Irregular Items Research Articles

The origin, development, and application of fractal geometry theory in architecture

Fractal geometry plays a crucial role in the study of fractals, with wide-ranging applications and it is closely related to architectural design creation, notably in architecture. Fractals are becoming more prevalent in todays society and can be used to describe a variety of extremely irregular items in the actual world. This article aims to provide an overview and analysis of the significant implications of fractal geometry in architecture, exploring its relationship with elements in nature, such as trees. By searching, organizing data, and elucidating examples, the article delves into the origin and basic background of fractal geometry. The use of fractal geometry in architecture demonstrates the perfect symbiosis between fractal and nature through analysis of TOD, the ancient gardens in Suzhou, and other practical applications. One notable fractal algorithm is the L-system, a modeling approach expressing fractal concepts, enabling parameterization and architectural design. Fractal geometry successfully expands possibilities for the harmonious coexistence of architecture and nature, embodying numerous natural features and human-centric ideas.

Analysis and Application of Double Steel Plate Concrete Composite Shear Wall in the R&D Building of Zhanjiang Bay Laboratory

The R&D Building of Zhanjiang Bay Laboratory is a high-rise structure with multiple irregular items exceeding the specification limit, employing a steel frame-shear wall structural system. The outer frame consists of square steel tube concrete columns and solid-web steel beams, while the core shear wall uses a double steel plate concrete composite shear wall. This paper employs the architectural structural calculation software YJK-EP to perform a dynamic elastic-plastic time-history analysis under rare earthquake action. The shear and bending resistance of the shear wall at the maximum shear force and bending moment are checked to meet the requirements of the “Technical Specifications for Concrete Structures of High-rise Buildings”. The maximum inter-story displacement angle meets the requirements of the “Code for Seismic Design of Buildings”. The double steel plate concrete composite shear wall Wall-1, connected to a large-span and heavy-load transfer truss, was verified under significant seismic action using the ABAQUS software. The results indicate that Wall-1 can meet the design target requirements under major earthquake conditions. Finally, a dynamic nonlinear analysis method was employed using MIDAS-GEN software to study the structure’s anti-progressive collapse performance. The results show that under seven different scenarios, the maximum rotational angle of the remaining structural horizontal members is 2.02°, far less than the limit set by GSA, indicating that a progressive collapse did not occur. In the scenario where the corner column is removed, both the maximum shear and bending moment values for Wall-1 are far below its shear and bending resistance capacities, satisfying the load-bearing requirements. The removal of the corner column has a significant impact on the displacement of the columns on the same level nearby, with the peak displacement change rate reaching 702.65%.

Smart nesting: estimating geometrical compatibility in the nesting problem using graph neural networks

Reducing material waste and computation time are primary objectives in cutting and packing problems (C &P). A solution to the C &P problem consists of many steps, including the grouping of items to be nested and the arrangement of the grouped items on a large object. Current algorithms use meta-heuristics to solve the arrangement problem directly without explicitly addressing the grouping problem. In this paper, we propose a new pipeline for the nesting problem that starts with grouping the items to be nested and then arranging them on large objects. To this end, we introduce and motivate a new concept, namely the Geometrical Compatibility Index (GCI). Items with higher GCI should be clustered together. Since no labels exist for GCIs, we propose to model GCIs as bidirectional weighted edges of a graph that we call geometrical relationship graph (GRG). We propose a novel reinforcement-learning-based framework, which consists of two graph neural networks trained in an actor-critic-like fashion to learn GCIs. Then, to group the items into clusters, we model the GRG as a capacitated vehicle routing problem graph and solve it using meta-heuristics. Experiments conducted on a private dataset with regularly and irregularly shaped items show that the proposed algorithm can achieve a significant reduction in computation time (30% to 48%) compared to an open-source nesting software while attaining similar trim loss on regular items and a threefold improvement in trim loss on irregular items.

