WorldWideScience

Sample records for control concept moving

  1. Moving event and moving participant in aspectual conceptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izutsu Katsunobu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This study advances an analysis of the event conception of aspectual forms in four East Asian languages: Ainu, Japanese, Korean, and Ryukyuan. As earlier studies point out, event conceptions can be divided into two major types: the moving-event type and the moving-participant type, respectively. All aspectual forms in Ainu and Korean, and most forms in Japanese and Ryukyuan are based on that type of event conception. Moving-participant oriented Ainu and movingevent oriented Japanese occupy two extremes, between which Korean and Ryukyuan stand. Notwithstanding the geographical relationships among the four languages, Ryukyuan is closer to Ainu than to Korean, whereas Korean is closer to Ainu than to Japanese.

  2. Hybrid Heat Capacity - Moving Slab Laser Concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stappaerts, E A

    2002-01-01

    A hybrid configuration of a heat capacity laser (HCL) and a moving slab laser (MSL) has been studied. Multiple volumes of solid-state laser material are sequentially diode-pumped and their energy extracted. When a volume reaches a maximum temperature after a ''sub-magazine depth'', it is moved out of the pumping region into a cooling region, and a new volume is introduced. The total magazine depth equals the submagazine depth times the number of volumes. The design parameters are chosen to provide high duty factor operation, resulting in effective use of the diode arrays. The concept significantly reduces diode array cost over conventional heat capacity lasers, and it is considered enabling for many potential applications. A conceptual design study of the hybrid configuration has been carried out. Three concepts were evaluated using CAD tools. The concepts are described and their relative merits discussed. Because of reduced disk size and diode cost, the hybrid concept may allow scaling to average powers on the order of 0.5 MW/module

  3. Moving Horizon Estimation and Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, John Bagterp

    successful and applied methodology beyond PID-control for control of industrial processes. The main contribution of this thesis is introduction and definition of the extended linear quadratic optimal control problem for solution of numerical problems arising in moving horizon estimation and control...... problems. Chapter 1 motivates moving horizon estimation and control as a paradigm for control of industrial processes. It introduces the extended linear quadratic control problem and discusses its central role in moving horizon estimation and control. Introduction, application and efficient solution....... It provides an algorithm for computation of the maximal output admissible set for linear model predictive control. Appendix D provides results concerning linear regression. Appendix E discuss prediction error methods for identification of linear models tailored for model predictive control....

  4. Coordinated control of micro-grid based on distributed moving horizon control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Miaomiao; Shao, Liyang; Liu, Xiangjie

    2018-05-01

    This paper proposed the distributed moving horizon coordinated control scheme for the power balance and economic dispatch problems of micro-grid based on distributed generation. We design the power coordinated controller for each subsystem via moving horizon control by minimizing a suitable objective function. The objective function of distributed moving horizon coordinated controller is chosen based on the principle that wind power subsystem has the priority to generate electricity while photovoltaic power generation coordinates with wind power subsystem and the battery is only activated to meet the load demand when necessary. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed distributed moving horizon coordinated controller can allocate the output power of two generation subsystems reasonably under varying environment conditions, which not only can satisfy the load demand but also limit excessive fluctuations of output power to protect the power generation equipment. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Controllability for a Wave Equation with Moving Boundary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lizhi Cui

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the controllability for a one-dimensional wave equation in domains with moving boundary. This model characterizes small vibrations of a stretched elastic string when one of the two endpoints varies. When the speed of the moving endpoint is less than 1-1/e, by Hilbert uniqueness method, sidewise energy estimates method, and multiplier method, we get partial Dirichlet boundary controllability. Moreover, we will give a sharper estimate on controllability time that only depends on the speed of the moving endpoint.

  6. CIRCULATING MOVING BED COMBUSTION PROOF OF CONCEPT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jukkola, Glen

    2010-06-30

    Circulating Moving Bed (CMB) combustion technology has its roots in traditional circulating fluidized bed technology and involves a novel method of solid fuel combustion and heat transfer. CMB technology represents a step change in improved performance and cost relative to conventional PC and FBC boilers. The CMB heat exchanger preheats the energy cycle working fluid, steam or air, to the high temperature levels required in systems for advanced power generation. Unique features of the CMB are the reduction of the heat transfer surfaces by about 60% as a result of the enhanced heat transfer rates, flexibility of operation, and about 30% lower cost over existing technology. The CMB Phase I project ran from July 2001 through March 2003. Its objective was to continue development of the CMB technology with a series of proof of concept tests. The tests were conducted at a scale that provided design data for scale up to a demonstration plant. These objectives were met by conducting a series of experiments in ALSTOM Power’s Multi-use Test Facility (MTF). The MTF was modified to operate under CMB conditions of commercial interest. The objective of the tests were to evaluate gas-to-solids heat transfer in the upper furnace, assess agglomeration in the high temperature CMB bubbling bed, and evaluate solids-to-tube heat transfer in the moving bed heat exchanger. The Phase I program results showed that there are still some significant technical uncertainties that needed to be resolved before the technology can be confidently scaled up for a successful demonstration plant design. Work remained in three primary areas: • scale up of gas to solid heat transfer • high temperature finned surface design • the overall requirements of mechanical and process design. The CMB Phase II workscope built upon the results of Phase I and specifically addressed the remaining technical uncertainties. It included a scaled MTF heat transfer test to provide the necessary data to scale up gas

  7. Concept design of multipurpose gamma irradiator ISG-500 instrumentation and control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dian F Atmoko; Sutomo B; Ikhsan S; A Suntoro

    2010-01-01

    Has been concept designed of multipurpose 2 x 250 kCi gamma irradiator instrumentation and control system (ICS). The problem in ICS of irradiator is How to get similar of dose rate and start-up/shut down mechanism with highest safety factor. The concept designed of ICS had of tree parameter such as safety, operation and security. The tree of parameter used to start-up and shut-down in irradiator installation with interlock system connection to guarantee of safety. Similar of dose rate obtained by controlled of exposure time witch stopped of carrier conveyor in point of stopped carrier and for delay time, with speed of moved motor carrier to set in constant speed. (author)

  8. Nonholonomic feedback control among moving obstacles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Stephen Gregory

    A feedback controller is developed for navigating a nonholonomic vehicle in an area with multiple stationary and possibly moving obstacles. Among other applications the developed algorithms can be used for automatic parking of a passenger car in a parking lot with complex configuration or a ground robot in cluttered environment. Several approaches are explored which combine nonholonomic systems control based on sliding modes and potential field methods.

  9. Data fusion concept in multispectral system for perimeter protection of stationary and moving objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciurapiński, Wieslaw; Dulski, Rafal; Kastek, Mariusz; Szustakowski, Mieczyslaw; Bieszczad, Grzegorz; Życzkowski, Marek; Trzaskawka, Piotr; Piszczek, Marek

    2009-09-01

    The paper presents the concept of multispectral protection system for perimeter protection for stationary and moving objects. The system consists of active ground radar, thermal and visible cameras. The radar allows the system to locate potential intruders and to control an observation area for system cameras. The multisensor construction of the system ensures significant improvement of detection probability of intruder and reduction of false alarms. A final decision from system is worked out using image data. The method of data fusion used in the system has been presented. The system is working under control of FLIR Nexus system. The Nexus offers complete technology and components to create network-based, high-end integrated systems for security and surveillance applications. Based on unique "plug and play" architecture, system provides unmatched flexibility and simplistic integration of sensors and devices in TCP/IP networks. Using a graphical user interface it is possible to control sensors and monitor streaming video and other data over the network, visualize the results of data fusion process and obtain detailed information about detected intruders over a digital map. System provides high-level applications and operator workload reduction with features such as sensor to sensor cueing from detection devices, automatic e-mail notification and alarm triggering.

  10. Dynamic Stability of Cylindrical Shells under Moving Loads by Applying Advanced Controlling Techniques—Part II: Using Piezo-Stack Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khaled M. Saadeldin Eldalil

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The load acting on the actively controlled cylindrical shell under a transient pressure pulse propelling a moving mass (gun case has been experimentally studied. The concept of using piezoelectric stack and stiffener combination is utilized for damping the tube wall radial and circumferential deforming vibrations, in the correct meeting location timing of the moving mass. The experiment was carried out by using the same stiffened shell tube of the experimental 14 mm gun tube facility which is used in part 1. Using single and double stacks is tried at two pressure levels of low-speed modes, which have response frequencies adapted with the used piezoelectric stacks characteristics. The maximum active damping ratio is occurred at high-pressure level. The radial circumferential strains are measured by using high-frequency strain gage system in phase with laser beam detection system similar to which used in part 1. Time resolved strain measurements of the wall response were obtained, and both precursor and transverse hoop strains have been resolved. A complete comparison had been made between the effect of active controlled and stepped structure cases, which indicate a significant attenuation ratio especially at higher operating pressures.

  11. Current control by a homopolar machine with moving brushes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogel, H.

    1978-01-01

    The equation for TNS Doublet's E-coil circuit with moving brush homopolar machine is integrated in the flux of the homopolar for a monotonically increasing current function extending beyond the current reversal into the burn period. The results show that the moving brush feature is not useful for controlling the burn

  12. The Moving Children Project: A Conceptual, Process-Oriented Model for Skills Development in Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliot, Margaret; And Others

    1990-01-01

    Describes California's Moving Children Project which provides elementary teachers a structure to incorporate positive physical, mental, and social concepts about wellness into a physical education program. The project focuses on body movement, object control, implement control, and game structure, and children learn to apply its concepts to…

  13. Connected variable speed limits control and vehicle acceleration control to resolve moving jams

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, M.; Daamen, W.; Hoogendoorn, S.P.; Van Arem, B.

    2015-01-01

    The vision of intelligent vehicles traveling in road networks has prompted numerous concepts to control future traffic flow, one of which is the in-vehicle actuation of traffic control signals. The key of this concept is using intelligent vehicles as actuators for traffic control systems, replacing

  14. [Motion control of moving mirror based on fixed-mirror adjustment in FTIR spectrometer].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhong-bing; Xu, Xian-ze; Le, Yi; Xu, Feng-qiu; Li, Jun-wei

    2012-08-01

    The performance of the uniform motion of the moving mirror, which is the only constant motion part in FTIR spectrometer, and the performance of the alignment of the fixed mirror play a key role in FTIR spectrometer, and affect the interference effect and the quality of the spectrogram and may restrict the precision and resolution of the instrument directly. The present article focuses on the research on the uniform motion of the moving mirror and the alignment of the fixed mirror. In order to improve the FTIR spectrometer, the maglev support system was designed for the moving mirror and the phase detection technology was adopted to adjust the tilt angle between the moving mirror and the fixed mirror. This paper also introduces an improved fuzzy PID control algorithm to get the accurate speed of the moving mirror and realize the control strategy from both hardware design and algorithm. The results show that the development of the moving mirror motion control system gets sufficient accuracy and real-time, which can ensure the uniform motion of the moving mirror and the alignment of the fixed mirror.

  15. Simulating control rod and fuel assembly motion using moving meshes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilbert, D. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario, L8S 4K1 (Canada)], E-mail: gilbertdw1@gmail.com; Roman, J.E. [Departamento de Sistemas Informaticos y Computacion, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain); Garland, Wm. J. [Department of Engineering Physics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario, L8S 4K1 (Canada); Poehlman, W.F.S. [Department of Computing and Software, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario, L8S 4K1 (Canada)

    2008-02-15

    A prerequisite for designing a transient simulation experiment which includes the motion of control and fuel assemblies is the careful verification of a steady state model which computes k{sub eff} versus assembly insertion distance. Previous studies in nuclear engineering have usually approached the problem of the motion of control rods with the use of nonlinear nodal models. Nodal methods employ special approximations for the leading and trailing cells of the moving assemblies to avoid the rod cusping problem which results from the naive volume weighted cell cross-section approximation. A prototype framework called the MOOSE has been developed for modeling moving components in the presence of diffusion phenomena. A linear finite difference model is constructed, solutions for which are computed by SLEPc, a high performance parallel eigenvalue solver. Design techniques for the implementation of a patched non-conformal mesh which links groups of sub-meshes that can move relative to one another are presented. The generation of matrices which represent moving meshes which conserve neutron current at their boundaries, and the performance of the framework when applied to model reactivity insertion experiments is also discussed.

  16. A new look at the Flood Pulse Concept : The (ir)relevance of the moving littoral in temperate zone rivers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keizer, F. M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/411259784; Schot, P. P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/08071563X; Okruszko, T.; Chormański, J.; Kardel, I.; Wassen, M. J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/07165710X

    2014-01-01

    The Flood Pulse Concept links the hydraulic river flood pulse to floodplain nutrient status. The edge of inundation, referred to as the moving littoral, causes wetting and drying and input of river derived nutrients, resulting in high floodplain productivity. If during the floods other water sources

  17. Distributed Cooperative Search Control Method of Multiple UAVs for Moving Target

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang-jian Ru

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available To reduce the impact of uncertainties caused by unknown motion parameters on searching plan of moving targets and improve the efficiency of UAV’s searching, a novel distributed Multi-UAVs cooperative search control method for moving target is proposed in this paper. Based on detection results of onboard sensors, target probability map is updated using Bayesian theory. A Gaussian distribution of target transition probability density function is introduced to calculate prediction probability of moving target existence, and then target probability map can be further updated in real-time. A performance index function combining with target cost, environment cost, and cooperative cost is constructed, and the cooperative searching problem can be transformed into a central optimization problem. To improve computational efficiency, the distributed model predictive control method is presented, and thus the control command of each UAV can be obtained. The simulation results have verified that the proposed method can avoid the blindness of UAV searching better and improve overall efficiency of the team effectively.

  18. An input shaping controller enabling cranes to move without sway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singer, N.; Singhose, W.; Kriikku, E.

    1997-01-01

    A gantry crane at the Savannah River Technology Center was retrofitted with an Input Shaping controller. The controller intercepts the operator's pendant commands and modifies them in real time so that the crane is moved without residual sway in the suspended load. Mechanical components on the crane were modified to make the crane suitable for the anti-sway algorithm. This paper will describe the required mechanical modifications to the crane, as well as, a new form of Input Shaping that was developed for use on the crane. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the new process. Several practical considerations will be discussed including a novel (patent pending) approach for making small, accurate moves without residual oscillations

  19. Designs and Algorithms to Map Eye Tracking Data with Dynamic Multielement Moving Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziho Kang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Design concepts and algorithms were developed to address the eye tracking analysis issues that arise when (1 participants interrogate dynamic multielement objects that can overlap on the display and (2 visual angle error of the eye trackers is incapable of providing exact eye fixation coordinates. These issues were addressed by (1 developing dynamic areas of interests (AOIs in the form of either convex or rectangular shapes to represent the moving and shape-changing multielement objects, (2 introducing the concept of AOI gap tolerance (AGT that controls the size of the AOIs to address the overlapping and visual angle error issues, and (3 finding a near optimal AGT value. The approach was tested in the context of air traffic control (ATC operations where air traffic controller specialists (ATCSs interrogated multiple moving aircraft on a radar display to detect and control the aircraft for the purpose of maintaining safe and expeditious air transportation. In addition, we show how eye tracking analysis results can differ based on how we define dynamic AOIs to determine eye fixations on moving objects. The results serve as a framework to more accurately analyze eye tracking data and to better support the analysis of human performance.

  20. A Concept for fault tolerant controllers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niemann, Hans Henrik; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

    2009-01-01

    This paper describe a concept for fault tolerant controllers (FTC) based on the YJBK (after Youla, Jabr, Bongiorno and Kucera) parameterization. This controller architecture will allow to change the controller on-line in the case of faults in the system. In the described FTC concept, a safe mode...... controller is applied as the basic feedback controller. A controller for normal operation with high performance is obtained by including certain YJBK parameters (transfer functions) in the controller. This will allow a fast switch from normal operation to safe mode operation in case of critical faults...... in the system. The described FTC architecture allow the different feedback controllers to apply different sets of sensors and actuators....

  1. Helicopter Control Energy Reduction Using Moving Horizontal Tail

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oktay, Tugrul; Sal, Firat

    2015-01-01

    Helicopter moving horizontal tail (i.e., MHT) strategy is applied in order to save helicopter flight control system (i.e., FCS) energy. For this intention complex, physics-based, control-oriented nonlinear helicopter models are used. Equations of MHT are integrated into these models and they are together linearized around straight level flight condition. A specific variance constrained control strategy, namely, output variance constrained Control (i.e., OVC) is utilized for helicopter FCS. Control energy savings due to this MHT idea with respect to a conventional helicopter are calculated. Parameters of helicopter FCS and dimensions of MHT are simultaneously optimized using a stochastic optimization method, namely, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (i.e., SPSA). In order to observe improvement in behaviors of classical controls closed loop analyses are done. PMID:26180841

  2. Helicopter Control Energy Reduction Using Moving Horizontal Tail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tugrul Oktay

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Helicopter moving horizontal tail (i.e., MHT strategy is applied in order to save helicopter flight control system (i.e., FCS energy. For this intention complex, physics-based, control-oriented nonlinear helicopter models are used. Equations of MHT are integrated into these models and they are together linearized around straight level flight condition. A specific variance constrained control strategy, namely, output variance constrained Control (i.e., OVC is utilized for helicopter FCS. Control energy savings due to this MHT idea with respect to a conventional helicopter are calculated. Parameters of helicopter FCS and dimensions of MHT are simultaneously optimized using a stochastic optimization method, namely, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (i.e., SPSA. In order to observe improvement in behaviors of classical controls closed loop analyses are done.

  3. Moving Horizon Control and Estimation of Livestock Ventilation Systems and Indoor Climate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Z.; Stoustrup, Jakob; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, a new control strategy involves exploiting actuator redundancy in a multivariable system is developed for rejecting the covariance of the fast frequency disturbances and pursuing optimum energy solution. This strategy enhances the resilience of the control system to disturbances...... beyond its bandwidth and reduce energy consumption through on-line optimization computation. The moving horizon estimation and control (also called predictive control) technology is applied and simulated. The design is based on a coupled mathematical model which combines the hybrid ventilation system...... and the associated indoor climate for poultry in barns. The comparative simulation results illustrate the significant potential and advancement of the moving horizon methodologies in estimation and control for nonlinear Multiple Input and Multiple Output system with unknown noise covariance and actuator saturation....

  4. Design concept of Hydro cascade control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fustik, Vangel; Kiteva, Nevenka

    2006-01-01

    In this paper a design concept of the comple hydro cascade scheme is presented with the design parameters of the main technical features. The cascade control system architecture is designed considering up-to-date communication and information technology. The control algorithm is based on Pond Level Control and Economic Load Allocation concepts.

  5. Control of thermal therapies with moving power deposition field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arora, Dhiraj; Minor, Mark A; Skliar, Mikhail; Roemer, Robert B

    2006-01-01

    A thermal therapy feedback control approach to control thermal dose using a moving power deposition field is developed and evaluated using simulations. A normal tissue safety objective is incorporated in the controller design by imposing constraints on temperature elevations at selected normal tissue locations. The proposed control technique consists of two stages. The first stage uses a model-based sliding mode controller that dynamically generates an 'ideal' power deposition profile which is generally unrealizable with available heating modalities. Subsequently, in order to approximately realize this spatially distributed idealized power deposition, a constrained quadratic optimizer is implemented to compute intensities and dwell times for a set of pre-selected power deposition fields created by a scanned focused transducer. The dwell times for various power deposition profiles are dynamically generated online as opposed to the commonly employed a priori-decided heating strategies. Dynamic intensity and trajectory generation safeguards the treatment outcome against modelling uncertainties and unknown disturbances. The controller is designed to enforce simultaneous activation of multiple normal tissue temperature constraints by rapidly switching between various power deposition profiles. The hypothesis behind the controller design is that the simultaneous activation of multiple constraints substantially reduces treatment time without compromising normal tissue safety. The controller performance and robustness with respect to parameter uncertainties is evaluated using simulations. The results demonstrate that the proposed controller can successfully deliver the desired thermal dose to the target while maintaining the temperatures at the user-specified normal tissue locations at or below the maximum allowable values. Although demonstrated for the case of a scanned focused ultrasound transducer, the developed approach can be extended to other heating modalities with

  6. Exploring applicability of the workload control concept

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Henrich, P.; Land, M.J.; Gaalman, G.J.C.

    2004-01-01

    To be successful in companies, a production planning and control (PPC) concept should fit to the production environment. Essential elements of the concept should correspond with the characteristics of the production system. For classical concepts such as MRP these elements have become common sense.

  7. Exploring applicability of the workload control concept

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Henrich, Peter; Land, Martin; Gaalman, Gerard

    2002-01-01

    To be successful in companies, a production planning and control (PPC) concept should fit to the production environment. Essential elements of the concept should correspond with the characteristics of the production system. For classical concepts such as MRP these elements have become common sense.

  8. Controlled Wake of a Moving Axisymmetric Bluff Body

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, E.; Vukasinovic, B.; Glezer, A.

    2017-11-01

    The aerodynamic loads exerted on a wire-mounted axisymmetric bluff body in prescribed rigid motion are controlled by fluidic manipulation of its near wake. The body is supported by a six-degree of freedom eight-wire traverse and its motion is controlled using a dedicated servo actuator and inline load cell for each wire. The instantaneous aerodynamic forces and moments on the moving body are manipulated by controlled interactions of an azimuthal array of integrated synthetic jet actuators with the cross flow to induce localized flow attachment over the body's aft end and thereby alter the symmetry of the wake. The coupled interactions between the wake structure and the effected aerodynamic loads during prescribed time-periodic and transitory (gust like) motions are investigated with emphasis on enhancing or diminishing the loads for maneuver control, and decoupling the body's motion from its far wake.

  9. Moving toroidal limiter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikuta, Kazunari; Miyahara, Akira.

    1983-06-01

    The concept of the limiter-divertor proposed by Mirnov is extended to a toroidal limiter-divertor (which we call moving toroidal limiter) using the stream of ferromagnetic balls coated with a low Z materials such as plastics, graphite and ceramics. An important advantage of the use of the ferromagnetic materials would be possible soft landing of the balls on a catcher, provided that the temperature of the balls is below Curie point. Moreover, moving toroidal limiter would work as a protector of the first wall not only against the vertical movement of plasma ring but also against the violent inward motion driven by major disruption because the orbit of the ball in the case of moving toroidal limiter distributes over the small major radius side of the toroidal plasma. (author)

  10. An indirect adaptive neural control of a visual-based quadrotor robot for pursuing a moving target.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shirzadeh, Masoud; Amirkhani, Abdollah; Jalali, Aliakbar; Mosavi, Mohammad R

    2015-11-01

    This paper aims to use a visual-based control mechanism to control a quadrotor type aerial robot which is in pursuit of a moving target. The nonlinear nature of a quadrotor, on the one hand, and the difficulty of obtaining an exact model for it, on the other hand, constitute two serious challenges in designing a controller for this UAV. A potential solution for such problems is the use of intelligent control methods such as those that rely on artificial neural networks and other similar approaches. In addition to the two mentioned problems, another problem that emerges due to the moving nature of a target is the uncertainty that exists in the target image. By employing an artificial neural network with a Radial Basis Function (RBF) an indirect adaptive neural controller has been designed for a quadrotor robot in search of a moving target. The results of the simulation for different paths show that the quadrotor has efficiently tracked the moving target. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Free and moving boundaries analysis, simulation and control

    CERN Document Server

    Glowinski, Roland

    2007-01-01

    Optimal Tubes: Geodesic Metric, Euler Flow, Moving Domain J.P. Zolésio Numerical Simulation of Pattern Formation in a Rotating Suspension of Non-Brownian Settling Particles Tsorg-Whay Pan and Roland Glowinski On the Homogenization of Optimal Control Problems on Periodic Graphs P.I. Kogut and G. Leugering Lift and Sedimentation of Particles in the Flow of a Viscoelastic Liquid in a Channel G.P. Galdi and V. Heuveline Modeling and Simulation of Liquid-Gas Free Surface Flows A. Caboussat, M.

  12. A model-based control system concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aarzen, K.E.

    1992-12-01

    This paper presents an overview of a new concept for DCSs developed within the KBRTCS (Knowledge-Based Real-Time Control Systems) project performed between 1988 and 1991 as a part of the Swedish IT4 programme. The partners of the project have been the Department of Automatic Control at Lund University, Asea Brown Boveri, and during parts of the project, SattControl, and TeleLogic. The aim of the project has been to develop a concept for future generations of DCSs based on a plant database containing a description of the plant together with the control system. The database is object-based and supports multiple views of an objects. A demonstrator is presented where a DCS system of this type is emulated. The demonstrator contains a number of control, monitoring, and diagnosis applications that execute in real time against a simulations of Steritherm sterilization process. (25 refs.)

  13. Towards a modern concept for teaching control engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niemann, Hans Henrik; Andersen, Jens Christian; Ravn, Ole

    2009-01-01

    A new concept for teaching an introduction course in control engineering is described. The main issue is that the concept is based directly on the students’ knowledge from previous courses in math, physics and electronics. This will provid the students with a more direct and clear link between...... these previous courses and athe introduction course in control theory. As a direct consequence, it is now possible to introduce and use feedback control from the first lecture. The new teaching concept has had a major effect on the exam results. In the two semesters before the changes, only 53% of the students...

  14. Basic concepts of control theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Markus, L.

    1976-01-01

    After a philosophical introduction on control theory and its position among various branches of science, mathematical control theory and its connection with functional analysis are discussed. A chapter on system theory concepts follows. After a summary of results and notations in the general theory of ordinary differential equations, a qualitative theory of control dynamical systems and chapters on the topological dynamics, and the controllability of linear systems are presented. As examples of autonomous linear systems, the switching locus for the synthesis of optimal controllers and linear dynamics with quadratic cost optimization are considered. (author)

  15. A review of mechanical move sprinkler irrigation control and automation technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Electronic sensors, equipment controls, and communication protocols have been developed to meet the growing interest in site-specific irrigation using center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems. Onboard and field-distributed sensors can collect data necessary for real-time irrigation manageme...

  16. Bivariate copulas on the exponentially weighted moving average control chart

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sasigarn Kuvattana

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes four types of copulas on the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA control chart when observations are from an exponential distribution using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The performance of the control chart is based on the Average Run Length (ARL which is compared for each copula. Copula functions for specifying dependence between random variables are used and measured by Kendall’s tau. The results show that the Normal copula can be used for almost all shifts.

  17. Minefield overwatch using moving target indicator radar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donadio, Anthony; Ewing, Robert; Kenneally, William J.; Santapietro, John J.

    1999-07-01

    Traditional antipersonnel land mines are an effective military tool, but they are unable to distinguish friend from foe, or civilian from military personnel. The concept described here uses an advanced moving target indicator (MTI) radar to scan the minefield in order to detect movement towards or within the minefield, coupled with visual identification by a human operator and a communication link for command and control. Selected mines in the minefield can then be activated by means of the command link. In order to demonstrate this concept, a 3D, interactive simulation has been developed. This simulation builds on previous work by integrating a detailed analytical model of an MTI radar. This model has been tailored to the specific application of detection of slowly moving dismounted entities immersed in ground clutter. The model incorporates the effects of internal scatterer motion and antenna scanning modulation in order to provide a realistic representation of the detection problem in this environment. The angle information on the MTI target detection is then passed to a virtual 3D sight which cues a human operator to the target location. In addition, radar propagation effects and an experimental design in which the radar itself is used as a command link are explored.

  18. Moving a generalised limb : a simulation with consequences for theories on limb control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Otten, E

    The movement control of articulated limbs in vertebrates has been explained in terms of equilibrium points and moving equilibrium points or virtual trajectories. These hypotheses state that the nervous system makes the control Of multi-segment limbs easier by simply planning in terms of these

  19. Innovative Control concepts for German pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brzozowski, Raphael; Kuhn, Andreas

    2010-01-01

    Controlling reactor power without any manual support is becoming more and more important. The READIG project (READIG = Reactor Instrumentation and Digital Control) power control system installed in unit 2 of the Philippsburg nuclear power station (KKP 2) requires no manual intervention except for specific strategy criteria settings. It was even possible to eliminate the power distribution set points. With minor adaptations, this concept can be applied in other PWR plants as well. KKP 2 is a PWR plant with particularly sophisticated core charges; as a consequence, the I and C systems were adapted accordingly. The increase in integral reactor power and the low-leakage core charges are the main reasons for lower limiting margins, especially in peak limiting. The standard control concept was supplemented in such a way that a more precise fine control concept for power distribution in the full-load regime is achieved. The READIG project fully utilizes the possibilities offered by digital TXS Technology, which is why use is also made of physical parameterization. The new power distribution control concept has these advantages: - Operation at small peak-/DNB-reactor output limitation margins. - Stable control without manual intervention also in load cycles and in the frequency control mode. - Simplified operation due to omission of the power distribution set point. - Reduction to zero of the frequency of L-bank steps at constant power with superimposed frequency control mode. - Reduction to zero of the frequency of D-bank steps at constant power with superimposed frequency control mode. - Lower quantities of demineralized water to be fed at constant power with superimposed frequency control mode (±1%). (orig.)

  20. Identification of moving vehicle forces on bridge structures via moving average Tikhonov regularization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Chu-Dong; Yu, Ling; Liu, Huan-Lin

    2017-08-01

    Traffic-induced moving force identification (MFI) is a typical inverse problem in the field of bridge structural health monitoring. Lots of regularization-based methods have been proposed for MFI. However, the MFI accuracy obtained from the existing methods is low when the moving forces enter into and exit a bridge deck due to low sensitivity of structural responses to the forces at these zones. To overcome this shortcoming, a novel moving average Tikhonov regularization method is proposed for MFI by combining with the moving average concepts. Firstly, the bridge-vehicle interaction moving force is assumed as a discrete finite signal with stable average value (DFS-SAV). Secondly, the reasonable signal feature of DFS-SAV is quantified and introduced for improving the penalty function (∣∣x∣∣2 2) defined in the classical Tikhonov regularization. Then, a feasible two-step strategy is proposed for selecting regularization parameter and balance coefficient defined in the improved penalty function. Finally, both numerical simulations on a simply-supported beam and laboratory experiments on a hollow tube beam are performed for assessing the accuracy and the feasibility of the proposed method. The illustrated results show that the moving forces can be accurately identified with a strong robustness. Some related issues, such as selection of moving window length, effect of different penalty functions, and effect of different car speeds, are discussed as well.

  1. The FlexControl concept - a vision, a concept and a product for the future power system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgård, Per Bromand

    2011-01-01

    in order to maintain the power balances and the high security of supply and power quality in all parts of the grid. FlexControl is a flexible, modular, scalable and generic control concept designed for smart control of a huge number of distributed, controllable power units (DERs) in the power system. Flex......Control is based on aggregated, indirect and rule based communication and control, and open standards. The indirect control is based on responses to the frequency, the voltage and the broadcasting of global or local price signals. The paper presents an overview of the FlexControl concept, with its elements...

  2. CONCEPT ANALYSIS OF PERCEIVED CONTROL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mardiyono Mardiyono

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Background. Perceived control is a personality characteristic that contributes psychological adjustment. It was derived from various theories, so that definitions of perceived control were ambiguous meaning. Disclosing concept of perceived control is required.Objective. The analysis aims to identify definition and use of perceived control, examine the basic attributes of perceived control, and the measurements of perceived control.Method. Databases searched for electronic journals and books that were published from 1994 to 2010 were analyzed.Result. Perceived control is personal belief that refers to controllability on behalf of one’s self and ability to control threats or events. The use of perceived control includes maternal, pediatric, medical, surgical, psychiatric, community nursing, and pain management. Perceived control was composed of two dimensions: belief about controllability and belief about ability to control to threats.Conclusion. Instrument of Anxiety Control Questionnaire most closely corresponds to two dimensions: belief about controllability and ability to control. Defining attributes and dimensions of perceived control are useful for developing tool.Keywords: perceived control, controllability, ability to control, and agency

  3. Inverse engineering for fast transport and spin control of spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in moving harmonic traps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xi; Jiang, Ruan-Lei; Li, Jing; Ban, Yue; Sherman, E. Ya.

    2018-01-01

    We investigate fast transport and spin manipulation of tunable spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in a moving harmonic trap. Motivated by the concept of shortcuts to adiabaticity, we design inversely the time-dependent trap position and spin-orbit-coupling strength. By choosing appropriate boundary conditions we obtain fast transport and spin flip simultaneously. The nonadiabatic transport and relevant spin dynamics are illustrated with numerical examples and compared with the adiabatic transport with constant spin-orbit-coupling strength and velocity. Moreover, the influence of nonlinearity induced by interatomic interaction is discussed in terms of the Gross-Pitaevskii approach, showing the robustness of the proposed protocols. With the state-of-the-art experiments, such an inverse engineering technique paves the way for coherent control of spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in harmonic traps.

  4. Model-based active control of a continuous structure subjected to moving loads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stancioiu, D.; Ouyang, H.

    2016-09-01

    Modelling of a structure is an important preliminary step of structural control. The main objectives of the modelling, which are almost always antagonistic are accuracy and simplicity of the model. The first part of this study focuses on the experimental and theoretical modelling of a structure subjected to the action of one or two decelerating moving carriages modelled as masses. The aim of this part is to obtain a simple but accurate model which will include not only the structure-moving load interaction but also the actuators dynamics. A small scale rig is designed to represent a four-span continuous metallic bridge structure with miniature guiding rails. A series of tests are run subjecting the structure to the action of one or two minicarriages with different loads that were launched along the structure at different initial speeds. The second part is dedicated to model based control design where a feedback controller is designed and tested against the validated model. The study shows that a positive position feedback is able to improve system dynamics but also shows some of the limitations of state- space methods for this type of system.

  5. [Locus of control and self-concept in interpersonal conflict resolution approaches].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hisli Sahin, Nesrin; Basim, H Nejat; Cetin, Fatih

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-concept and locus of control in interpersonal conflict resolution approaches and to determine the predictors of conflict resolution approach choices. The study included 345 students aged between 18 and 28 years that were studying at universities in Ankara. Data were collected using the Interpersonal Conflict Resolution Approaches Scale to measure conflict resolution approaches, the Social Comparison Scale to measure self-concept, and the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale to measure locus of control. It was observed that confrontation approach to interpersonal conflict was predicted by self-concept (beta = 0.396, P resolution approaches. In addition to these findings, it was observed that females used self-disclosure (beta = -0.163, P resolution processes. Self-concept and locus of control were related to the behaviors adopted in the interpersonal conflict resolution process. Individuals with a positive self-concept and an internal locus of control adopted solutions to interpersonal conflict resolution that were more effective and constructive.

  6. Optical angular constancy is maintained as a navigational control strategy when pursuing robots moving along complex pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wei; McBeath, Michael K; Sugar, Thomas G

    2015-03-24

    The optical navigational control strategy used to intercept moving targets was explored using a real-world object that travels along complex, evasive pathways. Fielders ran across a gymnasium attempting to catch a moving robot that varied in speed and direction, while ongoing position was measured using an infrared motion-capture system. Fielder running paths were compared with the predictions of three lateral control models, each based on maintaining a particular optical angle relative to the robotic target: (a) constant alignment angle (CAA), (b) constant eccentricity angle (CEA), and (c) linear optical trajectory (LOT). Findings reveal that running pathways were most consistent with maintenance of LOT and least consistent with CEA. This supports that fielders use the same optical control strategy of maintaining angular constancy using a LOT when navigating toward targets moving along complex pathways as when intercepting simple ballistic trajectories. In those cases in which a target dramatically deviates from its optical path, fielders appear to simply reset LOT parameters using a new constant angle value. Maintenance of such optical angular constancy has now been shown to work well with ballistic, complex, and evasive moving targets, confirming the LOT strategy as a robust, general-purpose optical control mechanism for navigating to intercept catchable targets, both airborne and ground based. © 2015 ARVO.

  7. Control, Control, Complete Control!!! Neurotic Control Relationships and the Development of Dysfunctional Organizational Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kersten, Astrid

    A case study illustrates the concept of the neurotic organization by describing the development of "Central Control College" over a period of 11 years. In this period of time, the college moved from a small, informal organization to a highly developed compulsive institution. The image of neurosis has been applied in the organizational…

  8. The concept of control of COPD in clinical practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soler-Cataluña JJ

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Juan José Soler-Cataluña,1,2 Bernardino Alcázar-Navarrete,3 Marc Miravitlles2,4 1Pneumology Department, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Valencia, Spain; 2CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES, 3Respiratory Department, Hospital de Alta Resolucion, Granada, Spain; 4Pneumology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain Abstract: Treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD requires a personalized approach according to the clinical characteristics of the patients, the level of severity, and the response to the different therapies. Furthermore, patients with the same level of severity measured by the degree of airflow obstruction or even with multidimensional indices may have very different symptoms and limitations for daily activities. The concept of control has been extensively developed in asthma but has not been defined in COPD. Here, we propose a definition of COPD control based on the concepts of impact and stability. Impact is a cross-sectional concept that can be measured by questionnaires such as the COPD Assessment Test or the Clinical COPD Questionnaire. Alternatively, impact can be assessed by the degree of dyspnea, the use of rescue medication, the level of physical activity, and sputum color. Stability is a longitudinal concept that requires the absence of exacerbations and deterioration in the aforementioned variables or in the COPD Assessment Test or Clinical COPD Questionnaire scores. Control is defined by low impact (adjusted for severity and stability. The concept of control in COPD can be useful in the decision making regarding an increase or decrease in medication in the stable state. Keywords: COPD, control, CAT, CCQ, exacerbations, prognosis

  9. Output-feedback control of combined sewer networks through receding horizon control with moving horizon estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph-Duran, Bernat; Ocampo-Martinez, Carlos; Cembrano, Gabriela

    2015-10-01

    An output-feedback control strategy for pollution mitigation in combined sewer networks is presented. The proposed strategy provides means to apply model-based predictive control to large-scale sewer networks, in-spite of the lack of measurements at most of the network sewers. In previous works, the authors presented a hybrid linear control-oriented model for sewer networks together with the formulation of Optimal Control Problems (OCP) and State Estimation Problems (SEP). By iteratively solving these problems, preliminary Receding Horizon Control with Moving Horizon Estimation (RHC/MHE) results, based on flow measurements, were also obtained. In this work, the RHC/MHE algorithm has been extended to take into account both flow and water level measurements and the resulting control loop has been extensively simulated to assess the system performance according different measurement availability scenarios and rain events. All simulations have been carried out using a detailed physically based model of a real case-study network as virtual reality.

  10. High accuracy velocity control method for the french moving-coil watt balance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Topcu, Suat; Chassagne, Luc; Haddad, Darine; Alayli, Yasser; Juncar, Patrick

    2004-01-01

    We describe a novel method of velocity control dedicated to the French moving-coil watt balance. In this project, a coil has to move in a magnetic field at a velocity of 2 mm s -1 with a relative uncertainty of 10 -9 over 60 mm. Our method is based on the use of both a heterodyne Michelson's interferometer, a two-level translation stage, and a homemade high frequency phase-shifting electronic circuit. To quantify the stability of the velocity, the output of the interferometer is sent into a frequency counter and the Doppler frequency shift is recorded. The Allan standard deviation has been used to calculate the stability and a σ y (τ) of about 2.2x10 -9 over 400 s has been obtained

  11. Measuring Light Pollution with Fisheye Lens Imagery from A Moving Boat – A Proof of Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Jechow

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Near all-sky imaging photometry was performed from a boat on the Gulf of Aqaba to measure the night sky brightness in a coastal environment. The boat was not anchored, and therefore drifted and rocked. The camera was mounted on a tripod without any inertia/motion stabilization. A commercial digital single lens reflex (DSLR camera and fisheye lens were used with ISO setting of 6400, with the exposure time varied between 0.5 s and 5 s. We find that despite movement of the vessel the measurements produce quantitatively comparable results apart from saturation effects. We discuss the potential and limitations of this method for mapping light pollution in marine and freshwater systems. This work represents the proof of concept that all-sky photometry with a commercial DSLR camera is a viable tool to determine light pollution in an ecological context from a moving boat.

  12. Process qualification and control in electron beams--requirements, methods, new concepts and challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mittendorfer, J.; Gratzl, F.; Hanis, D.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper the status of process qualification and control in electron beam irradiation is analyzed in terms of requirements, concepts, methods and challenges for a state-of-the-art process control concept for medical device sterilization. Aspects from process qualification to routine process control are described together with the associated process variables. As a case study the 10 MeV beams at Mediscan GmbH are considered. Process control concepts like statistical process control (SPC) and a new concept to determine process capability is briefly discussed

  13. Control concepts for vehicle drive line to reduce fuel consumption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ossyra, J.C.

    2005-07-01

    In this work advanced drive line control concepts for off-road vehicles have been developed and investigated to reduce the power losses and finally the fuel consumption of the entire drive system by use of on-line optimization procedure. Two separate closed loop speed controls have been developed for the use on a microcontroller onboard the vehicle: one to control the hydrostatic transmission and the other to control the engine speed. Considering the loss characteristics of the displacement machines in the hydrostatic transmission and the steady state characteristics of the combustion engine by use of pure mathematical approximations of measured curves, a direct optimization strategy is used, which works on-line on a microcontroller. A laboratory hardware-in-the loop test rig has been used to investigate the proposed control concepts. For different typical and desired work cycles of an off-road machine on level ground and uphill a slope the effectiveness of the proposed control concepts have been proven. (orig.)

  14. RoMPS concept review automatic control of space robot, volume 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobbs, M. E.

    1991-01-01

    Topics related to robot operated materials processing in space (RoMPS) are presented in view graph form and include: (1) system concept; (2) Hitchhiker Interface Requirements; (3) robot axis control concepts; (4) Autonomous Experiment Management System; (5) Zymate Robot Controller; (6) Southwest SC-4 Computer; (7) oven control housekeeping data; and (8) power distribution.

  15. Distributed Measurement Data Gathering about Moving Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Kholod

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes approaches to gathering measurement data about moving objects in networks with low bandwidth. The first approach uses Fog computing conception and suggests moving assessing the quality of the measurement data into measuring points. The second approach uses prediction of telemetry quality by mining models. In addition, the paper presents implementation of these approaches based on actor model. As a result, it became possible not only to load balancing among edge and cloud nodes, but also to significantly reduce the network traffic, which in turn brings the possibility of decreasing the requirements for communication channels bandwidth and of using wireless networks for gathering measurement data about moving objects.

  16. CCD high-speed videography system with new concepts and techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Zengrong; Zhao, Wenyi; Wu, Zhiqiang

    1997-05-01

    A novel CCD high speed videography system with brand-new concepts and techniques is developed by Zhejiang University recently. The system can send a series of short flash pulses to the moving object. All of the parameters, such as flash numbers, flash durations, flash intervals, flash intensities and flash colors, can be controlled according to needs by the computer. A series of moving object images frozen by flash pulses, carried information of moving object, are recorded by a CCD video camera, and result images are sent to a computer to be frozen, recognized and processed with special hardware and software. Obtained parameters can be displayed, output as remote controlling signals or written into CD. The highest videography frequency is 30,000 images per second. The shortest image freezing time is several microseconds. The system has been applied to wide fields of energy, chemistry, medicine, biological engineering, aero- dynamics, explosion, multi-phase flow, mechanics, vibration, athletic training, weapon development and national defense engineering. It can also be used in production streamline to carry out the online, real-time monitoring and controlling.

  17. Plant Control Concept for the Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Eui Kwang; Kim, S. O.

    2010-12-01

    A power plant is designed for incorporation into a utility's grid system and follows the load demand through the steam generator, intermediate heat exchanger(IHX), from the nuclear core. During the load-following transients, various plant parameters must be controlled to protect the reactor core and other components in the plant. The purpose of this report is to review design considerations to establish SFR plant control and to design plant control concepts. The governing equations and solution procedure of the computer code to calculate plant temperature conditions during the part-load operation was reviewed and 4 types of plant operation concepts were designed, and the results of the calculations were compared

  18. Relativity on a two-way moving sidewalk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaccarini, Antoine

    1989-01-01

    Some classical thought experiments in Special Relativity are performed on a two-way moving sidewalk. Since each of the two sides moves at constant speed, this device provides a simple, intuitive way to illustrate relative velocity, time dilation, and length contraction. It should, therefore allow for a better understanding of the basic concepts of the theory. Furthermore, being a closed system the two-way sidewalk exhibits some of the characteristics of a rotating disc, and might therefore be helpful in an introduction to General Relativity. (author)

  19. The Concept "System of Philosophy"

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Catana, Leo

    2005-01-01

    of philosophy’ as a methodological tool in the history of philosophy. I shall argue that the interdisciplinary nature of much pre-modern philosophy makes Brucker’s methodological concept ‘system of philosophy’ inadequate, and that we may be better off leaving it behind in our future exploration of pre-modern......In this article I shall examine and discuss the concept ‘system of philosophy’ as a methodological tool in the history of philosophy. I shall do so in two moves. First I shall analyze the historical origin of the concept in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Thereafter I shall undertake...... a discussion of its methodological weaknesses — a discussion, which is not only relevant to the writing of history of philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but also to the writing of history of philosophy in our times, where the concept remains an important methodological tool. My first move...

