Neurochemical analyses showed that brain N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors (but not those of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, monoamine oxidase, or acetylcholinesterase) were significantly less in fish from South Florida than from Indian River Lagoon. These findings provide compelling evidence that elevated Hg could cause quantifiable pathological and biochemical changes that might influence the health of spotted seatrout and could also affect other marine fish species.     

Xenoendocrine pollutants may reduce size of sexual organs in East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus)

Reproductive organs from 55 male and 44 female East Greenland polar bears were examined to investigate the potential negative impact from organohalogen pollutants (OHCs). Multiple regressions normalizing for age showed a significant inverse relationship between OHCs and testis length and baculum length and weight, respectively, and was found in both subadults (dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethanes, dieldrin, chlordanes, hexacyclohexanes, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)) and adults (hexachlorobenzene [HCB]) (all p < 0.05). Baculum bone mineral densities decreased with increasing chlordanes, DDTs, and HCB in subadults and adults, respectively (all p < 0.05). In females, a significant inverse relationship was found between ovary length and sigma PCB (p = 0.03) and sigma CHL (p < 0.01), respectively, and between ovary weight and sigma PBDE (p < 0.01) and uterine horn length and HCB (p = 0.02). The study suggests thatthere is an impact from xenoendocrine pollutants on the size of East Greenland polar bear genitalia. This may pose a riskto this polar bear subpopulation in the future because of reduced sperm and egg quality/quantity and uterus and penis size/robustness.     

Ocular tuberculosis in a horse

This paper is the first report of systemic tuberculosis involving the eyes in a horse. The animal lost condition and gradually became increasingly blind in both eyes; it was eventually euthanased. The pathological findings included bilateral, mycobacterial granulomatous uveitis with unilateral retinal detachment and necrosis, and disseminated, mycobacterial granulomatous foci in the myocardium, lungs, bronchial lymph nodes, kidneys, liver, pancreas, colon and visceral serosal surfaces, with the most extensive lesions in the myocardium. The mycobacteria were identified as Mycobacterium avium.     

Grey-box modeling of an ocean vessel for operational optimization

Operational optimization of ocean vessels, both off-line and in real-time, is becoming increasingly important due to rising fuel cost and added environmental constraints. Accurate and efficient simulation models are needed to achieve maximum energy efficiency. In this paper a grey-box modeling approach for the simulation of ocean vessels is presented. The modeling approach combines conventional analysis models based on physical principles (a white-box model) with a feed forward neural-network (a black-box model). Two different ways of combining these models are presented, in series and in parallel. The results of simulating several trips of a medium sized container vessel show that the grey-box modeling approach, both serial and parallel approaches, can improve the prediction of the vessel fuel consumption significantly compared to a white-box model. However, a prediction of the vessel speed is only improved slightly. Furthermore, the results give an indication of the potential advantages of grey-box models, which is extrapolation beyond a given training data set and the incorporation of physical phenomena which are not modeled in the white-box models. Finally, included is a discussion on how to enhance the predictability of the grey-box models as well as updating the neural-network in real-time.     

Reliable reduced cost modeling and design optimization of microwave filters using co‐kriging

A reliable methodology for accurate modeling of microwave filter is presented. Our approach exploits co‐kriging that utilizes low‐fidelity and high‐fidelity electromagnetic simulation data and combines them into a single surrogate model. Densely sampled low‐fidelity data determine a trend function, which is further corrected by sparsely sampled high‐fidelity simulations. Low‐fidelity electromagnetic data are also enhanced by using a frequency scaling to reduce its misalignment with the high‐fidelity model. With our method, accurate models can be obtained at a fraction of the cost required by conventional approximation models that are exclusively based on high‐fidelity simulations. Three examples of microstrip filters are considered for verification purposes. We also provide comparisons with conventional approximation models and include an application of co‐kriging models for filter design optimization. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enlarged clitoris in wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus) can be misdiagnosed as pseudohermaphroditism

A 23-year-old female polar bear (Ursus maritimus) killed in an Inuit hunt in East Greenland on July 9, 1999 had a significantly enlarged clitoris resembling, in size, form and colour, those of previously reported 'pseudohermaphroditic' polar bears from Svalbard. It has been suggested that an enzyme defect (21-hydroxylase deficiency), androgen producing tumour or high exposure to organochlorines during the foetal stage or early development could be the reason for the supposed pseudohermaphroditism observed for Svalbard bears. Except for the enlarged clitoris, all dimensions of the external and internal reproductive organs of the present were similar to a reference group of 23 normal adult female polar bears from East Greenland collected in 1999-2002. The aberrant bear was a female genotype, and macroscopic examination of her internal reproductive organs indicated that she was reproductively functional. A histological examination of the clitoral enlargement in the present East Greenland specimen allows a first-time histological evaluation of the earlier macroscopic field diagnosis from Svalbard. This examination revealed intense chronic ulcerative and perivascular clitoriditis similar to "acral lick dermatitis" frequently seen in domestic dogs (i.e., we did not find any signs of pseudohermaphroditic hyperplasia of clitoral tissue due to androgenic or antiestrogenic endocrine disruption). The levels of organohalogens and TEQ values were lower than concentration thresholds of toxicological risk. It is hence possible that the previously reported adult female polar bear pseudohermaphrodites from Svalbard are in fact misdiagnoses. Therefore, future studies examining pseudohermaphroditism in wildlife should consider that certain occurrences are natural events, e.g., enlarged clitoris in the present East Greenland polar bear. Furthermore, caution should be exercised in suggesting linkages of such inflammatory abnormalities with correlations to anthropogenic pollutant exposures.     

Surrogate modelling and optimization using shape-preserving response prediction: A review

Computer simulation models are ubiquitous in modern engineering design. In many cases, they are the only way to evaluate a given design with sufficient fidelity. Unfortunately, an added computational expense is associated with higher fidelity models. Moreover, the systems being considered are often highly nonlinear and may feature a large number of designable parameters. Therefore, it may be impractical to solve the design problem with conventional optimization algorithms. A promising approach to alleviate these difficulties is surrogate-based optimization (SBO). Among proven SBO techniques, the methods utilizing surrogates constructed from corrected physics-based low-fidelity models are, in many cases, the most efficient. This article reviews a particular technique of this type, namely, shape-preserving response prediction (SPRP), which works on the level of the model responses to correct the underlying low-fidelity models. The formulation and limitations of SPRP are discussed. Applications to several engineering design problems are provided.