The 3D bin packing problem for multiple boxes and irregular items based on deep Q-network

The 3D bin packing problem for multiple boxes and irregular items based on deep Q-network

An extended model formulation for the two-dimensional irregular strip packing problem considering general industry-relevant aspects

Two-dimensional cutting and packing problems including irregular items (nesting problems) are common, e.g., in the clothing, paper, glass and leather industries. In the irregular strip packing problem considered in this work a finite number of rotations of convex as well as non-convex polygons with and without holes are permitted. To deal with the geometry of irregular items, direct trigonometry is applied. The focus is on aspects and characteristics that are typical for many affected industries and have been neglected so far. In the mentioned sectors, it is conceivable that items can be created from smaller parts by assembling them using various techniques. There might be several possible combinations of parts to be joined together to result in the desired item, i.e., there might be several cutting patterns to choose from. Also, whether the large material, i.e., large object is single-colored or has a particular structure or design is of great importance. In the latter case, special attention must be paid to the rotation of certain items or parts in order to achieve the desired (uniform or non-uniform) appearance of the final product. The utilized data structure is introduced, to address the mentioned aspects in the presented mixed-integer linear model which is an extension of a formulation published by previous authors. Furthermore, the method of calculating “critical vertices” is introduced, which requires only a reduced number of comparisons between edges and vertices of two items to ensure overlap-free positioning. Industry-relevant examples are highlighted in the computational study to illuminate the versatility of the model.

A hybrid approach of simulation and metaheuristic for the polyhedra packing problem

This document presents a simulation-based method for the polyhedra packing problem (PPP). This problem refers to packing a set of irregular polyhedra (convex and concave) into a cuboid with the objective of minimizing the cuboid’s volume, considering non-overlapping and containment constraints. The PPP has applications in additive manufacturing and packing situations where volume is at a premium. The proposed approach uses Unity® as the simulation environment and considers nine intensification and two diversification movements. The intensification movements induce the items within the cuboid to form packing patterns allowing the cuboid to decrease its size with the help of gravity-like accelerations. On the other hand, the diversification movements are classic transition operators such as removal and filling of pieces and enlargement of the container, which allow searching on different solution neighborhoods. All simulated movements were hybridized with a probabilistic tabu search. The proposed methodology (with and without the hybridization) was compared by benchmarking with all previous works solving the PPP with irregular items. Results show that satisfactory solutions were reached in a short time; even a few published results were improved.

A STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR THE IRREGULAR KNAPSACK PROBLEM WITH UNCERTAINTY IN THE PLATE DEFECTS

The present research deals with the two-dimensional knapsack problem by considering the cutting of irregular items from a rectangular plate with defects. While the defects are only known at the time of cutting (in the future), we need first to select which items to produce from cutting the plate. The final items cannot have any defects and the goal is to maximize the profit from cutting the plate and producing the items. We propose a two-stage stochastic optimization model that makes use of a discrete set of scenarios with the realization of the plate defects. The first-stage decisions involve selecting items for cutting and possible production. The second-stage decisions consider the positioning of items in the plate given the scenarios with defects, and then the cancellation and non-production of some selected items, if any. We also extend this model to include a measure of risk, aiming at robust solutions. We perform computational tests on instances adapted from the literature that consider three types of defects, eight scenarios, and four cases for determining each scenario’s probability. The tests evaluate the impact of uncertainties on the problem by calculating the expected value of perfect information and the value of the stochastic solution. The results indicate a percentage reduction in the profit of up to 27.7%, on average, when considering a fully risk-averse decision-maker.

Optimization Design Analysis of Large Span Cantilevered Cross Bracing Truss of Tai’an Tourism Distribution Center

The main structure of Tai’an Tourism Distribution Center is a steel frame structure system. On its west side, there is a large span cantilever structure with a maximum cantilever length of 22 meters, which adopts a space steel truss structure. The cantilever structure has great visual impact and excellent ornamental value, but it also has irregular items such as irregular torsion, irregular vertical lateral stiffness, and sudden change of floor bearing capacity. The overall stress of the structure is complex, and the design and construction of seismic performance are highly required. The seismic performance of the structure is calculated and analyzed by performance-based seismic design method, and the cantilever structure is modeled and analyzed by 3D3S, a space steel structure design software. The results show that cross support is more reasonable for cantilever structure. In view of the difficulties in the design analysis, this paper also proposes effective strengthening measures to ensure the safety of the structure, and makes technical reserves for later construction of the project, which is also of certain reference significance for similar projects.

Specific Language Impairment in African American English and Southern White English: Measures of Tense and Agreement With Dialect-Informed Probes and Strategic Scoring.