  20. RAPID-L Highly Automated Fast Reactor Concept Without Any Control Rods (1) Reactor concept and plant dynamics analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru; Tsunoda, Hirokazu; Mishima, Kaichiro; Iwamura, Takamichi

    2002-01-01

    The 200 kWe uranium-nitride fueled lithium cooled fast reactor concept 'RAPID-L' to achieve highly automated reactor operation has been demonstrated. RAPID-L is designed for Lunar base power system. It is one of the variants of RAPID (Refueling by All Pins Integrated Design), fast reactor concept, which enable quick and simplified refueling. The essential feature of RAPID concept is that the reactor core consists of an integrated fuel assembly instead of conventional fuel subassemblies. In this small size reactor core, 2700 fuel pins are integrated altogether and encased in a fuel cartridge. Refueling is conducted by replacing a fuel cartridge. The reactor can be operated without refueling for up to 10 years. Unique challenges in reactivity control systems design have been attempted in RAPID-L concept. The reactor has no control rod, but involves the following innovative reactivity control systems: Lithium Expansion Modules (LEM) for inherent reactivity feedback, Lithium Injection Modules (LIM) for inherent ultimate shutdown, and Lithium Release Modules (LRM) for automated reactor startup. All these systems adopt lithium-6 as a liquid poison instead of B 4 C rods. In combination with LEMs, LIMs and LRMs, RAPID-L can be operated without operator. This is the first reactor concept ever established in the world. This reactor concept is also applicable to the terrestrial fast reactors. In this paper, RAPID-L reactor concept and its transient characteristics are presented. (authors)

  1. Techno-economic studies on transportable moving-bed onion irradiator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishnamurthy, K.; Sharma, K.S.S.; Deshmukh, V.P.; Bongirwar, D.R.; Nair, K.V.V.; Patil, K.B.

    1984-01-01

    The paper presents the optimisation studies and the design features of a transportable irradiator evolved to demonstrate the techno-economic advantage of the irradiation process at village level. A brief outline is also given of the computer programme generated and employed to optimise the source-target configuration based on a narrow plane source moving-bed irradiation concept that aimed at achieving a simplified product handling system and cost effective design of the biological shield and controls for the irradiator. The engineering features of the irradiator along with a summary of the analysis of the economics of the application of the process are also given. (author)

  2. Control room concept for remote maintenance in high radiation areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clarke, M.M.; Kreifeldt, J.G.

    1984-01-01

    This paper summarizes the design of a control room concept for an operator interface with remote maintenance equipment consisting of force-reflecting manipulators, tools, hoists, cranes, cameras, and lights. The design development involved two major activities. First, detailed requirements were defined for foreseeable functions that will be performed by the control room operators. Second, concepts were developed, tested, and refined to meet these requirements. 6 references, 3 figures

  3. Modified Exponential Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) Control Chart on Autocorrelation Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herdiani, Erna Tri; Fandrilla, Geysa; Sunusi, Nurtiti

    2018-03-01

    In general, observations of the statistical process control are assumed to be mutually independence. However, this assumption is often violated in practice. Consequently, statistical process controls were developed for interrelated processes, including Shewhart, Cumulative Sum (CUSUM), and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control charts in the data that were autocorrelation. One researcher stated that this chart is not suitable if the same control limits are used in the case of independent variables. For this reason, it is necessary to apply the time series model in building the control chart. A classical control chart for independent variables is usually applied to residual processes. This procedure is permitted provided that residuals are independent. In 1978, Shewhart modification for the autoregressive process was introduced by using the distance between the sample mean and the target value compared to the standard deviation of the autocorrelation process. In this paper we will examine the mean of EWMA for autocorrelation process derived from Montgomery and Patel. Performance to be investigated was investigated by examining Average Run Length (ARL) based on the Markov Chain Method.

  4. Self-concept and self-esteem after acquired brain injury: a control group comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponsford, Jennie; Kelly, Amber; Couchman, Grace

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the multidimensional self-concept, global self-esteem and psychological adjustment of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) as compared with healthy controls. Group comparison on self-report questionnaires. Forty-one individuals who had sustained a TBI were compared with an age- and gender-matched sample of 41 trauma-free control participants on the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (second edition) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS). Participants with TBI rated significantly lower mean levels of global self-esteem and self-concept on the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and Tennessee Self Concept Scale than the control group. Survivors of TBI rated themselves more poorly on a range of self-dimensions, including social, family, academic/work and personal self-concept compared to controls. They also reported higher mean levels of depression and anxiety on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Overall self-concept was most strongly associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety. Self-concept may be lowered following TBI and is associated with negative emotional consequences. Clinicians may improve the emotional adjustment of survivors of TBI by considering particular dimensions of self-concept for intervention focus.

  5. Control room concept for remote maintenance in high radiation areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clarke, M.M.; Kreifeldt, J.G.

    1984-01-01

    This paper summarizes the design of a control room concept for an operator interface with remote maintenance equipment consisting of force-reflecting manipulators, tools, hoists, cranes, cameras, and lights. The design development involved two major activities. First, detailed requirements were defined for foreseeable functions that will be performed by the control room operators. Second, concepts were developed, tested, and refined to meet these requirements. Each of these activities is summarized below. 6 references, 3 figures

  6. FAA Air Traffic Control Operations Concepts. Volume 4. TAAS (Terminal Advanced Automation System) Terminal Controllers

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-07-29

    manually under controller comiand. 40.3.7.1.2.1.1.2-19 b. Ordering - In manual ordering , the 780 controller shall have the capability to put o new FOE...7.1.2.1.1.2-09 a. Posting - This orgonization of FOEs shall 780 be provided at the option of the controller. 40.3.7.1.2.1.1.2-19 b. Ordering - In manual ... ordering , the 780 controller shall have the capability to put o new FOE in the appropriate place in a list and to move FOEs with respect to one another

  7. A concept of environmental controlling for industrial enterprises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poelzl, U.

    1992-01-01

    The protection of nature is seen as a global challenge to mankind. Industrial enterprises are confronted with the question of how to contribute to the solution of environmental problems. In this study possibilities and concepts are printed out that would enable industrial enterprises to recognize and as a consequence reduce environmental pollution and risks caused by their products and production processes by means of organization. After a description of recent developments in the entrepreneur's surroundings brought about by environmental problems, and a characterization of environmental management, which can be seen as a reaction to the above mentioned developments, a concept of environmental controlling for industrial enterprises is developed deductively. Environmental controlling is here regarded as a sub-system of environmental management that supports the determination of environmental aims, the analysis, the planning and the control of environmental pollution, as well as the use of material and energy by installing and coordinating a specific environment information system. The main functions of environmental controlling are planning, controlling, informing, advising and some special functions. The specific functional instruments for carrying out these tasks are described in a special chapter. (author)

  8. Introduction to Advanced Engine Control Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanjay, Garg

    2007-01-01

    With the increased emphasis on aircraft safety, enhanced performance and affordability, and the need to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft, there are many new challenges being faced by the designers of aircraft propulsion systems. The Controls and Dynamics Branch at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio, is leading and participating in various projects in partnership with other organizations within GRC and across NASA, the U.S. aerospace industry, and academia to develop advanced controls and health management technologies that will help meet these challenges through the concept of Intelligent Propulsion Systems. The key enabling technologies for an Intelligent Propulsion System are the increased efficiencies of components through active control, advanced diagnostics and prognostics integrated with intelligent engine control to enhance operational reliability and component life, and distributed control with smart sensors and actuators in an adaptive fault tolerant architecture. This presentation describes the current activities of the Controls and Dynamics Branch in the areas of active component control and propulsion system intelligent control, and presents some recent analytical and experimental results in these areas.

  9. Basal-topographic control of stationary ponds on a continuously moving landslide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coe, J.A.; McKenna, J.P.; Godt, J.W.; Baum, R.L.

    2009-01-01

    analyses of translational landslides should attempt to incorporate irregular basal surface topography. Additional implications for moving landslides where basal topography controls surface morphology include the following: dateable sediments or organic material from basal layers of stationary ponds will yield ages that are younger than the date of landslide initiation, and it is probable that other landslide surface features such as faults, streams, springs and sinks are also controlled by basal topography. The longitudinal topographic profile indicated that the upper part of the Slumgullion landslide was depleted at a mean vertical lowering rate of 5.6 cm/yr between 1939 and 2000, while the toe advanced at an average rate of 1.5 m/yr during the same period. Therefore, during this 61-year period, neither the depletion of material at the head of the landslide nor continued growth of the landslide toe has decreased the overall movement rate of the landslide. Continued depletion of the upper part of the landslide, and growth of the toe, should eventually result in stabilization of the landslide. Copyright ?? 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Role based access control design using Triadic concept analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Ch Aswani Kumar; S Chandra Mouliswaran; LI Jin-hai; C Chandrasekar

    2016-01-01

    Role based access control is one of the widely used access control models. There are investigations in the literature that use knowledge representation mechanisms such as formal concept analysis (FCA), description logics, and Ontology for representing access control mechanism. However, while using FCA, investigations reported in the literature so far work on the logic that transforms the three dimensional access control matrix into dyadic formal contexts. This transformation is mainly to derive the formal concepts, lattice structure and implications to represent role hierarchy and constraints of RBAC. In this work, we propose a methodology that models RBAC using triadic FCA without transforming the triadic access control matrix into dyadic formal contexts. Our discussion is on two lines of inquiry. We present how triadic FCA can provide a suitable representation of RBAC policy and we demonstrate how this representation follows role hierarchy and constraints of RBAC on sample healthcare network available in the literature.

  11. A Low-Power Wireless Image Sensor Node with Noise-Robust Moving Object Detection and a Region-of-Interest Based Rate Controller

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-01

    from both environment and hardware further reduces the transmission energy with negligible computation and memory overhead. The rate controller...detection, Region-of-interest, Rate control Introduction In wireless image sensor nodes for moving object surveillance, energy efficiency can be...noise, reliable moving object detection is required to avoid unnecessary transmission of background scenes [1]. Transmission energy can be further

  12. An Exponentially Weighted Moving Average Control Chart for Bernoulli Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Spliid, Henrik

    2010-01-01

    of the transformation is given and its limit for small values of p is derived. Control of high yield processes is discussed and the chart is shown to perform very well in comparison with both the most common alternative EWMA chart and the CUSUM chart. The construction and the use of the proposed EWMA chart......We consider a production process in which units are produced in a sequential manner. The units can, for example, be manufactured items or services, provided to clients. Each unit produced can be a failure with probability p or a success (non-failure) with probability (1-p). A novel exponentially...... weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart intended for surveillance of the probability of failure, p, is described. The chart is based on counting the number of non-failures produced between failures in combination with a variance-stabilizing transformation. The distribution function...

  13. Concept of development of integrated computer - based control system for 'Ukryttia' object

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buyal'skij, V.M.; Maslov, V.P.

    2003-01-01

    The structural concept of Chernobyl NPP 'Ukryttia' Object's integrated computer - based control system development is presented on the basis of general concept of integrated Computer - based Control System (CCS) design process for organizing and technical management subjects.The concept is aimed at state-of-the-art architectural design technique application and allows using modern computer-aided facilities for functional model,information (logical and physical) models development,as well as for system object model under design

  14. RETIMAC: a real-time material control concept for strategic special nuclear material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shea, T.E.

    1975-01-01

    As one possible means to upgrade licensee safeguards systems, the NRC is exploring a real-time material control concept. The concept incorporates process controls, material containment provisions, and extensive instrumentation. Plants incorporating this concept would be better able to prevent, deter, and detect diversion, and to assure that diversion has not gone undetected. A substantial methods development, evaluation, and preliminary standards development program is under way to develop the basis for future policy decisions

  15. HITACHI security concept for industrial control systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endoh, H.; Yamada, T.; Okubo, S.; Nakano, T.

    2012-01-01

    Security is a necessary factor for the safe and efficient operation of today's control systems. To ensure safe operation of control systems throughout their lifetime, security measures must be carefully planned in the development phase and then maintained continuously during the operation phase and other following phases. To ensure operation within the system's safe states, Hitachi proposes security concept processes (1) to derive security measures rationally and (2) to maintain the security model over the system life cycle. Hitachi also proposes security development programs which support the integration of standards-compliant systems and development of robust control equipment. (author)

  16. The Bobath concept in contemporary clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, Julie Vaughan; Eustace, Catherine; Brock, Kim; Swain, Elizabeth; Irwin-Carruthers, Sheena

    2009-01-01

    Future development in neurorehabilitation depends upon bringing together the endeavors of basic science and clinical practice. The Bobath concept is widely utilized in rehabilitation following stroke and other neurological conditions. This concept was first developed in the 1950s, based on the neuroscience knowledge of those times. The theoretical basis of the Bobath concept is redefined based on contemporary neuroscience and rehabilitation science. The framework utilized in the Bobath concept for the analysis of movement and movement dysfunction is described. This framework focuses on postural control for task performance, the ability to move selectively, the ability to produce coordinated sequences of movement and vary movement patterns to fit a task, and the role of sensory input in motor behaviour and learning. The article describes aspects of clinical practice that differentiate this approach from other models of practice. Contemporary practice in the Bobath concept utilizes a problem-solving approach to the individual's clinical presentation and personal goals. Treatment is focused toward remediation, where possible, and guiding the individual towards efficient movement strategies for task performance. The aim of this article is to provide a theoretical framework on which future research into the Bobath concept can be based.

  17. A Hybrid Power Control Concept for PV Inverters with Reduced Thermal Loading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yang, Yongheng; Wang, Huai; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2014-01-01

    on a single-phase PV inverter under yearly operation is presented with analyses of the thermal loading, lifetime, and annual energy yield. It has revealed the trade-off factors to select the power limit and also verified the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed control concept.......This letter proposes a hybrid power control concept for grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) inverters. The control strategy is based on either a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control or a Constant Power Generation (CPG) control depending on the instantaneous available power from the PV panels....... The essence of the proposed concept lies in the selection of an appropriate power limit for the CPG control to achieve an improved thermal performance and an increased utilization factor of PV inverters,and thus to cater for a higher penetration level of PV systems with intermittent nature. A case study...

  18. Power control for wind turbines in weak grids: Concepts development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bindner, H.

    1999-01-01

    will make wind power more firm and possible to connect to weaker grids. So, when the concept is matured, theexpectation is that for certain wind power installations, the cost of the power control is paid back as added wind power capacity value and saved grid reinforcement costs. Different systems...... and analyze methods and technologies for making it viable to utilize more of the wind potential in remote areas. The suggestion is to develop a power control concept for wind turbines which will even out thepower fluctuations and make it possible to increase the wind energy penetration. The main options...... are to combine wind power with a pumped hydro power storage or with an AC/DC converter and battery storage. The AC/DC converter can either be an "add-on" typeor it can be designed as an integrated part of a variable speed wind turbine. The idea is that combining wind power with the power control concept...

  19. Rapid-L Operator-Free Fast Reactor Concept Without Any Control Rods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru; Tsunoda, Hirokazu; Mishima, Kaichiro; Iwamura, Takamichi

    2003-01-01

    The 200-kW(electric) uranium-nitride-fueled lithium-cooled fast reactor concept 'RAPID-L' to achieve highly automated reactor operation has been demonstrated. RAPID-L is designed for a lunar base power system. It is one of the variants of the RAPID (Refueling by All Pins Integrated Design) fast reactor concept, which enables quick and simplified refueling. The essential feature of the RAPID concept is that the reactor core consists of an integrated fuel assembly instead of conventional fuel subassemblies. In this small-size reactor core, 2700 fuel pins are integrated and encased in a fuel cartridge. Refueling is conducted by replacing a fuel cartridge. The reactor can be operated without refueling for up to 10 yr.Unique challenges in reactivity control systems design have been addressed in the RAPID-L concept. The reactor has no control rod but involves the following innovative reactivity control systems: lithium expansion modules (LEM) for inherent reactivity feedback, lithium injection modules (LIM) for inherent ultimate shutdown, and lithium release modules (LRM) for automated reactor startup. All these systems adopt 6 Li as a liquid poison instead of B 4 C rods. In combination with LEMs, LIMs, and LRMs, RAPID-L can be operated without an operator. This reactor concept is also applicable to the terrestrial fast reactors. In this paper, the RAPID-L reactor concept and its transient characteristics are presented

  20. Project Design Concept for Monitoring and Control System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MCGREW, D.L.

    2000-01-01

    This Project Design Concept represents operational requirements established for use in design the tank farm Monitoring and Control System. These upgrades are included within the scope of Project W-314, Tank Farm Restoration and Safe Operations

  1. Development of an Optimizing Control Concept for Fossil-Fired Boilers using a Simulation Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, J. H.; Mølbak, T.; Commisso, M.B.

    1997-01-01

    of implementation and commissioning. The optimizing control system takes into account the multivariable and nonlinear characteristics of the boiler process as a gain-scheduled LQG-controller is utilized. For the purpose of facilitating the control concept development a dynamic simulation model of the boiler process......An optimizing control system for improving the load following capabilities of power plant units has been developed. The system is implemented as a complement producing additive control signals to the existing boiler control system, a concept which has various practical advantages in terms...... model when designing a new control concept are discussed....

  2. Concept and structure of instrumentation and control of the Atucha II nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garzon, D.; Roca, J.L.

    1987-01-01

    The general structure of instrumentation and control of Atucha II nuclear power plant as well as the technologies used, are described: concepts of functional decentralization and physical centralization; concept of functional group and functional complex; description of the technologies used (physical support) in the project of plant instrumentation and control; description of the different automation levels on the basis of concepts of control interface, automatism, regulation, group and subgroup controls; principles of signal conditioning; concept of announcement of alarms and state: supervisory computer, description of HAS (Hard wired Alarm System) and CAS (Computer Alarm System); application of the above mentioned structure to the project of another type of plants. (Author)

  3. A Control Systems Concept Inventory Test Design and Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bristow, M.; Erkorkmaz, K.; Huissoon, J. P.; Jeon, Soo; Owen, W. S.; Waslander, S. L.; Stubley, G. D.

    2012-01-01

    Any meaningful initiative to improve the teaching and learning in introductory control systems courses needs a clear test of student conceptual understanding to determine the effectiveness of proposed methods and activities. The authors propose a control systems concept inventory. Development of the inventory was collaborative and iterative. The…

  4. IT-tool Concept for Design and Intelligent Motion Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conrad, Finn; Hansen, Poul Erik; Sørensen, Torben

    2000-01-01

    The paper presents results obtained from a Danish mechatronic research program focusing on intelligent motion control as well as results from the Esprit project SWING on IT-tools for rapid prototyping of fluid power components and systems. A mechatronic test facility with digital controllers for ....... Furthermore, a developed IT-tool concept for controller and system design utilising the ISO 10303 STEP Standard is proposed....

  5. CONSOLIDATION POLICY: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE APPROACHES TO THE CONCEPT OF CONTROL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ienciu Alin Ionel

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Preparing consolidated financial statements has been a common practice for groups of companies around the world for a relatively long time, going back one century in the USA and tens of years in different European countries.A far-reaching issue regarding consolidation accounting policy is the concept of control, as it holds a crucial role in determining the basis of consolidation and the applicable method of consolidation and subsequently in influencing the content of the group financial statements. We focus in our article on the concept of exclusive control as it is approached by the relevant International, American and European standards, casting light also on possible future developments of this concept. The objective of our study is to acknowledge the differences and similarities between the approaches to the control concept, closing with the presentation of the influences of these approaches on the basis of consolidation.

  6. Concepts Concerning 'Disease\\' Causation, Control, and the current ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    There is an ethical necessity that doctors understand the complex social, political, environmental and economic dynamics involved in infectious disease outbreaks. This article discusses some important concepts concerning 'disease' causation and control with specific reference to the current cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe ...

  7. Application of the concept of dynamic trim control to automatic landing of carrier aircraft. [utilizing digital feedforeward control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, G. A.; Meyer, G.

    1980-01-01

    The results of a simulation study of an alternative design concept for an automatic landing control system are presented. The alternative design concept for an automatic landing control system is described. The design concept is the total aircraft flight control system (TAFCOS). TAFCOS is an open loop, feed forward system that commands the proper instantaneous thrust, angle of attack, and roll angle to achieve the forces required to follow the desired trajector. These dynamic trim conditions are determined by an inversion of the aircraft nonlinear force characteristics. The concept was applied to an A-7E aircraft approaching an aircraft carrier. The implementation details with an airborne digital computer are discussed. The automatic carrier landing situation is described. The simulation results are presented for a carrier approach with atmospheric disturbances, an approach with no disturbances, and for tailwind and headwind gusts.

  8. Autonomy and Control when Working with Humans—A Reflection on Sociotechnical Concepts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Amble

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The sociotechnical concepts of responsible autonomy and to be in control were originally developed from men’s work in order to describe and develop mostly industrial work. This article explores how these conceptions may be useful in modern service work, when working with humans. It is based on a set of development projects in mainly municipal care institutions in Norway, between 2000 and 2011. The projects were theoretically grounded in the Norwegian and international sociotechnical system theory (STS tradition. It argues that there are many valuable lessons to be learnt from this tradition also concerning nursing and care work in the municipalities. However, the article points to a need for development of the concept control as autonomy to embrace “working with humans.” A central finding is that assistance and support from and to colleagues are prerequisites for “being in control.” Moreover, that development of trust through communication alongside work is necessary in order to establish relations of mutual support. Trust and mutual support point to the social relations at work; so in this way it takes the concept control as autonomy from an individual to a more collective concept as Trist et al. (1963 and Herbst (1974/1993 defined their concept of control as collective responsible autonomy. In a prospective perspective, the article sets up the hypothesis that an organization that combines the two, an individual together with a more collective scope on autonomy when working with humans, will meet what Kira (2006 calls as regenerative work. This means sustainability—in resources involved; health, quality, and milieu—through the staff ’s dominion over the conditions of their work.

  9. United States Control Module Guidance, Navigation, and Control Subsystem Design Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polites, M. E.; Bartlow, B. E.

    1997-01-01

    Should the Russian Space Agency (RSA) not participate in the International Space Station (ISS) program, then the United States (U.S.) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may choose to execute the ISS mission. However, in order to do this, NASA must build two new space vehicles, which must perform the functions that the Russian vehicles and hardware were to perform. These functions include periodic ISS orbit reboost, initial ISS attitude control, and U.S. On-Orbit Segment (USOS) control Moment gyroscope (CMG) momentum desaturation. The two new NASA vehicles that must perform these functions are called the U.S. control module (USCM) and the U.S. resupply module. This paper presents a design concept for the USCM GN&C subsystem, which must play a major role in ISS orbit reboost and initial attitude control, plus USOS CMG momentum desaturation. The proposed concept is structured similar to the USOS GN&C subsystem, by design. It is very robust, in that it allows the USCM to assume a variety of vehicle attitudes and stay power-positive. It has a storage/safe mode that places the USCM in a gravity-gradient orientation and keeps it there for extended periods of time without consuming a great deal of propellant. Simulation results are presented and discussed that show the soundness of the design approach. An equipment list is included that gives detailed information on the baselined GN&C components.

  10. Report on the evaluation and validation of the ELECTRA WoC control concept

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Strasser, Thomas; Latif, Aadil; Leimgruber, Fabian

    This report summarizes the evaluation and validation of the ELECTRA Web-of-Cells concept which has been implemented for the proof of concept in selected validation environments provided by the project partners. The performed experiments have been realized in simulations and in laboratory environm......This report summarizes the evaluation and validation of the ELECTRA Web-of-Cells concept which has been implemented for the proof of concept in selected validation environments provided by the project partners. The performed experiments have been realized in simulations and in laboratory...... environments and showed the feasibility of the Web-of-Cells concept and integrated functions for balancing and voltage control. Future work is necessary to further refine the concept and functions and to focus the controller implementations on higher technology readiness levels....

  11. From corporate control concept to ERP system design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kerssens-van Drongelen, I.C.

    2003-01-01

    As Goold and Campbell (2002) rightly observed in their recent article, currently not many organizations have purposefully designed their organization set-up and the other elements of their corporate control concept such as the management style, the responsibility structure, and the format and use of

  12. A moving control volume method for smooth computation of hydrodynamic forces and torques on immersed bodies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nangia, Nishant; Patankar, Neelesh A.; Bhalla, Amneet P. S.

    2017-11-01

    Fictitious domain methods for simulating fluid-structure interaction (FSI) have been gaining popularity in the past few decades because of their robustness in handling arbitrarily moving bodies. Often the transient net hydrodynamic forces and torques on the body are desired quantities for these types of simulations. In past studies using immersed boundary (IB) methods, force measurements are contaminated with spurious oscillations due to evaluation of possibly discontinuous spatial velocity of pressure gradients within or on the surface of the body. Based on an application of the Reynolds transport theorem, we present a moving control volume (CV) approach to computing the net forces and torques on a moving body immersed in a fluid. The approach is shown to be accurate for a wide array of FSI problems, including flow past stationary and moving objects, Stokes flow, and high Reynolds number free-swimming. The approach only requires far-field (smooth) velocity and pressure information, thereby suppressing spurious force oscillations and eliminating the need for any filtering. The proposed moving CV method is not limited to a specific IB method and is straightforward to implement within an existing parallel FSI simulation software. This work is supported by NSF (Award Numbers SI2-SSI-1450374, SI2-SSI-1450327, and DGE-1324585), the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, ASCR (Award Number DE-AC02-05CH11231), and NIH (Award Number HL117163).

  13. Automatic Voltage Control (AVC) of Danish Transmission System - Concept design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Qin, Nan; Abildgaard, Hans; Lund, P.

    2014-01-01

    For more than 20 years it has been a consistent plan by all Danish governments to turn the Danish power production away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. The result today is that 37% of the total Danish power consumption was covered by mainly wind energy in 2013 aiming at 50% by 2020......, objectives, constraints, algorithms for optimal power flow and some special functions in particular systems, which inspires the concept design of a Danish AVC system to address the future challenges of voltage control. In the concept, the Danish AVC design is based on a centralized control scheme. All...... the substation loses the telecommunications to the control center. RPCs will be integrated to the AVC system as normative regulators in the later stage. Distributed generation units can be organized as virtual power plants and participate in voltage control at transmission level. Energinet.dk as the Danish TSO...

  14. Biodegradation: Updating the Concepts of Control for Microbial Cleanup in Contaminated Aquifers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meckenstock, Rainer U.; Elsner, Martin; Griebler, Christian

    2015-01-01

    Biodegradation is one of the most favored and sustainable means of removing organic pollutants from contaminated aquifers but the major steering factors are still surprisingly poorly understood. Growing evidence questions some of the established concepts for control of biodegradation. Here, we...... on the controls of biodegradation in contaminant plumes. These include the plume fringe concept, transport limitations, and transient conditions as currently underestimated processes affecting biodegradation....

  15. New Concepts and methods for developing shop floor control systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynggaard, Hans Jørgen; Bilberg, Arne; Alting, Leo

    1998-01-01

    concept reduces the effort for providing and operating high quality and high functionality cell control solutions for the industry. The plans for the next generation industrial shop floor and cell controllers are to develop new concepts based on more distributed systems, which are more robust and agile...... with respect to changing demands, technological advances and daily operations. The scope of these systems are a network of co-operating cells as opposed to individually operated cells which are co-ordinated in a traditionally (hierarchical planning) manner. This new approach raises new demands......An industrial research project defines models and methods for design and implementation of computer based control and monitoring systems for production cells. This is primarily documented within automated robot welding cells in the shipbuilding industry. In order to support engineering of cell...

  16. Test bed control center design concept for Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sundstrom, E.; Draper, J.V.; Fausz, A.

    1995-01-01

    This paper describes the design concept for the control center for the Single Shell Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System test bed and the design process behind the concept. The design concept supports all phases of the test bed mission, including technology demonstration, comprehensive system testing, and comparative evaluation for further development and refinement of the TWRMS for field operations

  17. From dynamic frame to moving image: Remediation and history in Christian Boltanski's works

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marinkov-Pavlović Lidija

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to point to different strategies through which moving images appear in the work of Christian Boltanski. Moving images are discussed in relation to the concept of remediation that becomes crucial not only for understanding the logics of the dominant forms of contemporary art practice, but also of their historic precursors. The first part of the paper gives an introduction into the genesis and meaning of the notion 'moving image' in its historical and contemporary context, as well as an insight into the definition and classification of the concept of ' remediation'. The first part also contains an overview of the long lasting practice of dismantled cinemas, and an overview of the key authors who introduced these terms into theory of art. In its second part, the paper analyses the three selected works of Christian Boltanski exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2011 and 2015, with the aim to support the thesis that moving images in contemporary visual arts, in the sense of media, are immanent to the fluid relationship that is established among various media.

  18. Chaos concepts, control and constructive use

    CERN Document Server

    Bolotin, Yurii; Yanovsky, Vladimir

    2017-01-01

    This book offers a short and concise introduction to the many facets of chaos theory. While the study of chaotic behavior in nonlinear, dynamical systems is a well-established research field with ramifications in all areas of science, there is a lot to be learnt about how chaos can be controlled and, under appropriate conditions, can actually be constructive in the sense of becoming a control parameter for the system under investigation, stochastic resonance being a prime example. The present work stresses the latter aspects and, after recalling the paradigm changes introduced by the concept of chaos, leads the reader skillfully through the basics of chaos control by detailing the relevant algorithms for both Hamiltonian and dissipative systems, among others. The main part of the book is then devoted to the issue of synchronization in chaotic systems, an introduction to stochastic resonance, and a survey of ratchet models. In this second, revised and enlarged edition, two more chapters explore the many interf...

  19. Chaos Concepts, Control and Constructive Use

    CERN Document Server

    Bolotin, Yurii; Yanovsky, Vladimir

    2009-01-01

    The study of chaotic behaviour in nonlinear, dynamical systems is now a well established research domain with ramifications into all fields of sciences, spanning a vast range of applications, from celestial mechanics, via climate change, to the functioning of brownian motors in cells. A more recent discovery is that chaos can be controlled and, under appropriate conditions, can actually be constructive in the sense of becoming a control parameter itself for the system under investigation, stochastic resonance being a prime example. The present work is putting emphasis on the latter aspects, and after recalling the paradigm changes introduced by the concept of chaos, leads the reader skillfully through the basics of chaos control by detailing relevant algorithms for both Hamiltonian and dissipative systems amongst others. The main part of the book is then devoted to the issue of synchronization in chaotic systems, an introduction to stochastic resonance and a survey of ratchet models. This short and concise pr...

  20. Sensory influences on food intake control: moving beyond palatability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCrickerd, K; Forde, C G

    2016-01-01

    The sensory experience of eating is an important determinant of food intake control, often attributed to the positive hedonic response associated with certain sensory cues. However, palatability is just one aspect of the sensory experience. Sensory cues based on a food's sight, smell, taste and texture are operational before, during and after an eating event. The focus of this review is to look beyond palatability and highlight recent advances in our understanding of how certain sensory characteristics can be used to promote better energy intake control. We consider the role of visual and odour cues in identifying food in the near environment, guiding food choice and memory for eating, and highlight the ways in which tastes and textures influence meal size and the development of satiety after consumption. Considering sensory characteristics as a functional feature of the foods and beverages we consume provides the opportunity for research to identify how sensory enhancements might be combined with energy reduction in otherwise palatable foods to optimize short-term energy intake regulation in the current food environment. Moving forward, the challenge for sensory nutritional science will be to assess the longer-term impact of these principles on weight management. © 2015 World Obesity.

  1. Mechanization and Control Concepts for Biologically Inspired Micro Aerial Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raney, David L.; Slominski, Eric C.

    2003-01-01

    It is possible that MAV designs of the future will exploit flapping flight in order to perform missions that require extreme agility, such as rapid flight beneath a forest canopy or within the confines of a building. Many of nature's most agile flyers generate flapping motions through resonant excitation of an aeroelastically tailored structure: muscle tissue is used to excite a vibratory mode of their flexible wing structure that creates propulsion and lift. A number of MAV concepts have been proposed that would operate in a similar fashion. This paper describes an ongoing research activity in which mechanization and control concepts with application to resonant flapping MAVs are being explored. Structural approaches, mechanical design, sensing and wingbeat control concepts inspired by hummingbirds, bats and insects are examined. Experimental results from a testbed capable of generating vibratory wingbeat patterns that approximately match those exhibited by hummingbirds in hover, cruise, and reverse flight are presented.

  2. DC Grid Control Concept for Expandable Multi-terminal HVDC Transmission Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Irnawan, Roni; Silva, Filipe Miguel Faria da; Bak, Claus Leth

    2018-01-01

    In areas where there are already several HVDC links in operation or under construction, it is more likely that a DC grid emerges as a gradual process. Although the DC grid control concept has been widely discussed, the implementation in the expandable multi-terminal HVDC (MTDC) transmission systems...... still faces challenges. The existing converter control system needs to be adjusted when a point-to-point (PtP) link is operated into MTDC system, or when an additional converter is interconnected with an existing MTDC system, or even when a new DC grid control strategy is applied. In this paper, a new...... DC grid control concept is proposed that conserves and uses the existing converter control when an existing PtP link is extended into MTDC system or the existing MTDC system is expanded. An interface is proposed to decouple the DC grid secondary with converter control structures. By using...

  3. Feedback control of a cupola - concepts and experimental results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moore, K.L. [Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, ID (United States); Abdelrahman, M.A. [Tenn. Technological Univ., Cookeville, TN (United States); Larsen, E.; Clark, D. [Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States); King, P. [US Dept. of Energy Albany Research Center, Albany, OR (United States)

    1998-10-01

    In this paper we present some final results from a research project focused on introducing automatic control to the operation of cupola iron furnaces. The main aim of this research is to improve the operational efficiency and performance of the cupola furnace, an important foundry process used to melt iron. Previous papers have described the development of appropriate control system architectures for the cupola. These results are summarized. Then we describe the experimental results obtained with the U.S. Department of Energy Albany Research Center`s research cupola. First, experimental data is used to calibrate the model, which is taken as a first-order multivariable system with time delay. Then relative gain analysis is used to select loop pairings to be used in a multi-loop controller. The resulting controller pairs meltrate with blast volume, iron temperature with oxygen addition, and carbon composition with percent coke. Special (nonlinear) filters are used to compute meltrate from actual scale readings of the amount of iron produced and to smooth the temperature measurement. The temperature and meltrate loops use single-loop PI control. The composition loop uses a Smith predictor to discount the deadtime associated with mass transport through the furnace. Experimental results validate the conceptual controller design and provide proof-of-concept of the idea of controlling a foundry cupola. Future research directions are discussed, including the concept of an integrated, intelligent industrial process controller, or I{sup 3}PC.

  4. Synchronized moving aperture radiation therapy (SMART): average tumour trajectory for lung patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neicu, Toni; Shirato, Hiroki; Seppenwoolde, Yvette; Jiang, Steve B

    2003-01-01

    Synchronized moving aperture radiation therapy (SMART) is a new technique for treating mobile tumours under development at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The basic idea of SMART is to synchronize the moving radiation beam aperture formed by a dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) with the tumour motion induced by respiration. SMART is based on the concept of the average tumour trajectory (ATT) exhibited by a tumour during respiration. During the treatment simulation stage, tumour motion is measured and the ATT is derived. Then, the original IMRT MLC leaf sequence is modified using the ATT to compensate for tumour motion. During treatment, the tumour motion is monitored. The treatment starts when leaf motion and tumour motion are synchronized at a specific breathing phase. The treatment will halt when the tumour drifts away from the ATT and will resume when the synchronization between tumour motion and radiation beam is re-established. In this paper, we present a method to derive the ATT from measured tumour trajectory data. We also investigate the validity of the ATT concept for lung tumours during normal breathing. The lung tumour trajectory data were acquired during actual radiotherapy sessions using a real-time tumour-tracking system. SMART treatment is simulated by assuming that the radiation beam follows the derived ATT and the tumour follows the measured trajectory. In simulation, the treatment starts at exhale phase. The duty cycle of SMART delivery was calculated for various treatment times and gating thresholds, as well as for various exhale phases where the treatment begins. The simulation results show that in the case of free breathing, for 4 out of 11 lung datasets with tumour motion greater than 1 cm from peak to peak, the error in tumour tracking can be controlled to within a couple of millimetres while maintaining a reasonable delivery efficiency. That is to say, without any breath coaching/control, the ATT is a valid concept for some lung

  5. "It Doesn't Matter How They Move Really, as Long as They Move." Physical Education Teachers on Developing Their Students' Movement Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsson, Håkan; Nyberg, Gunn

    2017-01-01

    Background: Movement is key in physical education, but the educational value of moving is sometimes obscure. In Sweden, recent school reforms have endeavoured to introduce social constructionist concepts of knowledge and learning into physical education, where the movement capabilities of students are in focus. However, this means introducing a…

  6. Counting on the mental number line to make a move: Sensorimotor ('pen') control and numerical processing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sheridan, R.; Rooijen, M. van; Giles, O.; Mushtaq, F.; Steenbergen, B.; Mon-Williams, M.; Waterman, A.H.

    2017-01-01

    Mathematics is often conducted with a writing implement. But is there a relationship between numerical processing and sensorimotor 'pen' control? We asked participants to move a stylus so it crossed an unmarked line at a location specified by a symbolic number (1-9), where number colour indicated

  7. Culture as a Moving Symbolic Border.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simão, Lívia Mathias

    2016-03-01

    The aim of this paper is to propose the notion of culture as a symbolic moving border. Departing from both, Boesch's (1991) concept of culture as a symbolic field of action, and Herbst's (1995) co-genetic logic, I will discuss the dynamics of self-other relationships in terms of their potentiality as sources of movement in culture. A brief analysis of an empirical material is given in illustrative character of the ideas here exposed.

  8. Human-Machine Systems concepts applied to Control Engineering Education

    OpenAIRE

    Marangé , Pascale; Gellot , François; Riera , Bernard

    2008-01-01

    International audience; In this paper, we interest us to Human-Machine Systems (HMS) concepts applied to Education. It is shown how the HMS framework enables to propose original solution in matter of education in the field of control engineering. We focus on practical courses on control of manufacturing systems. The proposed solution is based on an original use of real and large-scale systems instead of simulation. The main idea is to enable the student, whatever his/her level to control the ...

  9. Moving Stormwater Infrastructure from Real-time Control to Smart Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadzuk, B.; Bryant, S.; Lewellyn, C.; Zaremba, G.; Traver, R.

    2017-12-01

    Urban areas, especially combined sewer communities, are using green infrastructure (GI) systems (e.g. rain gardens, green roofs) to mitigate stormwater runoff volume, rate, and quality issues. Most municipal guidance and regulation limits these systems to static, passive designs that neither fully utilize the active hydrology of a GI system during and after a rainfall event, nor enable dynamic operational control. Real-time control (RTC) applied to GI is emerging, and under ideal model conditions has shown improved performance (i.e., greater volumes managed while minimizing downstream impact). There are a few RTC pilot field projects with promising results, such as on a cistern - green roof system there were only 30 overflow events out of 126 rain events and at a rain garden - cistern system only 1 of 81 events resulted in overflow. However, RTC does not get to a fully dynamic system as the initiation and consequent action is preset and static. In stormwater RTC systems, the initiation is typically a rain forecast or a sensor reading. At a rain garden - cistern system, a cistern that fills when raining is hard set to pump water to the rain garden 24 hours after the predicted rain ends. There have been instances where there is rain occurring or only a minimal amount of dry time for the rain garden to reestablish capacity for the pumped stored water. There is also no mechanism to automatically change the pump initiation time based on season or ambient conditions. A cistern - green roof system that uses stored water in an upstream cistern for green roof irrigation is initiated on a set soil moisture reading or a set irrigation volume daily. The soil moisture reading was rarely reached, so irrigation was often not initiated and the set daily irrigation volume did not vary over season. Moving from RTC to a smart system uses longer term and/or historical data to inform decisions beyond what a short-term forecast or real-time sensor can provide to give more context and

  10. Rig it right! Maya animation rigging concepts

    CERN Document Server

    O'Hailey, Tina

    2013-01-01

    Rigging a character can be a complicated undertaking. Move from a bi-pedal character to a quad- or poly-pedal and, well, things just got real. Where do you begin? Unlike all of those button-pushing manuals out there, Rig it Right! breaks down rigging so that you can achieve a fundamental understanding of the concept, allowing you to rig more intuitively in your own work. Veteran animation professor Tina O'Hailey will get you up and rigging in a matter of hours with step-by-step tutorials covering multiple animation control types, connection methods, interactive skinning, Blend

  11. Representation of ophthalmology concepts by electronic systems: adequacy of controlled medical terminologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Michael F; Casper, Daniel S; Cimino, James J; Starren, Justin

    2005-02-01

    To assess the adequacy of 5 controlled medical terminologies (International Classification of Diseases 9, Clinical Modification [ICD9-CM]; Current Procedural Terminology 4 [CPT-4]; Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine, Clinical Terms [SNOMED-CT]; Logical Identifiers, Names, and Codes [LOINC]; Medical Entities Dictionary [MED]) for representing concepts in ophthalmology. Noncomparative case series. Twenty complete ophthalmology case presentations were sequentially selected from a publicly available ophthalmology journal. Each of the 20 cases was parsed into discrete concepts, and each concept was classified along 2 axes: (1) diagnosis, finding, or procedure and (2) ophthalmic or medical concept. Electronic or paper browsers were used to assign a code for every concept in each of the 5 terminologies. Adequacy of assignment for each concept was scored on a 3-point scale. Findings from all 20 case presentations were combined and compared based on a coverage score, which was the average score for all concepts in that terminology. Adequacy of assignment for concepts in each terminology, based on a 3-point Likert scale (0, no match; 1, partial match; 2, complete match). Cases were parsed into 1603 concepts. SNOMED-CT had the highest mean overall coverage score (1.625+/-0.667), followed by MED (0.974+/-0.764), LOINC (0.781+/-0.929), ICD9-CM (0.280+/-0.619), and CPT-4 (0.082+/-0.337). SNOMED-CT also had higher coverage scores than any of the other terminologies for concepts in the diagnosis, finding, and procedure categories. Average coverage scores for ophthalmic concepts were lower than those for medical concepts. Controlled terminologies are required for electronic representation of ophthalmology data. SNOMED-CT had significantly higher content coverage than any other terminology in this study.

  12. On the application of Discrete Time Optimal Control Concepts to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    On the application of Discrete Time Optimal Control Concepts to Economic Problems. ... Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics ... Abstract. An extension of the use of the maximum principle to solve Discrete-time Optimal Control Problems (DTOCP), in which the state equations are in the form of general ...

  13. A review of model predictive control: moving from linear to nonlinear design methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nandong, J.; Samyudia, Y.; Tade, M.O.

    2006-01-01

    Linear model predictive control (LMPC) has now been considered as an industrial control standard in process industry. Its extension to nonlinear cases however has not yet gained wide acceptance due to many reasons, e.g. excessively heavy computational load and effort, thus, preventing its practical implementation in real-time control. The application of nonlinear MPC (NMPC) is advantageous for processes with strong nonlinearity or when the operating points are frequently moved from one set point to another due to, for instance, changes in market demands. Much effort has been dedicated towards improving the computational efficiency of NMPC as well as its stability analysis. This paper provides a review on alternative ways of extending linear MPC to the nonlinear one. We also highlight the critical issues pertinent to the applications of NMPC and discuss possible solutions to address these issues. In addition, we outline the future research trend in the area of model predictive control by emphasizing on the potential applications of multi-scale process model within NMPC

  14. Robust Non-Chattering Observer Based Sliding Control Concept for Electro-Hydraulic Drives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Lasse; Andersen, Torben Ole; Pedersen, Henrik C.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents an observer-based sliding mode control concept with chattering reduction, generally applicable for position tracking control of electro-hydraulic valve-cylinder drives (VCD's). The proposed control concept requires only common data sheet information and no knowledge on load...... extensive knowledge on system parameters nor advanced control theory. In order to accomplish this task, an integral sliding mode controller designed for the control derivative employing state observation is proposed, based on a generalized reduced order model structure of a VCD with unmatched valve ow......- and cylinder asymmetries. It is shown that limited attention can be given to bounds on parameter estimates, that chattering is reduced and the number of tuning parameters is reduced to the level seen in conventional PID schemes. Furthermore, simulation results demonstrate a high level of robustness when...

  15. Moving Beyond IGY: An Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, D. N.; Barton, C. E.; Rodger, A. S.; Thompson, B. J.; Fraser, B.; Papitashvili, V.

