Ryerson University

About: Ryerson University is a education organization based out in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7671 authors who have published 20164 publications receiving 394976 citations. The organization is also known as: Ryerson Polytechnical Institute & Ryerson Institute of Technology.

Recent Advances in Friction Stir Welding/Processing of Aluminum Alloys: Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Properties

Abstract: Friction stir welding (FSW), a highly efficient solid-state joining technique, has been termed as “green” technology due to its energy efficiency and environment friendliness. It is an enabling technology for joining metallic materials, in particular lightweight high-strength aluminum and magnesium alloys which were classified as unweldable by traditional fusion welding. It is thus considered to be the most significant development in the area of material joining over the past two decades. Friction stir processing (FSP) was later developed based on the basic principles of FSW. FSP has been proven to be an effective and versatile metal-working technique for modifying and fabricating metallic materials. FSW/FSP of aluminum alloys has prompted considerable scientific and technological interest since it has a potential for revolutionizing the manufacturing process in the aerospace, defense, marine, automotive, and railway industries. To promote widespread applications of FSW/FSP technology and ensure t...

Cooperative Edge Caching in User-Centric Clustered Mobile Networks

Abstract: With files proactively stored at base stations (BSs), mobile edge caching enables direct content delivery without remote file fetching, which can reduce the end-to-end delay while relieving backhaul pressure. To effectively utilize the limited cache size in practice, cooperative caching can be leveraged to exploit caching diversity, by allowing users served by multiple base stations under the emerging user-centric network architecture. This paper explores delay-optimal cooperative edge caching in large-scale user-centric mobile networks, where the content placement and cluster size are optimized based on the stochastic information of network topology, traffic distribution, channel quality, and file popularity. Specifically, a greedy content placement algorithm is proposed based on the optimal bandwidth allocation, which can achieve $(1-{1/e})$ -optimality with linear computational complexity. In addition, the optimal user-centric cluster size is studied, and a condition constraining the maximal cluster size is presented in explicit form, which reflects the tradeoff between caching diversity and spectrum efficiency. Extensive simulations are conducted for analysis validation and performance evaluation. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed greedy content placement algorithm can reduce the average file transmission delay up to 45 percent compared with the non-cooperative and hit-ratio-maximal schemes. Furthermore, the optimal clustering is also discussed considering the influences of different system parameters.

Is mobile email functional or dysfunctional? Two perspectives on mobile email usage

Abstract: This paper offers a study of contradiction in the usage of mobile email. Using qualitative data, the paper identifies mobile email usage patterns that are dangerous, distracting, anti-social and that infringe on work-life boundaries. Mobile email users were forthcoming in describing these dysfunctional usage patterns, but they made a convincing argument that their mobile devices are highly functional and allow them to be efficient, to multitask without disruption to others, and to respond immediately to messages, as well as offering them the freedom to work from anywhere. These dual perspectives on mobile email (dys)functionality are explored through a metaphorical lens, showing how organisational cultures can reinforce the functional perspective while simultaneously suppressing the dysfunctional view. It is argued that it is important to understand and explore the dysfunctional perspective of mobile email adoption. The paper concludes with a series of questions that challenge organisations to reflect critically on their assumptions about mobile email usage.

Using mobile laser scanning data for automated extraction of road markings

Abstract: A mobile laser scanning (MLS) system allows direct collection of accurate 3D point information in unprecedented detail at highway speeds and at less than traditional survey costs, which serves the fast growing demands of transportation-related road surveying including road surface geometry and road environment. As one type of road feature in traffic management systems, road markings on paved roadways have important functions in providing guidance and information to drivers and pedestrians. This paper presents a stepwise procedure to recognize road markings from MLS point clouds. To improve computational efficiency, we first propose a curb-based method for road surface extraction. This method first partitions the raw MLS data into a set of profiles according to vehicle trajectory data, and then extracts small height jumps caused by curbs in the profiles via slope and elevation-difference thresholds. Next, points belonging to the extracted road surface are interpolated into a geo-referenced intensity image using an extended inverse-distance-weighted (IDW) approach. Finally, we dynamically segment the geo-referenced intensity image into road-marking candidates with multiple thresholds that correspond to different ranges determined by point-density appropriate normality. A morphological closing operation with a linear structuring element is finally used to refine the road-marking candidates by removing noise and improving completeness. This road-marking extraction algorithm is comprehensively discussed in the analysis of parameter sensitivity and overall performance. An experimental study performed on a set of road markings with ground-truth shows that the proposed algorithm provides a promising solution to the road-marking extraction from MLS data.