PurposeIn African American English and Southern White English, we examined whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) overtly mark tense and agreement structures at lower percentages than typically developing (TD) controls, while also examining the effects of dialect, structure, and scoring approach.MethodOne hundred six kindergartners completed 4 dialect-informed probes targeting 8 tense and agreement structures. The 3 scoring approaches varied in the treatment of nonmainstream English forms and responses coded as Other (i.e., those not obligating the target structure). The unmodified approach counted as correct only mainstream overt forms out of all responses, the modified approach counted as correct all mainstream and nonmainstream overt forms and zero forms out of all responses, and the strategic approach counted as correct all mainstream and nonmainstream overt forms out of all responses except those coded as Other.ResultsWith the probes combined and separated, the unmodified and strategic scoring approaches showed lower percentages of overt marking by the SLI groups than by the TD groups; this was not always the case for the modified scoring approach. With strategic scoring and dialect-specific cut scores, classification accuracy (SLI vs. TD) was highest for the 8 individual structures considered together, the past tense probe, and the past tense probe irregular items. Dialect and structure effects and dialect differences in classification accuracy also existed.ConclusionsAfrican American English– and Southern White English–speaking kindergartners with SLI overtly mark tense and agreement at lower percentages than same dialect–speaking TD controls. Strategic scoring of dialect-informed probes targeting tense and agreement should be pursued in research and clinical practice.

Brain responses to morphologically complex verbs: An electrophysiological study of Swedish regular and irregular past tense forms

Abstract The present electrophysiological study investigated irregular versus regular verb form processing in Swedish during reading. In line with previous results from other languages, overregularized verbs, i.e. incorrect irregular stem + regular past tense suffix combinations (e.g. *stjal + de ‘steal + past tense’), elicited a left-lateralized negativity (LAN) relative to correct irregulars (stal ‘stole’), suggesting rule-based decomposition of regularly inflected words. Lack of a similar effect for misapplication of the irregular stem formation pattern on regular verbs (e.g. *loft ‘lifted’ instead of lyfte) suggests the involvement of different processing mechanisms, possibly whole word access, for irregular items, at least to some degree. A P600 showing reprocessing was seen for all incorrect forms. The results add cross-linguistic support for morphological decomposition in the verbal inflection of a language where results from previous neurolinguistic studies of nominal inflection have only suggested the use of full-form access to words.

Morphology in Spanish-speaking children with Williams syndrome

abstractAims. Morphological skills in Williams syndrome (WS) are a controversial issue, particularly cross-linguistically. Methods. We assessed pluralization patterns of nouns, inflection of verbs in the past, and gender assignment, inflection, and agreement within the noun phrase in a sample of Spanish-speaking children with WS compared to typically developing (TD) children matched on mental age (VA-TD) and on chronological age (CA-TD) age. Results. Children with WS attribute grammatical gender correctly in a production task, but they have problems with inferring the referent’s sex from the gender of the noun in a comprehension task. Additionally, they correctly pluralize nouns and properly inflect regular verbs, but they have problems with irregular verbs. Our findings suggest that they have mastered the productive rules, but they perform like younger children regarding irregular items.

Inventory Optimization using ERP to reduce final product lead time, Inventory value an inbound logistics cost for MTO, FMCG Company

Many multinational companies have adopted ERP systems to make sure material is available on time and inventory levels are low. However most of the companies are unable to choose between the most suitable master data configuration such that common objectives are achieved. Objective of this project was to develop a master data configuration to optimize inventory in such a way that material availability for production is high and inbound logistics costs were low with very low inventory levels. To apply this methodology as a case study we selected MTO, FMCG Company which has been using SAP as its ERP system. Initially at two stages the master data configurations were changed and performance was monitored subsequently. ABC analysis was done to identify the top materials which will be in “A” category in terms of consumption value. After that different master data configurations were adopted at three stages for each of the selected materials and the performance was monitored accordingly. The basic criteria’s for measuring performance were average inventory value, material availability, inbound logistics costs and consumption percentage vs purchases. Finally the best master data configuration was identified based on said performance measures. It was found that majority of the time EOQ theory is correct and it can be used for any FMCG, MTO business models. On the other hand, ROL theory is not practical to use in a FMCG, MTO business model if the demand variation is high. It was also found that MTO, FMCG company material master data should be planned based on SAP MRP planning and for regular items Safety stocks should be maintained based on past consumption and for irregular items safety stocks should not be kept to minimize inventory. This method can be adopted by any company to improve their material availability rate, inventory and reduce inbound logistics cost. The project resulted in 1.2 million USD reduction in inventory within a years’ time, an inbound logistics were reduced by closer to 100000 USD and material availability rate was increased by closer to 20% for an X company which was operating under FMCG, MTO environment. The project was successful because of the efficient material master data planning in SAP. Main limitation of the application is that if a regular item becomes obsolete the entire safety stock allocated for that particular item will be obsolete leading to inventory issues. KEYWORDS: ERP Systems, Inventory, Inbound logistics cost, MTO, FMCG, SAP