    2003-12-01

    During the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958), member countries established many new geophysical observatories pursuing the major IGY objectives - to collect geophysical data as widely as possible and to provide free access to these data for all scientists around the globe. Today, geophysics has attained a rather good understanding within traditional regions, i.e., the atmosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, and other such geospheres. At the same time, it has become clear that much of the new and important science is coming from the studies of interfaces and coupling between geospheres. Thus, if geophysical data are made `'transparently'' available to a much wider range of scientists and students than to those who do the observations, then new and exciting discoveries can be expected. An International Association of Geomagnetic and Aeronomy (IAGA) task force, recognizing that a key achievement of the IGY was the establishment of a worldwide system of data centers and physical observatories, proposes that for the 50th anniversary of IGY, the worldwide scientific community should endorse and promote an electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) initiative. The proposed eGY concept would both commemorate the IGY in 2007-2008 and provide a forward impetus to geophysics in 21st century, similar to that provided by the IGY fifty years ago. The IAGA task force strongly advocates: (1) Securing permission and release of existing data; (2) Creating access to information; and (3) Conversion of relevant analog data to digital form. The eGY concept embraces all available and upcoming geophysical data (e.g., atmospheric, ionospheric, geomagnetic, gravity, etc.) through the establishment of a series of virtual geophysical observatories now being `'deployed'' in cyberspace. The eGY concept is modern, global, and timely; it is attractive, pragmatic, and affordable. The eGY is based on the existing and continually developing computing/networking technologies (e.g., XML, Semantic Web

  16. Human-Inspired Eigenmovement Concept Provides Coupling-Free Sensorimotor Control in Humanoid Robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexandrov, Alexei V; Lippi, Vittorio; Mergner, Thomas; Frolov, Alexander A; Hettich, Georg; Husek, Dusan

    2017-01-01

    Control of a multi-body system in both robots and humans may face the problem of destabilizing dynamic coupling effects arising between linked body segments. The state of the art solutions in robotics are full state feedback controllers. For human hip-ankle coordination, a more parsimonious and theoretically stable alternative to the robotics solution has been suggested in terms of the Eigenmovement (EM) control. Eigenmovements are kinematic synergies designed to describe the multi DoF system, and its control, with a set of independent, and hence coupling-free , scalar equations. This paper investigates whether the EM alternative shows "real-world robustness" against noisy and inaccurate sensors, mechanical non-linearities such as dead zones, and human-like feedback time delays when controlling hip-ankle movements of a balancing humanoid robot. The EM concept and the EM controller are introduced, the robot's dynamics are identified using a biomechanical approach, and robot tests are performed in a human posture control laboratory. The tests show that the EM controller provides stable control of the robot with proactive ("voluntary") movements and reactive balancing of stance during support surface tilts and translations. Although a preliminary robot-human comparison reveals similarities and differences, we conclude (i) the Eigenmovement concept is a valid candidate when different concepts of human sensorimotor control are considered, and (ii) that human-inspired robot experiments may help to decide in future the choice among the candidates and to improve the design of humanoid robots and robotic rehabilitation devices.

  17. Rate Control for MPEG-4 Bit Stream

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王振洲; 李桂苓

    2003-01-01

    For a very long time video processing dealt exclusively with fixed-rate sequences of rectangular shaped images. However, interest has been recently moving toward a more flexible concept in which the subject of the processing and encoding operations is a set of visual elements organized in both time and space in a flexible and arbitrarily complex way. The moving picture experts group (MPEG-4) standard supports this concept and its verification model (VM) encoder has adopted scalable rate control (SRC) as the rate control scheme, which is based on the spatial domain and compatible with constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR). In this paper,a new rate control algorithm based on the DCT domain instead of the pixel domain is presented. More-over, macroblock level rate control scheme to compute the quantization step for each macroblock has been adopted. The experimental results show that the new algorithm can achieve a much better result than the original one in both peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the coding bits, and that the new algorithm is more flexible than test model 5 (TM5) rate control algorithm.

  18. Concepts of real time and semi-real time material control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lovett, J.E.

    1975-01-01

    After a brief consideration of the traditional material balance accounting on an MBA basis, this paper explores the basic concepts of real time and semi-real time material control, together with some of the major problems to be solved. Three types of short-term material control are discussed: storage, batch processing, and continuous processing. (DLC)

  19. Analysis of the Dose Distribution of Moving Organ using a Moving Phantom System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yon Lae; Park, Byung Moon; Bae, Yong Ki; Kang, Min Young; Bang, Dong Wan; Lee, Gui Won

    2006-01-01

    Few researches have been performed on the dose distribution of the moving organ for radiotherapy so far. In order to simulate the organ motion caused by respiratory function, multipurpose phantom and moving device was used and dosimetric measurements for dose distribution of the moving organs were conducted in this study. The purpose of our study was to evaluate how dose distributions are changed due to respiratory motion. A multipurpose phantom and a moving device were developed for the measurement of the dose distribution of the moving organ due to respiratory function. Acryl chosen design of the phantom was considered the most obvious choice for phantom material. For construction of the phantom, we used acryl and cork with density of 1.14 g/cm 3 , 0.32 g/cm 3 respectively. Acryl and cork slab in the phantom were used to simulate the normal organ and lung respectively. The moving phantom system was composed of moving device, moving control system, and acryl and cork phantom. Gafchromic film and EDR2 film were used to measure dose distributions. The moving device system may be driven by two directional step motors and able to perform 2 dimensional movements (x, z axis), but only 1 dimensional movement(z axis) was used for this study. Larger penumbra was shown in the cork phantom than in the acryl phantom. The dose profile and isodose curve of Gafchromic EBT film were not uniform since the film has small optical density responding to the dose. As the organ motion was increased, the blurrings in penumbra, flatness, and symmetry were increased. Most of measurements of dose distributions, Gafchromic EBT film has poor flatness and symmetry than EDR2 film, but both penumbra distributions were more or less comparable. The Gafchromic EBT film is more useful as it does not need development and more radiation dose could be exposed than EDR2 film without losing film characteristics. But as response of the optical density of Gafchromic EBT film to dose is low, beam profiles

  20. Binary moving-blocker-based scatter correction in cone-beam computed tomography with width-truncated projections: proof of concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ho; Fahimian, Benjamin P.; Xing, Lei

    2017-03-01

    This paper proposes a binary moving-blocker (BMB)-based technique for scatter correction in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). In concept, a beam blocker consisting of lead strips, mounted in front of the x-ray tube, moves rapidly in and out of the beam during a single gantry rotation. The projections are acquired in alternating phases of blocked and unblocked cone beams, where the blocked phase results in a stripe pattern in the width direction. To derive the scatter map from the blocked projections, 1D B-Spline interpolation/extrapolation is applied by using the detected information in the shaded regions. The scatter map of the unblocked projections is corrected by averaging two scatter maps that correspond to their adjacent blocked projections. The scatter-corrected projections are obtained by subtracting the corresponding scatter maps from the projection data and are utilized to generate the CBCT image by a compressed-sensing (CS)-based iterative reconstruction algorithm. Catphan504 and pelvis phantoms were used to evaluate the method’s performance. The proposed BMB-based technique provided an effective method to enhance the image quality by suppressing scatter-induced artifacts, such as ring artifacts around the bowtie area. Compared to CBCT without a blocker, the spatial nonuniformity was reduced from 9.1% to 3.1%. The root-mean-square error of the CT numbers in the regions of interest (ROIs) was reduced from 30.2 HU to 3.8 HU. In addition to high resolution, comparable to that of the benchmark image, the CS-based reconstruction also led to a better contrast-to-noise ratio in seven ROIs. The proposed technique enables complete scatter-corrected CBCT imaging with width-truncated projections and allows reducing the acquisition time to approximately half. This work may have significant implications for image-guided or adaptive radiation therapy, where CBCT is often used.

  1. Remote-controlled flexible pose measurement system and method for a moving target in wind tunnel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei LIU

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The measurement of position and attitude parameters for the isolated target from a high-speed aircraft is a great challenge in the field of wind tunnel simulation technology. This paper proposes a remote-controlled flexible pose measurement system in wind tunnel conditions for the separation of a target from an aircraft. The position and attitude parameters of a moving object are obtained by utilizing a single camera with a focal length and camera orientation that can be changed based on different measurement conditions. Using this proposed system and method, both the flexibility and efficiency of the pose measurement system can be enhanced in wind tunnel conditions to meet the measurement requirements of different objects and experiments, which is also useful for the development of an intelligent position and attitude measurement system. The position and the focal length of the camera also can be controlled remotely during measurements to enlarge both the vertical and horizontal measurement range of this system. Experiments are conducted in the laboratory to measure the position and attitude of moving objects with high flexibility and efficiency, and the measurement precision of the measurement system is also verified through experiments.

  2. New concepts of control centre design and development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dittmar, E.; Kiersch, J.J.; Schmudlach, U.; Weihrauch, J.

    1977-02-01

    The concept of modern control centre technology is shown, its realization at project including the supervision of an electric power distribution system is described. A modern control centre is characterized by the fact that the conventional control elements are more and more replaced by elements of computer technology, i.e. computer and displays. The different functions implemented by hard- and software set new standards relative to flexibility, adaptability, dimensioning. The communication interface man/process is defined and designed in a new way allowing dynamic and more efficent supervisionstrategy of technical processes via display in different operation modes. Special attention is paid to adjustments and extensions of process elements and their integration into the supervised network. (orig./WB) [de

  3. Human-Inspired Eigenmovement Concept Provides Coupling-Free Sensorimotor Control in Humanoid Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Mergner

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Control of a multi-body system in both robots and humans may face the problem of destabilizing dynamic coupling effects arising between linked body segments. The state of the art solutions in robotics are full state feedback controllers. For human hip-ankle coordination, a more parsimonious and theoretically stable alternative to the robotics solution has been suggested in terms of the Eigenmovement (EM control. Eigenmovements are kinematic synergies designed to describe the multi DoF system, and its control, with a set of independent, and hence coupling-free, scalar equations. This paper investigates whether the EM alternative shows “real-world robustness” against noisy and inaccurate sensors, mechanical non-linearities such as dead zones, and human-like feedback time delays when controlling hip-ankle movements of a balancing humanoid robot. The EM concept and the EM controller are introduced, the robot's dynamics are identified using a biomechanical approach, and robot tests are performed in a human posture control laboratory. The tests show that the EM controller provides stable control of the robot with proactive (“voluntary” movements and reactive balancing of stance during support surface tilts and translations. Although a preliminary robot-human comparison reveals similarities and differences, we conclude (i the Eigenmovement concept is a valid candidate when different concepts of human sensorimotor control are considered, and (ii that human-inspired robot experiments may help to decide in future the choice among the candidates and to improve the design of humanoid robots and robotic rehabilitation devices.

  4. STS-99 workers move new Master Events Controller into aft compartment

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    At Launch Pad 39A, workers move the replacement Enhanced Main Events Controller (E-MEC) into Shuttle Endeavour's aft compartment in the payload bay. The original E-MEC became suspect during the Jan. 31 launch countdown and mission STS-99 was delayed when NASA managers decided to replace it. Each Shuttle carries two enhanced master events controllers (E-MECs), which provide relays for onboard flight computers to send signals to arm and fire pyrotechnics that separate the solid rockets and external tank during assent. Both E-MECs are needed for the Shuttle to be cleared for flight. Currently Endeavour and Columbia are the only two orbiters with the E-MECs. Built by Rockwell's Satellite Space Electronics Division, Anaheim, Calif., each unit weighs 65 pounds and is approximately 20 inches long, 13 inches wide and 8 inches tall. Previously, three Shuttle flights have been scrubbed or delayed due to faulty MECs: STS-73, STS-49 and STS-41-D. The next scheduled date for launch of STS-99 is Feb. 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST.

  5. TCR moves to MCR

    CERN Multimedia

    Peter Sollander, AB/OP/TI

    2005-01-01

    The monitoring of CERN's technical infrastructure has moved from the Technical Control Room in building 212 to the Meyrin Control Room (MCR) in building 354 (see map) and from the TS/CSE group to AB/OP. The operation's team as well as the services provided remain the same as before and you can still reach the operator on shift by calling 72201. Peter Sollander, AB/OP/TI

  6. Development of preliminary design concept for a multifunction display and control system for the Orbiter crew station. Task 4: Design concept recommendation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spiger, R. J.; Farrell, R. J.; Holcomb, G. A.

    1982-01-01

    Application of multifunction display and control systems to the NASA Orbiter spacecraft offers the potential for reducing crew workload and improving the presentation of system status and operational data to the crew. A design concept is presented for the application of a multifunction display and control system (MFDCS) to the Orbital Maneuvering System and Electrical Power Distribution and Control System on the Orbiter spacecraft. The MFDCS would provide the capability for automation of procedures, fault prioritization and software reconfiguration of the MFDCS data base. The MFDCS would operate as a stand-alone processor to minimize the impact on the current Orbiter software. Supervisory crew command of all current functions would be retained through the use of several operating modes in the system. Both the design concept and the processes followed in defining the concept are described.

  7. Can math beat gamers in Quantum Moves?

    OpenAIRE

    Sels, Dries

    2017-01-01

    Abstract: In a recent work on quantum state preparation, Sørensen and co-workers [Nature (London) 532, 210 (2016)] explore the possibility of using video games to help design quantum control protocols. The authors present a game called Quantum Moves (https://www.scienceathome.org/games/quantum-moves/) in which gamers have to move an atom from A to B by means of optical tweezers. They report that, players succeed where purely numerical optimization fails. Moreover, by harnessing the player str...

  8. A degree of controllability definition - Fundamental concepts and application to modal systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viswanathan, C. N.; Longman, R. W.; Likins, P. W.

    1984-01-01

    Starting from basic physical considerations, this paper develops a concept of the degree of controllability of a control system, and then develops numerical methods to generate approximate values of the degree of controllability for any linear time-invariant system. In many problems, such as the control of future, very large, flexible spacecraft and certain chemical process control problems, the question of how to choose the number and locations of the control system actuators is an important one. The results obtained here offer the control system designer a tool which allows him to rank the effectiveness of alternative actuator distributions, and hence to choose the actuator locations on a rational basis. The degree of controllability is shown to take a particularly simple form when the dynamic equations of a satellite are in second-order modal form. The degree of controllability concept has still other fundamental uses - it allows one to study the system structural relations between the various inputs and outputs of a linear system, which has applications to decoupling and model reduction.

  9. Integrated environmental control concepts for advanced power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rubin, E.S.; Kalagnanam, J.R.; Berkenpas, M.B.

    1996-01-01

    For both conventional and advanced power systems, the capability to estimate the performance and cost of environmental control systems is critical to a variety of planning and analysis requirements faced by utilities, regulators, researchers and analysts in the public and private sectors. This paper describes a computer model developed for the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) to provide an up-to-date capability for analyzing a variety of pre-combustion, combustion, and post-combustion options in an integrated framework. A unique feature of the model allows performance and costs of integrated environmental control concepts to be modeled probabilistically as a means of characterizing uncertainties and risks. Examples are presented of model applications comparing conventional and advanced emission control designs. 13 refs, 6 figs, 5 tabs

  10. The application of moving average control charts for evaluating magnetic field quality on an individual magnet basis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollock, D.A.; Gunst, R.F.; Schucany, W.R.

    1994-01-01

    SSC Collider Dipole Magnet field quality specifications define limits of variation for the population mean (Systematic) and standard deviation (RMS deviation) of allowed and unallowed multipole coefficients generated by the full collection of dipole magnets throughout the Collider operating cycle. A fundamental Quality Control issue is how to determine the acceptability of individual magnets during production, in other words taken one at a time and compared to the population parameters. Provided that the normal distribution assumptions hold, the random variation of multipoles for individual magnets may be evaluated by comparing the measured results to ± 3 x RMS tolerance, centered on the design nominal. To evaluate the local and cumulative systematic variation of the magnets against the distribution tolerance, individual magnet results need to be combined with others that come before it. This paper demonstrates a Statistical Quality Control method (the Unweighted Moving Average control chart) to evaluate individual magnet performance and process stability against population tolerances. The DESY/HERA Dipole cold skew quadrupole measurements for magnets in production order are used to evaluate non-stationarity of the mean over time for the cumulative set of magnets, as well as for a moving sample

  11. Ecotechnology: basis of a new immission concept in water pollution control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benndorf, J

    2005-01-01

    Beyond the traditional load reduction also an ecosystem-internal mechanism can be used to minimise the effects of water pollution. The control of the internal mechanisms is achieved through the optimisation of the ecosystem structure. This ecotechnology principle is based on the idea to reduce as much as possible the gap between the current (suboptimal) structural status and the optimum structure by intentional manipulations. The spectrum of such manipulations is very broad. A few examples are demonstrated. They comprise physical (e.g. stream morphology), chemical (e.g. enhancing the redox potential at the sediment-water interface) and biological (e.g. enhancing stocks of predatory fishes) control measures. It can be supposed that a new immission concept including the ecotechnology principle could be much more adequate to the demand of modern water pollution control than the traditional emission and imission concepts.

  12. Navigation concepts for MR image-guided interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moche, Michael; Trampel, Robert; Kahn, Thomas; Busse, Harald

    2008-02-01

    The ongoing development of powerful magnetic resonance imaging techniques also allows for advanced possibilities to guide and control minimally invasive interventions. Various navigation concepts have been described for practically all regions of the body. The specific advantages and limitations of these concepts largely depend on the magnet design of the MR scanner and the interventional environment. Open MR scanners involve minimal patient transfer, which improves the interventional workflow and reduces the need for coregistration, ie, the mapping of spatial coordinates between imaging and intervention position. Most diagnostic scanners, in contrast, do not allow the physician to guide his instrument inside the magnet and, consequently, the patient needs to be moved out of the bore. Although adequate coregistration and navigation concepts for closed-bore scanners are technically more challenging, many developments are driven by the well-known capabilities of high-field systems and their better economic value. Advanced concepts such as multimodal overlays, augmented reality displays, and robotic assistance devices are still in their infancy but might propel the use of intraoperative navigation. The goal of this work is to give an update on MRI-based navigation and related techniques and to briefly discuss the clinical experience and limitations of some selected systems. (Copyright) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  13. Adaptive moving mesh methods for simulating one-dimensional groundwater problems with sharp moving fronts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, W.; Zheng, Lingyun; Zhan, X.

    2002-01-01

    Accurate modelling of groundwater flow and transport with sharp moving fronts often involves high computational cost, when a fixed/uniform mesh is used. In this paper, we investigate the modelling of groundwater problems using a particular adaptive mesh method called the moving mesh partial differential equation approach. With this approach, the mesh is dynamically relocated through a partial differential equation to capture the evolving sharp fronts with a relatively small number of grid points. The mesh movement and physical system modelling are realized by solving the mesh movement and physical partial differential equations alternately. The method is applied to the modelling of a range of groundwater problems, including advection dominated chemical transport and reaction, non-linear infiltration in soil, and the coupling of density dependent flow and transport. Numerical results demonstrate that sharp moving fronts can be accurately and efficiently captured by the moving mesh approach. Also addressed are important implementation strategies, e.g. the construction of the monitor function based on the interpolation error, control of mesh concentration, and two-layer mesh movement. Copyright ?? 2002 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

  14. Analytical quality control concept in the Euratom on-site laboratories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayer, K.; Duinslaeger, L.; Cromboom, O.; Ottmar, H.; Wojnowski, D.; Vegt, H. van der

    2001-01-01

    Full text: Two on-site laboratories have been developed, installed, commissioned and put into routine operation by the Euratom safeguards office (ESO), jointly with the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU). These laboratories are operated by ITU staff and provide verification measurement results on samples taken by Euratom inspectors. The analysts work in weekly changing shift teams, manage the laboratories and operate the various analytical techniques. Operating such a laboratory at a remote location, without a senior scientist immediately available in case of problems, The existing boundary conditions challenge the robustness of the entire laboratory, i.e. comprising staff and instrumentation. In order to continuously ensure a high degree of reliability of the measurement results, a stringent quality control system was implemented. The quality control concept for the two on-site laboratories was developed at a very early stage and implemented in the pre-OSL training facility at ITU. This enabled to thoroughly test and develop further the concept. At the same time the analysts get acquainted with the quality control procedures in place and they are instilled with the principles. The quality control concept makes use of a fully computerized data management and data acquisition system. All measurement devices, including balances, density meters, mass spectrometers, passive neutron counter, hybrid K-edge instrument, gamma spectrometers and alpha spectrometers are networked and data exchange is performed on electronic basis. A specifically developed laboratory information management system collects individual measurement data, calculates intermediate and final result and shares the information with a quality control module. In order to ensure the reliability of the results, which are reported to the ESO inspectorate, five levels of quality control were implemented. The present paper describes in detail the different levels of quality control, which check the

  15. Aboard the "Moving School."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ainscow, Mel; Hopkins, David

    1992-01-01

    In many countries, education legislation embodies contradictory pressures for centralization and decentralization. In the United Kingdom, there is growing government control over policy and direction of schools; schools are also being given more responsibility for resource management. "Moving" schools within Improving the Quality of…

  16. IRM Concepts: Building Blocks for the 1990s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owen, Darrell E.

    1989-01-01

    Presents a conceptual overview of information resources management (IRM) by synthesizing concepts put forward during the 1980s and charts opportunities to move these concepts into practice. It is argued that the reorganization required by IRM is justified by better use of resources, better decision making, and an improved corporate structure. (21…

  17. Future Integrated Systems Concept for Preventing Aircraft Loss-of-Control Accidents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belcastro, Christine M.; Jacobson, Steven r.

    2010-01-01

    Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to aircraft fatal accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are highly complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. This paper presents future system concepts and research directions for preventing aircraft loss-of-control accidents.

  18. Man/terminal interaction evaluation of computer operating system command and control service concepts. [in Spacelab

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodson, D. W.; Shields, N. L., Jr.

    1978-01-01

    The Experiment Computer Operating System (ECOS) of the Spacelab will allow the onboard Payload Specialist to command experiment devices and display information relative to the performance of experiments. Three candidate ECOS command and control service concepts were reviewed and laboratory data on operator performance was taken for each concept. The command and control service concepts evaluated included a dedicated operator's menu display from which all command inputs were issued, a dedicated command key concept with which command inputs could be issued from any display, and a multi-display concept in which command inputs were issued from several dedicated function displays. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed in terms of training, operational errors, task performance time, and subjective comments of system operators.

  19. A moving experience !

    CERN Document Server

    2005-01-01

    The Transport Service pulled out all the stops and, more specifically, its fleet of moving and lifting equipment for the Discovery Monday on 6 June - a truly moving experience for all the visitors who took part ! Visitors could play at being machine operator, twiddling the controls of a lift truck fitted with a jib to lift a dummy magnet into a wooden mock-up of a beam-line.They had to show even greater dexterity for this game of lucky dip...CERN-style.Those with a head for heights took to the skies 20 m above ground in a telescopic boom lift.Children were allowed to climb up into the operator's cabin - this is one of the cranes used to move the LHC magnets around. Warm thanks to all members of the Transport Service for their participation, especially B. Goicoechea, T. Ilkei, R. Bihery, S. Prodon, S. Pelletier, Y. Bernard, A.  Sallot, B. Pigeard, S. Guinchard, B. Bulot, J. Berrez, Y. Grandjean, A. Bouakkaz, M. Bois, F. Stach, T. Mazzarino and S. Fumey.

  20. A HUMAN AUTOMATION INTERACTION CONCEPT FOR A SMALL MODULAR REACTOR CONTROL ROOM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Le Blanc, Katya; Spielman, Zach; Hill, Rachael

    2017-06-01

    Many advanced nuclear power plant (NPP) designs incorporate higher degrees of automation than the existing fleet of NPPs. Automation is being introduced or proposed in NPPs through a wide variety of systems and technologies, such as advanced displays, computer-based procedures, advanced alarm systems, and computerized operator support systems. Additionally, many new reactor concepts, both full scale and small modular reactors, are proposing increased automation and reduced staffing as part of their concept of operations. However, research consistently finds that there is a fundamental tradeoff between system performance with increased automation and reduced human performance. There is a need to address the question of how to achieve high performance and efficiency of high levels of automation without degrading human performance. One example of a new NPP concept that will utilize greater degrees of automation is the SMR concept from NuScale Power. The NuScale Power design requires 12 modular units to be operated in one single control room, which leads to a need for higher degrees of automation in the control room. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) researchers and NuScale Power human factors and operations staff are working on a collaborative project to address the human performance challenges of increased automation and to determine the principles that lead to optimal performance in highly automated systems. This paper will describe this concept in detail and will describe an experimental test of the concept. The benefits and challenges of the approach will be discussed.

  1. Autonomous Landing on Moving Platforms

    KAUST Repository

    Mendoza Chavez, Gilberto

    2016-08-01

    This thesis investigates autonomous landing of a micro air vehicle (MAV) on a nonstationary ground platform. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles (MAVs) are becoming every day more ubiquitous. Nonetheless, many applications still require specialized human pilots or supervisors. Current research is focusing on augmenting the scope of tasks that these vehicles are able to accomplish autonomously. Precise autonomous landing on moving platforms is essential for self-deployment and recovery of MAVs, but it remains a challenging task for both autonomous and piloted vehicles. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a widely used and effective scheme to control constrained systems. One of its variants, output-feedback tube-based MPC, ensures robust stability for systems with bounded disturbances under system state reconstruction. This thesis proposes a MAV control strategy based on this variant of MPC to perform rapid and precise autonomous landing on moving targets whose nominal (uncommitted) trajectory and velocity are slowly varying. The proposed approach is demonstrated on an experimental setup.

  2. Offset-Free Model Predictive Control of Open Water Channel Based on Moving Horizon Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekin Aydin, Boran; Rutten, Martine

    2016-04-01

    Model predictive control (MPC) is a powerful control option which is increasingly used by operational water managers for managing water systems. The explicit consideration of constraints and multi-objective management are important features of MPC. However, due to the water loss in open water systems by seepage, leakage and evaporation a mismatch between the model and the real system will be created. These mismatch affects the performance of MPC and creates an offset from the reference set point of the water level. We present model predictive control based on moving horizon estimation (MHE-MPC) to achieve offset free control of water level for open water canals. MHE-MPC uses the past predictions of the model and the past measurements of the system to estimate unknown disturbances and the offset in the controlled water level is systematically removed. We numerically tested MHE-MPC on an accurate hydro-dynamic model of the laboratory canal UPC-PAC located in Barcelona. In addition, we also used well known disturbance modeling offset free control scheme for the same test case. Simulation experiments on a single canal reach show that MHE-MPC outperforms disturbance modeling offset free control scheme.

  3. Adaptive control for a PWR using a self-tuning reference model concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miley, G.H.; Park, G.T.; Kim, B.S.

    1992-01-01

    Possible applications of an adaptive control method to a pressurized-water reactor nuclear power plant are investigated. The self-tuning technique with a reference model concept is employed. This control algorithm is developed by combining the self-tuning controller with the model reference adaptive control. This approach overcomes the difficulties in choosing the appropriate weighting polynomials in the cost function of the self-tuning control

  4. Tracking Control of A Balancing Robot – A Model-Based Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaiczek Tobias

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a control concept for a single-axle mobile robot moving on the horizontal plane. A mathematical model of the nonholonomic mechanical system is derived using Hamel's equations of motion. Subsequently, a concept for a tracking controller is described in detail. This controller keeps the mobile robot on a given reference trajectory while maintaining it in an upright position. The control objective is reached by a cascade control structure. By an appropriate input transformation, we are able to utilize an input-output linearization of a subsystem. For the remaining dynamics a linear set-point control law is presented. Finally, the performance of the implemented control law is illustrated by simulation results.

  5. Latent heat of traffic moving from rest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farzad Ahmadi, S.; Berrier, Austin S.; Doty, William M.; Greer, Pat G.; Habibi, Mohammad; Morgan, Hunter A.; Waterman, Josam H. C.; Abaid, Nicole; Boreyko, Jonathan B.

    2017-11-01

    Contrary to traditional thinking and driver intuition, here we show that there is no benefit to ground vehicles increasing their packing density at stoppages. By systematically controlling the packing density of vehicles queued at a traffic light on a Smart Road, drone footage revealed that the benefit of an initial increase in displacement for close-packed vehicles is completely offset by the lag time inherent to changing back into a ‘liquid phase’ when flow resumes. This lag is analogous to the thermodynamic concept of the latent heat of fusion, as the ‘temperature’ (kinetic energy) of the vehicles cannot increase until the traffic ‘melts’ into the liquid phase. These findings suggest that in situations where gridlock is not an issue, drivers should not decrease their spacing during stoppages in order to lessen the likelihood of collisions with no loss in flow efficiency. In contrast, motion capture experiments of a line of people walking from rest showed higher flow efficiency with increased packing densities, indicating that the importance of latent heat becomes trivial for slower moving systems.

  6. A new perspective on concepts of asthma severity and control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D.R. Taylor; E.D. Bateman (Eric); L.P. Boulet; H.A. Boushey; W.W. Busse; T.B. Casale (Thomas); P. Chanez; P.L. Enright (Paul); P.G. Gibson; J.C. de Jongste (Johan); H.A. Kerstjens; S.C. Lazarus; M.L. Levy (Mark); P. O'byrne; M.R. Partridge; I.D. Pavord; M.R. Sears; P.J. Sterk (Peter); S.W. Stoloff; S.J. Szefler; S.D. Sullivan (Sean); M.D. Thomas; S.E. Wenzel; H.K. Reddel

    2008-01-01

    textabstractConcepts of asthma severity and control are important in the evaluation of patients and their response to treatment but the terminology is not standardised and the terms are often used interchangeably. This review, arising from the work of an American Thoracic Society/European

  7. A new perspective on concepts of asthma severity and control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Taylor, D. R.; Bateman, E. D.; Boulet, L.-P.; Boushey, H. A.; Busse, W. W.; Casale, T. B.; Chanez, P.; Enright, P. L.; Gibson, P. G.; de Jongste, J. C.; Kerstjens, H. A. M.; Lazarus, S. C.; Levy, M. L.; O'Byrne, P. M.; Partridge, M. R.; Pavord, I. D.; Sears, M. R.; Sterk, P. J.; Stoloff, S. W.; Szefler, S. J.; Sullivan, S. D.; Thomas, M. D.; Wenzel, S. E.; Reddel, H. K.

    2008-01-01

    Concepts of asthma severity and control are important in the evaluation of patients and their response to treatment but the terminology is not standardised and the terms are often used interchangeably. This review, arising from the work of an American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society

  8. A new perspective on concepts of asthma severity and control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Taylor, D. R.; Bateman, E. D.; Boulet, L-P.; Boushey, H. A.; Busse, W. W.; Casale, T. B.; Chanez, P.; Enright, P. L.; Gibson, P. G.; de Jongste, J. C.; Kerstjens, H. A. M.; Lazarus, S. C.; Levy, M. L.; O'Byrne, P. M.; Partridge, M. R.; Pavord, I. D.; Sears, M. R.; Sterk, P. J.; Stoloff, S. W.; Szefler, S. J.; Sullivan, S. D.; Thomas, M. D.; Wenzel, S. E.; Reddel, H. K.

    Concepts of asthma severity and control are important in the evaluation of patients and their response to treatment but the terminology is not standardised and the terms are often used interchangeably. This review, arising from the work of an American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society

  9. Conceptional design of the vertical field control system in JIPP T-II

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujiwara, Masami; Itoh, Satoshi; Matsuoka, Keisuke; Matsuura, Kiyokata; Miyamoto, Kenro.

    1974-11-01

    Conceptional design of a system for feedback control of the plasma position in a toroidal discharge is described. It is expected that a resistive shell and an external vertical field controlled by a system consisting of a digital computer and phase-controlled thyristors can suppress the plasma displacement down to 10% of that in the case where the external control system is not operated. (auth.)

  10. Inverse biomimetics: how robots can help to verify concepts concerning sensorimotor control of human arm and leg movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalveram, Karl Theodor; Seyfarth, André

    2009-01-01

    Simulation test, hardware test and behavioral comparison test are proposed to experimentally verify whether a technical control concept for limb movements is logically precise, physically sound, and biologically relevant. Thereby, robot test-beds may play an integral part by mimicking functional limb movements. The procedure is exemplarily demonstrated for human aiming movements with the forearm: when comparing competitive control concepts, these movements are described best by a spring-like operating muscular-skeletal device which is assisted by feedforward control through an inverse internal model of the limb--without regress to a forward model of the limb. In a perspective on hopping, the concept of exploitive control is addressed, and its comparison to concepts derived from classical control theory advised.

  11. Taking a Concept to Commercialization: Designing Relevant Tests to Address Safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrara, Lisa A

    2016-04-01

    Taking a product from concept to commercialization requires careful navigation of the regulatory pathway through a series of steps: (A) moving the idea through proof of concept and beyond; (B) evaluating new technologies that may provide added value to the idea; (C) designing appropriate test strategies and protocols; and (D) evaluating and mitigating risks. Moving an idea from the napkin stage of development to the final product requires a team effort. When finished, the product rarely resembles the original design, but careful steps throughout the product life cycle ensure that the product meets the vision.

  12. Learning sequential control in a Neural Blackboard Architecture for in situ concept reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Velde, Frank; van der Velde, Frank; Besold, Tarek R.; Lamb, Luis; Serafini, Luciano; Tabor, Whitney

    2016-01-01

    Simulations are presented and discussed of learning sequential control in a Neural Blackboard Architecture (NBA) for in situ concept-based reasoning. Sequential control is learned in a reservoir network, consisting of columns with neural circuits. This allows the reservoir to control the dynamics of

  13. The ECM moves during primitive streak formation--computation of ECM versus cellular motion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evan A Zamir

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Galileo described the concept of motion relativity--motion with respect to a reference frame--in 1632. He noted that a person below deck would be unable to discern whether the boat was moving. Embryologists, while recognizing that embryonic tissues undergo large-scale deformations, have failed to account for relative motion when analyzing cell motility data. A century of scientific articles has advanced the concept that embryonic cells move ("migrate" in an autonomous fashion such that, as time progresses, the cells and their progeny assemble an embryo. In sharp contrast, the motion of the surrounding extracellular matrix scaffold has been largely ignored/overlooked. We developed computational/optical methods that measure the extent embryonic cells move relative to the extracellular matrix. Our time-lapse data show that epiblastic cells largely move in concert with a sub-epiblastic extracellular matrix during stages 2 and 3 in primitive streak quail embryos. In other words, there is little cellular motion relative to the extracellular matrix scaffold--both components move together as a tissue. The extracellular matrix displacements exhibit bilateral vortical motion, convergence to the midline, and extension along the presumptive vertebral axis--all patterns previously attributed solely to cellular "migration." Our time-resolved data pose new challenges for understanding how extracellular chemical (morphogen gradients, widely hypothesized to guide cellular trajectories at early gastrulation stages, are maintained in this dynamic extracellular environment. We conclude that models describing primitive streak cellular guidance mechanisms must be able to account for sub-epiblastic extracellular matrix displacements.

  14. Flow-Control Systems Proof of Concept for Snowmelt Runoff at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    ER D C/ CR RE L TR -1 7- 1 Engineering for Polar Operations , Logistics, and Research (EPOLAR) Flow-Control Systems Proof of Concept for...January 2017 Flow-Control Systems Proof of Concept for Snowmelt Runoff at McMurdo Station, Antarctica Rosa Affleck U.S. Army Engineer Research and...runoff can be extreme where the flow can overwhelm both the drainage system and the operations and maintenance (O&M) crew. CRREL has been involved

  15. SPARCLE: Electrostatic Dust Control Tool Proof of Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, P. E.; Curtis, S. A.; Minetto, F.; Marshall, J.; Nuth, J.; Calle, C.

    2010-01-01

    Successful exploration of most planetary surfaces, with their impact-generated dusty regoliths, will depend on the capabilities to keep surfaces free of the performance-compromising dust. Once in contact with surfaces, whether set in motion by natural or mechanical means, regolith fines, or dust, behave like abrasive Velcro, coating surfaces, clogging mechanisms, making movement progressively more difticult, and being almost impossible to remove by mechanical mcans (brushing). The successful dust removal strategy will deal with dust dynamics resulting from interaction between Van der Waals and Coulombic forces. Here, proof of concept for an electrostatically-based concept for dust control tool is described and demonstrated. A low power focused electron beam is used in the presence of a small electrical field to increase the negative charge to mass ratio of a dusty surface until dust repulsion and attraction to a lower potential surface, acting as a dust collector, occurred. Our goal is a compact device of less than 5 kg mass and using less than 5 watts of power to be operational in less than 5 years with heritage from ionic sweepers for active spacecraft potential control (e.g ., on POLAR). Rovers could be fitted with devices that could hamess the removal of dust for sampling as part of the extended exploration process on Mercury, Mars, asteroids or outer solar system satellites, as well as the Moon.

  16. The performance of workload control concepts in job shops : Improving the release method

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Land, MJ; Gaalman, GJC

    1998-01-01

    A specific class of production control concepts for jobs shops is based on the principles of workload control. Practitioners emphasise the importance of workload control. However, order release methods that reduce the workload on the shop floor show poor due date performance in job shop simulations.

  17. Universally applicable design concept of stably controlling an HTGR-hydrogen production system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hada, Kazuhiko; Shibata, Taiju; Nishihara, Tetsuo; Shiozawa, Shusaku

    1996-01-01

    An HTGR-hydrogen production system should be designed to have stable controllability because of a large difference in thermal dynamics between reactor and hydrogen production system and such a control design concept should be universally applicable to a variety of hydrogen production processes by the use of nuclear heat from HTGR. A transient response analysis of an HTGR-steam reforming hydrogen production system showed that a steam generator installed in a helium circuit for cooling the nuclear reactor provides stable controllability of the total system, resulting in avoiding a reactor scram. A survey of control design-related characteristics among several hydrogen production processes revealed the similarity of endothermic chemical reactions by the use of high temperature heat and that steam is required as a reactant of the endothermic reaction or for preheating a reactant. Based on these findings, a system design concept with stable controllability and universal applicability was proposed to install a steam generator as a downstream cooler of an endothermic reactor in the helium circuit of an HTGR-hydrogen production system. (author)

  18. Coulomb's Law in a Moving Medium--A Review Exercise in Advanced Undergraduate Electromagnetism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sastry, G. P.

    1978-01-01

    The electromagnetic field of a static charge in a moving medium is evaluated using elements of special relativity, residue calculus, and Fourier integration. Some of the concepts in electrodynamics that are of current research value are discussed. (BB)

  19. Use of the Human Centered Design concept when designing ergonomic NPP control rooms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skrehot, Petr A.; Houser, Frantisek; Riha, Radek; Tuma, Zdenek

    2015-01-01

    Human-Centered Design is a concept aimed at reconciling human needs on the one hand and limitations posed by the design disposition of the room being designed on the other hand. This paper describes the main aspects of application of the Human-Centered Design concept to the design of nuclear power plant control rooms. (orig.)

  20. The LG-bank control concept: An improved method for PWR load-following operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Won Seok; Christenson, J.M.

    1990-01-01

    In this paper the authors present the results of an investigation of a new pressurized water reactor load-following control concept that utilizes light gray (LG) banks in combination with a single high-worth bank. The investigation determined a control strategy and a set of nuclear design parameters for the control banks that permits unrestricted load-following operation over a wide power range at both beginning-of-cycle and end-of-cycle conditions. Advantages of the LG-bank control concept are that flexible load-following maneuvers can be performed without either making changes in the boron concentration or requiring the continuous insertion of a high-worth control bank. These features remove both of the disadvantages of current gray-bank load-following designs, which generally require the continuous insertion of a high-worth bank and in some cases also involve changes in the boron concentration

  1. Advanced laser sensing receiver concepts based on FPA technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacobson, Phillip L.; Petrin, Roger R.; Jolin, John L.; Foy, Bernard R.; Lowrance, J.L.; Renda, George

    2002-01-01

    The ultimate performance of any remote sensor is ideally governed by the hardware signal-to-noise capability and allowed signal-averaging time. In real-world scenarios, this may not be realizable and the limiting factors may suggest the need for more advanced capabilities. Moving from passive to active remote sensors offers the advantage of control over the illumination source, the laser. Added capabilities may include polarization discrimination, instantaneous imaging, range resolution, simultaneous multi-spectral measurement, or coherent detection. However, most advanced detection technology has been engineered heavily towards the straightforward passive sensor requirements, measuring an integrated photon flux. The need for focal plane array technology designed specifically for laser sensing has been recognized for some time, but advances have only recently made the engineering possible. This paper will present a few concepts for laser sensing receiver architectures, the driving specifications behind those concepts, and test/modeling results of such designs.

  2. Moving In, Moving Through, and Moving Out: The Transitional Experiences of Foster Youth College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamez, Sara I.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the transitional experiences of foster youth college students. The study explored how foster youth experienced moving into, moving through, and moving out of the college environment and what resources and strategies they used to thrive during their college transitions. In addition, this study…

  3. Decommissioning of the AVR reactor, concept for the total dismantling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marnet, C.; Wimmers, M.; Birkhold, U.

    1998-01-01

    After more than 21 years of operation, the 15 MWe AVR experimental nuclear power plant with pebble bed high temperature gas-cooled reactor was shout down in 1988. Safestore decommissioning began in 1994. In order to completely dismantle the plant, a concept for Continued dismantling was developed according to which the plant could be dismantled in a step-wise procedure. After each step, there is the possibility to transform the plant into a new state of safe enclosure. The continued dismantling comprises three further steps following Safestore decommissioning: 1. Dismantling the reactor vessels with internals; 2. Dismantling the containment and the auxiliary units; 3. Gauging the buildings to radiation limit, release from the validity range of the AtG (Nuclear Act), and demolition of the buildings. For these steps, various technical procedures and concepts were developed, resulting in a reference concept in which the containment will essentially remain intact (in-situ concept). Over the top of the outer reactor vessel a disassembling area for remotely controlled tools will be erected that tightens on that vessel and can move down on the vessel according to the dismantling progress. (author)

  4. Smart bioimpedance-controlled craniotomy: Concept and first experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niesche, Annegret; Müller, Meiko; Ehreiser, Fritz; Teichmann, Daniel; Leonhardt, Steffen; Radermacher, Klaus

    2017-07-01

    Craniotomy is part of many neurosurgical interventions to create surgical access to intracranial structures. The procedure conventionally bears a high risk of unintended dural tears or damage of the soft tissue underneath the bone. A new synergistically controlled instrument has recently been introduced to address this problem by combining a soft tissue preserving saw with an automatic cutting depth control. Many approaches are known to obtain the information required on the local bone thickness. However, they suffer from unsatisfactory robustness against disturbances occurring during surgery and many approaches require additional intra- or preoperative steps in the workflow. This article presents first concepts for real-time cutting depth control based on in-process bioimpedance measurements. Furthermore, sensor integration into a synergistic surgical device incorporating a bidirectional oscillating saw is demonstrated and evaluated in first feasibility tests on a fresh bovine bone specimen. Results of bipolar measurements show that the transition of different layers of bicortical bone and bone breakthrough lead to characteristic impedance patterns that can be used for process control.

  5. Chemotaxis on the Move – Active Learning Teaching Tool

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ann H. Williams

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available In Microbiology courses, concepts such as chemotaxis can be difficult to visualize for students. Described here is a short visual playacting activity where students simulate E.coli moving towards an attractant source using a biased random walk. This short interactive activity is performed in the lecture course of General Microbiology that contains mostly Biology major juniors or seniors prior to the lecture on the subject of chemotaxis and flagellar movements. It is utilized to help students (class of 30–40 understand and visualize the process of chemotaxis and the concepts of random walk, biased random walk, runs, tumbles and directed movement of flagella in response to attractants and repellents.

  6. LACEwING: A New Moving Group Analysis Code

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riedel, Adric R. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Blunt, Sarah C.; Faherty, Jacqueline K. [Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024 (United States); Lambrides, Erini L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Rice, Emily L. [Department of Engineering Science and Physics, The College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY 10314 (United States); Cruz, Kelle L., E-mail: arr@astro.caltech.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hunter College, New York, NY 10065 (United States)

    2017-03-01

    We present a new nearby young moving group (NYMG) kinematic membership analysis code, LocAting Constituent mEmbers In Nearby Groups (LACEwING), a new Catalog of Suspected Nearby Young Stars, a new list of bona fide members of moving groups, and a kinematic traceback code. LACEwING is a convergence-style algorithm with carefully vetted membership statistics based on a large numerical simulation of the Solar Neighborhood. Given spatial and kinematic information on stars, LACEwING calculates membership probabilities in 13 NYMGs and three open clusters within 100 pc. In addition to describing the inputs, methods, and products of the code, we provide comparisons of LACEwING to other popular kinematic moving group membership identification codes. As a proof of concept, we use LACEwING to reconsider the membership of 930 stellar systems in the Solar Neighborhood (within 100 pc) that have reported measurable lithium equivalent widths. We quantify the evidence in support of a population of young stars not attached to any NYMGs, which is a possible sign of new as-yet-undiscovered groups or of a field population of young stars.

  7. CDIO-Concept for Enginering Education in Fluid Power, Motion Control and Mechatronic Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conrad, Finn; Andersen, Torben O.; Hansen, Michael Rygaard

    2006-01-01

    of mechatronics solutions with fluid power actuators for motion control of machines and robots. The idea of CDIO-Concept is to take care of that the students are learning by doing and learning while doing when the students are active to generate new products and solutions by going through the phases from......The paper presents significant Danish experiment results of a developed CDIO-Concept and approach for active and integrated learning in today’s engineering education of MSc Degree students, and research results from using IT-Tools for CAE/CAD and dynamic modelling, simulation, analysis, and design...... to Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate related to en product design by them self in competition with others. The idea is based on the Danish implementation of a CDIO-Concept. A curriculum at Aalborg University, and Technical University of Denmark, offers courses for Motion Control, Fluid Power within...

  8. ELECTROMAGNETIC APPARATUS FOR MOVING A ROD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, J.N.

    1958-04-22

    An electromagnetic apparatus for moving a rod-like member in small steps in either direction is described. The invention has particular application in the reactor field where the reactor control rods must be moved only a small distance and where the use of mechanical couplings is impractical due to the high- pressure seals required. A neutron-absorbing rod is mounted in a housing with gripping uaits that engage the rod, and coils for magnetizing the gripping units to make them grip, shift, and release the rod are located outside the housing.

  9. Job Surfing: Move On to Move Up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Justin

    1997-01-01

    Looks at the process of switching jobs and changing careers. Discusses when to consider options and make the move as well as the need to be flexible and open minded. Provides a test for determining the chances of promotion and when to move on. (JOW)

  10. Experimental studies of control concepts for a parallel manipulator with flexible links

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkhardt, Markus; Eberhard, Peter; Seifried, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Control of flexible multibody systems, such as flexible manipulators, is a challenging task. This is especially true if end-effector trajectory tracking is aspired. On the one hand, these systems require a large number of generalized coordinates to describe their dynamical behavior accurately. On the other hand, only a small subset of these values can be measured or reconstructed on-the-fly. Hence, it is difficult, if not nearly impossible, to use a state controller. In addition, flexible systems are under actuated, i.e. they possess less control inputs than generalized coordinates. In case of a non-collocated output controller, which is the case for end-effector trajectory tracking, the closed loop of the system might lose passivity and is non-minimum phase. In order to achieve end-effector trajectory tracking, exact and approximate feed-forward controls can be applied. In this work, two different versions of such concepts are compared experimentally. These model-based concepts are computed off-line and they supply, next to the required input values, a C1 -continuous solution of the complete state vector which can be used for feedback control. If the system is non-minimum phase, a two-sided boundary value problem has to be solved and the solution includes a pre-actuation as well as a post-actuation phase. While the exact method incorporates all dynamical effects of the flexible multibody system, the approximate concepts neglect certain implications, for example the dynamical effects due to the flexibility. In addition to the presentation of the theoretical basics of the control approaches and the underlying models, this contribution addresses some of the crucial obstacles, which have to be overcome for the operation of the test bench, e.g., signal conditioning, state reconstruction and friction compensation. Since the installed sensors do not allow the direct measurement of the end effector position, image tracking is used to judge the quality of the different

  11. The Effect of Direction on Cursor Moving Kinematics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiu-Ping Lu

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available There have been only few studies to substantiate the kinematic characteristics of cursor movement. In this study, a quantitative experimental research method was used to explore the effect of moving direction on the kinematics of cursor movement in 24 typical young persons using our previously developed computerized measuring program. The results of multiple one way repeated measures ANOVAs and post hoc LSD tests demonstrated that the moving direction had effects on average velocity, movement time, movement unit and peak velocity. Moving leftward showed better efficiency than moving rightward, upward and downward from the kinematic evidences such as velocity, movement unit and time. Moreover, the unique pattern of the power spectral density (PSD of velocity (strategy for power application explained why the smoothness was still maintained while moving leftward even under an unstable situation with larger momentum. Moreover, the information from this cursor moving study can guide us to relocate the toolbars and icons in the window interface, especially for individuals with physical disabilities whose performances are easily interrupted while controlling the cursor in specific directions.

  12. Advances in sliding mode control concept, theory and implementation

    CERN Document Server

    Janardhanan, S; Spurgeon, Sarah

    2013-01-01

    The sliding mode control paradigm has become a mature technique for the design of robust controllers for a wide class of systems including nonlinear, uncertain and time-delayed systems. This book is a collection of plenary and invited talks delivered at the 12th IEEE International Workshop on Variable Structure System held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India in January 2012. After the workshop, these researchers were invited to develop book chapters for this edited collection in order to reflect the latest results and open research questions in the area. The contributed chapters have been organized by the editors to reflect the various themes of sliding mode control which are the current areas of theoretical research and applications focus; namely articulation of the fundamental underpinning theory of the sliding mode design paradigm, sliding modes for decentralized system representations, control of time-delay systems, the higher order sliding mode concept, results applicable to nonlinear an...

  13. Constructing Threats and a Need for Control: Textbook Descriptions of a Growing, Moving World Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikander, Pia; Holm, Gunilla

    2014-01-01

    The population of the world is growing and moving. The overwhelming majority of people are on the move inside their own country and mostly towards cities while a minority moves from non-Western areas to the West. In Finnish geography, history and social science school textbooks, this mobility tends to be depicted differently depending on whether…

  14. Moving from control to elimination of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa: time to change and adapt strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tchuem Tchuenté, Louis-Albert; Rollinson, David; Stothard, J Russell; Molyneux, David

    2017-02-20

    Schistosomiasis is a water borne parasitic disease of global importance and with ongoing control the disease endemic landscape is changing. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the landscape is becoming ever more heterogeneous as there are several species of Schistosoma that respond in different ways to ongoing preventive chemotherapy and the inter-sectoral interventions currently applied. The major focus of preventive chemotherapy is delivery of praziquantel by mass drug administration to those shown to be, or presumed to be, at-risk of infection and disease. In some countries, regional progress may be uneven but in certain locations there are very real prospects to transition from control into interruption of transmission, and ultimately elimination. To manage this transition requires reconsideration of some of the currently deployed diagnostic tools used in surveillance and downward realignment of existing prevalence thresholds to trigger mass treatment. A key challenge will be maintaining and if possible, expanding the current donation of praziquantel to currently overlooked groups, then judging when appropriate to move from mass drug administration to selective treatment. In so doing, this will ensure the health system is adapted, primed and shown to be cost-effective to respond to these changing disease dynamics as we move forward to 2020 targets and beyond.

  15. Controllable unit concept as applied to a hypothetical tritium process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seabaugh, P.W.; Sellers, D.E.; Woltermann, H.A.; Boh, D.R.; Miles, J.C.; Fushimi, F.C.

    1976-01-01

    A methodology (controllable unit accountability) is described that identifies controlling errors for corrective action, locates areas and time frames of suspected diversions, defines time and sensitivity limits of diversion flags, defines the time frame in which pass-through quantities of accountable material and by inference SNM remain controllable and provides a basis for identification of incremental cost associated with purely safeguards considerations. The concept provides a rationale from which measurement variability and specific safeguard criteria can be converted into a numerical value that represents the degree of control or improvement attainable with a specific measurement system or combination of systems. Currently the methodology is being applied to a high-throughput, mixed-oxide fuel fabrication process. The process described is merely used to illustrate a procedure that can be applied to other more pertinent processes

  16. Schema generation in recurrent neural nets for intercepting a moving target.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleischer, Andreas G

    2010-06-01

    The grasping of a moving object requires the development of a motor strategy to anticipate the trajectory of the target and to compute an optimal course of interception. During the performance of perception-action cycles, a preprogrammed prototypical movement trajectory, a motor schema, may highly reduce the control load. Subjects were asked to hit a target that was moving along a circular path by means of a cursor. Randomized initial target positions and velocities were detected in the periphery of the eyes, resulting in a saccade toward the target. Even when the target disappeared, the eyes followed the target's anticipated course. The Gestalt of the trajectories was dependent on target velocity. The prediction capability of the motor schema was investigated by varying the visibility range of cursor and target. Motor schemata were determined to be of limited precision, and therefore visual feedback was continuously required to intercept the moving target. To intercept a target, the motor schema caused the hand to aim ahead and to adapt to the target trajectory. The control of cursor velocity determined the point of interception. From a modeling point of view, a neural network was developed that allowed the implementation of a motor schema interacting with feedback control in an iterative manner. The neural net of the Wilson type consists of an excitation-diffusion layer allowing the generation of a moving bubble. This activation bubble runs down an eye-centered motor schema and causes a planar arm model to move toward the target. A bubble provides local integration and straightening of the trajectory during repetitive moves. The schema adapts to task demands by learning and serves as forward controller. On the basis of these model considerations the principal problem of embedding motor schemata in generalized control strategies is discussed.

  17. Modular Hybrid Energy Concept Employing a Novel Control Structure Based on a Simple Analog System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PETREUS, D.

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel control topology which enables the setup of a low cost analog system leading to the implementation of a modular energy conversion system. The modular concept is based on hybrid renewable energy (solar and wind and uses high voltage inverters already available on the market. An important feature of the proposed topology is a permanently active current loop, which assures short circuit protection and simplifies the control loops compensation. The innovative analogue solution of the control structure is based on a dedicated integrated circuit (IC for power factor correction (PFC circuits, used in a new configuration, to assure an efficient inverter start-up. The energy conversion system (control structure and maximum power point tracking algorithm is simulated using a new macromodel-based concept, which reduces the usual computational burden of the simulator and achieves high processing speed. The proposed novel system is presented in this article from concept, through the design and implementation stages, is verified through simulation and is validated by experimental results.

  18. User interaction concept for plasma discharge control on WENDELSTEIN 7-X

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spring, Anett; Laqua, Heike; Niedermeyer, Helmut

    2006-01-01

    The requirements to the user interfaces arising from the concept of segmented discharges allowing short pulses and steady state operation and from the distributed hierarchical structure of the experiment are discussed. The modular design of the user interfaces is presented including specialised tools for preparation, manipulating, and monitoring the discharge operation. The user guidance and the mapping of complex control procedures onto a physically relevant view on the plasma discharge process will be vitally important. The feasibility of the user interaction concept could already be validated on a prototype installation and during commissioning of the first technical WENDELSTEIN 7-X (W7-X) components

  19. Effects of Changing the Pedagogical Concept of a Part-time BSc in Accounting from Traditional Lectures into an IT-supported Asyncronous and Flexible Learning Concept - Part 1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Tage; Holm, Claus; Dalgas, Annemarie

    2000-01-01

    This paper reports on the results of a change of the pedagogical concept in the second part of a four-year BSc program in Accounting. The program started September 1 1999 when 82 students were enrolled. The change involves a move from traditional lectures to a concept partly based on asynchronous...

  20. New Design Concept for Universal CCD Controller

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wonyong Han

    1994-06-01

    Full Text Available Currently, the CCDs are widely used in astronomical observations either in direct imaging use or spectroscopic mode. However according to the recent technical advances, new large format CCDs are rapidly developed which have better performances with higher quantum efficiency and sensitivity. In many cases, some microprocessors have been adopted to deal with necessary digital logic for a CCD imaging system. This could often lack the flexibility of a system for a user to upgrade with new devices, especially of it is a commercial product. A new design concept has been explored which could provide the opportunity to deal with any format of devices from ant manufactures effectively for astronomical purposes. Recently available PLD (Programmable Logic Devices technology makes it possible to develop such digital circuit design, which can be integrated into a single component, instead of using microprocessors. The design concept could dramatically increase the efficiency and flexibility of a CCD imaging system, particularly when new or large format devices are available and to upgrade the performance of a system. Some variable system control parameters can be selected by a user with a wider range of choice. The software can support such functional requirements very conveniently. This approach can be applied not only to astronomical purpose, but also to some related fields, such as remote sensing and industrial applications.

  1. Moving Matters of Contemporary Art: Three New Materialist Propositions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katve-Kaisa Kontturi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Fashioning a new materialist agenda, this essay calls for sensitivity to subtly moving matters present in the processes of making and encountering art. Otherwise, it claims, we will end up with seriously restricted understandings of art’s capabilities. Indeed, we might even miss art’s most inventive and moving offering: how it can change our thinking-feeling. In this essay, I suggest methods of relating to art in more bodily and material terms, and propose concepts that help to point out the materiality of encountering and making art. To make sense of how a new materialist approach might work in the case of contemporary art, I will offer three propositions that revolve around ontology, ethics and politics. These propositions arise from participation with art and are probed and provoked by a close relation to art.

  2. Moving related to separation : who moves and to what distance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mulder, Clara H.; Malmberg, Gunnar

    We address the issue of moving from the joint home on the occasion of separation. Our research question is: To what extent can the occurrence of moves related to separation, and the distance moved, be explained by ties to the location, resources, and other factors influencing the likelihood of

  3. Control system design concepts for improving bilateral characteristics of master-slave manipulators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hewitt, J.E.; Siva, K.V.

    1986-01-01

    The paper concerns control system design concepts for improving bilateral characteristics of master-slave manipulators. In particular, the article concentrates on the identification of the remote manipulative process itself from studying direct manipulation with hand tools. Bilateral servo loop systems in operator controlled manipular systems are discussed, as well as Bond Graph modelling techniques. The performance of different kinds of bilateral servos are compared. (U.K.)

  4. Designing components using smartMOVE electroactive polymer technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenthal, Marcus; Weaber, Chris; Polyakov, Ilya; Zarrabi, Al; Gise, Peter

    2008-03-01

    Designing components using SmartMOVE TM electroactive polymer technology requires an understanding of the basic operation principles and the necessary design tools for integration into actuator, sensor and energy generation applications. Artificial Muscle, Inc. is collaborating with OEMs to develop customized solutions for their applications using smartMOVE. SmartMOVE is an advanced and elegant way to obtain almost any kind of movement using dielectric elastomer electroactive polymers. Integration of this technology offers the unique capability to create highly precise and customized motion for devices and systems that require actuation. Applications of SmartMOVE include linear actuators for medical, consumer and industrial applications, such as pumps, valves, optical or haptic devices. This paper will present design guidelines for selecting a smartMOVE actuator design to match the stroke, force, power, size, speed, environmental and reliability requirements for a range of applications. Power supply and controller design and selection will also be introduced. An overview of some of the most versatile configuration options will be presented with performance comparisons. A case example will include the selection, optimization, and performance overview of a smartMOVE actuator for the cell phone camera auto-focus and proportional valve applications.

  5. A Numerical Proof of Concept for Thermal Flow Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Dragan

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper computational fluid dynamics is used to provide a proof of concept for controlled flow separation using thermal wall interactions with the velocity boundary layer. A 3D case study is presented, using a transition modeling Shear Stress Transport turbulence model. The highly loaded single slot flap airfoil was chosen to be representative for a light aircraft and the flow conditions were modeled after a typical landing speed. In the baseline case, adiabatic walls were considered while in the separation control case, the top surface of the flaps was heated to 500 K. This heating lead to flow separation on the flaps and a significant alteration of the flow pattern across all the elements of the wing. The findings indicate that this control method has potential, with implications in both aeronautical as well as sports and civil engineering applications.

  6. Least-cost planning as a concept of control. New economic strategies for the rational use of electric energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leprich, U.

    1994-01-01

    In the face of imminent climate change, reform concepts that are based on energy conservation are bound to prevail over other approaches. One such concept is that of Least Cost Planning (LCP). LCP aims at an unbiased choice among the options on the supply side (power plants, networks) and those on the demand side (energy conservation and substitution programmes). While today LCP is often discussed in a rather abbreviated sense as a concept for corporate strategies of power supply companies, the present paper develops it as a new concept for public control of power supply companies. An example of US American practice is analysed to determine to what extent the concept of LCP is compatible, in principle and practice, with a control system over power supply companies. This is used to develop elements for the reform of the German control system which would provide the economic dimension to the power supply companies' task of efficient energy utilisation. (orig.) [de

  7. Towards automatic patient positioning and scan planning using continuously moving table MR imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koken, Peter; Dries, Sebastian P M; Keupp, Jochen; Bystrov, Daniel; Pekar, Vladimir; Börnert, Peter

    2009-10-01

    A concept is proposed to simplify patient positioning and scan planning to improve ease of use and workflow in MR. After patient preparation in front of the scanner the operator selects the anatomy of interest by a single push-button action. Subsequently, the patient table is moved automatically into the scanner, while real-time 3D isotropic low-resolution continuously moving table scout scanning is performed using patient-independent MR system settings. With a real-time organ identification process running in parallel and steering the scanner, the target anatomy can be positioned fully automatically in the scanner's sensitive volume. The desired diagnostic examination of the anatomy of interest can be planned and continued immediately using the geometric information derived from the acquired 3D data. The concept was implemented and successfully tested in vivo in 12 healthy volunteers, focusing on the liver as the target anatomy. The positioning accuracy achieved was on the order of several millimeters, which turned out to be sufficient for initial planning purposes. Furthermore, the impact of nonoptimal system settings on the positioning performance, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was investigated. The present work proved the basic concept of the proposed approach as an element of future scan automation. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  8. Some problems of special theory of relativity. (Concept of relativistic length)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strel'tsov, V.N.

    1977-01-01

    Two available definitions of the concept of length (distance) related (a) to moving the length standard and (b) to sending a light signal (similar to the radar method for measuring distances) are analyzed. Considerations in favour of the preferable use of the (b) definition are discussed. The extension of the (b) definition for fast moving bodies results in the introduction of the definition of relativistic length and volume. The increase of the longitudinal dimensions of fast moving objects is a consequence of the above definition. It should be noted that, e.g., for a rod, the definition corresponds to measurements on the lines orthogonal to the world strip of the given rod. It is shown that the known Michelson-Morley and Throuton-Noble experiments are naturally explained in the framework of the proposed concept of relativistic length. It is also shown that the definition introduced, unlike the conventional one, satisfies the principle of relativity

  9. Fueling moving ring field-reversed mirror reactor plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Felber, F.S.

    1980-01-01

    The concept of small fusion reactors is being studied jointly by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory General Atomic Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The objective is to investigate alternatives and then to develop a conceptual design for a small reactor that could produce useful, though not necessarily economical, energy by the late 1980s. Three methods of fueling a small moving ring field-reversed mirror are considered: injection of fuel pellets accelerated by laser ablation, injection of fuel pellets accelerated by deflagration-gun ablation, and direct injection of plasma by a deflagration gun. 13 refs

  10. The Postural Responses to a Moving Environment of Adults Who Are Blind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoffregen, Thomas A.; Ito, Kiyohide; Hove, Philip; Yank, Jane Redfield; Bardy, Benoit G.

    2010-01-01

    Adults who are blind stood in a room that could be moved around them. A sound source moved with the room, simulating the acoustic consequences of body sway. Body sway was greater when the room moved than when it was stationary, suggesting that sound may have been used to control stance. (Contains 1 figure.)

  11. GSMNet: A Hierarchical Graph Model for Moving Objects in Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hengcai Zhang

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Existing data models for moving objects in networks are often limited by flexibly controlling the granularity of representing networks and the cost of location updates and do not encompass semantic information, such as traffic states, traffic restrictions and social relationships. In this paper, we aim to fill the gap of traditional network-constrained models and propose a hierarchical graph model called the Geo-Social-Moving model for moving objects in Networks (GSMNet that adopts four graph structures, RouteGraph, SegmentGraph, ObjectGraph and MoveGraph, to represent the underlying networks, trajectories and semantic information in an integrated manner. The bulk of user-defined data types and corresponding operators is proposed to handle moving objects and answer a new class of queries supporting three kinds of conditions: spatial, temporal and semantic information. Then, we develop a prototype system with the native graph database system Neo4Jto implement the proposed GSMNet model. In the experiment, we conduct the performance evaluation using simulated trajectories generated from the BerlinMOD (Berlin Moving Objects Database benchmark and compare with the mature MOD system Secondo. The results of 17 benchmark queries demonstrate that our proposed GSMNet model has strong potential to reduce time-consuming table join operations an d shows remarkable advantages with regard to representing semantic information and controlling the cost of location updates.

  12. Forward Models for Following a Moving Target with the Puma 560 Robot Manipulator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Fernando Tello Gamarra

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes how a forward model could be applied in a manipulator robot to accomplish the task of following a moving target. The forward model has been implemented in the puma 560 robot manipulator in simulation after a babbling motor phase using ANFIS neural networks. The forward model delivers a rough estimation of the position in the operational space of a moving target. Using this information a Cartesian controller tracks the moving target. An implementation of the proposed architecture and the Piepmeir algorithm for the problem of following a moving target is also shown in the paper. The control architecture proposed in this paper was also tested with MLP and RBF neural networks. Results and simulations are shown to demonstrate the applicability of our proposed architecture for tracking a moving target.

  13. Move up,Move out

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Guo Yan

    2007-01-01

    @@ China has already become the world's largest manufacturer of cement,copper and steel.Chinese producers have moved onto the world stage and dominated the global consumer market from textiles to electronics with amazing speed and efficiency.

  14. Can the Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system be used to design process-based hygiene concepts?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hübner, N-O; Fleßa, S; Haak, J; Wilke, F; Hübner, C; Dahms, C; Hoffmann, W; Kramer, A

    2011-01-01

    Recently, the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) concept was proposed as possible way to implement process-based hygiene concepts in clinical practice, but the extent to which this food safety concept can be transferred into the health care setting is unclear. We therefore discuss possible ways for a translation of the principles of the HACCP for health care settings. While a direct implementation of food processing concepts into health care is not very likely to be feasible and will probably not readily yield the intended results, the underlying principles of process-orientation, in-process safety control and hazard analysis based counter measures are transferable to clinical settings. In model projects the proposed concepts should be implemented, monitored, and evaluated under real world conditions.

  15. Ballasting pipeline moving in horizontal well as method of control sticking phenomenon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toropov, V. S.; Toropov, E. S.

    2018-05-01

    The mechanism of the phenomenon of sticking a pipeline moving in a well while pulled by the facility horizontal directional drilling is investigated. A quantitative evaluation of the force arising from sticking is given. At the same time, the working hypothesis takes a view of the combined effect of adhesion and friction interactions as the reasons that cause this phenomenon. As a measure to control the occurrence of sticking and to reduce the resistance force to movement of the pipeline in the well, several methods of ballasting the working pipeline are proposed, depending on the profile of the well and the ratio of the length of the curved sections of the inlet and outlet and the straight horizontal sections of the profile. It is shown that for crossings, which profile contains an extended horizontal section, it is possible to partially fill the pipeline with water to achieve zero buoyancy, and for crossings with curvature along the entire profile, the ballasting efficiency will be minimal.

  16. Superfluid compressibility and the inertial mass of a moving singularity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan, J.

    1993-01-01

    The concept of finite compressibility of a Fermi superfluid is used to reconsider the problem of inertial mass of vortex lines in both neutral and charged superfluids at T=0. For the charged case, in contrast to previous works where perfect screening was assumed, we take proper account of electromagnetic screening and solve the bulk charge distribution caused by a moving vortex line. A similar problem for a superconducting thin film is also considered

  17. 40 CFR 93.125 - Enforceability of design concept and scope and project-level mitigation and control measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Enforceability of design concept and... Transit Laws § 93.125 Enforceability of design concept and scope and project-level mitigation and control... determinations for a transportation plan or TIP and are included in the project design concept and scope which is...

  18. Conception of Brownian coil

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Jiayuan

    2018-01-01

    This article proposes a conception of Brownian coil. Brownian coil is a tiny coil with the same size of pollen. Once immersed into designed magnetic field and liquid, the coil will be moved and deformed macroscopically, due to the microscopic thermodynamic molecular collisions. Such deformation and movement will change the magnetic flux through the coil, by which an ElectroMotive Force (EMF) is produced. In this work, Brownian heat exchanger and Brownian generator are further designed to tran...

  19. Fuzzy logic control for camera tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lea, Robert N.; Fritz, R. H.; Giarratano, J.; Jani, Yashvant

    1992-01-01

    A concept utilizing fuzzy theory has been developed for a camera tracking system to provide support for proximity operations and traffic management around the Space Station Freedom. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic based reasoning are used in a control system which utilizes images from a camera and generates required pan and tilt commands to track and maintain a moving target in the camera's field of view. This control system can be implemented on a fuzzy chip to provide an intelligent sensor for autonomous operations. Capabilities of the control system can be expanded to include approach, handover to other sensors, caution and warning messages.

  20. Switching moving boundary models for two-phase flow evaporators and condensers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonilla, Javier; Dormido, Sebastián; Cellier, François E.

    2015-03-01

    The moving boundary method is an appealing approach for the design, testing and validation of advanced control schemes for evaporators and condensers. When it comes to advanced control strategies, not only accurate but fast dynamic models are required. Moving boundary models are fast low-order dynamic models, and they can describe the dynamic behavior with high accuracy. This paper presents a mathematical formulation based on physical principles for two-phase flow moving boundary evaporator and condenser models which support dynamic switching between all possible flow configurations. The models were implemented in a library using the equation-based object-oriented Modelica language. Several integrity tests in steady-state and transient predictions together with stability tests verified the models. Experimental data from a direct steam generation parabolic-trough solar thermal power plant is used to validate and compare the developed moving boundary models against finite volume models.

  1. Role of moving planes and moving spheres following Dupin cyclides

    KAUST Repository

    Jia, Xiaohong

    2014-03-01

    We provide explicit representations of three moving planes that form a μ-basis for a standard Dupin cyclide. We also show how to compute μ-bases for Dupin cyclides in general position and orientation from their implicit equations. In addition, we describe the role of moving planes and moving spheres in bridging between the implicit and rational parametric representations of these cyclides. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

  2. Role of moving planes and moving spheres following Dupin cyclides

    KAUST Repository

    Jia, Xiaohong

    2014-01-01

    We provide explicit representations of three moving planes that form a μ-basis for a standard Dupin cyclide. We also show how to compute μ-bases for Dupin cyclides in general position and orientation from their implicit equations. In addition, we describe the role of moving planes and moving spheres in bridging between the implicit and rational parametric representations of these cyclides. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

  3. Room to move: 'ecological space' and emissions equity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MacGregor, James; Chambwera, Muyeye

    2007-12-15

    Tackling climate change will involve a monumental balancing act. How can we effectively curb emissions while ensuring that poor countries are not restricted in their efforts to develop sustainably? The concept of 'ecological space' offers a viable solution. By measuring and comparing countries' greenhouse gas emissions, we can pinpoint their share of the total remaining emissions the planet can sustain without serious disruption to climate. The relatively low emissions of poor countries — and the per capita levels for the poorest are just 2 per cent of those in the US — allow them the ecological space for nonrestrictive economic development. Overall, the concept is a workable guide to achieving emissions equity while collectively moving towards a low-carbon future.

  4. Automatic Moving Object Segmentation for Freely Moving Cameras

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanli Wan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a new moving object segmentation algorithm for freely moving cameras which is very common for the outdoor surveillance system, the car build-in surveillance system, and the robot navigation system. A two-layer based affine transformation model optimization method is proposed for camera compensation purpose, where the outer layer iteration is used to filter the non-background feature points, and the inner layer iteration is used to estimate a refined affine model based on the RANSAC method. Then the feature points are classified into foreground and background according to the detected motion information. A geodesic based graph cut algorithm is then employed to extract the moving foreground based on the classified features. Unlike the existing global optimization or the long term feature point tracking based method, our algorithm only performs on two successive frames to segment the moving foreground, which makes it suitable for the online video processing applications. The experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in both of the high accuracy and the fast speed.

  5. Learning to push and learning to move: The adaptive control of contact forces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maura eCasadio

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available To be successful at manipulating objects one needs to apply simultaneously well controlled movements and contact forces. We present a computational theory of how the brain may successfully generate a vast spectrum of interactive behaviors by combining two independent processes. One process is competent to control movements in free space and the other is competent to control contact forces against rigid constraints. Free space and rigid constraints are singularities at the boundaries of a continuum of mechanical impedance. Within this continuum, forces and motions occur in compatible pairs connected by the equations of Newtonian dynamics. The force applied to an object determines its motion. Conversely, inverse dynamics determine a unique force trajectory from a movement trajectory. In this perspective, we describe motor learning as a process leading to the discovery of compatible force/motion pairs. The learned compatible pairs constitute a local representation of the environment's mechanics. Experiments on force field adaptation have already provided us with evidence that the brain is able to predict and compensate the forces encountered when one is attempting to generate a motion. Here, we tested the theory in the dual case, i.e. when one attempts at applying a desired contact force against a simulated rigid surface. If the surface becomes unexpectedly compliant, the contact point moves as a function of the applied force and this causes the applied force to deviate from its desired value. We found that, through repeated attempts at generating the desired contact force, subjects discovered the unique compatible hand motion. When, after learning, the rigid contact was unexpectedly restored, subjects displayed after effects of learning, consistent with the concurrent operation of a motion control system and a force control system. Together, theory and experiment support a new and broader view of modularity in the coordinated control of forces and

  6. Trajectory Orientation: A Technology-Enabled Concept Requiring a Shift in Controller Roles and Responsibilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiden, Ken; Green, Steven

    2000-01-01

    The development of a decision support tool (DST) for the en-route domain with accurate conflict prediction time horizons of 20 minutes has introduced an interesting problem. A 20 minute time horizon for conflict prediction often results in the predicted conflict occurring one or more sectors downstream from the sector controller who "owns" (i-e., is responsible for the safe separation of aircraft) one or both of the aircraft in the conflict pair. Based on current roles and responsibilities of today's en route controllers, the upstream controller would not resolve this conflict. In most cases, the downstream controller would wait until the conflicting aircraft entered higher sector before resolving the conflict. This results in a delay of several minutes from the time when the conflict was initially predicted. This delay is inefficient from both a controller workload and user's cost of operations perspective. Trajectory orientation, a new concept for facilitating an efficient, conflict-free flight path across several sectors while conforming to metering or miles-in-trail spacing, is proposed as an alternative to today's sector-oriented method. This concept necessitates a fundamental shift in thinking about inter-sector coordination. Instead of operating independently, with the main focus on protecting their internal airspace, controllers would work cooperatively, depending on each other for well-planned, conflict-free flow of aircraft. To support the trajectory orientation concept, a long time horizon (15 to 20 minutes) for conflict prediction and resolution would most likely be a primary requirement. In addition, new tools, such as controller-pilot data link will be identified to determine their necessity and applicability for trajectory orientation. Finally, with significant controller participation from selected Air Route Traffic Control Centers, potential shifts in R-side/D-side roles and responsibilities as well as the creation of a new controller position for

  7. Sensitivity analysis of automatic flight control systems using singular value concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrera-Vaillard, A.; Paduano, J.; Downing, D.

    1985-01-01

    A sensitivity analysis is presented that can be used to judge the impact of vehicle dynamic model variations on the relative stability of multivariable continuous closed-loop control systems. The sensitivity analysis uses and extends the singular-value concept by developing expressions for the gradients of the singular value with respect to variations in the vehicle dynamic model and the controller design. Combined with a priori estimates of the accuracy of the model, the gradients are used to identify the elements in the vehicle dynamic model and controller that could severely impact the system's relative stability. The technique is demonstrated for a yaw/roll damper stability augmentation designed for a business jet.

  8. Establishment of a gaseous pH control concept in microbioreactors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zainal Alam, Muhd Nazrul Hisham Bin; Schäpper, Daniel; Gernaey, Krist

    2012-01-01

    Existing methods for pH control in bench-scale bioreactor systems often cannot be directly adapted for microbioreactors. This is because microbioreactors are commonly designed to work with constant volumes, operate bubble-free and have no headspace, which technically rules out any possibility...... of adding acid/base solution for pH control in microbioreactors. This work reports on the establishment of a gaseous pH control concept in microbioreactors where pH control was achieved by dosing of ammonia (NH3, 20 000 ppm) and pure carbon dioxide (CO2) gases to respectively; increase and lower the pH...... of the reactor content. It encompasses the establishment of an optical pH measurement by means of a fluorescent sensor spot, realization of the necessary gas connections, mixing of gases, and gas-exchange via a thin semi-permeable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane. It was shown that addition of NH3 and CO2...

  9. Research on moving target defense based on SDN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Mingyong; Wu, Weimin

    2017-08-01

    An address mutation strategy was proposed. This strategy provided an unpredictable change in address, replacing the real address of the packet forwarding process and path mutation, thus hiding the real address of the host and path. a mobile object defense technology based on Spatio-temporal Mutation on this basis is proposed, Using the software Defined Network centralized control architecture advantage combines sFlow traffic monitoring technology and Moving Target Defense. A mutated time period which can be changed in real time according to the network traffic is changed, and the destination address is changed while the controller abruptly changes the address while the data packet is transferred between the switches to construct a moving target, confusing the host within the network, thereby protecting the host and network.

  10. Moving a House by Moved Participants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Axel, Erik

    himself in controlling every detail of the shape of the concrete slaps. He pushed all the other participants of the meetings, asking for details, information, the change of drawings etc. He explained the technical issues he was pursuing, was prepared for problems at the meetings, was well informed, always......? The participant observer believed it was a matter of changing coordinates, but the engineers immediately saw it was an issue of pipes in the ground, could they be moved and still function as planned? To decide the possibility of this suggestion the engineer was given the task of investigating the consequences...... they saw him as a bit pushy. On the other hand they understood why he was so since his firm would be fined if the concrete slabs did not meet specifications. The case will be the basis for a discussion of double motivation of the engineer, his evident interest in his professional work, and the wish...

  11. Key Issues in Essential Tremor Genetics Research: Where Are We Now and How Can We Move Forward?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia M. Testa

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Genetics research is an avenue towards understanding essential tremor (ET. Advances have been made in genetic linkage and association: there are three reported ET susceptibility loci, and mixed but growing data on risk associations. However, causal mutations have not been forthcoming. This disappointing lack of progress has opened productive discussions on challenges in ET genetics research, including fundamental assumptions in the field. This article reviews the ET genetics literature, results to date, the open questions in ET genetics and the current challenges in addressing them. Several inherent ET features complicate genetic linkage and association studies: high potential phenocopy rates, inaccurate tremor self-reporting, and ET misdiagnoses are examples. Increasing use of direct exam data for subjects, family members and controls is one current response. Smaller moves towards expanding ET phenotype research concepts into non-tremor features, clinically disputed ET subsets, and testing phenotype features instead of clinical diagnosis against genetic data are gradually occurring. The field has already moved to considering complex trait mechanisms requiring detection of combinations of rare genetic variants. Hypotheses may move further to consider novel mechanisms of inheritance, such as epigenetic. It is an exciting time in ET genetics as investigators start moving past assumptions underlying both phenotype and genetics experimental contributions, overcoming challenges to collaboration, and engaging the ET community. Multicenter collaborative efforts comprising rich longitudinal prospective phenotype data and neuropathologic analysis combined with the latest in genetics experimental design and technology will be the next wave in the field.

  12. Considerations on a new fast extraction kicker concept for SPS

    CERN Document Server

    Barnes, M

    2010-01-01

    An alternative extraction kicker concept is investigated for the SPS, based on open C-type kickers and a fast-bumper system. The beam is moved into the kicker gap some tens of ms before extraction. The concept is illustrated in detail with the LSS4 extraction from the SPS – very similar parameters and considerations apply to LSS6. A similar concept could also be conceived for injection but is more difficult due to the larger beam size. The technical issues are presented and the potential impact on the machine impedance outlined.

  13. Numerical Simulation of the Moving Induction Heating Process with Magnetic Flux Concentrator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feng Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The induction heating with ferromagnetic metal powder bonded magnetic flux concentrator (MPB-MFC demonstrates more advantages in surface heating treatments of metal. However, the moving heating application is mostly applied in the industrial production. Therefore, the analytical understanding of the mechanism, efficiency, and controllability of the moving induction heating process becomes necessary for process design and optimization. This paper studies the mechanism of the moving induction heating with magnetic flux concentrator. The MPB-MFC assisted moving induction heating for Inconel 718 alloy is studied by establishing the finite element simulation model. The temperature field distribution is analyzed, and the factors influencing the temperature are studied. The conclusion demonstrates that the velocity of the workpiece should be controlled properly and the heat transfer coefficient (HTC has little impact on the temperature development, compared with other input parameters. In addition, the validity of the static numerical model is verified by comparing the finite element simulation with experimental results on AISI 1045 steel. The numerical model established in this work can provide comprehensive understanding for the process control in production.

  14. Benchmarking Controlled Trial—a novel concept covering all observational effectiveness studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malmivaara, Antti

    2015-01-01

    Abstract The Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a novel concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess effectiveness. BCTs provide evidence of the comparative effectiveness between health service providers, and of effectiveness due to particular features of the health and social care systems. BCTs complement randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as the sources of evidence on effectiveness. This paper presents a definition of the BCT; compares the position of BCTs in assessing effectiveness with that of RCTs; presents a checklist for assessing methodological validity of a BCT; and pilot-tests the checklist with BCTs published recently in the leading medical journals. PMID:25965700

  15. Benchmarking Controlled Trial--a novel concept covering all observational effectiveness studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malmivaara, Antti

    2015-06-01

    The Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a novel concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess effectiveness. BCTs provide evidence of the comparative effectiveness between health service providers, and of effectiveness due to particular features of the health and social care systems. BCTs complement randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as the sources of evidence on effectiveness. This paper presents a definition of the BCT; compares the position of BCTs in assessing effectiveness with that of RCTs; presents a checklist for assessing methodological validity of a BCT; and pilot-tests the checklist with BCTs published recently in the leading medical journals.

  16. Dynamic-MLC leaf control utilizing on-flight intensity calculations: A robust method for real-time IMRT delivery over moving rigid targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McMahon, Ryan; Papiez, Lech; Rangaraj, Dharanipathy

    2007-01-01

    An algorithm is presented that allows for the control of multileaf collimation (MLC) leaves based entirely on real-time calculations of the intensity delivered over the target. The algorithm is capable of efficiently correcting generalized delivery errors without requiring the interruption of delivery (self-correcting trajectories), where a generalized delivery error represents anything that causes a discrepancy between the delivered and intended intensity profiles. The intensity actually delivered over the target is continually compared to its intended value. For each pair of leaves, these comparisons are used to guide the control of the following leaf and keep this discrepancy below a user-specified value. To demonstrate the basic principles of the algorithm, results of corrected delivery are shown for a leading leaf positional error during dynamic-MLC (DMLC) IMRT delivery over a rigid moving target. It is then shown that, with slight modifications, the algorithm can be used to track moving targets in real time. The primary results of this article indicate that the algorithm is capable of accurately delivering DMLC IMRT over a rigid moving target whose motion is (1) completely unknown prior to delivery and (2) not faster than the maximum MLC leaf velocity over extended periods of time. These capabilities are demonstrated for clinically derived intensity profiles and actual tumor motion data, including situations when the target moves in some instances faster than the maximum admissible MLC leaf velocity. The results show that using the algorithm while calculating the delivered intensity every 50 ms will provide a good level of accuracy when delivering IMRT over a rigid moving target translating along the direction of MLC leaf travel. When the maximum velocities of the MLC leaves and target were 4 and 4.2 cm/s, respectively, the resulting error in the two intensity profiles used was 0.1±3.1% and -0.5±2.8% relative to the maximum of the intensity profiles. For

  17. The implementation of the Wendelstein 7-X control a data acquisition concepts at VUV/XUV overview spectrometers HEXOS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schacht, Jörg; Pingel, Steffen; Herbst, Uwe; Hennig, Christine; Burhenn, Rainer; Hollfeld, Klaus-Peter; Jordan, Frank

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Shown in this paper is the implementation of the W7-X CoDaC concept for the HEXOS diagnostic. ► It explains the field, process and supervision level. ► The paper contains descriptions of the slow and fast control and data acquisition stations. ► It introduces the diagnosticians view to CoDaC via high level concept. -- Abstract: HEXOS (high efficiency extreme ultraviolet overview spectrometer) is an optimized set of four efficient VUV/XUV spectrometers. It is suitable for a complete coverage of the wavelength range of interest with sufficient spectral resolution. The spectrometers cover the entire wavelength range of 2.5–160 nm with high performance (up to 9999 spectra at spectra rate of 1000 s −1 ). To operate according to the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) control and data acquisition guidelines all necessary concepts for safety, autonomous and subordinated operation, and segment program controlled experiment operation will be implemented at HEXOS. The design of the HEXOS control and data acquisition system and the implementation of the main W7-X control and data acquisition concepts are described. An outlook on the test phase at the TEXTOR (Tokamak Experiment for Technology Oriented Research) device and the commissioning phase at W7-X is given

  18. Deweyan integration: moving beyond place attachment in elderly migration theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutchin, M P

    2001-01-01

    The fact that aging-in-place and elderly migration are intricately linked has been overlooked by behavioral approaches to elderly migration. "Humanistic" inquiry has provided important insights into aging-in-place and elderly migration as well as the connection between the two. Humanistic approaches, however, do not encapsulate the full range of experience involved in elders' lives. To move beyond humanistic research and key concepts such as place attachment, the philosophy of John Dewey is introduced. Dewey's viewpoint is merged with the geographical concept of place into what is termed "place integration." This perspective is subsequently compared with humanistic perspectives on aging-in-place and elderly migration decision-making. Fundamental differences such as temporal orientation and substantive focus are illustrated and discussed. Conclusions address the utility of such a perspective.

  19. A comparison of moving object detection methods for real-time moving object detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roshan, Aditya; Zhang, Yun

    2014-06-01

    Moving object detection has a wide variety of applications from traffic monitoring, site monitoring, automatic theft identification, face detection to military surveillance. Many methods have been developed across the globe for moving object detection, but it is very difficult to find one which can work globally in all situations and with different types of videos. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate existing moving object detection methods which can be implemented in software on a desktop or laptop, for real time object detection. There are several moving object detection methods noted in the literature, but few of them are suitable for real time moving object detection. Most of the methods which provide for real time movement are further limited by the number of objects and the scene complexity. This paper evaluates the four most commonly used moving object detection methods as background subtraction technique, Gaussian mixture model, wavelet based and optical flow based methods. The work is based on evaluation of these four moving object detection methods using two (2) different sets of cameras and two (2) different scenes. The moving object detection methods have been implemented using MatLab and results are compared based on completeness of detected objects, noise, light change sensitivity, processing time etc. After comparison, it is observed that optical flow based method took least processing time and successfully detected boundary of moving objects which also implies that it can be implemented for real-time moving object detection.

  20. On the need to better specify the concept of control in brain-computer-interfaces/neurofeedback research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guilherme eWood

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Aiming at a better specification of the concept of control in brain-computer-interfaces (BCI and neurofeedback research, we propose to distinguish self-control of brain activity from the broader concept of BCI control, since the first describes a neurocognitive phenomenon and is only one of the many components of BCI control. Based on this distinction, we developed a framework based on dual-processes theory that describes the cognitive determinants of self-control of brain activity as the interplay of automatic vs. controlled information processing. Further, we distinguish between cognitive processes that are necessary and sufficient to achieve a given level of self-control of brain activity and those which are not. We discuss that those cognitive processes which are not necessary for the learning process can hamper self-control because they cannot be completely turned-off at any time. This framework aims at a comprehensive description of the cognitive determinants of the acquisition of self-control of brain activity underlying those classes of BCI which require the user to achieve regulation of brain activity as well as neurofeedback learning.

  1. Operationalizing CSR through Project Conception

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kampf, Constance Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to address issues raised about the content of business education—moving away from a business-centered approach to understanding management, opening up a space for reflection, and offering tools to support this change in paradigm. Strand points out these issues as “rel...... of project conception by management can be understood as the place where CSR and sustainability practices can be operationalized in the base unit of work for many corporations—the project....... as “relevancy, reflexivity and continuity.” (Strand, 2011, p.41). Although Project Management (PM) is often understood as a specialized and narrow management topic, in organizations that use formalized and integrated PM practices such as Prince2 ™, management is responsible for project conception. The practice...

  2. CONCEPT OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE ABSORPTION REFRIGERATING UNITS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Titlova

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The general concept of the automatic control systems constructing for increasing the efficiency of the artificial cold production process in the absorption refrigerating units is substantiated. The described automatic control systems provides necessary degree of the ammonia vapor purification from the water in all absorption refrigerating units modes and minimizes heat loss from the dephlegmator surface.

  3. Reset Control Systems

    CERN Document Server

    Baños, Alfonso

    2012-01-01

    Reset Control Systems addresses the analysis for reset control treating both its basic form which requires only that the state of the controller be reinitialized to zero (the reset action) each time the tracking error crosses zero (the reset condition), and some useful variations of the reset action (partial reset with fixed or variable reset percentage) and of the reset condition (fixed or variable reset band and anticipative reset). The issues regarding reset controlconcepts and motivation; analysis tools; and the application of design methodologies to real-world examples – are given comprehensive coverage. The text opens with an historical perspective which moves from the seminal work of the Clegg integrator and Horowitz FORE to more recent approaches based on impulsive/hybrid control systems and explains the motivation for reset compensation. Preliminary material dealing with notation, basic definitions and results, and with the definition of the control problem under study is also included. The fo...

  4. Move-tecture: A Conceptual Framework for Designing Movement in Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yilmaz, Irem

    2017-10-01

    Along with the technological improvements in our age, it is now possible for the movement to become one of the basic components of the architectural space. Accordingly, architectural construction of movement changes both our architectural production practices and our understanding of architectural space. However, existing design concepts and approaches are insufficient to discuss and understand this change. In this respect, this study aims to form a conceptual framework on the relationship of architecture and movement. In this sense, the conceptualization of move-tecture is developed to research on the architectural construction of movement and the potentials of spatial creation through architecturally constructed movement. Move-tecture, is a conceptualization that treats movement as a basic component of spatial creation. It presents the framework of a qualitative categorization on the design of moving architectural structures. However, this categorization is a flexible one that can evolve in the direction of the expanding possibilities of the architectural design and the changing living conditions. With this understanding, six categories have been defined within the context of the article: Topological Organization, Choreographic Formation, Kinetic Structuring, Corporeal Constitution, Technological Configuration and Interactional Patterning. In line with these categories, a multifaceted perspective on the moving architectural structures is promoted. It is aimed that such an understanding constitutes a new initiative in the design practices carried out in this area and provides a conceptual basis for the discussions to be developed.