珠海某项目大底盘双塔超限高层结构设计

珠海某项目由两栋超高层办公塔楼及底部商业裙房构成大底盘双塔结构，两栋塔楼平面为矩形。该项目地下3层，地上1~5层为商业，裙房屋顶为空中花园，6层以上为办公及公寓。该结构存在扭转不规则、楼板不连续、尺寸突变、竖向构件不连续、复杂连接共5项不规则项；设计中采用了合理的结构方案，并采用单塔和双塔包络设计，抗震设计中采用抗震性能化设计方法，利用多种软件进行弹性、弹塑性计算，针对结构中关键构件采取有效合理的加强措施，结构满足设定的性能目标。 A project of large chassis super high-rise twin tower building was in Zhuhai. The shapes of the two towers were rectangle. There were 3-storey basement, 5-storey for commercial, the fifth floor for hanging garden, and the floors above 6 for office and housing. The tower height exceeded the Code limit and there were five irregular items, such as torsional irregularity, the floor slab is discontinuous, size mutation, vertical component discontinuous and complex connection. It was selected reasonably structural concept. The single tower mode design and double tower mode design were using. By seismic performance-based design, with comparison of calculation by different software for elasticity and plasticity calculation, the key parts were strengthened. The results show that the structure of seismic performance can achieve the performance goals.

Visual nesting system for irregular cutting-stock problem based on rubber band packing algorithm

This article deals with the packing problem of irregular items allocated into a rectangular sheet to minimize the waste. Conventional solution is not visual during the packing process. It obtains a reasonable and relatively satisfactory solution between the nesting time and nesting solution. This article adopts a physical method that uses rubber band packing algorithm to simulate a rubber band wrapping those packing irregular items. The simulation shows a visual and fast packing process. The resultant rubber band force is applied in the packing items to translate, rotate, and slide them to make the area decrease and obtain a high packing density. An improved analogy QuickHull algorithm is presented to obtain extreme points of rubber band convex hull. An adaptive module could set a variable rubber band force and a variable time step to make a proper convergence and no intersection. A quick convex decomposition method is used to solve the problem of concave polygon. A plural vector expression approach is adopted to calculate the resultant vector of the rubber band force. Several cases are compared with the benchmark problems to prove rubber band packing algorithm performance.

Repairing the Form From Corrective Feedback

This study explored which corrective feedback (didactic recasts, metalinguistic clues, and repetition) enabled students to repair the form more than when they were exposed to the same opportunities to uptake the form. The study was conducted using 48 Korean university students. The students were asked to write down the correct past forms of the irregular verbs during the pre-test, the immediate post-test, and a two-weeks-delayed post-test. Based on the pre-test, the three verbs that students answered incorrectly were selected for different feedback treatments. The results from the analysis with the recasts group showed higher rates of successful repair for the immediate pushed output. For the analysis of the two-weeks-delayed post-test, among linear mixed-effect models, the random intercept model was considered to be the best fitted model. This model illustrated that didactic recasts and metalinguistic clues were significantly efficient, even though the effectiveness was much greater on recasts. These results can be applied to teaching, in that recasts can be effective in enabling students to notice phonological and lexical errors; providing explicit corrective feedback might help improve the students’ accuracy when learning irregular morpho-syntactic items.