  5. Architectural concept for the ITER Plasma Control System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Treutterer, W., E-mail: Wolfgang.Treutterer@ipp.mpg.de [Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, EURATOM Association, Garching (Germany); Humphreys, D., E-mail: humphreys@fusion.gat.com [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Raupp, G., E-mail: Gerhard.Raupp@ipp.mpg.de [Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, EURATOM Association, Garching (Germany); Schuster, E., E-mail: schuster@lehigh.edu [Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (United States); Snipes, J., E-mail: Joseph.Snipes@iter.org [ITER Organization, 13115 St. Paul-lez-Durance (France); De Tommasi, G., E-mail: detommas@unina.it [CREATE/Università di Napoli Federico II, Napoli (Italy); Walker, M., E-mail: walker@fusion.gat.com [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Winter, A., E-mail: Axel.Winter@iter.org [ITER Organization, 13115 St. Paul-lez-Durance (France)

    2014-05-15

    The plasma control system is a key instrument for successfully investigating the physics of burning plasma at ITER. It has the task to execute an experimental plan, known as pulse schedule, in the presence of complex relationships between plasma parameters like temperature, pressure, confinement and shape. The biggest challenge in the design of the control system is to find an adequate breakdown of this task in a hierarchy of feedback control functions. But it is also important to foresee structures that allow handling unplanned exceptional situations to protect the machine. Also the management of the limited number of actuator systems for multiple targets is an aspect with a strong impact on system architecture. Finally, the control system must be flexible and reconfigurable to cover the manifold facets of plasma behaviour and investigation goals. In order to prepare the development of a control system for ITER plasma operation, a conceptual design has been proposed by a group of worldwide experts and reviewed by an ITER panel in 2012. In this paper we describe the fundamental principles of the proposed control system architecture and how they were derived from a systematic collection and analysis of use cases and requirements. The experience and best practices from many fusion devices and research laboratories, augmented by the envisaged ITER specific tasks, build the foundation of this collection. In the next step control functions were distilled from this input. An analysis of the relationships between the functions allowed sequential and parallel structures, alternate branches and conflicting requirements to be identified. Finally, a concept of selectable control layers consisting of nested “compact controllers” was synthesised. Each control layer represents a cascaded scheme from high-level to elementary controllers and implements a control hierarchy. The compact controllers are used to resolve conflicts when several control functions would use the same

  6. Architectural concept for the ITER Plasma Control System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Treutterer, W.; Humphreys, D.; Raupp, G.; Schuster, E.; Snipes, J.; De Tommasi, G.; Walker, M.; Winter, A.

    2014-01-01

    The plasma control system is a key instrument for successfully investigating the physics of burning plasma at ITER. It has the task to execute an experimental plan, known as pulse schedule, in the presence of complex relationships between plasma parameters like temperature, pressure, confinement and shape. The biggest challenge in the design of the control system is to find an adequate breakdown of this task in a hierarchy of feedback control functions. But it is also important to foresee structures that allow handling unplanned exceptional situations to protect the machine. Also the management of the limited number of actuator systems for multiple targets is an aspect with a strong impact on system architecture. Finally, the control system must be flexible and reconfigurable to cover the manifold facets of plasma behaviour and investigation goals. In order to prepare the development of a control system for ITER plasma operation, a conceptual design has been proposed by a group of worldwide experts and reviewed by an ITER panel in 2012. In this paper we describe the fundamental principles of the proposed control system architecture and how they were derived from a systematic collection and analysis of use cases and requirements. The experience and best practices from many fusion devices and research laboratories, augmented by the envisaged ITER specific tasks, build the foundation of this collection. In the next step control functions were distilled from this input. An analysis of the relationships between the functions allowed sequential and parallel structures, alternate branches and conflicting requirements to be identified. Finally, a concept of selectable control layers consisting of nested “compact controllers” was synthesised. Each control layer represents a cascaded scheme from high-level to elementary controllers and implements a control hierarchy. The compact controllers are used to resolve conflicts when several control functions would use the same

  7. Strategy generator for optimal xenon oscillation control: Based on a new concept of axial offsets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimazu, Yoichiro; Horimoto, Toshiaki

    1993-01-01

    Recently a new concept for controlling xenon oscillations has been used to optimize the control procedure for stabilizing an oscillation. The concept is based on two additional newly defined axial offsets, AO i and AO x together with the conventional axial offset AO p of axial power distribution. However, as the AOs are evaluated on line, it is impossible to predict the behavior of the AOs in advance. In order to overcome this situation a small auxiliary program has been developed. This program can generate the transients of the three AOs for the free running xenon oscillation. Then the user can input the most favorable conditions to eliminate the xenon oscillation such as total control hours, final AO p or time interval of the control rod movement. And an optimum search for the given final conditions is performed. The program can be used as a tool for a scoping study, the result of which can be obtained in a short time and also very easily

  8. Comfort measures: a concept analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Irene

    2013-01-01

    Reference to the concept of comfort measures is growing in the nursing and medical literature; however, the concept of comfort measures is rarely defined. For the comfort work of nurses to be recognized, nurses must be able to identify and delineate the key attributes of comfort measures. A concept analysis using Rodgers' evolutionary method (2000) was undertaken with the goal of identifying the core attributes of comfort measures and thereby clarifying this concept. Health care literature was accessed from the CINAHL and PubMed databases. No restrictions were placed on publication dates. Four main themes of attributes for comfort measures were identified during the analysis. Comfort measures involve an active, strategic process including elements of "stepping in" and "stepping back," are both simple and complex, move from a physical to a holistic perspective and are a part of supportive care. The antecedents to comfort measures are comfort needs and the most common consequence of comfort measures is enhanced comfort. Although the concept of comfort measures is often associated with end-of-life care, this analysis suggests that comfort measures are appropriate for nursing care in all settings and should be increasingly considered in the clinical management of patients who are living with multiple, chronic comorbidities.

  9. Simple Moving Voltage Average Incremental Conductance MPPT Technique with Direct Control Method under Nonuniform Solar Irradiance Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amjad Ali

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A new simple moving voltage average (SMVA technique with fixed step direct control incremental conductance method is introduced to reduce solar photovoltaic voltage (VPV oscillation under nonuniform solar irradiation conditions. To evaluate and validate the performance of the proposed SMVA method in comparison with the conventional fixed step direct control incremental conductance method under extreme conditions, different scenarios were simulated. Simulation results show that in most cases SMVA gives better results with more stability as compared to traditional fixed step direct control INC with faster tracking system along with reduction in sustained oscillations and possesses fast steady state response and robustness. The steady state oscillations are almost eliminated because of extremely small dP/dV around maximum power (MP, which verify that the proposed method is suitable for standalone PV system under extreme weather conditions not only in terms of bus voltage stability but also in overall system efficiency.

  10. High-rate wastewater treatment combining a moving bed biofilm reactor and enhanced particle separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helness, H; Melin, E; Ulgenes, Y; Järvinen, P; Rasmussen, V; Odegaard, H

    2005-01-01

    Many cities around the world are looking for compact wastewater treatment alternatives since space for treatment plants is becoming scarce. In this paper development of a new compact, high-rate treatment concept with results from experiments in lab-scale and pilot-scale are presented. The idea behind the treatment concept is that coagulation/floc separation may be used to separate suspended and colloidal matter (resulting in > 70% organic matter removal in normal wastewater) while a high-rate biofilm process (based on Moving Bed biofilm reactors) may be used for removing low molecular weight, easily biodegradable, soluble organic matter. By using flotation for floc/biomass separation, the total residence time for a plant according to this concept will normally be treatment) and sufficient P-removal.

  11. Joint Urban Operations Joint Integrating Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-07-23

    concept could lead to a systems-engineering approach to urban operations based on the misconception that urban ecologies can be treated as if they...profits at the cost of irreparable societal and ecological destruction. The firms conduct a series of focus groups to determine what countermessages...Group, moving directly behind Task Force 1, quickly assemble “pop-up” prefabricated encampments to create temporary refugee camps off the main axis of

  12. The development of the physical conceptions of the FBR type reactors control methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matveev, V.I.; Ivanov, A.P.

    1984-01-01

    The physical concepts and specific problems of the control elements for LMFBR type reactors are discussed in this paper. Typical temperature coefficient of reactivity, its dependency on reactor power and burnup level are given. The authors give us the most advisable methods of the reactivity coefficient compensation

  13. Cooperative Robots to Observe Moving Targets: Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Asif; Rinner, Bernhard; Cavallaro, Andrea

    2018-01-01

    The deployment of multiple robots for achieving a common goal helps to improve the performance, efficiency, and/or robustness in a variety of tasks. In particular, the observation of moving targets is an important multirobot application that still exhibits numerous open challenges, including the effective coordination of the robots. This paper reviews control techniques for cooperative mobile robots monitoring multiple targets. The simultaneous movement of robots and targets makes this problem particularly interesting, and our review systematically addresses this cooperative multirobot problem for the first time. We classify and critically discuss the control techniques: cooperative multirobot observation of multiple moving targets, cooperative search, acquisition, and track, cooperative tracking, and multirobot pursuit evasion. We also identify the five major elements that characterize this problem, namely, the coordination method, the environment, the target, the robot and its sensor(s). These elements are used to systematically analyze the control techniques. The majority of the studied work is based on simulation and laboratory studies, which may not accurately reflect real-world operational conditions. Importantly, while our systematic analysis is focused on multitarget observation, our proposed classification is useful also for related multirobot applications.

  14. Adaptive Moving Object Tracking Integrating Neural Networks And Intelligent Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, James S. J.; Nguyen, Dziem D.; Lin, C.

    1989-03-01

    A real-time adaptive scheme is introduced to detect and track moving objects under noisy, dynamic conditions including moving sensors. This approach integrates the adaptiveness and incremental learning characteristics of neural networks with intelligent reasoning and process control. Spatiotemporal filtering is used to detect and analyze motion, exploiting the speed and accuracy of multiresolution processing. A neural network algorithm constitutes the basic computational structure for classification. A recognition and learning controller guides the on-line training of the network, and invokes pattern recognition to determine processing parameters dynamically and to verify detection results. A tracking controller acts as the central control unit, so that tracking goals direct the over-all system. Performance is benchmarked against the Widrow-Hoff algorithm, for target detection scenarios presented in diverse FLIR image sequences. Efficient algorithm design ensures that this recognition and control scheme, implemented in software and commercially available image processing hardware, meets the real-time requirements of tracking applications.

  15. Robust Moving Horizon H∞ Control of Discrete Time-Delayed Systems with Interval Time-Varying Delays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Yıldız Tascikaraoglu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, design of a delay-dependent type moving horizon state-feedback control (MHHC is considered for a class of linear discrete-time system subject to time-varying state delays, norm-bounded uncertainties, and disturbances with bounded energies. The closed-loop robust stability and robust performance problems are considered to overcome the instability and poor disturbance rejection performance due to the existence of parametric uncertainties and time-delay appeared in the system dynamics. Utilizing a discrete-time Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, some delay-dependent linear matrix inequality (LMI based conditions are provided. It is shown that if one can find a feasible solution set for these LMI conditions iteratively at each step of run-time, then we can construct a control law which guarantees the closed-loop asymptotic stability, maximum disturbance rejection performance, and closed-loop dissipativity in view of the actuator limitations. Two numerical examples with simulations on a nominal and uncertain discrete-time, time-delayed systems, are presented at the end, in order to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

  16. "Doctors on the move": Exploring professionalism in the light of cultural transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKimm, Judy; Wilkinson, Tim

    2015-01-01

    As the world becomes "flattened" and travel is easier, doctors and other health professionals move and live around the world in large numbers: some for short periods (such as student electives) others on a longer-term or permanent basis. Similarly, as wider migration patterns play out, all doctors need to learn to work in multi-cultural environments, whether they move countries or work in their "home country". We consider cross-cultural aspects of "professionalism" in terms of medical students' and graduates' assimilation into different cultures and some of the aspects of professional practice that may be problematic where cultural expectations and practices may differ. Specifically we explore professional socialization, identity formation, acculturation and cultural competency as related concepts that help our understanding of challenges for individuals and strategies for curriculum development or support mechanisms.

  17. A visual detection of protein content based on titration of moving reaction boundary electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hou-Yu; Guo, Cheng-Ye; Guo, Chen-Gang; Fan, Liu-Yin; Zhang, Lei; Cao, Cheng-Xi

    2013-04-24

    A visual electrophoretic titration method was firstly developed from the concept of moving reaction boundary (MRB) for protein content analysis. In the developed method, when the voltage was applied, the hydroxide ions in the cathodic vessel moved towards the anode, and neutralized the carboxyl groups of protein immobilized via highly cross-linked polyacrylamide gel (PAG), generating a MRB between the alkali and the immobilized protein. The boundary moving velocity (V(MRB)) was as a function of protein content, and an acid-base indicator was used to denote the boundary displacement. As a proof of concept, standard model proteins and biological samples were chosen for the experiments to study the feasibility of the developed method. The experiments revealed that good linear calibration functions between V(MRB) and protein content (correlation coefficients R>0.98). The experiments further demonstrated the following merits of developed method: (1) weak influence of non-protein nitrogen additives (e.g., melamine) adulterated in protein samples, (2) good agreement with the classic Kjeldahl method (R=0.9945), (3) fast measuring speed in total protein analysis of large samples from the same source, and (4) low limit of detection (0.02-0.15 mg mL(-1) for protein content), good precision (R.S.D. of intra-day less than 1.7% and inter-day less than 2.7%), and high recoveries (105-107%). Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Alternative divertor target concepts for next step fusion devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazul, I. V.

    2016-12-01

    The operational conditions of a divertor target in the next steps of fusion devices are more severe in comparison with ITER. The current divertor designs and technologies have a limited application concerning these conditions, and so new design concepts/technologies are required. The main reasons which practically prevent the use of the traditional motionless solid divertor target are analyzed. We describe several alternative divertor target concepts in this paper. The comparative analysis of these concepts (including the advantages and the drawbacks) is made and the prospects for their practical implementation are prioritized. The concept of the swept divertor target with a liquid metal interlayer between the moving armour and motionless heat-sink is presented in more detail. The critical issues of this design are listed and outlined, and the possible experiments are presented.

  19. A brief overview of current relationships of geography, statistics, and taxonomy with the classical integrated control concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    A classic paper on the integrated control concept appeared in the later part of the 1950’s, led by Vernon Stern, Ray Smith, Robert van den Bosch, and Kenneth Hagen. Numerous concepts and definitions were formulated at that time. In this presentation, a short philosophical summary will be presented...

  20. Tracking integration in concentrating photovoltaics using laterally moving optics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duerr, Fabian; Meuret, Youri; Thienpont, Hugo

    2011-05-09

    In this work the concept of tracking-integrated concentrating photovoltaics is studied and its capabilities are quantitatively analyzed. The design strategy desists from ideal concentration performance to reduce the external mechanical solar tracking effort in favor of a compact installation, possibly resulting in lower overall cost. The proposed optical design is based on an extended Simultaneous Multiple Surface (SMS) algorithm and uses two laterally moving plano-convex lenses to achieve high concentration over a wide angular range of ±24°. It achieves 500× concentration, outperforming its conventional concentrating photovoltaic counterparts on a polar aligned single axis tracker.

  1. Doing frogs and the elephants: Or how atypical moving bodies are affected by predominantly able-bodies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mogendorff, K.G.

    2010-01-01

    With help of the Deleuzian moving body concept this paper seeks to further insight intohow bodies with a different kinesiology are affected by and affect other bodies. Based on ¿eldwork among ¿fteen, congenital neuromotor impaired young adults and the lifelongexperience of the author with a movement

  2. New concepts for controlled fusion reactor blanket design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conn, R.W.; Kulcinski, G.L.; Avci, H.; El-Maghrabi, M.

    1975-01-01

    Several new concepts for fusion reactor blanket design based on the idea of shifting, or tailoring, the neutron spectrum incident on the first structural wall are presented. The spectral shifter is a nonstructural element which can be made of graphite, silicon carbide, or three dimensionally woven carbon fibers (and containing other materials as appropriate) placed between the neutron source and the first structural wall. The softened neutron spectrum incident on the structural components leads to lower gas production and atom displacement rates than in more standard fusion blanket designs. In turn, this results in longer anticipated lifetimes for the structural materials and can significantly reduce radioactivity and afterheat levels. In addition, the neutron spectrum in the first structural wall can be made to approach the flux shape in fast breeder reactors. Such spectral softening means that existing radiation facilities may be more profitably used to provide relevant materials radiation damage data for the structural materials in these fusion blanket designs. This general class of blanket concepts are referred to as internal spectral shifter and energy converter, or ISSEC concepts. These specific design concepts fall into three main categories: ISSEC/EB concepts based on utilizing existing designs which breed tritium behind the first structural wall; ISSEC/IB concepts based on breeding tritium inside the first vacuum wall; and ISSEC/Bu concepts based on using boron, carbon, and perhaps, beryllium to obtain an energy multiplier and converter design that does not attempt to breed tritium or utilize lithium. The detailed analyses relate specifically to the nuclear performance of ISSEC systems and to a discussion of materials radiation damage problems in the structural material.(U.S.)

  3. Embodied affectivity: On moving and being moved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas eFuchs

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available There is a growing body of research indicating that bodily sensation and behaviour strongly influences one’s emotional reaction towards certain situations or objects. On this background, a framework model of embodied affectivity is suggested: we regard emotions as resulting from the circular interaction between affective qualities or affordances in the environment and the subject’s bodily resonance, be it in the form of sensations, postures, expressive movements or movement tendencies. Motion and emotion are thus intrinsically connected: one is moved by movement (perception; impression; affection and moved to move (action; expression; e-motion. Through its resonance, the body functions as a medium of emotional perception: it colours or charges self-experience and the environment with affective valences while it remains itself in the background of one’s own awareness. This model is then applied to emotional social understanding or interaffectivity which is regarded as an intertwinement of two cycles of embodied affectivity, thus continuously modifying each partner’s affective affordances and bodily resonance. We conclude with considerations of how embodied affectivity is altered in psychopathology and can be addressed in psychotherapy of the embodied self.

  4. Temperature dependence and the moving species during ion mixing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia, W.; Fernandes, M.; Hewett, C.A.; Lau, S.S.; Poker, D.B.; Biersack, J.P.

    1988-01-01

    In this paper, the authors review the experimental observations of the temperature dependence and the moving species in ion mixing, emphasizing the metal-semiconductor systems. Ion mixing is the combined effect of two components. One component is temperature independent and is primarily due to events in the prompt regime, the other component is temperature dependent and has the characteristics of the associated thermal reactions. The moving species during ion mixing are influenced by collisional effects, either due to secondary recoils, or due to local hot spots, or both. The secondary recoil concept is consistent with experimental observations that the motion of the lighter element in a bilayer sample is enhanced. There is ample evidence that while the a thermal regime is caused by particle-solid interactions, thermodynamical forces are important in deciding the magnitude of mixing. In the thermally activated regime, the ion induced reaction product should be influenced by the heats of formation of various compounds. We also indicate areas where satisfactory explanations are not available at present

  5. Method and apparatus for a combination moving bed thermal treatment reactor and moving bed filter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badger, Phillip C.; Dunn, Jr., Kenneth J.

    2015-09-01

    A moving bed gasification/thermal treatment reactor includes a geometry in which moving bed reactor particles serve as both a moving bed filter and a heat carrier to provide thermal energy for thermal treatment reactions, such that the moving bed filter and the heat carrier are one and the same to remove solid particulates or droplets generated by thermal treatment processes or injected into the moving bed filter from other sources.

  6. Introduction to the concept of added mass in fluid mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pham Dan Tam.

    1977-07-01

    The physical phenomenum which leads to the concept of added mass for an inviscid fluid is recalled. The added-mass tensor for a solid body moving through an unbounded fluid is defined and some of its properties are presented. The Taylor theorem is exposed, which enables some of the tensor components to be analytically derived in particular cases. Added-mass values are provided for bodies of particular shape. Applications of the added-mass concept to different problems are given [fr

  7. Distributed Information and Control system reliability enhancement by fog-computing concept application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnik, E. V.; Klimenko, A. B.; Ivanov, D. Ya

    2018-03-01

    The paper focuses on the information and control system reliability issue. Authors of the current paper propose a new complex approach of information and control system reliability enhancement by application of the computing concept elements. The approach proposed consists of a complex of optimization problems to be solved. These problems are: estimation of computational complexity, which can be shifted to the edge of the network and fog-layer, distribution of computations among the data processing elements and distribution of computations among the sensors. The problems as well as some simulated results and discussion are formulated and presented within this paper.

  8. The Role of Design Concepts in the Development of Industrial Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pekkala, Janne; Ylirisku, Salu

    2017-01-01

    B-to-B industrial manufacturing organisations are moving focus from designing products to services. This transition challenges the management of innovating, which is increasingly collaborative and networked. Organisations need to be able to tackle the related uncertainty in order to prepare, secure......-to-B industrial manufacturing. Eight roles for design concepts are identified in the 11-month study, and these are presented as stories concretising how design concepts functioned. Design concepts were utilised in 1) anticipating future, 2) implementing design, 3) training, 4) engaging in dialogue, 5) setting...... goals, 6) establishing vocabulary in organisation, 7) planning and securing resources, and 8) linking projects....

  9. Systematic design of an intra-cycle fueling control system for advanced diesel combustion concepts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kefalidis, L.

    2017-01-01

    This technical report presents a systematic approach for the design and development of an intra-cycle fueling control system for diesel combustion concepts. A high level system was developed and implemented on an experimental engine setup. Implementation and experimental validation are performed for

  10. Critical reflection and dialogical learning design: moving MOOCs beyond unidirectional transmission of content

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kim Haagen Mathiesen

    2016-11-01

    Over a 5 week period we conducted a netnographic (Kozinet, 2015 mixed methods research of the MOOC Blended Learning Essentials (https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/blended-learning-gettingstarted/2. Contrary to the acclaimed potentials of MOOCs, our research showed a pronounced lack of dialogue and a high degree of what Freire (1996 calls “the banking concept of education,” entailing a high amount of one-way knowledge transmission (Hoem, 2006. To circumvent these tendencies, the paper presents a case analysis and design framework for moving MOOCs beyond “the banking concept of education” and towards dialogue in ways that support critical thinking; a high-level cognitive skill essential to higher education (Laurillard, 2012.

  11. The question is: are fast-moving scales contracted or elongated?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strel'tsov, V.N.

    1991-01-01

    The traditional definition of the length of a fast-moving scale and the concept of relativistic length are considered from the point of view of the condition of relativistic covariance. It is shown that the latter concept satisfies this condition whereas the traditional definition is in contrast with it ('synchronous length' is not a 4-vector). It is stressed that the light and retarded distances and the relativistic length introduced in fact on their base serve as the basis for the space-time picture of the radar formulation of relativistic theory. The consequence of this approach is lengthening (and not contraction) of longitudinal sizes of relativistic objects. It is noted that the use of radar length (instead of 'instantaneous' one) in the known interpretation of the Michelson-Morley experiment leads to the elongation formula for a longitudinal arm of the interferometer. 16 refs.; 1 fig

  12. Development of a new ALWR control concept using a PC-based interactive environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godbole, S.S.; Eschbach, S.L.; Gabler, W.E.; Brown, R.J.

    1988-01-01

    This paper describes a new control concept for an advanced light water reactor (ALWR) and the personal computer (PC) based environment on which it was developed. In this concept, a mathematical model of the plant is used to calculate the demands and certain setpoints. The model takes into account stored energy and mass, and plant interactions, and thus the calculated demands represent dynamic balance between subsystems. Corrections to these demands based on certain key measurements are determined to account for deviation between the model and the plant and to keep the plant away from protection and operating limits. The expected results are smoother plant maneuvers and runbacks and fewer challenges to safety systems

  13. Design concept of radiation control system for the high intensity proton accelerator facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miyamoto, Yukihiro; Ikeno, Koichi; Akiyama, Shigenori; Harada, Yasunori [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

    2002-11-01

    Description is given for the characteristic radiation environment for the High Intensity Proton Accelerator Facility and the design concept of the radiation control system of it. The facility is a large scale accelerator complex consisting of high energy proton accelerators carrying the highest beam intensity in the world and the related experimental facilities and therefore provides various issues relevant to the radiation environment. The present report describes the specifications for the radiation control system for the facility, determined in consideration of these characteristics. (author)

  14. Detection of moving objects from a moving platform in urban scenes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haar, F.B. ter; Hollander, R.J.M. den; Dijk, J.

    2010-01-01

    Moving object detection in urban scenes is important for the guidance of autonomous vehicles, robot navigation, and monitoring. In this paper moving objects are automatically detected using three sequential frames and tracked over a longer period. To this extend we modify the plane+parallax,

  15. Direct calorimetry of free-moving eels with manipulated thyroid status

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ginneken, Vincent; Ballieux, Bart; Antonissen, Erik; van der Linden, Rob; Gluvers, Ab; van den Thillart, Guido

    2007-02-01

    In birds and mammals, the thyroid gland secretes the iodothyronine hormones of which tetraiodothyronine (T4) is less active than triiodothyronine (T3). The action of T3 and T4 is calorigenic and is involved in the control of metabolic rate. Across all vertebrates, thyroid hormones also play a major role in differentiation, development and growth. Although the fish thyroidal system has been researched extensively, its role in thermogenesis is unclear. In this study, we measured overall heat production to an accuracy of 0.1 mW by direct calorimetry in a free-moving European eel ( Anguilla anguilla L.) with different thyroid status. Hyperthyroidism was induced by injection of T3 and T4, and hypothyroidism was induced with phenylthiourea. The results show for the first time at the organismal level, using direct calorimetry, that neither overall heat production nor overall oxygen consumption in eels is affected by hyperthyroidism. Therefore, we conclude that the thermogenic metabolism-stimulating effect of thyroid hormones (TH) is not present with a cold-blooded fish species like the European eel. This supports the concept that TH does not stimulate thermogenesis in poikilothermic species.

  16. On the speed towards the mean for continuous time autoregressive moving average processes with applications to energy markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benth, Fred Espen; Taib, Che Mohd Imran Che

    2013-01-01

    We extend the concept of half life of an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process to Lévy-driven continuous-time autoregressive moving average processes with stochastic volatility. The half life becomes state dependent, and we analyze its properties in terms of the characteristics of the process. An empirical example based on daily temperatures observed in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, is presented, where the proposed model is estimated and the distribution of the half life is simulated. The stationarity of the dynamics yield futures prices which asymptotically tend to constant at an exponential rate when time to maturity goes to infinity. The rate is characterized by the eigenvalues of the dynamics. An alternative description of this convergence can be given in terms of our concept of half life. - Highlights: • The concept of half life is extended to Levy-driven continuous time autoregressive moving average processes • The dynamics of Malaysian temperatures are modeled using a continuous time autoregressive model with stochastic volatility • Forward prices on temperature become constant when time to maturity tends to infinity • Convergence in time to maturity is at an exponential rate given by the eigenvalues of the model temperature model

  17. New Power Sharing Control for Inverter-Dominated Microgrid Based on Impedance Match Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Herong; Wang, Deyu; Shen, Hong; Zhao, Wei; Guo, Xiaoqiang

    2013-01-01

    Power flow control is one of the most important issues for operating the inverter-dominated autonomous microgrid. A technical challenge is how to achieve the accurate active/reactive power sharing of inverters. P-F and Q-V droop control schemes have been widely used for power sharing in the past decades. But they suffer from the poor power sharing in the presence of unequal line impedance. In order to solve the problem, a comprehensive analysis of the power droop control is presented, and a new droop control based on the impedance match concept is proposed in this paper. In addition, the design guidelines of control coefficients and virtual impedance are provided. Finally, the performance evaluation is carried out, and the evaluation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:24453910

  18. New power sharing control for inverter-dominated microgrid based on impedance match concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Herong; Wang, Deyu; Shen, Hong; Zhao, Wei; Guo, Xiaoqiang

    2013-01-01

    Power flow control is one of the most important issues for operating the inverter-dominated autonomous microgrid. A technical challenge is how to achieve the accurate active/reactive power sharing of inverters. P-F and Q-V droop control schemes have been widely used for power sharing in the past decades. But they suffer from the poor power sharing in the presence of unequal line impedance. In order to solve the problem, a comprehensive analysis of the power droop control is presented, and a new droop control based on the impedance match concept is proposed in this paper. In addition, the design guidelines of control coefficients and virtual impedance are provided. Finally, the performance evaluation is carried out, and the evaluation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  19. Personality Characteristics and Self-Concept of Preservice Teachers Related to Their Pupil Control Orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halpin, Glennelle; And Others

    1982-01-01

    In a study of teacher trainees' personality characteristics related to pupil control, humanistically oriented educators tended to be emotionally stable, expedient, positive, imaginative, venturesome, relaxed and had high self-concepts. Authoritarian educators were more affected by feelings, conscientious, sober, practical, shy, reserved, tense and…

  20. HuMOVE: a low-invasive wearable monitoring platform in sexual medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciuti, Gastone; Nardi, Matteo; Valdastri, Pietro; Menciassi, Arianna; Basile Fasolo, Ciro; Dario, Paolo

    2014-10-01

    To investigate an accelerometer-based wearable system, named Human Movement (HuMOVE) platform, designed to enable quantitative and continuous measurement of sexual performance with minimal invasiveness and inconvenience for users. Design, implementation, and development of HuMOVE, a wearable platform equipped with an accelerometer sensor for monitoring inertial parameters for sexual performance assessment and diagnosis, were performed. The system enables quantitative measurement of movement parameters during sexual intercourse, meeting the requirements of wearability, data storage, sampling rate, and interfacing methods, which are fundamental for human sexual intercourse performance analysis. HuMOVE was validated through characterization using a controlled experimental test bench and evaluated in a human model during simulated sexual intercourse conditions. HuMOVE demonstrated to be a robust and quantitative monitoring platform and a reliable candidate for sexual performance evaluation and diagnosis. Characterization analysis on the controlled experimental test bench demonstrated an accurate correlation between the HuMOVE system and data from a reference displacement sensor. Experimental tests in the human model during simulated intercourse conditions confirmed the accuracy of the sexual performance evaluation platform and the effectiveness of the selected and derived parameters. The obtained outcomes also established the project expectations in terms of usability and comfort, evidenced by the questionnaires that highlighted the low invasiveness and acceptance of the device. To the best of our knowledge, HuMOVE platform is the first device for human sexual performance analysis compatible with sexual intercourse; the system has the potential to be a helpful tool for physicians to accurately classify sexual disorders, such as premature or delayed ejaculation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Cooperative multi-robot observation of multiple moving targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, L.E.; Emmons, B.A.

    1997-01-01

    An important issue that arises in the automation of many security, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks is that of monitoring, or observing, the movements of targets navigating in a bounded area of interest. A key research issue in these problems is that of sensor placement--determining where sensors should be located to maintain the targets in view. In complex applications of this type, the use of multiple sensors dynamically moving over time is required. In this paper, the authors investigate the sue of a cooperative team of autonomous sensor-based robots for multi-robot observation of multiple moving targets. They focus primarily on developing the distributed control strategies that allow the robot team to attempt to maximize the collective tie during which each object is being observed by at least one robot in the area of interest. The initial efforts in this problem address the aspects of distributed control in homogeneous robot teams with equivalent sensing and movement capabilities working in an uncluttered, bounded area. This paper first formalizes the problem, discusses related work, and then shows that this problem is NP-hard. They then present a distributed approximate approach to solving this problem that combines low-level multi-robot control with higher-level control

  2. Advanced sulfur control concepts for hot gas desulfurization technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-01-01

    The objective of this project is to develop a hot-gas desulfurization process scheme for control of H 2 S in HTHP coal gas that can be more simply and economically integrated with known regenerable sorbents in DOE/METC-sponsored work than current leading hot-gas desulfurization technologies. In addition to being more economical, the process scheme to be developed must yield an elemental sulfur byproduct. The Direct Sulfur Recovery Process (DSRP), a leading process for producing an elemental sulfur byproduct in hot-gas desulfurization systems, incurs a coal gas use penalty, because coal gas is required to reduce the SO 2 in regeneration off-gas to elemental sulfur. Alternative regeneration schemes, which avoid coal gas use and produce elemental sulfur, will be evaluated. These include (i) regeneration of sulfided sorbent using SO 2 ; (ii) partial oxidation of sulfided sorbent in an O 2 starved environment; and (iii) regeneration of sulfided sorbent using steam to produce H 2 S followed by direct oxidation of H 2 S to elemental sulfur. Known regenerable sorbents will be modified to improve the feasibility of the above alternative regeneration approaches. Performance characteristics of the modified sorbents and processes will be obtained through lab- and bench-scale testing. Technical and economic evaluation of the most promising processes concept(s) will be carried out

  3. Algorithms for Collision Detection Between a Point and a Moving Polygon, with Applications to Aircraft Weather Avoidance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narkawicz, Anthony; Hagen, George

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes mathematical definitions of functions that can be used to detect future collisions between a point and a moving polygon. The intended application is weather avoidance, where the given point represents an aircraft and bounding polygons are chosen to model regions with bad weather. Other applications could possibly include avoiding other moving obstacles. The motivation for the functions presented here is safety, and therefore they have been proved to be mathematically correct. The functions are being developed for inclusion in NASA's Stratway software tool, which allows low-fidelity air traffic management concepts to be easily prototyped and quickly tested.

  4. Pollution control through innovation and technological development. Environmental policy concepts of the BDI

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meller, E

    1987-02-01

    Increasing acceptance of pollution control tasks call for enhanced innovative power both of industry and politics. One pre-requisite of boosting innovation is an environmental policy concept fit into the framework of the economic policy: A clear environmental strategy stating priorities and foreseeable, fixed data for the required adjustment of industry, selection of pollution control measures by means of verifiable cost-benefit analyses in cooperation with industry, embedding environmental policy in the context of the free market system and harmonization of means and methods on an international level. (orig./HSCH).

  5. MOVES regional level sensitivity analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    The MOVES Regional Level Sensitivity Analysis was conducted to increase understanding of the operations of the MOVES Model in regional emissions analysis and to highlight the following: : the relative sensitivity of selected MOVES Model input paramet...

  6. Moving Field Guides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassie Meador; Mark Twery; Meagan. Leatherbury

    2011-01-01

    The Moving Field Guides (MFG) project is a creative take on site interpretation. Moving Field Guides provide an example of how scientific and artistic endeavors work in parallel. Both begin with keen observations that produce information that must be analyzed, understood, and interpreted. That interpretation then needs to be communicated to others to complete the...

  7. Future ATM Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) Interface Control Document

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grabbe, Shon R.

    2017-01-01

    This Interface Control Document (ICD) documents the airspace adaptation and air traffic inputs of NASA's Future ATM Concepts and Evaluation Tool (FACET). Its intended audience is the project manager, project team, development team, and stakeholders interested in interfacing with the system. FACET equips Air Traffic Management (ATM) researchers and service providers with a way to explore, develop and evaluate advanced air transportation concepts before they are field-tested and eventually deployed. FACET is a flexible software tool that is capable of quickly generating and analyzing thousands of aircraft trajectories. It provides researchers with a simulation environment for preliminary testing of advanced ATM concepts. Using aircraft performance profiles, airspace models, weather data, and flight schedules, the tool models trajectories for the climb, cruise, and descent phases of flight for each type of aircraft. An advanced graphical interface displays traffic patterns in two and three dimensions, under various current and projected conditions for specific airspace regions or over the entire continental United States. The system is able to simulate a full day's dynamic national airspace system (NAS) operations, model system uncertainty, measure the impact of different decision-makers in the NAS, and provide analysis of the results in graphical form, including sector, airport, fix, and airway usage statistics. NASA researchers test and analyze the system-wide impact of new traffic flow management algorithms under anticipated air traffic growth projections on the nation's air traffic system. In addition to modeling the airspace system for NASA research, FACET has also successfully transitioned into a valuable tool for operational use. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) traffic flow managers and commercial airline dispatchers have used FACET technology for real-time operations planning. FACET integrates live air traffic data from FAA radar systems and weather data

  8. Control Theory Concepts Applied to Retail Supply Chain: A System Dynamics Modeling Environment Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balaji Janamanchi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Control theory concepts have been long used to successfully manage and optimize complex systems. Using system dynamics (SD modeling methodology, which is continuous deterministic simulation modeling methodology, we apply control theory concepts to develop a suitable performance functional (or objective function that optimizes the performance of a retail supply chain. The focus is to develop insights for inventory management to prevent stock-outs and unfilled orders and to fill customer orders at the lowest possible cost to supply chain partners under different scenarios, in a two-player supplier-retailer supply chain. Moderate levels of inventory, defining appropriate performance functional, appear to be crucial in choosing the right policies for managing retail supply chain systems. The study also demonstrated how multiple objectives can be combined in a single performance functional (or objective function by carefully assigning suitable weights to the components of objectives based on their priority and the existence of possible trade off opportunities.

  9. Evaluation of power control concepts using the PMAD systems test bed. [Power Management and Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beach, R. F.; Kimnach, G. L.; Jett, T. A.; Trash, L. M.

    1989-01-01

    The Lewis Research Center's Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) System testbed and its use in the evaluation of control concepts applicable to the NASA Space Station Freedom electric power system (EPS) are described. The facility was constructed to allow testing of control hardware and software in an environment functionally similar to the space station electric power system. Control hardware and software have been developed to allow operation of the testbed power system in a manner similar to a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system employed by utility power systems for control. The system hardware and software are described.

  10. New Intelligent Transmission Concept for Hybrid Mobile Robot Speed Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nazim Mir-Nasiri

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new concept of a mobile robot speed control by using two degree of freedom gear transmission. The developed intelligent speed controller utilizes a gear box which comprises of epicyclic gear train with two inputs, one coupled with the engine shaft and another with the shaft of a variable speed dc motor. The net output speed is a combination of the two input speeds and is governed by the transmission ratio of the planetary gear train. This new approach eliminates the use of a torque converter which is otherwise an indispensable part of all available automatic transmissions, thereby reducing the power loss that occurs in the box during the fluid coupling. By gradually varying the speed of the dc motor a stepless transmission has been achieved. The other advantages of the developed controller are pulling over and reversing the vehicle, implemented by intelligent mixing of the dc motor and engine speeds. This approach eliminates traditional braking system in entire vehicle design. The use of two power sources, IC engine and battery driven DC motor, utilizes the modern idea of hybrid vehicles. The new mobile robot speed controller is capable of driving the vehicle even in extreme case of IC engine failure, for example, due to gas depletion..

  11. New Intelligent Transmission Concept for Hybrid Mobile Robot Speed Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nazim Mir-Nasiri

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new concept of a mobile robot speed control by using two degree of freedom gear transmission. The developed intelligent speed controller utilizes a gear box which comprises of epicyclic gear train with two inputs, one coupled with the engine shaft and another with the shaft of a variable speed dc motor. The net output speed is a combination of the two input speeds and is governed by the transmission ratio of the planetary gear train. This new approach eliminates the use of a torque converter which is otherwise an indispensable part of all available automatic transmissions, thereby reducing the power loss that occurs in the box during the fluid coupling. By gradually varying the speed of the dc motor a stepless transmission has been achieved. The other advantages of the developed controller are pulling over and reversing the vehicle, implemented by intelligent mixing of the dc motor and engine speeds. This approach eliminates traditional braking system in entire vehicle design. The use of two power sources, IC engine and battery driven DC motor, utilizes the modern idea of hybrid vehicles. The new mobile robot speed controller is capable of driving the vehicle even in extreme case of IC engine failure, for example, due to gas depletion.

  12. Fog-computing concept usage as means to enhance information and control system reliability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnik, E. V.; Klimenko, A. B.; Ivanov, D. Ya

    2018-05-01

    This paper focuses on the reliability issue of information and control systems (ICS). The authors propose using the elements of the fog-computing concept to enhance the reliability function. The key idea of fog-computing is to shift computations to the fog-layer of the network, and thus to decrease the workload of the communication environment and data processing components. As for ICS, workload also can be distributed among sensors, actuators and network infrastructure facilities near the sources of data. The authors simulated typical workload distribution situations for the “traditional” ICS architecture and for the one with fogcomputing concept elements usage. The paper contains some models, selected simulation results and conclusion about the prospects of the fog-computing as a means to enhance ICS reliability.

  13. Method of controlling a control rod drive exchange apparatus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kase, Keiichi; Yamazaki, Kanji; Hirano, Shigeo; Takeda, Hiroyuki; Oowada, Masataka.

    1981-01-01

    Purpose: To move the mountings means for control rod drives to an aimed position easily in a short time by alternately rotating a rotational moving means and radially moving a lateral transfer means. Constitution: Positions for a rotational moving vehicle and a lateral moving vehicle are inspected respectively by synchro generators A and B. The positional signals detected by the synchro generator A is transformed into an angle by a transducer C and the positional signals detected by the synchro generator B is transformed into a radial distance by a transducer D, whereafter each of the data is transmitted to a computer. The computer controls motors to operate the rotational moving means and the lateral moving means alternately. (Seki, T.)

  14. Effect of Moving Surface on NACA 63218 Aerodynamic Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahiaoui Tayeb

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main subject of this work is the numerical study control of flow separation on a NACA 63218 airfoil by using moving surface. Different numerical cases are considered: the first one is the numerical simulation of non-modified airfoil NACA 63218 according at different angle of attack and the second one a set of moving cylinder is placed on leading edge of the airfoil. The rotational velocity of the cylinder is varied to establish the effect of momentum injection on modified airfoil aerodynamic performances. The turbulence is modeled by two equations k-epsilon model.

  15. A Benchmark for Evaluating Moving Object Indexes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Su; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Lin, Dan

    2008-01-01

    that targets techniques for the indexing of the current and near-future positions of moving objects. This benchmark enables the comparison of existing and future indexing techniques. It covers important aspects of such indexes that have not previously been covered by any benchmark. Notable aspects covered......Progress in science and engineering relies on the ability to measure, reliably and in detail, pertinent properties of artifacts under design. Progress in the area of database-index design thus relies on empirical studies based on prototype implementations of indexes. This paper proposes a benchmark...... include update efficiency, query efficiency, concurrency control, and storage requirements. Next, the paper applies the benchmark to half a dozen notable moving-object indexes, thus demonstrating the viability of the benchmark and offering new insight into the performance properties of the indexes....

  16. The concept of estimation of elevator shaft control measurement results in the local 3D coordinate system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filipiak-Kowszyk Daria

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Geodetic control measurements play an important part because they provide information about the current state of repair of the construction, which has a direct impact on the safety assessment of its exploitation. Authors in this paper have focused on control measurements of the elevator shaft. The article discusses the problem of determining the deviation of elevator shaft walls from the vertical plane in the local 3D coordinate system. It presents a concept of estimation of measurements results base on the parametric method with conditions on parameters. The simulated measurement results were used to verify the concept presented in the paper.

  17. Changing Concepts of Equity in Transforming UK Higher Education: Implications for Future Pedagogies and Practices in Global Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Miriam E.

    2011-01-01

    This paper is about changing concepts of equity in UK higher education. In particular, it charts the moves from concepts about gender equality as about women's education as a key issue in twentieth century higher education to questions of men's education in the twenty-first century. These changing concepts of equity are linked to wider social and…

  18. Cartan for beginners differential geometry via moving frames and exterior differential systems

    CERN Document Server

    Ivey, Thomas A

    2016-01-01

    Two central aspects of Cartan's approach to differential geometry are the theory of exterior differential systems (EDS) and the method of moving frames. This book presents thorough and modern treatments of both subjects, including their applications to both classic and contemporary problems in geometry. It begins with the classical differential geometry of surfaces and basic Riemannian geometry in the language of moving frames, along with an elementary introduction to exterior differential systems. Key concepts are developed incrementally, with motivating examples leading to definitions, theorems, and proofs. Once the basics of the methods are established, the authors develop applications and advanced topics. One notable application is to complex algebraic geometry, where they expand and update important results from projective differential geometry. As well, the book features an introduction to G-structures and a treatment of the theory of connections. The techniques of EDS are also applied to obtain explici...

  19. Effect of parameters in moving average method for event detection enhancement using phase sensitive OTDR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Yong-Seok; Naeem, Khurram; Jeon, Min Yong; Kwon, Il-bum

    2017-04-01

    We analyze the relations of parameters in moving average method to enhance the event detectability of phase sensitive optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). If the external events have unique frequency of vibration, then the control parameters of moving average method should be optimized in order to detect these events efficiently. A phase sensitive OTDR was implemented by a pulsed light source, which is composed of a laser diode, a semiconductor optical amplifier, an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, a fiber Bragg grating filter, and a light receiving part, which has a photo-detector and high speed data acquisition system. The moving average method is operated with the control parameters: total number of raw traces, M, number of averaged traces, N, and step size of moving, n. The raw traces are obtained by the phase sensitive OTDR with sound signals generated by a speaker. Using these trace data, the relation of the control parameters is analyzed. In the result, if the event signal has one frequency, then the optimal values of N, n are existed to detect the event efficiently.

  20. Development of a new concept automatic frequency controller for an ultrasmall C-band linear accelerator guide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamino, Yuichiro; Tsukuda, Kazuhiro; Kokubo, Masaki; Miura, Sadao; Hirai, Etsuro; Hiraoka, Masahiro; Ishikawa, Junzo

    2007-01-01

    We are developing a four-dimensional, image-guided radiotherapy system with a gimbaled x-ray head. The system has pursuing irradiation capability in addition to precise irradiation capability, owing to its agile x-ray head. The moving x-ray head requires a very small C-band accelerator guide. The heat intensity of the accelerator guide is much higher than that of conventional S-band medical linear accelerators. The resonance frequency varies over almost 1.0 MHz with a thermal time constant of about 30 s. An automatic frequency controller (AFC) is employed to compensate for this variation in resonance frequency. Furthermore, we noted that fast AFC response is important for step-and-shoot intensity modulation radiotherapy (IMRT), in which the beam is turned on and off frequently. Therefore, we invented a digital AFC, based on a new concept, to provide effective compensation for the thermal characteristics of the accelerator guide and to ensure stable and optimized x-ray treatment. An important aspect of the performance of the AFC is the capture-frequency range over which the AFC can seek, lock on to, and track the resonance frequency. The conventional, analog AFC used in S-band medical linear accelerators would have a capture-frequency range of about 0.9 MHz, if applied to our accelerator guide, and would be inappropriate. Conversely, our new AFC has a capture-frequency range of 24 MHz, which is well suited to our accelerator guide. The design concept behind this new AFC has been developed and verified. A full prototype system was constructed and tested on an existing accelerator guide at the rated x-ray output (500 cGy/min) of our radiotherapy system, with a pulse-repetition frequency of 300 Hz. The AFC acquired the resonance frequency of the accelerator guide within 0.15 s after beam-on, and provided stable tracking and adjustment of the frequency of the microwave source to the resonance frequency of the accelerator guide. With a planned improvement of the

  1. Attentional bias to moving spiders in spider fearful individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vrijsen, Janna N; Fleurkens, Pascal; Nieuwboer, Wieteke; Rinck, Mike

    2009-05-01

    We investigated if an attentional bias for spiders in spider fearful individuals (SFs) can also be found for moving spiders, rather than static images. In Study 1, 28 SFs and 33 non-anxious controls (NACs) participated in a modified version of the dot probe paradigm: they had to react to a probe that appeared either in the next, previous, or side position of a spider's or a wheel's path. 24 SFs and 29 NACs participated in Study 2, in which a fourth, highly predictable, probe position was added. We expected that moving spiders would capture the attention of SFs. In addition, we tested whether SFs try to predict the movement of the spider to make it less threatening. As expected, SFs showed an attentional bias towards moving spiders. However, both groups reacted fastest to unpredictable movements, indicating that SFs and NACs alike anticipate unpredictable spider movements.

  2. Design Thinking and Organizational Development: twin concepts enabling a reintroduction of democratic values in organizational change

    OpenAIRE

    Eneberg, Magnus; Svengren Holm, Lisbeth

    2013-01-01

    Design Thinking is a rather new concept for increasing innovation capabilities in organizations. Organizational Development is a concept from the 1950s aiming at modernizing organizations through participatory methods. As organizations struggle with constant change and to become more innovative we will compare and discuss design thinking and organizational development and explore what we can learn from these concepts that have many similar aspects. Design is argued to be moving into new te...

  3. Move it : a persuasive game for 11-year old children to increase awareness about healthy balance between eating and exercising

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stienstra, J.T.; Hopma, E.E.; Bekker, M.M.; Kort, de Y.A.W.; IJsselsteijn, W.A.

    2006-01-01

    In this poster description we describe the persuasive aspect of our design conceptMove It’. By several user tests we managed to prove the persuasion factors at a basic level. Some experimental results are presented with visual or graphic support.

  4. Improvement of environmental aspects of thermal power plant operation by advanced control concepts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikulandrić Robert

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The necessity of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as formulated in the Kyoto Protocol, imposes the need for improving environmental aspects of existing thermal power plants operation. Improvements can be reached either by efficiency increment or by implementation of emission reduction measures. Investments in refurbishment of existing plant components or in plant upgrading by flue gas desulphurization, by primary and secondary measures of nitrogen oxides reduction, or by biomass co-firing, are usually accompanied by modernisation of thermal power plant instrumentation and control system including sensors, equipment diagnostics and advanced controls. Impact of advanced control solutions implementation depends on technical characteristics and status of existing instrumentation and control systems as well as on design characteristics and actual conditions of installed plant components. Evaluation of adequacy of implementation of advanced control concepts is especially important in Western Balkan region where thermal power plants portfolio is rather diversified in terms of size, type and commissioning year and where generally poor maintenance and lack of investments in power generation sector resulted in high greenhouse gases emissions and low efficiency of plants in operation. This paper is intended to present possibilities of implementation of advanced control concepts, and particularly those based on artificial intelligence, in selected thermal power plants in order to increase plant efficiency and to lower pollutants emissions and to comply with environmental quality standards prescribed in large combustion plant directive. [Acknowledgements. This paper has been created within WBalkICT - Supporting Common RTD actions in WBCs for developing Low Cost and Low Risk ICT based solutions for TPPs Energy Efficiency increasing, SEE-ERA.NET plus project in cooperation among partners from IPA SA - Romania, University of Zagreb - Croatia and Vinca

  5. Decamber Morphing Concepts by Using a Hybrid Trailing Edge Control Surface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yavuz Yaman

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The idea of morphing is drawing extensive attention in aerospace technologies. Several different approaches like span, camber, twist, and sweep are finding applications. In this work, the concept of a trailing edge control surface which is capable of performing decamber morphing is explained. The upper and lower parts of the control surface undergo different chordwise elongations and the difference between these displacements gives rise to either camber or decamber morphing. The necessary force is achieved by the help of servo actuators. During the design, the structural analyses were done to determine the best viable options for the number of servo actuators, the location of the servo actuators, and the material properties used in the control surface. The control surface was designed of aluminum, composite and compliant materials hence was called a hybrid one. The structural analyses were conducted by using ANSYS® Workbench v14.0 package program. After finding the best viable design, which was made for in vacuo condition, the proposed design was also verified under the simulated aerodynamic loading. The aerodynamic loads were obtained from CFD analyses which were done with SU2 V3.2.3 open-source flow solver.

  6. Using Patterns for Multivariate Monitoring and Feedback Control of Linear Accelerator Performance: Proof-of-Concept Research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cordes, Gail Adele; Van Ausdeln, Leo Anthony; Velasquez, Maria Elena

    2002-01-01

    The report discusses preliminary proof-of-concept research for using the Advanced Data Validation and Verification System (ADVVS), a new INEEL software package, to add validation and verification and multivariate feedback control to the operation of non-destructive analysis (NDA) equipment. The software is based on human cognition, the recognition of patterns and changes in patterns in time-related data. The first project applied ADVVS to monitor operations of a selectable energy linear electron accelerator, and showed how the software recognizes in real time any deviations from the optimal tune of the machine. The second project extended the software method to provide model-based multivariate feedback control for the same linear electron accelerator. The projects successfully demonstrated proof-of-concept for the applications and focused attention on the common application of intelligent information processing techniques

  7. Control theory in physics and other fields of science concepts, tools and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Schulz, Michael

    2006-01-01

    This book covers systematically and in a simple language the mathematical and physical foundations of controlling deterministic and stochastic evolutionary processes in systems with a high degree of complexity. Strong emphasis is placed on concepts, methods and techniques for modelling, assessment and the solution or estimation of control problems in an attempt to understand the large variability of these problems in several branches of physics, chemistry and biology as well as in technology and economics. The main focus of the book is on a clear physical and mathematical understanding of the dynamics and kinetics behind several kinds of control problems and their relation to self-organizing principles in complex systems. The book is a modern introduction and a helpful tool for researchers, engineers as well as post-docs and graduate students interested in an application oriented control theory and related topics.

  8. Locus of Control, Academic Self-Concept, and Academic Dishonesty among High Ability College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinn, Anne N.; Boazman, Janette

    2014-01-01

    The purposes of the current study were to evaluate a measure of academic dishonesty and examine high ability college students' loci of control and its effect on behaviors of academic dishonesty, as moderated by academic self-concept. A total of 357 high ability college students enrolled at two universities in the southwestern United States took…

  9. Current quality assurance concepts and considerations for quality control of in-clinic biochemistry testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, Sally; Harr, K E; Rishniw, Mark; Pion, Paul

    2013-01-15

    Quality assurance is an implied concept inherent in every consumer's purchase of a product or service. In laboratory testing, quality assurance encompasses preanalytic (sampling, transport, and handling prior to testing), analytic (measurement), and postanalytic (reporting and interpretation) factors. Quality-assurance programs require that procedures are in place to detect errors in all 3 components and that the procedures are characterized by both documentation and correction of errors. There are regulatory bodies that provide mandatory standards for and regulation of human medical laboratories. No such regulations exist for veterinary laboratory testing. The American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards Committee was formed in 1996 in response to concerns of ASVCP members about quality assurance and quality control in laboratories performing veterinary testing. Guidelines for veterinary laboratory testing have been developed by the ASVCP. The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of selected quality-assurance concepts and to provide recommendations for quality control for in-clinic biochemistry testing in general veterinary practice.

  10. Moving Matters: The Causal Effect of Moving Schools on Student Performance. Working Paper #01-15

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Amy Ellen; Stiefel, Leanna; Cordes, Sarah A.

    2015-01-01

    The majority of existing research on mobility indicates that students do worse in the year of a school move. This research, however, has been unsuccessful in isolating the causal effects of mobility and often fails to distinguish the heterogeneous impacts of moves, conflating structural moves (mandated by a school's terminal grade) and…

  11. Concept for a power system controller for large space electrical power systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lollar, L. F.; Lanier, J. R., Jr.; Graves, J. R.

    1981-01-01

    The development of technology for a fail-operatonal power system controller (PSC) utilizing microprocessor technology for managing the distribution and power processor subsystems of a large multi-kW space electrical power system is discussed. The specific functions which must be performed by the PSC, the best microprocessor available to do the job, and the feasibility, cost savings, and applications of a PSC were determined. A limited function breadboard version of a PSC was developed to demonstrate the concept and potential cost savings.

  12. The Role of Design Concepts in the Development of Industrial Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pekkala, Janne; Ylirisku, Salu

    2017-01-01

    B-to-B industrial manufacturing organisations are moving focus from designing products to services. This transition challenges the management of innovating, which is increasingly collaborative and networked. Organisations need to be able to tackle the related uncertainty in order to prepare, secure......, and plan their use of resources. Design concepts are known to have various beneficial roles in product and service development in various development contexts. In this article we study how design concepts were utilised within, and between, three development projects in a Finnish company in the context of B...

  13. Predictive control for stochastic systems based on multi-layer probabilistic sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huaqing LIANG

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Aiming at a class of discrete-time stochastic systems with Markov jump features, the state-feedback predictive control problem under probabilistic constraints of input variables is researched. On the basis of the concept and method of the multi-layer probabilistic sets, the predictive controller design algorithm with the soft constraints of different probabilities is presented. Under the control of the multi-step feedback laws, the system state moves to different ellipses with specified probabilities. The stability of the system is guaranteed, the feasible region of the control problem is enlarged, and the system performance is improved. Finally, a simulation example is given to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  14. Experimental control of Stewart's theoretical model of large amplitude moving striations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berge, G. van den; Vanmarcke, M.

    1977-01-01

    The longitudinal variation of the electron concentration in large amplitude moving striations, computed theoretically by Stewart, has been tested experimentally. The measurements are carried out by means of a sampling probe technique in the glow discharge of neon (I = 105 mA, 2R = 5.6 cm, p 0 = 0.79 torr) and of argon (I = 75 mA, 2R = 5.7 cm, p 0 = 0.46 torr). It is found that the measured dependence of the concentration is not consistent with the theory. (Auth.)

  15. Cone-beam computed tomography: Time to move from ALARA to ALADA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaju, Prashant P.; Jaju, Sushma P. [Rishiraj College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bhopa(Indonesia)

    2015-12-15

    Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is routinely recommended for dental diagnosis and treatment planning. CBCT exposes patients to less radiation than does conventional CT. Still, lack of proper education among dentists and specialists is resulting in improper referral for CBCT. In addition, aiming to generate high-quality images, operators may increase the radiation dose, which can expose the patient to unnecessary risk. This letter advocates appropriate radiation dosing during CBCT to the benefit of both patients and dentists, and supports moving from the concept of 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA) to 'as low as diagnostically acceptable' (ALADA.

  16. PARALLEL MOVING MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Ion Tiberius Petrescu

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Moving mechanical systems parallel structures are solid, fast, and accurate. Between parallel systems it is to be noticed Stewart platforms, as the oldest systems, fast, solid and precise. The work outlines a few main elements of Stewart platforms. Begin with the geometry platform, kinematic elements of it, and presented then and a few items of dynamics. Dynamic primary element on it means the determination mechanism kinetic energy of the entire Stewart platforms. It is then in a record tail cinematic mobile by a method dot matrix of rotation. If a structural mottoelement consists of two moving elements which translates relative, drive train and especially dynamic it is more convenient to represent the mottoelement as a single moving components. We have thus seven moving parts (the six motoelements or feet to which is added mobile platform 7 and one fixed.

  17. Development in Electronic Packaging – Moving to 3D System Configuration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Szendiuch

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The electronic industry is reducing package dimensions of components as well as complete electronics systems. Surface mount device passives and semiconductor chips have to be mounted together bringing a functional system that must realize the required function with necessary reliability and acceptable price. To make up a reliable and cost effective system, the size and weight is being reduced by employing lower voltages and higher speeds. For example, the typical size of SMD passives 30 years ago was 1206 when they were first introduced. Generally, all components including electrical joints are becoming miniaturized and smaller. The industry is moving toward a reduced size of 0201 and 01005 for passives, new fine pitch packages for actives, but the PCB now feature limits for further integration. System on Package (SOP is one way to reach the three-dimensional package concept where components will be placed in three-dimensional configuration. A similar concepts are “Package on Package” (PoP or ”Package in Package” (PiP.

  18. Project Orion, Environmental Control and Life Support System Integrated Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, James F.; Lewis, John F.

    2008-01-01

    Orion is the next vehicle for human space travel. Humans will be sustained in space by the Orion subystem, environmental control and life support (ECLS). The ECLS concept at the subsystem level is outlined by function and technology. In the past two years, the interface definition with other subsystems has increased through different integrated studies. The paper presents the key requirements and discusses three recent studies (e.g., unpressurized cargo) along with the respective impacts on the ECLS design moving forward.

  19. Stimulation of a turbofan engine for evaluation of multivariable optimal control concepts. [(computerized simulation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seldner, K.

    1976-01-01

    The development of control systems for jet engines requires a real-time computer simulation. The simulation provides an effective tool for evaluating control concepts and problem areas prior to actual engine testing. The development and use of a real-time simulation of the Pratt and Whitney F100-PW100 turbofan engine is described. The simulation was used in a multi-variable optimal controls research program using linear quadratic regulator theory. The simulation is used to generate linear engine models at selected operating points and evaluate the control algorithm. To reduce the complexity of the design, it is desirable to reduce the order of the linear model. A technique to reduce the order of the model; is discussed. Selected results between high and low order models are compared. The LQR control algorithms can be programmed on digital computer. This computer will control the engine simulation over the desired flight envelope.

  20. Music on the Move: Methodological Applications of Bernstein's Concepts in a Secondary School Music Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPhail, Graham J.

    2016-01-01

    In 2002 Parlo Singh outlined Bernstein's theory of the pedagogic device, elaborating the potential in Bernstein's complex theoretical framework for empirical research. In particular, Singh suggests that Bernstein's concepts provide the means of making explicit the macro and micro structuring of knowledge into pedagogic communication. More…

  1. The Geomagnetic Control Concept of The Ionospheric Long- Term Trends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikhailov, A. V.

    The geomagnetic control concept has been developed to explain long-term trends of the electron concentration in the F2 and E ionospheric regions. Periods with negative and positive foF2, hmF2 and foE trends correspond to the periods of increasing or decreasing geomagnetic activity with the turning points around the end of 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s where trends change their signs. Strong latitudinal and diurnal variations revealed for the foF2 and hmF2 trends can be explained by neutral composition, temperature and thermospheric wind changes. Particle precipitation is important in the auroral zone. The newly proposed concept proceeds from a natural origin of the F2-layer trends rather than an artificial one related to the greenhouse effect. Using the proposed method a very long-term foF2 and foE trends related with general increase of geomagnetic activity in the 20th century has been revealed for the first time. The firstly revealed relationship of the foE trends with geomagnetic activity is due to nitric oxide variations at the E-region heights. This "natural" relationship of the foE trends with geomagnetic activity breaks down around 1970 on many stations presumably due to chemical polution of the upper atmosphere. The increasing rate of rocket and satellite launchings in the late 1960s is considered as a reason.

  2. Selected advanced aerodynamics and active controls technology concepts development on a derivative B-747

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-01-01

    The feasibility of applying wing tip extensions, winglets, and active control wing load alleviation to the Boeing 747 is investigated. Winglet aerodynamic design methods and high speed wind tunnel test results of winglets and of symmetrically deflected ailerons are presented. Structural resizing analyses to determine weight and aeroelastic twist increments for all the concepts and flutter model test results for the wing with winglets are included. Control law development, system mechanization/reliability studies, and aileron balance tab trade studies for active wing load alleviation systems are discussed. Results are presented in the form of incremental effects on L/D, structural weight, block fuel savings, stability and control, airplane price, and airline operating economics.

  3. Image compression using moving average histogram and RBF network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khowaja, S.; Ismaili, I.A.

    2015-01-01

    Modernization and Globalization have made the multimedia technology as one of the fastest growing field in recent times but optimal use of bandwidth and storage has been one of the topics which attract the research community to work on. Considering that images have a lion share in multimedia communication, efficient image compression technique has become the basic need for optimal use of bandwidth and space. This paper proposes a novel method for image compression based on fusion of moving average histogram and RBF (Radial Basis Function). Proposed technique employs the concept of reducing color intensity levels using moving average histogram technique followed by the correction of color intensity levels using RBF networks at reconstruction phase. Existing methods have used low resolution images for the testing purpose but the proposed method has been tested on various image resolutions to have a clear assessment of the said technique. The proposed method have been tested on 35 images with varying resolution and have been compared with the existing algorithms in terms of CR (Compression Ratio), MSE (Mean Square Error), PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio), computational complexity. The outcome shows that the proposed methodology is a better trade off technique in terms of compression ratio, PSNR which determines the quality of the image and computational complexity. (author)

  4. Odd sensation induced by moving-phantom which triggers subconscious motor program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukui, Takao; Kimura, Toshitaka; Kadota, Koji; Shimojo, Shinsuke; Gomi, Hiroaki

    2009-06-03

    Our motor actions are sometimes not properly performed despite our having complete understanding of the environmental situation with a suitable action intention. In most cases, insufficient skill for motor control can explain the improper performance. A notable exception is the action of stepping onto a stopped escalator, which causes clumsy movements accompanied by an odd sensation. Previous studies have examined short-term sensorimotor adaptations to treadmills and moving sleds, but the relationship between the odd sensation and behavioral properties in a real stopped-escalator situation has never been examined. Understanding this unique action-perception linkage would help us to assess the brain function connecting automatic motor controls and the conscious awareness of action. Here we directly pose a question: Does the odd sensation emerge because of the unfamiliar motor behavior itself toward the irregular step-height of a stopped escalator or as a consequence of an automatic habitual motor program cued by the escalator itself. We compared the properties of motor behavior toward a stopped escalator (SE) with those toward moving escalator and toward a wooden stairs (WS) that mimicked the stopped escalator, and analyzed the subjective feeling of the odd sensation in the SE and WS conditions. The results show that moving escalator-specific motor actions emerged after participants had stepped onto the stopped escalator despite their full awareness that it was stopped, as if the motor behavior was guided by a "phantom" of a moving escalator. Additionally, statistical analysis reveals that postural forward sway that occurred after the stepping action is directly linked with the odd sensation. The results suggest a dissociation between conscious awareness and subconscious motor control: the former makes us perfectly aware of the current environmental situation, but the latter automatically emerges as a result of highly habituated visual input no matter how unsuitable

  5. Transport of the moving barrier driven by chiral active particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Jing-jing; Huang, Xiao-qun; Ai, Bao-quan

    2018-03-01

    Transport of a moving V-shaped barrier exposed to a bath of chiral active particles is investigated in a two-dimensional channel. Due to the chirality of active particles and the transversal asymmetry of the barrier position, active particles can power and steer the directed transport of the barrier in the longitudinal direction. The transport of the barrier is determined by the chirality of active particles. The moving barrier and active particles move in the opposite directions. The average velocity of the barrier is much larger than that of active particles. There exist optimal parameters (the chirality, the self-propulsion speed, the packing fraction, and the channel width) at which the average velocity of the barrier takes its maximal value. In particular, tailoring the geometry of the barrier and the active concentration provides novel strategies to control the transport properties of micro-objects or cargoes in an active medium.

  6. Residential mobility during adolescence: Do even "upward" moves predict dropout risk?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzger, Molly W; Fowler, Patrick J; Anderson, Courtney Lauren; Lindsay, Constance A

    2015-09-01

    This paper uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate the impact of housing instability in adolescence on the likelihood of subsequent graduation from high school. Combining census data, self-reports, and information about respondents' residential changes, we use the variation in households' number of moves and neighborhood quality to predict whether participants obtain a high school diploma. Controlling for major predictors of housing mobility, students experiencing at least one move over a 12-month period have a roughly 50% decreased likelihood of obtaining a high school diploma by the age of 25. These associations are identified regardless of whether students move to a poorer or less-poor neighborhood. Our results carry implications for the development of housing policies and interventions designed for disadvantaged populations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The Moving image

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Lennard Højbjerg

    2014-01-01

    Every day we are presented with bodily expressions in audiovisual media – by anchors, journalists and characters in films for instance. This article explores how body language in the moving image has been and can be approached in a scholarly manner.......Every day we are presented with bodily expressions in audiovisual media – by anchors, journalists and characters in films for instance. This article explores how body language in the moving image has been and can be approached in a scholarly manner....

  8. Moving to Jobs?

    OpenAIRE

    Dave Maré; Jason Timmins

    2003-01-01

    This paper examines whether New Zealand residents move from low-growth to high-growth regions, using New Zealand census data from the past three inter-censal periods (covering 1986-2001). We focus on the relationship between employment growth and migration flows to gauge the strength of the relationship and the stability of the relationship over the business cycle. We find that people move to areas of high employment growth, but that the probability of leaving a region is less strongly relate...

  9. The comparative effect of individually-generated vs. collaboratively-generated computer-based concept mapping on science concept learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, So Young

    Using a quasi-experimental design, the researcher investigated the comparative effects of individually-generated and collaboratively-generated computer-based concept mapping on middle school science concept learning. Qualitative data were analyzed to explain quantitative findings. One hundred sixty-one students (74 boys and 87 girls) in eight, seventh grade science classes at a middle school in Southeast Texas completed the entire study. Using prior science performance scores to assure equivalence of student achievement across groups, the researcher assigned the teacher's classes to one of the three experimental groups. The independent variable, group, consisted of three levels: 40 students in a control group, 59 students trained to individually generate concept maps on computers, and 62 students trained to collaboratively generate concept maps on computers. The dependent variables were science concept learning as demonstrated by comprehension test scores, and quality of concept maps created by students in experimental groups as demonstrated by rubric scores. Students in the experimental groups received concept mapping training and used their newly acquired concept mapping skills to individually or collaboratively construct computer-based concept maps during study time. The control group, the individually-generated concept mapping group, and the collaboratively-generated concept mapping group had equivalent learning experiences for 50 minutes during five days, excepting that students in a control group worked independently without concept mapping activities, students in the individual group worked individually to construct concept maps, and students in the collaborative group worked collaboratively to construct concept maps during their study time. Both collaboratively and individually generated computer-based concept mapping had a positive effect on seventh grade middle school science concept learning but neither strategy was more effective than the other. However

  10. The Pulse Line Ion Accelerator Concept

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Briggs, Richard J.

    2006-02-15

    The Pulse Line Ion Accelerator concept was motivated by the desire for an inexpensive way to accelerate intense short pulse heavy ion beams to regimes of interest for studies of High Energy Density Physics and Warm Dense Matter. A pulse power driver applied at one end of a helical pulse line creates a traveling wave pulse that accelerates and axially confines the heavy ion beam pulse. Acceleration scenarios with constant parameter helical lines are described which result in output energies of a single stage much larger than the several hundred kilovolt peak voltages on the line, with a goal of 3-5 MeV/meter acceleration gradients. The concept might be described crudely as an ''air core'' induction linac where the PFN is integrated into the beam line so the accelerating voltage pulse can move along with the ions to get voltage multiplication.

  11. Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support System (ASCLSS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Block, Roger F.

    1987-01-01

    The Automated Subsystem Control for Life Support Systems (ASCLSS) program has successfully developed and demonstrated a generic approach to the automation and control of space station subsystems. The automation system features a hierarchical and distributed real-time control architecture which places maximum controls authority at the lowest or process control level which enhances system autonomy. The ASCLSS demonstration system pioneered many automation and control concepts currently being considered in the space station data management system (DMS). Heavy emphasis is placed on controls hardware and software commonality implemented in accepted standards. The approach demonstrates successfully the application of real-time process and accountability with the subsystem or process developer. The ASCLSS system completely automates a space station subsystem (air revitalization group of the ASCLSS) which moves the crew/operator into a role of supervisory control authority. The ASCLSS program developed over 50 lessons learned which will aide future space station developers in the area of automation and controls..

  12. Plant dynamics analyses of fast reactor concept: RAPID-A without any control rod

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru

    1996-01-01

    Plant dynamics analyses of a fast reactor concept RAPID-A without any control rod have been demonstrated in case of reactor startup and sudden change of the primary flow rate. RAIP-A concept involves Lithium Expansion Module (LEM) for inherent reactivity feedback, Lithium Injection Module (LIM) for inherent ultimate shutdown and Lithium Release Module (LRM) for automated reactor startup. LEM consists of Quick-LEM and Slow-LEM. Slow-LEM provides with moderate reactivity addition as decreasing temperature. Quick-LEM assures quick negative reactivity feedback as increasing temperature. Plant dynamics analyses revealed that reactor power is nearly proportional to the primary flow rate even if the flow rate increases suddenly. Fully automated reactor startup from the subcritical condition has been attempted by inserting reactivity at a constant rate by LRM. Allowable rate of reactivity addition has been obtained in respect to Quick-LEM reactivity worth. (author)

  13. Process control plan for Single Shell Tank (SST) Saltcake Dissolution Proof of Concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    ESTEY, S.D.

    2001-01-01

    This document describes the process controls for the tank 241-U-107 (U-107) saltcake dissolution proof-of-concept operations. Saltcake dissolution is defined as a method by which water-soluble salts will be retrieved from the Hanford Site radioactive waste tanks utilizing dissolution as the mobilizing mechanism. The proof-of-concept operations will monitor the retrieval process and transfer at least 100 kgal of fluid from tank U-107 to the double-shell tank (DST) system during the performance period. Tank U-107 has been identified as posing the highest long-term risk to the Columbia River of all single shell tanks (SSTs). This is because of the high content of mobile, long-lived radionuclides mostly in the saltcake waste in the tank. To meet current contractual and consent decree commitments, tank U-107 is being prepared for interim stabilization in August 2001. It is currently scheduled for saltcake retrieval in 2023, near the end of the SST retrieval campaign because of a lack of infrastructure in U-Farm. The proof-of-concept test will install a system to dissolve and retrieve a portion of the saltcake as part of, and operating in parallel with, the standard interim stabilization system to be installed on tank U-107. This proof-of-concept should provide key information on spray nozzle selection and effective spray patterns, leak detection, monitoring, and mitigation (LDMM) and in-tank saltcake solubility data that will help in the design of a full-tank retrieval demonstration system

  14. Concept design and cluster control of advanced space connectable intelligent microsatellite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaohui; Li, Shuang; She, Yuchen

    2017-12-01

    In this note, a new type of advanced space connectable intelligent microsatellite is presented to extend the range of potential application of microsatellite and improve the efficiency of cooperation. First, the overall concept of the micro satellite cluster is described, which is characterized by autonomously connecting with each other and being able to realize relative rotation through the external interfaces. Second, the multi-satellite autonomous assembly algorithm and control algorithm of the cluster motion are developed to make the cluster system combine into a variety of configurations in order to achieve different types of functionality. Finally, the design of the satellite cluster system is proposed, and the possible applications are discussed.

  15. Robotic radiosurgery. Treating tumors that move with respiration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urschel, Harold C. Jr.; Kresl, John J.; Luketich, James D.; Papiez, Lech; Timmerman, Robert D.; Schulz, Raymond A.

    2007-01-01

    Addresses in detail all aspects of the use of robotic radiosurgery to treat tumors of the lung, liver, and pancreas Includes full consideration of tumor tracking techniques, dosimetry, radiobiology, and fiducial placement strategies Written by leading experts Includes many high quality illustrations Stereotactic radiosurgery continues to evolve in ways that allow this powerful technology to reach and treat more tumors in more patients. This volume in the Robotic Radiosurgery series is devoted to theory and practice in the emerging field of stereotactic radiosurgery (also called stereotactic body radiation therapy) for extracranial tumors, particularly those that move as patients breathe. The book is divided into six sections. The first three sections address tumor motion due to respiration and tumor tracking techniques; dosimetry, radiobiology, and imaging; and fiducial placement systems. The fourth and fifth sections then discuss in depth the use of robotic radiosurgery to treat lung and abdominal tumors, respectively, and a final section explains emerging concepts and techniques. Within this framework, detailed information is provided on the technology and methodology for delivery of high doses of radiation to moving targets, radiobiological and radiological principles, and the challenges faced by clinicians performing extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery. Furthermore, there are thorough reviews of the general clinical literature on stereotactic radiation treatment of tumors of the lungs, liver, and pancreas, and the latest clinical data from clinicians conducting clinical studies using the CyberKnife registered Robotic Radiosurgery System. Special attention is given to the frameless robotic radiosurgery device known as the CyberKnife, the only image-guided radiosurgery system that utilizes intelligent robotics to track, detect, and correct for changes in tumor position during treatments. Tumors that move with respiration are treated with the CyberKnife using a

  16. Robotic radiosurgery. Treating tumors that move with respiration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Urschel, Harold C. Jr. [Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States). Chair of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Research, Education and Clinical Excellence; Kresl, John J. [Arizona Oncology Services at St. Joseph' s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ (United States). Dept. of Radiation Oncology; Luketich, James D. [University of Pittsburgh Medical Center PUH, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). The Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Inst.; Papiez, Lech; Timmerman, Robert D. [University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States). Dept. of Radiation Oncology; Schulz, Raymond A. (eds.)

    2007-07-01

    Addresses in detail all aspects of the use of robotic radiosurgery to treat tumors of the lung, liver, and pancreas Includes full consideration of tumor tracking techniques, dosimetry, radiobiology, and fiducial placement strategies Written by leading experts Includes many high quality illustrations Stereotactic radiosurgery continues to evolve in ways that allow this powerful technology to reach and treat more tumors in more patients. This volume in the Robotic Radiosurgery series is devoted to theory and practice in the emerging field of stereotactic radiosurgery (also called stereotactic body radiation therapy) for extracranial tumors, particularly those that move as patients breathe. The book is divided into six sections. The first three sections address tumor motion due to respiration and tumor tracking techniques; dosimetry, radiobiology, and imaging; and fiducial placement systems. The fourth and fifth sections then discuss in depth the use of robotic radiosurgery to treat lung and abdominal tumors, respectively, and a final section explains emerging concepts and techniques. Within this framework, detailed information is provided on the technology and methodology for delivery of high doses of radiation to moving targets, radiobiological and radiological principles, and the challenges faced by clinicians performing extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery. Furthermore, there are thorough reviews of the general clinical literature on stereotactic radiation treatment of tumors of the lungs, liver, and pancreas, and the latest clinical data from clinicians conducting clinical studies using the CyberKnife {sup registered} Robotic Radiosurgery System. Special attention is given to the frameless robotic radiosurgery device known as the CyberKnife, the only image-guided radiosurgery system that utilizes intelligent robotics to track, detect, and correct for changes in tumor position during treatments. Tumors that move with respiration are treated with the Cyber

  17. I-MOVE multi-centre case control study 2010-11: overall and stratified estimates of influenza vaccine effectiveness in Europe.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esther Kissling

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In the third season of I-MOVE (Influenza Monitoring Vaccine Effectiveness in Europe, we undertook a multicentre case-control study based on sentinel practitioner surveillance networks in eight European Union (EU member states to estimate 2010/11 influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE against medically-attended influenza-like illness (ILI laboratory-confirmed as influenza. METHODS: Using systematic sampling, practitioners swabbed ILI/ARI patients within seven days of symptom onset. We compared influenza-positive to influenza laboratory-negative patients among those meeting the EU ILI case definition. A valid vaccination corresponded to > 14 days between receiving a dose of vaccine and symptom onset. We used multiple imputation with chained equations to estimate missing values. Using logistic regression with study as fixed effect we calculated influenza VE adjusting for potential confounders. We estimated influenza VE overall, by influenza type, age group and among the target group for vaccination. RESULTS: We included 2019 cases and 2391 controls in the analysis. Adjusted VE was 52% (95% CI 30-67 overall (N = 4410, 55% (95% CI 29-72 against A(H1N1 and 50% (95% CI 14-71 against influenza B. Adjusted VE against all influenza subtypes was 66% (95% CI 15-86, 41% (95% CI -3-66 and 60% (95% CI 17-81 among those aged 0-14, 15-59 and ≥60 respectively. Among target groups for vaccination (N = 1004, VE was 56% (95% CI 34-71 overall, 59% (95% CI 32-75 against A(H1N1 and 63% (95% CI 31-81 against influenza B. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest moderate protection from 2010-11 trivalent influenza vaccines against medically-attended ILI laboratory-confirmed as influenza across Europe. Adjusted and stratified influenza VE estimates are possible with the large sample size of this multi-centre case-control. I-MOVE shows how a network can provide precise summary VE measures across Europe.

  18. Navigation Algorithm Using Fuzzy Control Method in Mobile Robotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cviklovič Vladimír

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The issue of navigation methods is being continuously developed globally. The aim of this article is to test the fuzzy control algorithm for track finding in mobile robotics. The concept of an autonomous mobile robot EN20 has been designed to test its behaviour. The odometry navigation method was used. The benefits of fuzzy control are in the evidence of mobile robot’s behaviour. These benefits are obtained when more physical variables on the base of more input variables are controlled at the same time. In our case, there are two input variables - heading angle and distance, and two output variables - the angular velocity of the left and right wheel. The autonomous mobile robot is moving with human logic.

  19. Treatment of waste incinerator air-pollution-control residues with FeSO4: Concept and product characterization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundtorp, Kasper; Jensen, Dorthe Lærke; Sørensen, Mette Abildgaard

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes a new concept for treatment of air- pollution-control (APC) residues from waste incineration and characterises the wastewater and stabilised residues generated by the process. The process involves mixing of APC-residues with a ferrous sulphate solution and subsequent oxidation...

  20. Longitudinal Factor Structure of General Self-Concept and Locus of Control among High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ze; Su, Ihui

    2013-01-01

    This study examined the longitudinal factor structure of general self-concept and locus of control among high school students over a 4-year period, with data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. Measurement invariance was tested over time and across gender and ethnic groups; second-order piecewise latent growth models were…

  1. Understanding the concept of nationally appropriate mitigation action

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, S.; Desgain, D.

    2013-05-15

    This publication is intended to enable national policy makers and other stakeholders, such as the private sector and technical experts, to acquaint themselves with the concept of NAMA. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) concept and enhance the understanding of NAMAs by explaining the underlying decisions of the Conference of the Parties in layman's terms. The first chapter describes how the concept of NAMA emerged in the context of the negotiations on climate change. The chapter gives an overview of how the concepts of NAMA and related MRV and financing issues have evolved through the different COPs. The second chapter clarifies the understanding of NAMAs in the context of the global temperature goal, and moves on to discuss the legal nature and scope of NAMAs. The chapter subsequently analyses the diversity of NAMAs submitted by developing countries to the UNFCCC, and ends by proposing a structure for formal submission of a NAMA. The third chapter specifically addresses the concept of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), and describes the implications for countries implementing the MRV requirements. The last chapter discusses institutional arrangements, under the Convention, for providing financing to develop and implement NAMAs. The chapter also briefly discusses the different financial sources for implementing NAMAs, and concludes by explaining the concept of incremental cost in this specific context. (Author)

  2. Pandemic controllability: a concept to guide a proportionate and flexible operational response to future influenza pandemics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaw, J M; Glass, K; Mercer, G N; McVernon, J

    2014-03-01

    The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic posed challenges for governments worldwide. Strategies designed to limit community transmission, such as antiviral deployment, were largely ineffective due to both feasibility constraints and the generally mild nature of disease, resulting in incomplete case ascertainment. Reviews of national pandemic plans have identified pandemic impact, primarily linked to measures of transmissibility and severity, as a key concept to incorporate into the next generation of plans. While an assessment of impact provides the rationale under which interventions may be warranted, it does not directly provide an assessment on whether particular interventions may be effective. Such considerations motivate our introduction of the concept of pandemic controllability. For case-targeted interventions, such as antiviral treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis, we identify the visibility and transmissibility of a pandemic as the key drivers of controllability. Taking a case-study approach, we suggest that high-impact pandemics, for which control is most desirable, are likely uncontrollable with case-targeted interventions. Strategies that do not rely on the identification of cases may prove relatively more effective. By introducing a pragmatic framework for relating the assessment of impact to the ability to mitigate an epidemic (controllability), we hope to address a present omission identified in pandemic response plans.

  3. Minimum Delay Moving Object Detection

    KAUST Repository

    Lao, Dong

    2017-11-09

    We present a general framework and method for detection of an object in a video based on apparent motion. The object moves relative to background motion at some unknown time in the video, and the goal is to detect and segment the object as soon it moves in an online manner. Due to unreliability of motion between frames, more than two frames are needed to reliably detect the object. Our method is designed to detect the object(s) with minimum delay, i.e., frames after the object moves, constraining the false alarms. Experiments on a new extensive dataset for moving object detection show that our method achieves less delay for all false alarm constraints than existing state-of-the-art.

  4. Minimum Delay Moving Object Detection

    KAUST Repository

    Lao, Dong

    2017-01-08

    We present a general framework and method for detection of an object in a video based on apparent motion. The object moves relative to background motion at some unknown time in the video, and the goal is to detect and segment the object as soon it moves in an online manner. Due to unreliability of motion between frames, more than two frames are needed to reliably detect the object. Our method is designed to detect the object(s) with minimum delay, i.e., frames after the object moves, constraining the false alarms. Experiments on a new extensive dataset for moving object detection show that our method achieves less delay for all false alarm constraints than existing state-of-the-art.

  5. Minimum Delay Moving Object Detection

    KAUST Repository

    Lao, Dong; Sundaramoorthi, Ganesh

    2017-01-01

    We present a general framework and method for detection of an object in a video based on apparent motion. The object moves relative to background motion at some unknown time in the video, and the goal is to detect and segment the object as soon it moves in an online manner. Due to unreliability of motion between frames, more than two frames are needed to reliably detect the object. Our method is designed to detect the object(s) with minimum delay, i.e., frames after the object moves, constraining the false alarms. Experiments on a new extensive dataset for moving object detection show that our method achieves less delay for all false alarm constraints than existing state-of-the-art.

  6. Calibration of robotic drilling systems with a moving rail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tian Wei

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Industrial robots are widely used in aircraft assembly systems such as robotic drilling systems. It is necessary to expand a robot’s working range with a moving rail. A method for improving the position accuracy of an automated assembly system with an industrial robot mounted on a moving rail is proposed. A multi-station method is used to control the robot in this study. The robot only works at stations which are certain positions defined on the moving rail. The calibration of the robot system is composed by the calibration of the robot and the calibration of the stations. The calibration of the robot is based on error similarity and inverse distance weighted interpolation. The calibration of the stations is based on a magnetic strip and a magnetic sensor. Validation tests were performed in this study, which showed that the accuracy of the robot system gained significant improvement using the proposed method. The absolute position errors were reduced by about 85% to less than 0.3 mm compared with the maximum nearly 2 mm before calibration.

  7. Hydraulically driven control rod concept for integral reactors: fluid dynamic simulation and preliminary test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ricotti, M.E.; Cammi, A.; Lombardi, C.; Passoni, M.; Rizzo, C.; Carelli, M.; Colombo, E.

    2003-01-01

    The paper deals with the preliminary study of the Hydraulically Driven Control Rod concept, tailored for PWR control rods (spider type) with hydraulic drive mechanism completely immersed in the primary water. A specific solution suitable for advanced versions of the IRIS integral reactor is under investigation. The configuration of the Hydraulic Control Rod device, made up by an external movable piston and an internal fixed cylinder, is described. After a brief description of the whole control system, particular attention is devoted to the Control Rod characterization via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. The investigation of the system behavior, including dynamic equilibrium and stability properties, has been carried out. Finally, preliminary tests were performed in a low pressure, low temperature, reduced length experimental facility. The results are compared with the dynamic control model and CFD simulation model, showing good agreement between simulations and experimental data. During these preliminary tests, the control system performs correctly, allowing stable dynamic equilibrium positions for the Control Rod and stable behavior during withdrawal and insertion steps. (author)

  8. Assembly For Moving a Robotic Device Along Selected Axes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowlin, Brentley Craig (Inventor); Koch, Lisa Danielle (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    An assembly for moving a robotic device along selected axes includes a programmable logic controller (PLC) for controlling movement of the device along selected axes to effect movement of the device to a selected disposition. The PLC includes a plurality of single axis motion control modules, and a central processing unit (CPU) in communication with the motion control modules. A human-machine interface is provided for operator selection of configurations of device movements and is in communication with the CPU. A motor drive is in communication with each of the motion control modules and is operable to effect movement of the device along the selected axes to obtain movement of the device to the selected disposition.

  9. Application of the concept of dynamic trim control and nonlinear system inverses to automatic control of a vertical attitude takeoff and landing aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, G. A.; Meyer, G.

    1981-01-01

    A full envelope automatic flight control system based on nonlinear inverse systems concepts has been applied to a vertical attitude takeoff and landing (VATOL) fighter aircraft. A new method for using an airborne digital aircraft model to perform the inversion of a nonlinear aircraft model is presented together with the results of a simulation study of the nonlinear inverse system concept for the vertical-attitude hover mode. The system response to maneuver commands in the vertical attitude was found to be excellent; and recovery from large initial offsets and large disturbances was found to be very satisfactory.

  10. Minimum Delay Moving Object Detection

    KAUST Repository

    Lao, Dong

    2017-05-14

    This thesis presents a general framework and method for detection of an object in a video based on apparent motion. The object moves, at some unknown time, differently than the “background” motion, which can be induced from camera motion. The goal of proposed method is to detect and segment the object as soon it moves in an online manner. Since motion estimation can be unreliable between frames, more than two frames are needed to reliably detect the object. Observing more frames before declaring a detection may lead to a more accurate detection and segmentation, since more motion may be observed leading to a stronger motion cue. However, this leads to greater delay. The proposed method is designed to detect the object(s) with minimum delay, i.e., frames after the object moves, constraining the false alarms, defined as declarations of detection before the object moves or incorrect or inaccurate segmentation at the detection time. Experiments on a new extensive dataset for moving object detection show that our method achieves less delay for all false alarm constraints than existing state-of-the-art.

  11. Bioluminescence Monitoring of Neuronal Activity in Freely Moving Zebrafish Larvae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knafo, Steven; Prendergast, Andrew; Thouvenin, Olivier; Figueiredo, Sophie Nunes; Wyart, Claire

    2017-01-01

    The proof of concept for bioluminescence monitoring of neural activity in zebrafish with the genetically encoded calcium indicator GFP-aequorin has been previously described (Naumann et al., 2010) but challenges remain. First, bioluminescence signals originating from a single muscle fiber can constitute a major pitfall. Second, bioluminescence signals emanating from neurons only are very small. To improve signals while verifying specificity, we provide an optimized 4 steps protocol achieving: 1) selective expression of a zebrafish codon-optimized GFP-aequorin, 2) efficient soaking of larvae in GFP-aequorin substrate coelenterazine, 3) bioluminescence monitoring of neural activity from motor neurons in free-tailed moving animals performing acoustic escapes and 4) verification of the absence of muscle expression using immunohistochemistry. PMID:29130058

  12. Promoting a Positive Middle School Transition: A Randomized-Controlled Treatment Study Examining Self-Concept and Self-Esteem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coelho, Vitor Alexandre; Marchante, Marta; Jimerson, Shane R

    2017-03-01

    The middle school transition is a salient developmental experience impacting adolescents around the world. This study employed a randomized-controlled treatment design, with randomization at the school level, to investigate the impact of a school adjustment program for middle school transition and potential gender differences. Participants included 1147 students (M age  = 9.62; SD = 0.30, 45.7 % girls), who were assessed at four time points during the transition, regarding five dimensions of self-concept (academic, social, emotional, physical and family) and self-esteem. Parallel growth curves were employed to analyze the evolution of self-concept. Following the transition to middle school, students reported lower levels of self-concept (academic, emotional and physical) and self-esteem, while participation in the intervention led to increases in self-esteem and gains in social self-concept. No gender differences were found. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting such interventions in early middle school transitions.

  13. Error Analysis of Fast Moving Target Geo-location in Wide Area Surveillance Ground Moving Target Indication Mode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Shi-chao

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available As an important mode in airborne radar systems, Wide Area Surveillance Ground Moving Target Indication (WAS-GMTI mode has the ability of monitoring a large area in a short time, and then the detected moving targets can be located quickly. However, in real environment, many factors introduce considerable errors into the location of moving targets. In this paper, a fast location method based on the characteristics of the moving targets in WAS-GMTI mode is utilized. And in order to improve the location performance, those factors that introduce location errors are analyzed and moving targets are relocated. Finally, the analysis of those factors is proved to be reasonable by simulation and real data experiments.