Multiresolution based overlap minimization algorithm for irregular packing problems

Irregular nesting is a subgroup of cutting and packing problems in which a set of irregular items must be inserted in a rectangular container with a variable width. It is often found in industries such as textile, wood and shipbuilding and an efficient solution usually renders an economical and environmental positive impact. Due to the complex geometry of items, the no overlapping rule is hard to guarantee and, therefore, geometric tools are usually employed. In this work, a raster method is proposed to solve the overlap minimization problem, which can be adapted to solve the irregular nesting problem. A map of overlap values is created and is employed to find the minimum overlap placement for each item. A multiresolution approach is used to reduce the size of the map and, consequently, accelerate the search process. The results from tests performed using 4 benchmark tests indicates that more compact layouts can be obtained using multiple resolutions. Moreover, the results are competitive when compared to other solutions in the literature.

Hemispheric differences in orthographic and semantic processing as revealed by event-related potentials

Differences in how the right and left hemispheres (RH, LH) apprehend visual words were examined using event-related potentials (ERPs) in a repetition paradigm with visual half-field (VF) presentation. In both hemispheres (RH/LVF, LH/RVF), initial presentation of items elicited similar and typical effects of orthographic neighborhood size, with larger N400s for orthographically regular items (words and pseudowords) than for irregular items (acronyms and meaningless illegal strings). However, hemispheric differences emerged on repetition effects. When items were repeated in the LH/RVF, orthographically regular items, relative to irregular items, elicited larger repetition effects on both the N250, a component reflecting processing at the level of visual form (orthography), and on the N400, which has been linked to semantic access. In contrast, in the RH/LVF, repetition effects were biased toward irregular items on the N250 and were similar in size across item types for the N400. The results suggest that processing in the LH is more strongly affected by wordform regularity than in the RH, either due to enhanced processing of familiar orthographic patterns or due to the fact that regular forms can be more readily mapped onto phonology.

Irregular packing overlap minimization using discrete Voronoi mountain

Cutting and packing problems are of great importance in a myriad of industries such as: wood, textile, glass and shipbuilding. The irregular strip packing problem considers a container with infinite length where irregular items must be inserted into. A group of solutions in the literature solves the problem by allowing overlap between items and then applying a method which minimizes the total overlap value of the layout. The best results in the literature were obtained using overlap minimization techniques and it is the strategy adopted in this work. Fast overlap evaluation is obtained by the employment of the Voronoi mountain concept. It is used to pre-evaluate the overlap value for two items by adopting a raster representation, which is stored prior to the execution of the algorithm. Tests performed using a benchmark case showed that, even with reduced precision, competitive layouts can be obtained using the proposed approach.

A Heuristic Based on PSO for Irregular Cutting Stock Problem

Cutting Stock Problems (CSP) arise in many production industries where large stock sheets must be cut into smaller pieces. An irregular-shaped nesting approach for two-dimensional cutting stock problem is constructed in this research. We present a heuristic based on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PSO) for irregular-shaped two-dimensional cutting stock problem, where PSO is utilized to search optimal solution. Furthermore, the proposed approach combines a grid approximation method with Bottom-Left-Fill heuristic placement strategy to allocate irregular items. We evaluate the proposed approach using 15 revised benchmark problems available from the EURO Special Interest Group on Cutting and Packing. The performance illustrates the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach in solving irregular cutting stock problems.

Detecting Different Types of Reading Difficulties: A Comparison of Tests

The focus of this paper is on the assessment of the two main processes that children must acquire at the single word reading level: word recognition (lexical) and decoding (nonlexical) skills. Guided by the framework of the dual route model, this study aimed to (1) investigate the impact of item characteristics on test performance, and (2) determine to what extent widely used reading measures vary in their detection of lexical and nonlexical reading difficulties. Thirty children with reading difficulties were administered selected reading subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III, the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Second Edition, the Castles and Coltheart Reading Test 2 (CC2), as well as a measure of nonverbal IQ. Both within-subjects analyses and descriptive data are presented. Results suggest that in comparison to a pure measure of irregular word reading, children with reading difficulties perform better on word identification subtests containing both regular and irregular word items. Furthermore, certain characteristics (e.g., length, similarity to real words) appear to influence the level of difficulty of nonword items and tests. The CC2 subscales identified the largest proportions of children with reading difficulties. Differences between all test scores were of statistical and clinical significance. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.