  14. Boost Pressure Control Strategy to Account for Transient Behavior and Pumping Losses in a Two-Stage Turbocharged Air Path Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thivaharan Albin

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Increasingly complex air path concepts are investigated to achieve a substantial reduction in fuel consumption while improving the vehicle dynamics. One promising technology is the two-stage turbocharging for gasoline engines, where a high pressure and a low pressure turbocharger are placed in series. For exploiting the high potential, a control concept has to be developed that allows for coordinated management of the two turbocharger stages. In this paper, the control strategy is investigated. Therefore, the effect of the actuated values on transient response and pumping losses is analyzed. Based on these findings, an optimization-based control algorithm is developed that allows taking both requirements into account. The developed new controller allows achieving a fast transient response, while at the same time reducing pumping losses in stationary operation.

  15. Pressure Control In A Tyre Of Moving Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gawande, Kshitij P.; Jawanjal, Vaishakh A.

    2012-08-01

    We always try to make everything perfect around us and there is major problem still remaining in our automobiles, a puncture in a tire while running. We have developed tubeless tires but thatís not a perfect solution, so there is a serious need of improvement in this area. In this paper the compressed air is used to maintain the pressure in the tire using pneumatic pipes. This is a very basic concept which uses compressor power to maintain the pressure of a tire, while running using pressure gauges and leak proof connection. This technique allows us to drive a punctured vehicle which increases safety, comfort & saves time. This paper suggests a new technique towards one more improvement in our automobile industry.

  16. Risk and resilience factors in coping with daily stress in adulthood: the role of age, self-concept incoherence, and personal control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diehl, Manfred; Hay, Elizabeth L

    2010-09-01

    This study observed young, middle-aged, and older adults (N = 239; Mage = 49.6 years; range = 18-89 years) for 30 consecutive days to examine the association between daily stress and negative affect, taking into account potential risk (i.e., self-concept incoherence) and resilience (i.e., age, perceived personal control) factors. Results indicated that younger individuals and individuals with a more incoherent self-concept showed higher average negative affect across the study. As well, individuals reported higher negative affect on days that they experienced more stress than usual and on days that they reported less control than usual. These main effects were qualified by significant interactions. In particular, the association between daily stress and negative affect was stronger on days on which adults reported low control compared with days on which they reported high control (i.e., perceptions of control buffered stress). Reactivity to daily stress did not differ for individuals of different ages or for individuals with different levels of self-concept incoherence. Although all individuals reported higher negative affect on days on which they reported less control than usual, this association was more pronounced among younger adults. The current study helps to elucidate the role of risk and resilience factors when adults are faced with daily stress.

  17. Quantum concept of the rearrangement of a crystal lattice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gureev, M.D.; Mednikov, S.I.

    1995-01-01

    Using quantum considerations based on the concept of lattice rearrangement waves, we carried out an analysis of processes of rearrangement of a crystal lattice occurring on a moving front (interface) of crystal rearrangement. For the introduction and quantization of these waves we use the method of acoustomechanical analogy and the Sommerfeld quantum conditions. We calculate the energies and the propagation velocities of the lattice rearrangement waves. Along with quanta having a certain momentum, quanta that have a certain angular momentum are introduced into consideration. On the basis of the concepts developed, we suggest a new expression for calculating the probability of thermofluctuational processes in a crystal. We perform a numerical analysis of the rate of growth of the γ-phase in iron in the process of α-γ-conversion. Satisfactory agreement with experiment is obtained. We discuss the limitations and prospects of further development of the concept suggested. For direct experimental verification of the concept we propose to investigate the diffraction of electrons and other particles on the lattice rearrangement waves, i.e., in the process of phase conversions or disintegration of crystals

  18. 30 CFR 56.14107 - Moving machine parts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Moving machine parts. 56.14107 Section 56.14107... Safety Devices and Maintenance Requirements § 56.14107 Moving machine parts. (a) Moving machine parts... takeup pulleys, flywheels, couplings, shafts, fan blades, and similar moving parts that can cause injury...

  19. Development of carbon/carbon composite control rod for HTTR. 2. Concept, specifications and mechanical test of materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eto, Motokuni; Ishiyama, Shintaro; Fukaya, Kiyoshi; Saito, Tamotsu; Ishihara, Masahiro; Hanawa, Satoshi.

    1998-01-01

    A concept and specifications of carbon/carbon composite (C/C) control rod were proposed, aiming at the application of the material to the HTTR. The outer diameter and length of the control rod were kept as the same as those of the present control rod, i.e., 113 mm and 3094 mm, respectively. According to the concept, the rod consists of ten units which are connected in series using bolts. Then, the stresses generated by dead loads in the control rod elements were estimated and compared with the design strengths which were derived from the results of measurements of tensile, compressive, bending and shear strengths of two candidate materials, AC250 (Across Co.) and CX-270 (Toyo Tanso Co.). Design strength was preliminarily determined as one-third or one-fifth of the mean strength. Ratio of the design strength to generated stress for the AC250 (2D) was : Tensile stress in the outer sleeve tube, 66, tensile and shear stresses in the M16 bolt, 8.8 and 8.5, shear stress in the plug support bolt M8, 2.43. These results are believed to indicate the mechanical integrity of the control rod structure. Data available on the candidate materials were also compiled in the Appendix. (author)

  20. Paradigm shifts in fish conservation: moving to the ecosystem services concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowx, I G; Portocarrero Aya, M

    2011-12-01

    Various factors constrain the existence and development of inland fishes and fisheries, such as pollution, habitat degradation, alien invasive species, local user conflicts, low social priority and inadequate research and funding. In many cases, however, degradation of the environment and loss of aquatic habitat are the predominant concerns for the conservation of freshwater aquatic biota. The need for concerted effort to prevent and reduce environmental degradation, as well as protection of freshwater fishes and fisheries as renewable common pool resources or entities in their own right, are the greatest challenges facing the conservation of fishes in inland waters. Unfortunately, traditional conservation practices such as regulation of exploitation, protected areas and habitat restoration have failed to arrest the alarming increase in number of threatened freshwater fish species worldwide. This paper examines the shifting paradigm of fisheries management from rule-based regulation, through fishery enhancement towards the ecosystem approach to fisheries, with reference to inland waters, and how the emerging concept of ecosystem services coupled with traditional fish conservation management practices, institutional restructuring and integrated management planning should provide a more sustainable thrust to formulation and promotion of fish conservation initiatives. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2011 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  1. The Concept "System of Philosophy":The Case of Jacob Brucker's Historiography of Philosophy

    OpenAIRE

    Catana, Leo

    2005-01-01

    In this article I shall examine and discuss the concept ‘system of philosophy’ as a methodological tool in the history of philosophy. I shall do so in two moves. First I shall analyze the historical origin of the concept in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Thereafter I shall undertake a discussion of its methodological weaknesses — a discussion, which is not only relevant to the writing of history of philosophy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but also to the writing of h...

  2. People on the Move

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohan, Audrey

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this 2-3 day lesson is to introduce students in Grades 2-4 to the idea that people move around the world for a variety of reasons. In this activity, students explore why people move through class discussion, a guided reading, and interviews. The teacher elicits student ideas using the compelling question (Dimension 1 of the C3…

  3. Prescriptive concepts for advanced nuclear materials control and accountability systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whitty, W.J.; Strittmatter, R.B.; Ford, W.; Tisinger, R.M.; Meyer, T.H.

    1987-06-01

    Networking- and distributed-processing hardware and software have the potential of greatly enhancing nuclear materials control and accountability (MC and A) systems, from both safeguards and process operations perspectives, while allowing timely integrated safeguards activities and enhanced computer security at reasonable cost. A hierarchical distributed system is proposed consisting of groups of terminal and instruments in plant production and support areas connected to microprocessors that are connected to either larger microprocessors or minicomputers. These micros and/or minis are connected to a main machine, which might be either a mainframe or a super minicomputer. Data acquisition, preliminary input data validation, and transaction processing occur at the lowest level. Transaction buffering, resource sharing, and selected data processing occur at the intermediate level. The host computer maintains overall control of the data base and provides routine safeguards and security reporting and special safeguards analyses. The research described outlines the distribution of MC and A system requirements in the hierarchical system and distributed processing applied to MC and A. Implications of integrated safeguards and computer security concepts for the distributed system design are discussed. 10 refs., 4 figs

  4. Wind tunnel experiments to prove a hydraulic passive torque control concept for variable speed wind turbines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Diepeveen, N.F.B.; Jarquin-Laguna, A.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper the results are presented of experiments to prove an innovative concept for passive torque control of variable speed wind turbines using fluid power technology. It is demonstrated that by correctly configuring the hydraulic drive train, the wind turbine rotor operates at or near

  5. Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer Mission Attitude Determination and Control Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bladt, Jeff; Deininger, William D.; Kalinowski, William C.; Boysen, Mary; Bygott, Kyle; Guy, Larry; Pentz, Christina; Seckar, Chris; Valdez, John; Wedmore, Jeffrey; hide

    2018-01-01

    The goal of the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Mission is to expand understanding of high-energy astrophysical processes and sources, in support of NASA's first science objective in Astrophysics: "Discover how the universe works." X-ray polarimetry is the focus of the IXPE science mission. Polarimetry uniquely probes physical anisotropies-ordered magnetic fields, aspheric matter distributions, or general relativistic coupling to black-hole spin-that are not otherwise measurable. The IXPE Observatory consists of Spacecraft and Payload modules. The Payload includes three polarization sensitive, X-ray detector units (DU), each paired with its corresponding grazing incidence mirror module assemblies (MMA). A deployable boom provides the correct separation (focal length) between the DUs and MMAs. These Payload elements are supported by the IXPE Spacecraft. A star tracker is mounted directly with the deployed Payload to minimize alignment errors between the star tracker line of sight (LoS) and Payload LoS. Stringent pointing requirements coupled with a flexible structure and a non-collocated attitude sensor-actuator configuration requires a thorough analysis of control-structure interactions. A non-minimum phase notch filter supports robust control loop stability margins. This paper summarizes the IXPE mission science objectives and Observatory concepts, and then it describes IXPE attitude determination and control implementation. IXPE LoS pointing accuracy, control loop stability, and angular momentum management are discussed.

  6. Moving and Being Moved: Implications for Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kretchmar, R. Scott

    2000-01-01

    Uses philosophical writings, a novel about baseball, and a nonfiction work on rowing to analyze levels of meaning in physical activity, showing why three popular methods for enhancing meaning have not succeeded and may have moved some students away from deeper levels of meaning. The paper suggests that using hints taken from the three books could…

  7. Energy efficient traffic management and control: the eCoMove approach and expected benefit

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vreeswijk, Jacob Dirk; Mahmod, Mohammed; van Arem, Bart; Abadi, A.; Bauer e.a., D.

    2010-01-01

    Transportation is an important contributor to environmental problems like declining air quality. Current traffic measures seek to optimize travel times, but fall short on the ideal of an ecologically friendly traffic system. The European research project eCoMove aims to reduce the overall fuel

  8. Rearrangement moves on rooted phylogenetic networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gambette, Philippe; van Iersel, Leo; Jones, Mark; Lafond, Manuel; Pardi, Fabio; Scornavacca, Celine

    2017-08-01

    Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is usually done by local search heuristics that explore the space of the possible tree topologies via simple rearrangements of their structure. Tree rearrangement heuristics have been used in combination with practically all optimization criteria in use, from maximum likelihood and parsimony to distance-based principles, and in a Bayesian context. Their basic components are rearrangement moves that specify all possible ways of generating alternative phylogenies from a given one, and whose fundamental property is to be able to transform, by repeated application, any phylogeny into any other phylogeny. Despite their long tradition in tree-based phylogenetics, very little research has gone into studying similar rearrangement operations for phylogenetic network-that is, phylogenies explicitly representing scenarios that include reticulate events such as hybridization, horizontal gene transfer, population admixture, and recombination. To fill this gap, we propose "horizontal" moves that ensure that every network of a certain complexity can be reached from any other network of the same complexity, and "vertical" moves that ensure reachability between networks of different complexities. When applied to phylogenetic trees, our horizontal moves-named rNNI and rSPR-reduce to the best-known moves on rooted phylogenetic trees, nearest-neighbor interchange and rooted subtree pruning and regrafting. Besides a number of reachability results-separating the contributions of horizontal and vertical moves-we prove that rNNI moves are local versions of rSPR moves, and provide bounds on the sizes of the rNNI neighborhoods. The paper focuses on the most biologically meaningful versions of phylogenetic networks, where edges are oriented and reticulation events clearly identified. Moreover, our rearrangement moves are robust to the fact that networks with higher complexity usually allow a better fit with the data. Our goal is to provide a solid basis for

  9. Rearrangement moves on rooted phylogenetic networks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Gambette

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is usually done by local search heuristics that explore the space of the possible tree topologies via simple rearrangements of their structure. Tree rearrangement heuristics have been used in combination with practically all optimization criteria in use, from maximum likelihood and parsimony to distance-based principles, and in a Bayesian context. Their basic components are rearrangement moves that specify all possible ways of generating alternative phylogenies from a given one, and whose fundamental property is to be able to transform, by repeated application, any phylogeny into any other phylogeny. Despite their long tradition in tree-based phylogenetics, very little research has gone into studying similar rearrangement operations for phylogenetic network-that is, phylogenies explicitly representing scenarios that include reticulate events such as hybridization, horizontal gene transfer, population admixture, and recombination. To fill this gap, we propose "horizontal" moves that ensure that every network of a certain complexity can be reached from any other network of the same complexity, and "vertical" moves that ensure reachability between networks of different complexities. When applied to phylogenetic trees, our horizontal moves-named rNNI and rSPR-reduce to the best-known moves on rooted phylogenetic trees, nearest-neighbor interchange and rooted subtree pruning and regrafting. Besides a number of reachability results-separating the contributions of horizontal and vertical moves-we prove that rNNI moves are local versions of rSPR moves, and provide bounds on the sizes of the rNNI neighborhoods. The paper focuses on the most biologically meaningful versions of phylogenetic networks, where edges are oriented and reticulation events clearly identified. Moreover, our rearrangement moves are robust to the fact that networks with higher complexity usually allow a better fit with the data. Our goal is to provide

  10. Concept for a Differential Lock and Traction Control Model in Automobiles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shukul, A. K.; Hansra, S. K.

    2014-01-01

    The automobile is a complex integration of electronics and mechanical components. One of the major components is the differential which is limited due to its shortcomings. The paper proposes a concept of a cost effective differential lock and traction for passenger cars to sports utility vehicles alike, employing a parallel braking mechanism coming into action based on the relative speeds of the wheels driven by the differential. The paper highlights the employment of minimum number of components unlike the already existing systems. The system was designed numerically for the traction control and differential lock for the world's cheapest car. The paper manages to come up with all the system parameters and component costing making it a cost effective system.

  11. Reasons for Moving in Nonmetro Iowa

    OpenAIRE

    Burke, Sandra Charvat; Edelman, Mark

    2007-01-01

    This study highlights the experiences of people who have recently moved to or from 19 selected nonmetropolitan counties of Iowa. This report highlights work, family, community, and housing reasons for moving. The purpose is to increase understanding about why people move so community leaders and citizens can develop actionable strategies for attracting and retaining population.

  12. [Concept analysis of the nursing profession, published from 1994 to 2008].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palese, A; Dante, A; Gherbezza, S; Venturato, E; Maragnolli, O; Ambrosi, E; Saiani, L

    2012-01-01

    Concept analysis is a research method in which concepts are examined in a logical and systematic fashion to form clear and rigorous conceptual definitions. To describe the concept analyses published between 1994 and 2008 and identify the emerging tendencies in the Nursing discipline, a two-staged study has been developed. In the first stage a systematic review of the literature was conducted: research published in the journals indexed in the MedLine, CINAHL and Cochrane databases were judged eligible, if they reported the theme of 'concept analysis' and 'nursing' in the title or in their key words and were published in English language. In the second stage, the articles that emerged were subjected to a content analysis. Some 158 concept analyses emerged, on average 10/year (range 1-22, median 11, +/- 5.6): these regarded 129 different concepts. Ninety-one (57.6%) concepts were focused on the nursing profession, while 67 (42.4%) were focused on the patients. Although in a few cases the effort made by the researchers moved toward the definition of new concepts, in others it appeared oriented toward including in Nursing some typical concepts from other disciplines, thus tracing an expansion of the domain of the Nursing discipline. Monitoring over time the concepts analysed constitutes an important research area to comprehend, both at a national and international level, the progressive evolution of the Nursing discipline.

  13. CHAOS: An SDN-Based Moving Target Defense System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuan Shi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Moving target defense (MTD has provided a dynamic and proactive network defense to reduce or move the attack surface that is available for exploitation. However, traditional network is difficult to realize dynamic and active security defense effectively and comprehensively. Software-defined networking (SDN points out a brand-new path for building dynamic and proactive defense system. In this paper, we propose CHAOS, an SDN-based MTD system. Utilizing the programmability and flexibility of SDN, CHAOS obfuscates the attack surface including host mutation obfuscation, ports obfuscation, and obfuscation based on decoy servers, thereby enhancing the unpredictability of the networking environment. We propose the Chaos Tower Obfuscation (CTO method, which uses the Chaos Tower Structure (CTS to depict the hierarchy of all the hosts in an intranet and define expected connection and unexpected connection. Moreover, we develop fast CTO algorithms to achieve a different degree of obfuscation for the hosts in each layer. We design and implement CHAOS as an application of SDN controller. Our approach makes it very easy to realize moving target defense in networks. Our experimental results show that a network protected by CHAOS is capable of decreasing the percentage of information disclosure effectively to guarantee the normal flow of traffic.

  14. Trait Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance: Controlling for the Effects of IQ, Personality, and Self-Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrando, Mercedes; Prieto, Maria Dolores; Almeida, Leandro S.; Ferrandiz, Carmen; Bermejo, Rosario; Lopez-Pina, Jose Antonio; Hernandez, Daniel; Sainz, Marta; Fernandez, Mari-Carmen

    2011-01-01

    This article analyses the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and academic performance, controlling for the effects of IQ, personality, and self-concept dimensions. A sample of 290 preadolescents (11-12 years old) took part in the study. The instruments used were (a) Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Adolescents Short Form…

  15. What makes organic agriculture move: protest, meaning or market?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alrøe, Hugo; Noe, Egon

    2008-01-01

    Many different actors have hopes and aspirations for the future of organic agriculture. They have different perspectives on organic agriculture with different understandings of what it is and what makes it move. Each perspective entails a certain understanding of organic agriculture featuring...... certain concepts and values and a particular logic or rationality. It is important to acknowledge this heterogeneity when investigating the dynamics and governance of organic agriculture. We suggest a polyocular approach that facilitates a comprehensive and balanced understanding of organic agriculture...... by enabling us to handle different perspectives reflexively. To illustrate this approach we describe three significant perspectives on organic agriculture based on protest, meaning and market. No perspective is the 'right' one and we claim, different perspectives on organic agriculture cannot be merged to one...

  16. Slow light in moving media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonhardt, U.; Piwnicki, P.

    2001-06-01

    We review the theory of light propagation in moving media with extremely low group velocity. We intend to clarify the most elementary features of monochromatic slow light in a moving medium and, whenever possible, to give an instructive simplified picture.

  17. Technical problems of TBI in case of the moving couch method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tsuda, Masayuki (Tokai Univ., Isehara, Kanagawa (Japan). Hospital)

    1991-12-01

    In Tokai University Hospital ever since 1982, TBI for bone marrow transplantation has been performed by the moving couch method. In this method, the patient is irradiated from the opposite direction of A-P and P-A in a comfortable supine position as is. This technique has been well studied and greatly improved. For example, the moving speed of the couch is automatically varied depending on the dose rate deviation of the electron linear accelerator, function having variable speed with the dose rate (VSDR). Another function in variable speed with division (VSDV). In addition it has a self-recording function for the actual condition for the dose and couch movement. In such small areas as the eyes and gonad, the shielding effect cannot be effectively used. For the lungs, but it is able to shield and compensate to a sufficient extent. It applied to actual treatment resulting from data obtained from the measurements using a phantom. During the irradiation we must check the reproducibility of the systems which are dose rate, couch position, and so on. This is one reasonable concept of the dose monitor. (author).

  18. [Illness concepts of children. Validation of a modified locus of control test in illness and health].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, A; Altmann-Herz, U

    1992-12-01

    We investigated the health and illness concepts of 53 healthy children aged 8 to 14 years using a modified illness and health locus of control scale (KKG, Lohaus and Schmitt, 1989) with the scales internal, external-p (powerful others) and external-c (chance). A comparison of the results with those on self-esteem (FSK 4-6), anxiety (CMAS-R) and hopelessness (HSC) scales showed a decrease in externality, but not an increase in internality, with increasing age and a correlation between self-confidence and a more internal locus of control. The influence of children's health locus of control on treatment compliance is discussed.

  19. Controls in future earth moving machines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Neve, M. de; Vink, P.; Kanis, H.; Krause, F.

    2005-01-01

    This seventh chapter of the book 'Advanced cabin design : how to improve comfort and performance by progressive cabin design' explores whether a new way of steering has positive effects. Also controlling the speed of a movement versus the position of a movement is compared. The last 25 years the

  20. Childhood obesity prevention and control in city recreation centres and family homes: the MOVE/me Muevo Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elder, J P; Crespo, N C; Corder, K; Ayala, G X; Slymen, D J; Lopez, N V; Moody, J S; McKenzie, T L

    2014-06-01

    Interventions to prevent and control childhood obesity have shown mixed results in terms of short- and long-term changes. 'MOVE/me Muevo' was a 2-year family- and recreation centre-based randomized controlled trial to promote healthy eating and physical activity among 5- to 8-year-old children. It was hypothesized that children in the intervention group would demonstrate lower post-intervention body mass index (BMI) values and improved obesity-related behaviours compared with the control group children. Thirty recreation centres in San Diego County, California, were randomized to an intervention or control condition. Five hundred forty-one families were enrolled and children's BMI, diet, physical activity and other health indicators were tracked from baseline to 2 years post-baseline. Analyses followed an intent-to-treat approach using mixed-effects models. No significant intervention effects were observed for the primary outcomes of child's or parent's BMI and child's waist circumference. Moderator analyses, however, showed that girls (but not boys) in the intervention condition reduced their BMI. At the 2-year follow-up, intervention condition parents reported that their children were consuming fewer high-fat foods and sugary beverages. Favourable implementation fidelity and high retention rates support the feasibility of this intervention in a large metropolitan area; however, interventions of greater intensity may be needed to achieve effects on child's BMI. Also, further research is needed to develop gender-specific intervention strategies so that both genders may benefit from such efforts. © 2013 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2013 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

  1. Nordic Seniors on the Move

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    ”I believe that all people need to move about. Actually, some have difficulties in doing so. They stay in their home neighbourhoods where they’ve grown up and feel safe. I can understand that, but my wife and I, we didn’t want that. We are more open to new ideas.” This anthology is about seniors...... on the move. In seven chapters, Nordic researchers from various disciplines, by means of ethnographic methods, attempt to comprehend the phenomenon of Nordic seniors who move to leisure areas in their own or in other countries. The number of people involved in this kind of migratory movement has grown...... above gives voice to one of these seniors, stressing the necessity of moving. The anthology contributes to the international body of literature about later life migration, specifically representing experiences made by Nordic seniors. As shown here, mobility and migration in later life have implications...

  2. The Effect of Compensation Studies on Disadvantaged Children's Self Concept Levels and Locus of Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadioglu, Ömür

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine the effect of "Bir Umut Ol Benim Için" (Be My Hope) project which was prepared for the children who were disadvantaged by being influenced from several risk factors as compared to their peers on the self-concepts and locus of controls of the children. The study group consisted of 33 children who were…

  3. Application control chart concepts of designing a pre-alarm system in the nuclear power plant control room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, S.-L.; Lin, J.-T.; Liang, G.-F.; Yau, Y.-J.; Yenn, T.-C.; Hsu, C.-C.

    2008-01-01

    This study applied the concepts of the Shewhart control chart to design a pre-alarm system for the nuclear power plant control room. As a support in detecting faults, the pre-alarm system reminded the operators of a change in the system state in its early stages. Two pre-alarm types were designed to compare with the original system, and all participants were requested to monitor each simulated system under both normal and abnormal states. The tasks for the participants included shutting down the reactor, searching for procedures, monitoring system parameters and executing secondary tasks. In each trial, the task performance, mental workload and situation awareness (SA) of the participants were measured. Results indicated that participants had lower mental workload, but equal SA, when monitoring the system with either type of pre-alarm designs, and lower alarm frequency and higher secondary task performance were obtained with the pre-alarm design. Therefore, the pre-alarm system effectively assisted the operators in monitoring tasks

  4. Improving thermal efficiency and increasing production rate in the double moving beds thermally coupled reactors by using differential evolution (DE) technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karimi, Mohsen; Rahimpour, Mohammad Reza; Rafiei, Razieh; Shariati, Alireza; Iranshahi, Davood

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Double moving bed thermally coupled reactor is modeled in two dimensions. • The required heat of naphtha process is attained with nitrobenzene hydrogenation. • DE optimization method is applied to optimize operating conditions. • Hydrogen, aromatic and aniline productions increase in the proposed configuration. - Abstract: According to the global requirements for energy saving and the control of global warming, multifunctional auto-thermal reactors as a novel concept in the process integration (PI) have risen up in the recent years. In the novel modification presented in this study, the required heat of endothermic naphtha reforming process has been supplied by nitrobenzene hydrogenation reaction. In addition, the enhancement of reactor performance, such as the increase of production rate, has become a key issue in the diverse industries. Thus, Differential Evolution (DE) technique is applied to optimize the operating conditions (temperature and pressure) and designing parameters of a thermally coupled reactor with double moving beds. Ultimately, the obtained results of the proposed model are compared with non-optimized and conventional model. This model results in noticeable reduction in the operational costs as well as enhancement of the net profit of the plant. The increase in the hydrogen and aromatic production shows the superiority of the proposed model.

  5. DEVELOPING A STRATEGY CONCEPT ON MICRO LEVELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. P. Burlankov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Relevance of the topic of the study is that the conflicting tendencies of economic development, the need to consider a variety of factors internal and external environment in a changing operating environment in the paramount problem of providing concept enterprises as concept distributed in time. Variety of factors that influence the activity of enterprises, the ambiguity estimates of their effect, often lack the possibility of their accounting and forecasting, the complication of the problem to identify the interdependence of external and internal parameters of management lead to serious negative consequences, and often to the destruction of production and the economic system. This raises the need to develop new approaches and management techniques the intra interaction, based on the use of tools of market relations and the transformation of the elements of the market at the enterprise level. Insufficiently complete theoretical study concept issues, lack of models, diagrams, algorithms for the formation mechanism of industrial relations on the principles of intra-enterprise, ensuring longevity economic enterprises by integrating and mobilizing intra-building, deter-mined the choice of the research topic. Strategy - an integrated model of action designed to achieve the objectives of the enterprise. Content of the strategy is a set of decision rules used to determine the main directions of activity. In the literature on strategic planning, there are two opposing views on the understanding of the strategy. In the first case the strategy - it is a concrete long-term plan to achieve a certain goal, and develop a strategy - it is the process of finding a purpose and making long-term plan. This approach is based on the fact that all the emerging changes are predictable, occur-ring in the environment of the processes are deterministic and amenable to complete control and management. At the same time, both within the organization and outside it there

  6. Older Men's Experiences of Moving Into Residential Care

    OpenAIRE

    Weighell, Simon

    2015-01-01

    Research examining the transition into residential aged care suggests that it can have a significant psychological and physiological impact upon older adults. There is a dearth of research examining the specific experiences of older men moving into and living in residential aged care. Older men may be at a significant disadvantage in managing the transition into care, particularly in context to; institutional living often characterised by increased dependency and a loss of control; physical d...

  7. Fair Trade Metaphor as a Control Privacy Method for Pervasive Environments: Concepts and Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abraham Esquivel

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a proof of concept from which the metaphor of “fair trade” is validated as an alternative to manage the private information of users. Our privacy solution deals with user’s privacy as a tradable good for obtaining environmental services. Thus, users gain access to more valuable services as they share more personal information. This strategy, combined with optimistic access control and transaction registry mechanisms, enhances users’ confidence in the system while encouraging them to share their information, with the consequent benefit for the community. The study results are promising considering the user responses regarding the usefulness, ease of use, information classification and perception of control with the mechanisms proposed by the metaphor.

  8. Visualization of Cerenkov radiation and the fields of a moving charge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pfeifer, Robert N C; Nieminen, Timo A

    2006-01-01

    For some physics students, the concept of a particle travelling faster than the speed of light holds endless fascination, and Cerenkov radiation is a visible consequence of a charged particle travelling through a medium at locally superluminal velocities. The Heaviside-Feynman equations for calculating the magnetic and electric fields of a moving charge have been known for many decades, but it is only recently that the computing power to plot the fields of such a particle has become readily available for student use. This paper investigates and illustrates the calculation of Maxwell's D field in homogeneous isotropic media for arbitrary, including superluminal, constant velocity, and uses the results as a basis for discussing energy transfer in the electromagnetic field

  9. Self-concept and gender effects in Korean adolescents with epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sang-Ahm; Choi, Eun-Ju; Kwon, Soonhak; Eom, Soyong

    2016-08-01

    We aimed to determine whether adolescents with epilepsy (AWE) have a compromised self-concept, whether a lower self-concept is related to mental health, and whether there are sex differences in self-concept in AWE. A total of 179 AWE and 259 control adolescents without epilepsy participated in this cross-sectional, multicenter study. Self-concept was measured using the Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children. Depressive symptoms and anxiety were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). A group-by-sex interaction was evaluated using an analysis of covariance controlling for age. Adolescents with epilepsy had a lower level of self-concept, especially in domains of behavioral conduct (partial eta(2): 0.257) and social acceptance (partial eta(2): 0.116), than controls (pself-concept did not differ by sex in the group with epilepsy. A group-by-sex interaction effect was found on social acceptance (p=0.042). Unlike the control group, age was not correlated with self-concept in AWE. Physical appearance was negatively correlated with HADS-anxiety scores (r=-0.291, pself-concept, especially in the domains of behavioral conduct and social acceptance, than controls. Sex differences in self-concept were identified in the control group but not in the group with epilepsy. Physical appearance was negatively correlated with anxiety in girls with epilepsy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. New 2-stage ion microprobes and a move to higher energies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Legge, G.J.F.; Dymnikov, A.; Moloney, G.; Saint, A. [Melbourne Univ., Parkville, VIC (Australia). School of Physics; Cohen, D. [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia)

    1996-12-31

    Recent moves in Ion Beam Microanalysis towards the use of a rapidly growing number of very high resolution, low current and single ion techniques has led to the need for high demagnification and greatly improved beam quality. There is also a move to apply Microbeams at higher energies and with heavier ions. This also puts demands on the focusing system and beam control. This paper describes the recent development of 2-stage lens systems to be applied here and overseas, both at very high resolution and at high energies with heavy ions. It looks at new ion beam analysis applications of such ion microprobes. 8 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig.

  11. New 2-stage ion microprobes and a move to higher energies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Legge, G J.F.; Dymnikov, A; Moloney, G; Saint, A [Melbourne Univ., Parkville, VIC (Australia). School of Physics; Cohen, D [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia)

    1997-12-31

    Recent moves in Ion Beam Microanalysis towards the use of a rapidly growing number of very high resolution, low current and single ion techniques has led to the need for high demagnification and greatly improved beam quality. There is also a move to apply Microbeams at higher energies and with heavier ions. This also puts demands on the focusing system and beam control. This paper describes the recent development of 2-stage lens systems to be applied here and overseas, both at very high resolution and at high energies with heavy ions. It looks at new ion beam analysis applications of such ion microprobes. 8 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig.

  12. Definition of the concept of «social temporality»

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yana S. Cherkun

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In the article is realized the theoretical analysis of the concepts of «temporality», «social» and «social temporality». Include such attributes of temporality: temporality as an internal time; temporality as a sequence; temporality as temporary; temporality as the length of time a certain point; temporality as a current event. Demarcation with similar concepts and definitions of the semantic aspects of the concept of «social temporality» had conducted. The author notes, that there are many definitions of «temporality», each of which has a right to exist, but the integration of existing social senses to determine temporality as a concept which indicates the rate of turnover in the time of the events that occur in the vital functions of humans in society. It is emphasized that in the presented interpretation of the concept of «social temporality» integrated internalization and exteriorization, and combined the discreteness and integrity. The author analyzes the relationship of the concept of «social temporality» with the concepts «social time», «social space» and «chronotops». The relationship of these concepts is represented by the fact that social time-space trajectory is represented by the flow of events that occur in the social space and move in social time and social temporality stress determines the speed of events. Thus, in the article the connection between the semantic aspects of social temporality and the definition of temporary and spatial specificity of global conflicts had established.

  13. Towards an Integrated Workload Control (WLC) Concept : The Performance of Due Date Setting Rules in Job Shops with Contingent Orders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thuerer, Matthias; Stevenson, Mark; Silva, Cristovao; Land, Martin

    2013-01-01

    Workload control (WLC) is a production planning and control concept developed for make-to-order companies. Its customer enquiry management methodology supports due date setting, while its order release mechanism determines when to start production. For make-to-order companies, due date setting is a

  14. Gender Differences in Self-Concept, Locus of Control, and Goal Orientation in Mexican High-Achieving Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdés-Cuervo, Angel Alberto; Sánchez Escobedo, Pedro Antonio; Valadez-Sierra, María Dolores

    2015-01-01

    The study compares self-concept, locus of control, and goal orientation characteristics of male and female Mexican high school high-achieving students. Three scales were administered to 220 students; 106 (49%) were males and 114 (51%) females. By means of a discriminant analysis, both groups were compared in relation to the variables such as…

  15. Smart microgrid hierarchical frequency control ancillary service provision based on virtual inertia concept: An integrated demand response and droop controlled distributed generation framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rezaei, Navid; Kalantar, Mohsen

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Detailed formulation of the microgrid static and dynamic securities based on droop control and virtual inertia concepts. • Constructing a novel objective function using frequency excursion and rate of change of frequency profiles. • Ensuring the microgrid security subject to the microgrid economic and environmental policies. • Coordinated management of demand response and droop controlled distributed generation resources. • Precise scheduling of day-ahead hierarchical frequency control ancillary services using a scenario based stochastic programming. - Abstract: Low inertia stack, high penetration levels of renewable energy source and great ratio of power deviations in a small power delivery system put microgrid frequency at risk of instability. On the basis of the close coupling between the microgrid frequency and system security requirements, procurement of adequate ancillary services from cost-effective and environmental friendly resources is a great challenge requests an efficient energy management system. Motivated by this need, this paper presents a novel energy management system that is aimed to coordinately manage the demand response and distributed generation resources. The proposed approach is carried out by constructing a hierarchical frequency control structure in which the frequency dependent control functions of the microgrid components are modeled comprehensively. On the basis of the derived modeling, both the static and dynamic frequency securities of an islanded microgrid are provided in primary and secondary control levels. Besides, to cope with the low inertia stack of islanded microgrids, novel virtual inertia concept is devised based on the precise modeling of droop controlled distributed generation resources. The proposed approach is applied to typical test microgrid. Energy and hierarchical reserve resource are scheduled precisely using a scenario-based stochastic programming methodology. Moreover, analyzing the

  16. Move of ground water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimura, Shigehiko

    1983-01-01

    As a ground water flow which is difficult to explain by Darcy's theory, there is stagnant water in strata, which moves by pumping and leads to land subsidence. This is now a major problem in Japan. Such move on an extensive scale has been investigated in detail by means of 3 H such as from rainfall in addition to ordinary measurement. The move of ground water is divided broadly into that in an unsaturated stratum from ground surface to water-table and that in a saturated stratum below the water-table. The course of the analyses made so far by 3 H contained in water, and the future trend of its usage are described. A flow model of regarding water as plastic fluid and its flow as channel assembly may be available for some flow mechanism which is not possible to explain with Darcy's theory. (Mori, K.)

  17. Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sweeney, Diane; Harris, Leanna S.

    2017-01-01

    Student-centered coaching is a highly-effective, evidence-based coaching model that shifts the focus from "fixing" teachers to collaborating with them to design instruction that targets student outcomes. But what does this look like in practice? "Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves" shows you the day-to-day coaching moves that…

  18. Anticipatory changes in control of swing foot and lower limb joints when walking onto a moving surface traveling at constant speed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Wei-Chun; Wang, Ting-Ming; Lu, Hsuan-Lun; Lu, Tung-Wu

    2015-01-01

    Adapting to a predictable moving surface such as an escalator is a crucial part of daily locomotor tasks in modern cities. However, the associated biomechanics have remained unexplored. In a gait laboratory, fifteen young adults walked from the ground onto a moving or a static surface while their kinematic and kinetic data were obtained for calculating foot and pelvis motions, as well as the angles and moments of the lower limb joints. Between-surface-condition comparisons were performed using a paired t-test (α = 0.05). The results showed that anticipatory locomotor adjustments occurred at least a stride before successfully walking onto the moving surface, including increasing step length and speed in the trailing step (p moving surface (p > 0.05), mainly through reduced extension of the trailing hip but increased pelvic anterior tilt and leading swing ankle plantarflexion (p moving surfaces such as escalators. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. NASA Innovation Fund 2010 Project Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan

    2010-01-01

    This report describes a study conducted in 2010 under the NASA Innovation Fund Award to develop innovative future air vehicle concepts. Aerodynamic optimization was performed to produce three different aircraft configuration concepts for low drag, namely drooped wing, inflected wing, and squashed fuselage. A novel wing shaping control concept is introduced. This concept describes a new capability of actively controlling wing shape in-flight to minimize drag. In addition, a novel flight control effector concept is developed to enable wing shaping control. This concept is called a variable camber continuous trailing edge flap that can reduce drag by as much as 50% over a conventional flap. In totality, the potential benefits of fuel savings offered by these concepts can be significant.

  20. Moving Target Photometry Using WISE and NEOWISE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Edward L.

    2015-01-01

    WISE band 1 observations have a significant noise contribution from confusion. The image subtraction done on W0855-0714 by Wright et al. (2014) shows that this noise source can be eliminated for sources that move by much more than the beamsize. This paper describes an analysis that includes a pattern of celestially fixed flux plus a source moving with a known trajectory. This technique allows the confusion noise to be modeled with nuisance parameters and removed even for sources that have not moved by many beamwidths. However, the detector noise is magnified if the motion is too small. Examples of the method applied to fast moving Y dwarfs and slow moving planets will be shown.

  1. Sensorless sliding mode torque control of an IPMSM drive based on active flux concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.A. Hassan

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates a novel direct torque control of a sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous motor based on a sliding mode technique. The speed and position of the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor are estimated online based on active flux concept. To overcome the large ripple content associated with the direct torque, a torque/flux sliding mode controller has been employed. Two integral surface functions are used to construct the sliding mode controller. The command voltage is estimated from the torque and flux errors based on the two switching functions. The idea of the total sliding mode is used to eliminate the problem of reaching phase stability. The space vector modulation is combined with the sliding mode controller to ensure minimum torque and flux ripples and provides high resolution voltage control. The proposed scheme has the advantages of simple implementation, and does not require an external signal injection. In addition, it combines the merits of the direct torque control, sliding mode controller, and space vector modulation besides to the sensorless control. Simulation works are carried out to demonstrate the ability of the proposed scheme at different operating conditions. The results confirm the high performance of the proposed scheme at standstill, low and high speeds including load disturbance and parameters variation.

  2. Materials learning from life: concepts for active, adaptive and autonomous molecular systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merindol, Rémi; Walther, Andreas

    2017-09-18

    Bioinspired out-of-equilibrium systems will set the scene for the next generation of molecular materials with active, adaptive, autonomous, emergent and intelligent behavior. Indeed life provides the best demonstrations of complex and functional out-of-equilibrium systems: cells keep track of time, communicate, move, adapt, evolve and replicate continuously. Stirred by the understanding of biological principles, artificial out-of-equilibrium systems are emerging in many fields of soft matter science. Here we put in perspective the molecular mechanisms driving biological functions with the ones driving synthetic molecular systems. Focusing on principles that enable new levels of functionalities (temporal control, autonomous structures, motion and work generation, information processing) rather than on specific material classes, we outline key cross-disciplinary concepts that emerge in this challenging field. Ultimately, the goal is to inspire and support new generations of autonomous and adaptive molecular devices fueled by self-regulating chemistry.

  3. Everyday life and health concepts among blue collar female workers in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Magne, Jeanette

    2013-01-01

    The article introduces a perspective on health of women with low level of education in terms of the organisation of their everyday life. The aim is to demonstrate the ways in which the women’s concept of health is contingent upon the conditions encountered in everyday life. A qualitative study...... based on interviews with the women forms the basis for the discussion. The analysis shows that the women find it difficult to adopt the official discourse on health and its foundation in a biomedical tradition. The article argues that it is necessary move away from the educational approach focusing...... on risk and lifestyle with the goal of regulating individual behaviour. Instead, an approach is suggested which can provide the women with the opportunity to gain control of the everyday health determinants which are normally beyond their immediate reach. This is based on the argument that it is necessary...

  4. Words, Concepts, and the Geometry of Analogy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen McGregor

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a geometric approach to the problem of modelling the relationship between words and concepts, focusing in particular on analogical phenomena in language and cognition. Grounded in recent theories regarding geometric conceptual spaces, we begin with an analysis of existing static distributional semantic models and move on to an exploration of a dynamic approach to using high dimensional spaces of word meaning to project subspaces where analogies can potentially be solved in an online, contextualised way. The crucial element of this analysis is the positioning of statistics in a geometric environment replete with opportunities for interpretation.

  5. Trading Fees and Slow-Moving Capital

    OpenAIRE

    Buss, Adrian; Dumas, Bernard J

    2015-01-01

    In some situations, investment capital seems to move slowly towards profitable trades. We develop a model of a financial market in which capital moves slowly simply because there is a proportional cost to moving capital. We incorporate trading fees in an infinite-horizon dynamic general-equilibrium model in which investors optimally and endogenously decide when and how much to trade. We determine the steady-state equilibrium no-trade zone, study the dynamics of equilibrium trades and prices a...

  6. Control System Architectures, Technologies and Concepts for Near Term and Future Human Exploration of Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulanger, Richard; Overland, David

    2004-01-01

    Technologies that facilitate the design and control of complex, hybrid, and resource-constrained systems are examined. This paper focuses on design methodologies, and system architectures, not on specific control methods that may be applied to life support subsystems. Honeywell and Boeing have estimated that 60-80Y0 of the effort in developing complex control systems is software development, and only 20-40% is control system development. It has also been shown that large software projects have failure rates of as high as 50-65%. Concepts discussed include the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and design patterns with the goal of creating a self-improving, self-documenting system design process. Successful architectures for control must not only facilitate hardware to software integration, but must also reconcile continuously changing software with much less frequently changing hardware. These architectures rely on software modules or components to facilitate change. Architecting such systems for change leverages the interfaces between these modules or components.

  7. STRATEGY OF DATA INTEGRITY CONTROL FOR SYSTEM WIDE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CONCEPT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lev E. Rudel'son

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The growth in demand for air transportation services is steadily ahead of the capacity of carriers. The most advanced aviation empires set a goal to triple the capacity of the current air traffic management system by the mid-twenties. The technical basis for such achievements is equipping all aircraft with automatic dependent surveillance broadcast systems, which provides both control over the parameters of their movement anywhere in the world, and reliable mutual exchange of verified information on the air picture and forecasts of its development between all pilots and ground services.The concepts of collaborative decision-making on air traffic flows management and System Wide Information Management, suggested by ICAO experts, have proclaimed the idea of the flight information availability as a means of increasing the intensity of flights, not only for considering, but also for making changes in it by all the participants of the process of organizing and servicing the flows – analysts, meteorologists, planners, air traffic controllers, pilots (in the part relating to their area. The technology of specialists’ cooperation is proposed. It allows to make sensible decisions on servicing aircraft flows for the whole depth of their flights (both on routes and along free trajectories when changing the conditions for performing flights.The task is to develop software procedures for computer support of new concepts that ensure the integrity of aeronautical data used by all the participants in the operational organization of flows. All the interconnected elements of air traffic management (personnel and equipment may distort the system public information with the known probability of cooperation outcomes. The article proposes a three-level algorithm for neutralizing data mismatch in the elements of a distributed network of process participants ground and on-board computing facilities, allowing in the actual time to maintain consistency of information

  8. 30 CFR 57.14107 - Moving machine parts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Moving machine parts. 57.14107 Section 57.14107... Equipment Safety Devices and Maintenance Requirements § 57.14107 Moving machine parts. (a) Moving machine parts shall be guarded to protect persons from contacting gears, sprockets, chains, drive, head, tail...

  9. A brief history of the electron concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frechengues, P.; Dusseau, J.M.

    1998-01-01

    This article deals with the long theoretical and experimental way that has led to the modern concept of electron. In 1891 Johnston Stoney defined the electron as the elementary unit of the electrical charge. Around 1900 the first values of the charge and mass of the electron were deduced from experiment.The quasi immateriality of this particle pushed some physicists such Lodge to consider the electron as a moving tenseness of the ether. The heyday of the corpuscular electron took place in 1923 when a young American scientist Compton studied the collision between a photon and a free electron. This experiment was a brilliant proof of the light quanta theory of Einstein and it showed that photons and electrons behave as simple glass marbles. 3 years later Davisson and Germer showed clearly that electrons are diffracted by a crystal. This experiment was the first one to back up the fundamental concept proposed by the nascent quantum mechanics: the duality between wave and particle. (A.C.)

  10. Lattice Boltzmann methods for moving boundary flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inamuro, Takaji

    2012-01-01

    The lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) for moving boundary flows are presented. The LBM for two-phase fluid flows with the same density and the LBM combined with the immersed boundary method are described. In addition, the LBM on a moving multi-block grid is explained. Three numerical examples (a droplet moving in a constricted tube, the lift generation of a flapping wing and the sedimentation of an elliptical cylinder) are shown in order to demonstrate the applicability of the LBMs to moving boundary problems. (invited review)

  11. Lattice Boltzmann methods for moving boundary flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Inamuro, Takaji, E-mail: inamuro@kuaero.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Advanced Research Institute of Fluid Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)

    2012-04-01

    The lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) for moving boundary flows are presented. The LBM for two-phase fluid flows with the same density and the LBM combined with the immersed boundary method are described. In addition, the LBM on a moving multi-block grid is explained. Three numerical examples (a droplet moving in a constricted tube, the lift generation of a flapping wing and the sedimentation of an elliptical cylinder) are shown in order to demonstrate the applicability of the LBMs to moving boundary problems. (invited review)

  12. Second Order Sliding Mode Control Scheme for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle with Dynamic Region Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zool H. Ismail

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main goal in developing closed loop control system for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV is to make a robust vehicle from natural and exogenous perturbations such as wind, wave, and ocean currents. However a well-known robust control, for instance, Sliding Mode Controller (SMC, gives a chattering effect and it influences the stability of an AUV. Furthermore, some researchers combined other controls to get better result but it tends to present long computational time and causes large energy consumption. Thus, this paper proposed a Super Twisting Sliding Mode Controller (STSMC with dynamic region concept for an AUV. STSMC or a second order SMC is adopted as a robust controller which is free from chattering effect. Meanwhile, the implementation of dynamic region is useful to reduce the energy usage. As a result, the proposed controller obtains global asymptotic stability which is validated by using Lyapunov-like function. Moreover, some simulations present the efficiency of proposed controller. In conclusion, STSMC with region based control is effective to be applied for the robust tracking of an AUV. It contributes to give a fast response when handling the perturbations, short computational time, and low energy demand.

  13. The cross-sectional associations between sense of coherence and diabetic microvascular complications, glycaemic control, and patients' conceptions of type 1 diabetes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saraheimo Markku

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Sense of coherence (SOC has been associated with various self-care behaviours in the general population. As the management of type 1 diabetes heavily relies on self-management, the SOC concept could also prove important in this population. This paper is a report of a study conducted among patients with type 1 diabetes to assess the associations between SOC and glycaemic control, microvascular complications, and patients' conceptions of their disease. Methods Altogether 1,264 adult patients (45% men, age range 18-82 years with type 1 diabetes participated in this cross-sectional study. SOC was evaluated using a 13-item SOC questionnaire. Standardized assays were used to determine HbA1c. Nephropathy status was based on albumin excretion rate and retinal laser-treatment was used as an indication of severe retinopathy. Patients' subjective conceptions of diabetes were studied using a questionnaire. Results Higher SOC scores, reflecting stronger SOC, were associated with lower HbA1c values. Strong SOC was independently associated with reaching the HbA1c level 1c, weak SOC was associated with the presence of nephropathy among men, but not women. No associations were observed between SOC and severe retinopathy. Four dimensions describing patients' conceptions of HbA1c, complications, diabetes control and hypoglycaemia were formed from the diabetes questionnaire. Weak SOC was independently associated with worse subjective conceptions in the dimensions of HbA1c and hypoglycaemia. Furthermore among men, an association between weak SOC and the complications factor was observed. Conclusion Interventions to improve patients' SOC, if available, could improve patients' metabolic control and therefore also reduce the incidence of diabetic complications.

  14. The Contemporary Mass Media Education in Russia: In Search for New Theoretical Conceptions and Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedorov, Alexander

    2012-01-01

    Media education in Russia in general has still not moved from the theoretical conceptions and local experiments to the wide practical implementation. It is necessary to consolidate pedagogical institutions of higher education, universities, faculties of journalism, experimenters in media education and also the media community, coordination of the…

  15. 77 FR 16566 - Submission for OMB Review, Comment Request, Proposed Collection: Let's Move Museums, Let's Move...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-21

    ..., Proposed Collection: Let's Move Museums, Let's Move Gardens AGENCY: Institute of Museum and Library..., comment request. SUMMARY: The Institute of Museum and Library Services announces that the following... functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; Evaluate the...

  16. Automatic channel trimming for control systems: A concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandervoort, R. J.; Sykes, H. A.

    1977-01-01

    Set of bias signals added to channel inputs automatically normalize differences between channels. Algorithm and second feedback loop compute trim biases. Concept could be applied to regulators and multichannel servosystems for remote manipulators in undersea mining.

  17. Sub-optimal control of fuzzy linear dynamical systems under granular differentiability concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazandarani, Mehran; Pariz, Naser

    2018-05-01

    This paper deals with sub-optimal control of a fuzzy linear dynamical system. The aim is to keep the state variables of the fuzzy linear dynamical system close to zero in an optimal manner. In the fuzzy dynamical system, the fuzzy derivative is considered as the granular derivative; and all the coefficients and initial conditions can be uncertain. The criterion for assessing the optimality is regarded as a granular integral whose integrand is a quadratic function of the state variables and control inputs. Using the relative-distance-measure (RDM) fuzzy interval arithmetic and calculus of variations, the optimal control law is presented as the fuzzy state variables feedback. Since the optimal feedback gains are obtained as fuzzy functions, they need to be defuzzified. This will result in the sub-optimal control law. This paper also sheds light on the restrictions imposed by the approaches which are based on fuzzy standard interval arithmetic (FSIA), and use strongly generalized Hukuhara and generalized Hukuhara differentiability concepts for obtaining the optimal control law. The granular eigenvalues notion is also defined. Using an RLC circuit mathematical model, it is shown that, due to their unnatural behavior in the modeling phenomenon, the FSIA-based approaches may obtain some eigenvalues sets that might be different from the inherent eigenvalues set of the fuzzy dynamical system. This is, however, not the case with the approach proposed in this study. The notions of granular controllability and granular stabilizability of the fuzzy linear dynamical system are also presented in this paper. Moreover, a sub-optimal control for regulating a Boeing 747 in longitudinal direction with uncertain initial conditions and parameters is gained. In addition, an uncertain suspension system of one of the four wheels of a bus is regulated using the sub-optimal control introduced in this paper. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. ISABELLE control system: design concepts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Humphrey, J.W.

    1979-01-01

    ISABELLE is a Department of Energy funded proton accelerator/storage ring being built at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton, Long Island, New York). It is large (3.8 km circumference) and complicated (approx. 30,000 monitor and control variables). It is based on superconducting technology. Following the example of previous accelerators, ISABELLE will be operated from a single control center. The control system will be distributed and will incorporate a local computer network. An overview of the conceptual design of the ISABELLE control system will be presented

  19. Conceptual design of a Moving Belt Radiator (MBR) shuttle-attached experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar, Jerry L.

    1990-01-01

    The conceptual design of a shuttle-attached Moving Belt Radiator (MBR) experiment is presented. The MBR is an advanced radiator concept in which a rotating belt is used to radiate thermal energy to space. The experiment is developed with the primary focus being the verification of the dynamic characteristics of a rotating belt with a secondary objective of proving the thermal and sealing aspects in a reduced gravity, vacuum environment. The mechanical design, selection of the belt material and working fluid, a preliminary test plan, and program plan are presented. The strategy used for selecting the basic sizes and materials of the components are discussed. Shuttle and crew member requirements are presented with some options for increasing or decreasing the demands on the STS. An STS carrier and the criteria used in the selection process are presented. The proposed carrier for the Moving Belt Radiator experiment is the Hitchhiker-M. Safety issues are also listed with possible results. This experiment is designed so that a belt can be deployed, run at steady state conditions, run with dynamic perturbations imposed, verify the operation of the interface heat exchanger and seals, and finally be retracted into a stowed position for transport back to earth.

  20. BEYOND INTEGRATED SYSTEM VALIDATION: USE OF A CONTROL ROOM TRAINING SIMULATOR FOR PROOF-OF-CONCEPT INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ronald Boring; Vivek Agarwal

    2012-07-01

    This paper provides background on a reconfigurable control room simulator for nuclear power plants. The main control rooms in current nuclear power plants feature analog technology that is growing obsolete. The need to upgrade control rooms serves the practical need of maintainability as well as the opportunity to implement newer digital technologies with added functionality. There currently exists no dedicated research simulator for use in human factors design and evaluation activities for nuclear power plants in the US. The new research simulator discussed in this paper provides a test bed in which operator performance on new control room concepts can be benchmarked against existing control rooms and in which new technologies can be validated for safety and usability prior to deployment.

  1. The broken escalator phenomenon. Aftereffect of walking onto a moving platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, R F; Bronstein, A M

    2003-08-01

    We investigated the physiological basis of the 'broken escalator phenomenon', namely the sensation that when walking onto an escalator which is stationary one experiences an odd sensation of imbalance, despite full awareness that the escalator is not going to move. The experimental moving surface was provided by a linear motor-powered sled, moving at 1.2 m/s. Sled velocity, trunk position, trunk angular velocity, EMG of the ankle flexors-extensors and foot-contact signals were recorded in 14 normal subjects. The experiments involved, initially, walking onto the stationary sled (condition Before). Then, subjects walked 20 times onto the moving sled (condition Moving), and it was noted that they increased their walking velocity from a baseline of 0.60 m/s to 0.90 m/s. After the moving trials, subjects were unequivocally warned that the platform would no longer move and asked to walk onto the stationary sled again (condition After). It was found that, despite this warning, subjects walked onto the stationary platform inappropriately fast (0.71 m/s), experienced a large overshoot of the trunk and displayed increased leg electromyographic (EMG) activity. Subjects were surprised by their own behaviour and subjectively reported that the 'broken escalator phenomenon', as experienced in urban life, felt similar to the experiment. By the second trial, most movement parameters had returned to baseline values. The findings represent a motor aftereffect of walking onto a moving platform that occurs despite full knowledge of the changing context. As such, it demonstrates dissociation between the declarative and procedural systems in the CNS. Since gait velocity was raised before foot-sled contact, the findings are at least partly explained by open-loop, predictive behaviour. A cautious strategy of limb stiffness was not responsible for the aftereffect, as revealed by no increase in muscle cocontraction. The observed aftereffect is unlike others previously reported in the

  2. Nursing expertise: a course of ambiguity and evolution in a concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, Marie; Higson, Mary; Cleary, Michelle; Jackson, Debra

    2016-12-01

    In this article, we clarify and describe the nature of nursing expertise and provide a framework to guide its identification and further development. To have utility and rigour, concept-driven research and theories of practice require underlying concepts that are robust, valid and reliable. Advancing understanding of a concept requires careful attention to explicating its knowledge, metaphors and conceptual meaning. Examining the concepts and metaphors of nursing expertise, and how they have been interpreted into the nursing discourse, we aimed to synthesise definitions and similarities between concepts and elicit the defining characteristics and properties of nursing expertise. In clarifying the concept, we sought to move beyond the ambiguity that currently surrounds expertise in nursing and unravel it to make explicit the characteristics of nursing expertise from published peer-reviewed studies and structured literature synthesis. Findings indicate a lack of clarity surrounding the use of the term expertise. Traditional reliance upon intuition as a way of explaining expert performance is slowly evolving. Emerging from the analysis is a picture of expertise as the relationship between networks of contextual reasoning, understanding and practice. Striking absences in the discourse include limited explication of ethical reasoning and theorising a broader interpretation of expertise reflective of contemporary forms of nursing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. “STRONG” AND “WEAK” GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikolay Dronin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Many global environmental issues being subject of ambitious international environmental politics could look very different in terms of scientific justification. This was revealed during interviews made by the author with some leading American environmental scientists. All interviewed American scientists granted minor confidence to three environmental issues—deforestation, desertification and biodiversity loss, while two issues—the ozone depletion and climate change—were deserved high degree of confidence. The striking difference in evaluation of the global concepts of environmental issues is discussed in the context of the classical epistemological problem of coexistence of “strong” and “weak” theories in modern science. The normative character of epistemology suggests that some ways of raising scientific credibility of the backward environmental concepts can be proposed. Better justification of these global environmental issues can help to move forward the environmental politics which have shown mere stagnation during the last years.

  4. Optimal Damping of Perturbations of Moving Thermoelastic Panel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banichuk, N. V.; Ivanova, S. Yu.

    2018-01-01

    The translational motion of a thermoelastic web subject to transverse vibrations caused by initial perturbations is considered. It is assumed that a web moving with a constant translational velocity is described by the model of a thermoelastic panel simply supported at its ends. The problem of optimal damping of vibrations when applying active transverse actions is formulated. For solving the optimization problem, modern methods developed in control theory for systems with distributed parameters described by partial differential equations are used.

  5. Moving carbonation fronts in concrete: a moving-sharp-interface approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Muntean, A.; Böhm, M.; Kropp, J.

    2011-01-01

    We present a new modeling strategy for predicting the penetration of carbonation reaction fronts in concrete. The approach relies on the assumption that carbonation reaction concentrates macroscopically on an a priori unknown narrow strip (called reaction front) moving into concrete gradually

  6. Transactive System: Part I: Theoretical Underpinnings of Payoff Functions, Control Decisions, Information Privacy, and Solution Concepts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lian, Jianming [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zhang, Wei [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sun, Y. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Marinovici, Laurentiu D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Kalsi, Karanjit [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Widergren, Steven E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2018-01-17

    The increased penetration of renewable energy has significantly changed the conditions and the operational timing of the electricity grid. More flexible, faster ramping resources are needed to compensate for the uncertainty and variability introduced by renewable energy. Distributed energy resources (DERs) such as distributed generators, energy storage, and controllable loads could help manage the power grid in terms of both economic efficiency and operational reliability. In order to realize the benefits of DERs, coordination and control approaches must be designed to enable seamless integration of DERs into the power grid. Transactive coordination and control is a new approach for DER integration, where individual resources are automated and engaged through market interaction. Transactive approaches use economic signals—prices or incentives—to engage DERs. These economic signals must reflect the true value of the DER contributions, so that they seamlessly and equitably compete for the opportunities that today are only available to grid-owned assets. Value signals must be communicated to the DERs in near-real time, the assets must be imbued with new forms of distributed intelligence and control to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these signals, and they must be capable of negotiating and transacting a range of market-driven energy services. The concepts of transactive energy systems are not new, but build upon evolutionary economic changes in financial and electric power markets. These concepts also recognize the different regional structures of wholesale power markets, electricity delivery markets, retail markets, and vertically integrated service provider markets. Although transactive energy systems are not revolutionary, they will be transformational in their ability to provide flexibility and operational efficiency. A main goal of this research is to establish useful foundation for analysis of transactive energy systems and to facilitate

  7. Equipment concepts for dry intercask transfer of spent fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schneider, K.J.

    1983-07-01

    This report documents the results of a study of preconceptual design and analysis of four intercask transfer concepts. The four concepts are: a large shielded cylindrical turntable that contains an integral fuel handling machine (turntable concept); a shielded fuel handling machine under which shipping and storage casks are moved horizontally (shuttle concept); a small hot cell containing equipment for transferring fuel between shipping and storage casks (that enter and leave the cell on carts) in a bifurcated trench (trench concept); and a large hot cell, shielded by an earthen berm, that houses equipment for handling fuel between casks that enter and leave the cell on a single cart (igloo concept). The casks considered in this study are most of the transport casks currently operable in the USA, and the storage casks designated REA-2023 and GNS Castor-V. Exclusive of basic services assumed to be provided at the host site, the design and capital costs are estimated to range from $9 to $13 million. The portion of capital costs for portable equipment (for potential later use at another site) was estimated to range from 70% to 98%, depending on the concept. Increasing portability from a range of 70 to 90% to 98% adds $2 to 4 million to the capital costs. Operating costs are estimated at about $2 million/year for all concepts. Implementation times range from about 18 months for the more conventional systems to 40 months for the more unique systems. Times and costs for relocation to another site are 10 to 14 months and about $1 million, plus shipping costs and costs of new construction at the new site. All concepts have estimated capacities for fuel transfer at least equal to the criterion set for this study. Only the hot cell concepts have capability for recanning or repair of canisters. Some development is believed to be required for the turntable and shuttle concepts, but none for the other two concepts

  8. Controlling the taxonomic variable: Taxonomic concept resolution for a southeastern United States herbarium portal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nico Franz

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Overview. Taxonomic names are imperfect identifiers of specific and sometimes conflicting taxonomic perspectives in aggregated biodiversity data environments. The inherent ambiguities of names can be mitigated using syntactic and semantic conventions developed under the taxonomic concept approach. These include: (1 representation of taxonomic concept labels (TCLs: name sec. source to precisely identify name usages and meanings, (2 use of parent/child relationships to assemble separate taxonomic perspectives, and (3 expert provision of Region Connection Calculus articulations (RCC–5: congruence, [inverse] inclusion, overlap, exclusion that specify how data identified to different-sourced TCLs can be integrated. Application of these conventions greatly increases trust in biodiversity data networks, most of which promote unitary taxonomic 'syntheses' that obscure the actual diversity of expert-held views. Better design solutions allow users to control the taxonomic variable and thereby assess the robustness of their biological inferences under different perspectives. A unique constellation of prior efforts – including the powerful Symbiota collections software platform, the Euler/X multi-taxonomy alignment toolkit, and the "Weakley Flora" which entails 7,000 concepts and more than 75,000 RCC–5 articulations – provides the opportunity to build a first full-scale concept resolution service for SERNEC, the SouthEast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections, currently with 60 member herbaria and 2 million occurrence records. Intellectual merit. We have developed a multi-dimensional, step-wise plan to transition SERNEC's data culture from name- to concept-based practices. (1 We will engage SERNEC experts through annual, regional workshops and follow-up interactions that will foster buy-in and ultimately the completion of 12 community-identified use cases. (2. We will leverage RCC–5 data from the Weakley Flora and further development of

  9. Decision making concept of risk control: integration of decision criteria, top level risk indices and plant performance indices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vojnovic, D.; Mavko, B.; Kozuh, M.

    1993-01-01

    A support system for risk monitoring and control is suggested. The following concepts of system elements are briefly discussed: risk curve partitioning, the reliability cost function, the multi-objective optimization model, preference assessment, safety/risk indicators, and knowledge based systems. (Z.S.) 2 figs

  10. Developing the Concept of Metalearning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Norman

    2004-01-01

    The idea of metalearning was originally used by John Biggs (1985) to describe the state of 'being aware of and taking control of one's own learning'. This paper explores the concept through collaborative enquiry involving researchers and higher education teachers. An evolved conception is proposed in which metalearning is a subconcept within…

  11. Precision diagnostics: moving towards protein biomarker signatures of clinical utility in cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borrebaeck, Carl A K

    2017-03-01

    Interest in precision diagnostics has been fuelled by the concept that early detection of cancer would benefit patients; that is, if detected early, more tumours should be resectable and treatment more efficacious. Serum contains massive amounts of potentially diagnostic information, and affinity proteomics has risen as an accurate approach to decipher this, to generate actionable information that should result in more precise and evidence-based options to manage cancer. To achieve this, we need to move from single to multiplex biomarkers, a so-called signature, that can provide significantly increased diagnostic accuracy. This Opinion article focuses on the progress being made in identifying protein biomarker signatures of clinical utility, using blood-based proteomics.

  12. A moving mesh finite difference method for equilibrium radiation diffusion equations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Xiaobo, E-mail: xwindyb@126.com [Department of Mathematics, College of Science, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221116 (China); Huang, Weizhang, E-mail: whuang@ku.edu [Department of Mathematics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 (United States); Qiu, Jianxian, E-mail: jxqiu@xmu.edu.cn [School of Mathematical Sciences and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling and High-Performance Scientific Computing, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China)

    2015-10-01

    An efficient moving mesh finite difference method is developed for the numerical solution of equilibrium radiation diffusion equations in two dimensions. The method is based on the moving mesh partial differential equation approach and moves the mesh continuously in time using a system of meshing partial differential equations. The mesh adaptation is controlled through a Hessian-based monitor function and the so-called equidistribution and alignment principles. Several challenging issues in the numerical solution are addressed. Particularly, the radiation diffusion coefficient depends on the energy density highly nonlinearly. This nonlinearity is treated using a predictor–corrector and lagged diffusion strategy. Moreover, the nonnegativity of the energy density is maintained using a cutoff method which has been known in literature to retain the accuracy and convergence order of finite difference approximation for parabolic equations. Numerical examples with multi-material, multiple spot concentration situations are presented. Numerical results show that the method works well for radiation diffusion equations and can produce numerical solutions of good accuracy. It is also shown that a two-level mesh movement strategy can significantly improve the efficiency of the computation.

  13. A moving mesh finite difference method for equilibrium radiation diffusion equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Xiaobo; Huang, Weizhang; Qiu, Jianxian

    2015-01-01

    An efficient moving mesh finite difference method is developed for the numerical solution of equilibrium radiation diffusion equations in two dimensions. The method is based on the moving mesh partial differential equation approach and moves the mesh continuously in time using a system of meshing partial differential equations. The mesh adaptation is controlled through a Hessian-based monitor function and the so-called equidistribution and alignment principles. Several challenging issues in the numerical solution are addressed. Particularly, the radiation diffusion coefficient depends on the energy density highly nonlinearly. This nonlinearity is treated using a predictor–corrector and lagged diffusion strategy. Moreover, the nonnegativity of the energy density is maintained using a cutoff method which has been known in literature to retain the accuracy and convergence order of finite difference approximation for parabolic equations. Numerical examples with multi-material, multiple spot concentration situations are presented. Numerical results show that the method works well for radiation diffusion equations and can produce numerical solutions of good accuracy. It is also shown that a two-level mesh movement strategy can significantly improve the efficiency of the computation

  14. Spatiotemporal control of laser intensity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Froula, Dustin H.; Turnbull, David; Davies, Andrew S.; Kessler, Terrance J.; Haberberger, Dan; Palastro, John P.; Bahk, Seung-Whan; Begishev, Ildar A.; Boni, Robert; Bucht, Sara; Katz, Joseph; Shaw, Jessica L.

    2018-05-01

    The controlled coupling of a laser to plasma has the potential to address grand scientific challenges1-6, but many applications have limited flexibility and poor control over the laser focal volume. Here, we present an advanced focusing scheme called a `flying focus', where a chromatic focusing system combined with chirped laser pulses enables a small-diameter laser focus to propagate nearly 100 times its Rayleigh length. Furthermore, the speed at which the focus moves (and hence the peak intensity) is decoupled from the group velocity of the laser. It can co- or counter-propagate along the laser axis at any velocity. Experiments validating the concept measured subluminal (-0.09c) to superluminal (39c) focal-spot velocities, generating a nearly constant peak intensity over 4.5 mm. Among possible applications, the flying focus could be applied to a photon accelerator7 to mitigate dephasing, facilitating the production of tunable XUV sources.

  15. Electrical Bioimpedance-Controlled Surgical Instrumentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brendle, Christian; Rein, Benjamin; Niesche, Annegret; Korff, Alexander; Radermacher, Klaus; Misgeld, Berno; Leonhardt, Steffen

    2015-10-01

    A bioimpedance-controlled concept for bone cement milling during revision total hip replacement is presented. Normally, the surgeon manually removes bone cement using a hammer and chisel. However, this procedure is relatively rough and unintended harm may occur to tissue at any time. The proposed bioimpedance-controlled surgical instrumentation improves this process because, for example, most risks associated with bone cement removal are avoided. The electrical bioimpedance measurements enable online process-control by using the milling head as both a cutting tool and measurement electrode at the same time. Furthermore, a novel integrated surgical milling tool is introduced, which allows acquisition of electrical bioimpedance data for online control; these data are used as a process variable. Process identification is based on finite element method simulation and on experimental studies with a rapid control prototyping system. The control loop design includes the identified process model, the characterization of noise as being normally distributed and the filtering, which is necessary for sufficient accuracy ( ±0.5 mm). Also, in a comparative study, noise suppression is investigated in silico with a moving average filter and a Kalman filter. Finally, performance analysis shows that the bioimpedance-controlled surgical instrumentation may also performs effectively at a higher feed rate (e.g., 5 mm/s).

  16. Plasma control concepts for ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lister, J.B.; Nieswand, C.

    1997-01-01

    This overview paper skims over a wide range of issues related to the control of ITER plasmas. Although operation of the ITER project will require extensive developmental work to achieve the degree of control required, there is no indication that any of the identified problems will present overwhelming difficulties compared with the operation of present tokamaks. However, the precision of control required and the degree of automation of the final ITER plasma control system will present a challenge which is somewhat greater than for present tokamaks. In order to operate ITER optimally, integrated use of a large amount of diagnostic information will be necessary, evaluated and interpreted automatically. This will challenge both the diagnostics themselves and their supporting interpretation codes. The intervening years will provide us with the opportunity to implement and evaluate most of the new features required for ITER on existing tokamaks, with the exception of the control of an ignited plasma. (author) 7 figs., 7 refs

  17. Spatio-Temporal Queries for moving objects Data warehousing

    OpenAIRE

    Esheiba, Leila; Mokhtar, Hoda M. O.; El-Sharkawi, Mohamed

    2013-01-01

    In the last decade, Moving Object Databases (MODs) have attracted a lot of attention from researchers. Several research works were conducted to extend traditional database techniques to accommodate the new requirements imposed by the continuous change in location information of moving objects. Managing, querying, storing, and mining moving objects were the key research directions. This extensive interest in moving objects is a natural consequence of the recent ubiquitous location-aware device...

  18. Fast and selective determination of total protein in milk powder via titration of moving reaction boundary electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Cheng-ye; Wang, Hou-yu; Liu, Xiao-ping; Fan, Liu-yin; Zhang, Lei; Cao, Cheng-xi

    2013-05-01

    In this paper, moving reaction boundary titration (MRBT) was developed for rapid and accurate quantification of total protein in infant milk powder, from the concept of moving reaction boundary (MRB) electrophoresis. In the method, the MRB was formed by the hydroxide ions and the acidic residues of milk proteins immobilized via cross-linked polyacrylamide gel (PAG), an acid-base indicator was used to denote the boundary motion. As a proof of concept, we chose five brands of infant milk powders to study the feasibility of MRBT method. The calibration curve of MRB velocity versus logarithmic total protein content of infant milk powder sample was established based on the visual signal of MRB motion as a function of logarithmic milk protein content. Weak influence of nonprotein nitrogen (NPN) reagents (e.g., melamine and urea) on MRBT method was observed, due to the fact that MRB was formed with hydroxide ions and the acidic residues of captured milk proteins, rather than the alkaline residues or the NPN reagents added. The total protein contents in infant milk powder samples detected via the MRBT method were in good agreement with those achieved by the classic Kjeldahl method. In addition, the developed method had much faster measuring speed compared with the Kjeldahl method. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Concept - or no concept

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thorsteinsson, Uffe

    1999-01-01

    Discussion about concept in industrial companies. A method for mapping of managerial concept in specific area is shown......Discussion about concept in industrial companies. A method for mapping of managerial concept in specific area is shown...

  20. Towards clarification of convergent concepts: sense of coherence, will to meaning, locus of control, learned helplessness and hardiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, G C

    1993-11-01

    The multidisciplinary field of stress and stress-related health outcomes has generated theoretical and practical knowledge which is of interest to nurses. Theoretical developments which have assumed a prominent role in the study of stress, health and coping include the identification of various 'stress buffers' several of which bear a strong conceptual resemblance to one another. Antonovsky has developed a Salutogenic Model of stress and resistance, which is presented in this paper. The model's central concept, the sense of coherence, is described and analysed. The sense of coherence, with its three components (meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability), is then compared and contrasted with similar concepts. The convergent theoretical notions which are distinguished from Antonovsky's coherence are: will to meaning, locus of control, learned helplessness and hardiness. It is hoped that this analysis will provide greater conceptual clarity for nurses who study and use these concepts in education, practice or research.

  1. Concepts of formal concept analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žáček, Martin; Homola, Dan; Miarka, Rostislav

    2017-07-01

    The aim of this article is apply of Formal Concept Analysis on concept of world. Formal concept analysis (FCA) as a methodology of data analysis, information management and knowledge representation has potential to be applied to a verity of linguistic problems. FCA is mathematical theory for concepts and concept hierarchies that reflects an understanding of concept. Formal concept analysis explicitly formalizes extension and intension of a concept, their mutual relationships. A distinguishing feature of FCA is an inherent integration of three components of conceptual processing of data and knowledge, namely, the discovery and reasoning with concepts in data, discovery and reasoning with dependencies in data, and visualization of data, concepts, and dependencies with folding/unfolding capabilities.

  2. Energy flux correlations and moving mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, L.H.; Roman, Thomas A.

    2004-01-01

    We study the quantum stress tensor correlation function for a massless scalar field in a flat two-dimensional spacetime containing a moving mirror. We construct the correlation functions for right-moving and left-moving fluxes for an arbitrary trajectory, and then specialize them to the case of a mirror trajectory for which the expectation value of the stress tensor describes a pair of delta-function pulses, one of negative energy and one of positive energy. The flux correlation function describes the fluctuations around this mean stress tensor, and reveals subtle changes in the correlations between regions where the mean flux vanishes

  3. Advanced LWIR hyperspectral sensor for on-the-move proximal detection of liquid/solid contaminants on surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giblin, Jay P.; Dixon, John; Dupuis, Julia R.; Cosofret, Bogdan R.; Marinelli, William J.

    2017-05-01

    Sensor technologies capable of detecting low vapor pressure liquid surface contaminants, as well as solids, in a noncontact fashion while on-the-move continues to be an important need for the U.S. Army. In this paper, we discuss the development of a long-wave infrared (LWIR, 8-10.5 μm) spatial heterodyne spectrometer coupled with an LWIR illuminator and an automated detection algorithm for detection of surface contaminants from a moving vehicle. The system is designed to detect surface contaminants by repetitively collecting LWIR reflectance spectra of the ground. Detection and identification of surface contaminants is based on spectral correlation of the measured LWIR ground reflectance spectra with high fidelity library spectra and the system's cumulative binary detection response from the sampled ground. We present the concepts of the detection algorithm through a discussion of the system signal model. In addition, we present reflectance spectra of surfaces contaminated with a liquid CWA simulant, triethyl phosphate (TEP), and a solid simulant, acetaminophen acquired while the sensor was stationary and on-the-move. Surfaces included CARC painted steel, asphalt, concrete, and sand. The data collected was analyzed to determine the probability of detecting 800 μm diameter contaminant particles at a 0.5 g/m2 areal density with the SHSCAD traversing a surface.

  4. An Examination of Meaning in Life, Satisfaction with Life, Self-Concept and Locus of Control among Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tas, Ibrahim; Iskender, Murat

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine meaning in life, satisfaction with life, self-concept and locus of control among teachers by several variables. The research group was composed of 363 teachers (114 [40%] women, 219 [60%] men) working in several districts of Istanbul. The data were collected with Meaning in Life Scale (MLS), Satisfaction with…

  5. Data-Intensive Science Meets Inquiry-Driven Pedagogy: Interactive Big Data Exploration, Threshold Concepts, and Liminality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramachandran, R.; Nair, U. S.; Word, A.

    2014-12-01

    Threshold concepts in any discipline are the core concepts an individual must understand in order to master a discipline. By their very nature, these concepts are troublesome, irreversible, integrative, bounded, discursive, and reconstitutive. Although grasping threshold concepts can be extremely challenging for each learner as s/he moves through stages of cognitive development relative to a given discipline, the learner's grasp of these concepts determines the extent to which s/he is prepared to work competently and creatively within the field itself. The movement of individuals from a state of ignorance of these core concepts to one of mastery occurs not along a linear path but in iterative cycles of knowledge creation and adjustment in liminal spaces - conceptual spaces through which learners move from the vaguest awareness of concepts to mastery, accompanied by understanding of their relevance, connectivity, and usefulness relative to questions and constructs in a given discipline. With the explosive growth of data available in atmospheric science, driven largely by satellite Earth observations and high-resolution numerical simulations, paradigms such as that of data-intensive science have emerged. These paradigm shifts are based on the growing realization that current infrastructure, tools and processes will not allow us to analyze and fully utilize the complex and voluminous data that is being gathered. In this emerging paradigm, the scientific discovery process is driven by knowledge extracted from large volumes of data. In this presentation, we contend that this paradigm naturally lends to inquiry-driven pedagogy where knowledge is discovered through inductive engagement with large volumes of data rather than reached through traditional, deductive, hypothesis-driven analyses. In particular, data-intensive techniques married with an inductive methodology allow for exploration on a scale that is not possible in the traditional classroom with its typical

  6. Moving contact lines on vibrating surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solomenko, Zlatko; Spelt, Peter; Scott, Julian

    2017-11-01

    Large-scale simulations of flows with moving contact lines for realistic conditions generally requires a subgrid scale model (analyses based on matched asymptotics) to account for the unresolved part of the flow, given the large range of length scales involved near contact lines. Existing models for the interface shape in the contact-line region are primarily for steady flows on homogeneous substrates, with encouraging results in 3D simulations. Introduction of complexities would require further investigation of the contact-line region, however. Here we study flows with moving contact lines on planar substrates subject to vibrations, with applications in controlling wetting/dewetting. The challenge here is to determine the change in interface shape near contact lines due to vibrations. To develop further insight, 2D direct numerical simulations (wherein the flow is resolved down to an imposed slip length) have been performed to enable comparison with asymptotic theory, which is also developed further. Perspectives will also be presented on the final objective of the work, which is to develop a subgrid scale model that can be utilized in large-scale simulations. The authors gratefully acknowledge the ANR for financial support (ANR-15-CE08-0031) and the meso-centre FLMSN for use of computational resources. This work was Granted access to the HPC resources of CINES under the allocation A0012B06893 made by GENCI.

  7. Manual and automatic flight control during severe turbulence penetration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, D. E.; Klein, R. H.; Hoh, R. H.

    1976-01-01

    An analytical and experimental investigation of possible contributing factors in jet aircraft turbulence upsets was conducted. Major contributing factors identified included autopilot and display deficiencies, the large aircraft inertia and associated long response time, and excessive pilot workload. An integrated flight and thrust energy management director system was synthesized. The system was incorporated in a moving-base simulation and evaluated using highly experienced airline pilots. The evaluation included comparison of pilot workload and flight performance during severe turbulence penetration utilizing four control/display concepts: manual control with conventional full panel display, conventional autopilot (A/P-A) with conventional full panel display, improved autopilot (A/P-B) with conventional full panel display plus thrust director display, and longitudinal flight director with conventional full panel display plus thrust director display. Simulation results show improved performance, reduced pilot workload, and a pilot preference for the autopilot system controlling to the flight director command and manual control of thrust following the trim thrust director.

  8. Self-similarity of higher-order moving averages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arianos, Sergio; Carbone, Anna; Türk, Christian

    2011-10-01

    In this work, higher-order moving average polynomials are defined by straightforward generalization of the standard moving average. The self-similarity of the polynomials is analyzed for fractional Brownian series and quantified in terms of the Hurst exponent H by using the detrending moving average method. We prove that the exponent H of the fractional Brownian series and of the detrending moving average variance asymptotically agree for the first-order polynomial. Such asymptotic values are compared with the results obtained by the simulations. The higher-order polynomials correspond to trend estimates at shorter time scales as the degree of the polynomial increases. Importantly, the increase of polynomial degree does not require to change the moving average window. Thus trends at different time scales can be obtained on data sets with the same size. These polynomials could be interesting for those applications relying on trend estimates over different time horizons (financial markets) or on filtering at different frequencies (image analysis).

  9. Evaluation of safety parameter display concepts. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woods, D.D.; Wise, J.A.; Hanes, L.F.

    1982-02-01

    New control room equipment designed to improve operator performance must be evaluated before adoption and installation. Two experimental concept for a Safety Parameters Display System (SPDS) were evaluated to assess benefits and potential problems associated with the SPDS concept and its integration into control room operations. Participants were licensed utility operators undergoing retraining on a nuclear power plant simulator. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed on crew response to seven simulated accident conditions. Data on operator decisions and actions have been organized into timelines. Analysis of the timelines and observations collected during testing provide important insights about the potential impact of the SPDS concept on control room operations

  10. Concepts for Distributed Engine Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culley, Dennis E.; Thomas, Randy; Saus, Joseph

    2007-01-01

    Gas turbine engines for aero-propulsion systems are found to be highly optimized machines after over 70 years of development. Still, additional performance improvements are sought while reduction in the overall cost is increasingly a driving factor. Control systems play a vitally important part in these metrics but are severely constrained by the operating environment and the consequences of system failure. The considerable challenges facing future engine control system design have been investigated. A preliminary analysis has been conducted of the potential benefits of distributed control architecture when applied to aero-engines. In particular, reductions in size, weight, and cost of the control system are possible. NASA is conducting research to further explore these benefits, with emphasis on the particular benefits enabled by high temperature electronics and an open-systems approach to standardized communications interfaces.

  11. Perspectives on a 'Sit Less, Move More' Intervention in Australian Emergency Call Centres.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chau, Josephine Y; Engelen, Lina; Burks-Young, Sarah; Daley, Michelle; Maxwell, Jen-Kui; Milton, Karen; Bauman, Adrian

    2016-01-01

    Prolonged sitting is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases. Workplace programs that aim to reduce sitting time (sit less) and increase physical activity (move more) have targeted desk-based workers in corporate and university settings with promising results. However, little is known about 'move more, sit less' programs for workers in other types of jobs and industries, such as shift workers. This formative research examines the perceptions of a 'sit less, move more' program in an Australian Emergency Call Centre that operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Participants were employees (N = 39, 72% female, 50% aged 36-55 years) recruited from Emergency Services control centres located in New South Wales, Australia. The 'sit less, move more' intervention, consisting of emails, posters and timer lights, was co-designed with the management team and tailored to the control centre environment and work practices, which already included electronic height-adjustable sit-stand workstations for all call centre staff. Participants reported their perceptions and experiences of the intervention in a self-report online questionnaire, and directly to the research team during regular site visits. Questionnaire topics included barriers and facilitators to standing while working, mental wellbeing, effects on work performance, and workplace satisfaction. Field notes and open-ended response data were analysed in an iterative process during and after data collection to identify the main themes. Whilst participants already had sit-stand workstations, use of the desks in the standing position varied and sometimes were contrary to expectations (e.g, less tired standing than sitting; standing when experiencing high call stress). Participants emphasised the "challenging" and "unrelenting" nature of their work. They reported sleep issues ("always tired"), work stress ("non-stop demands"), and feeling mentally and physically drained due to shift work and length of shifts

  12. A Synthetic Algorithm for Tracking a Moving Object in a Multiple-Dynamic Obstacles Environment Based on Kinematically Planar Redundant Manipulators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongzhe Jin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a synthetic algorithm for tracking a moving object in a multiple-dynamic obstacles environment based on kinematically planar manipulators. By observing the motions of the object and obstacles, Spline filter associated with polynomial fitting is utilized to predict their moving paths for a period of time in the future. Several feasible paths for the manipulator in Cartesian space can be planned according to the predicted moving paths and the defined feasibility criterion. The shortest one among these feasible paths is selected as the optimized path. Then the real-time path along the optimized path is planned for the manipulator to track the moving object in real-time. To improve the convergence rate of tracking, a virtual controller based on PD controller is designed to adaptively adjust the real-time path. In the process of tracking, the null space of inverse kinematic and the local rotation coordinate method (LRCM are utilized for the arms and the end-effector to avoid obstacles, respectively. Finally, the moving object in a multiple-dynamic obstacles environment is thus tracked via real-time updating the joint angles of manipulator according to the iterative method. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible to track a moving object in a multiple-dynamic obstacles environment.

  13. A randomized controlled trial of pre-conception treatment for periodontal disease to improve periodontal status during pregnancy and birth outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Hong; Xiong, Xu; Su, Yi; Zhang, Yiming; Wu, Hongqiao; Jiang, Zhijun; Qian, Xu

    2013-12-09

    Evidence has suggested that periodontal disease is associated with an increased risk of various adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. However, several large clinical randomized controlled trials failed to demonstrate periodontal therapy during pregnancy reduced the incidence of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. It has been suggested that the pre-conception period may be an optimal period for periodontal disease treatment rather than during pregnancy. To date, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) has examined if treating periodontal disease before pregnancy reduces adverse birth outcomes. This study aims to examine if the pre-conception treatment of periodontal disease will lead to improved periodontal status during late pregnancy and subsequent birth outcomes. A sample of 470 (235 in each arm of the study) pre-conception women who plan to conceive within one year and with periodontal disease will be recruited for the study. All participants will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. The intervention group will receive free therapy including dental scaling and root planning (the standard therapy), supragingival prophylaxis, and oral hygiene education. The control group will only receive supragingival prophylaxis and oral hygiene education. Women will be followed throughout their pregnancy and then to childbirth. The main outcomes include periodontal disease status in late pregnancy and birth outcomes measured such as mean birth weight (grams), and mean gestational age (weeks). Periodontal disease will be diagnosed through a dental examination by measuring probing depth, clinical attachment loss and percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) between gestational age of 32 and 36 weeks. Local and systemic inflammatory mediators are also included as main outcomes. This will be the first RCT to test whether treating periodontal disease among pre-conception women reduces periodontal disease during pregnancy and prevents adverse birth outcomes. If

  14. Wave passage effects on the seismic response of a maglev vehicle moving on multi-span guideway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. D. Yau

    Full Text Available As a seismic wave travels along the separate supports of an extended structure, the structure is subjected to multiple-support excitation due to seismic wave propagation. Considering the seismic wave passage effect, this paper describes seismic analysis of a maglev vehicle moving on a multiply supported gudieway. The guideway system is modeled as a series of simple beams and the vehicle as a four degrees-of-freedom (DOFs rigid bar equipped with multiple onboard PI+LQR hybrid controllers. The controller is used to regulate control voltage for tuning both magnetic forces of uplift levitation and lateral guidance in the maglev system. Numerical studies show that as a maglev vehicle is equipped with more supported magnets then they can provide more control gains for tuning the guidance forces of the moving vehicle, and mitigate seismic-induced lateral vibration of a maglev vehicle running a guideway.

  15. Effects of an exercise programme on self-esteem, self-concept and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Martínez, Aida M; De Paz, José A; Márquez, Sara

    2012-07-01

    This study was aimed to investigate the effects of an exercise trial on self-esteem, self-concept and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia and to evaluate whether improvements in psychological distress were related to changes in physical functioning. Twenty-eight women with a primary diagnosis of fibromyalgia were randomized to a usual care control group or to a 12-week supervised training programme consisting of 3 weekly sessions of aerobic, strengthening and flexibility exercises. Outcomes were physical functioning (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), lower-body strength and flexibility) and psychological functioning (SF-36, Rosenberg self-esteem scale and Erdmann self-concept scale). Outcomes were measured at study entry and at the end of the intervention. Compared to the control group, statistically significant improvements in self-esteem, self-concept, FIQ, physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, vitality, role emotional, social functioning, mental health, isometric strength, muscular endurance and flexibility were evident in the exercise group at the end of treatment. Self-esteem and self-concept scores were correlated positively with role emotional, mental health and the mental component summary of SF-36 and were negatively correlated to FIQ scores. No significant correlation existed between self-esteem or self-concept and isometric strength, muscular endurance or flexibility. Our results highlight the need for a broader array of physical and mental outcomes and the importance of examining patient's perceptions in future research therapies.

  16. Physiotherapy to improve physical activity in community-dwelling older adults with mobility problems (Coach2Move): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, Nienke M; Staal, J Bart; Teerenstra, Steven; Adang, Eddy M M; Rikkert, Marcel G M Olde; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G

    2013-12-17

    Older adults can benefit from physical activity in numerous ways. Physical activity is considered to be one of the few ways to influence the level of frailty. Standardized exercise programs do not necessarily lead to more physical activity in daily life, however, and a more personalized approach seems appropriate. The main objective of this study is to investigate whether a focused, problem-oriented coaching intervention ('Coach2Move') delivered by a physiotherapist specializing in geriatrics is more effective for improving physical activity, mobility and health status in community-dwelling older adults than usual physiotherapy care. In addition, cost-effectiveness will be determined. The design of this study is a single-blind randomized controlled trial in thirteen physiotherapy practices. Randomization will take place at the individual patient level. The study population consists of older adults, ≥70 years of age, with decreased physical functioning and mobility and/or a physically inactive lifestyle. The intervention group will receive geriatric physiotherapy according to the Coach2Move strategy. The control group will receive the usual physiotherapy care. Measurements will be performed by research assistants not aware of group assignment. The results will be evaluated on the amount of physical activity (LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire), mobility (modified 'get up and go' test, walking speed and six-minute walking test), quality of life (SF-36), degree of frailty (Evaluative Frailty Index for Physical Activity), fatigue (NRS-fatigue), perceived effect (Global Perceived Effect and Patient Specific Complaints questionnaire) and health care costs. Most studies on the effect of exercise or physical activity consist of standardized programs. In this study, a personalized approach is evaluated within a group of frail older adults, many of whom suffer from multiple and complex diseases and problems. A complicating factor in evaluating a new approach is that it

  17. A theory of traffic congestion at moving bottlenecks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kerner, Boris S [Daimler AG, GR/PTF, HPC: G021, 71059 Sindelfingen (Germany); Klenov, Sergey L, E-mail: boris.kerner@daimler.co [Department of Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 141700 Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region (Russian Federation)

    2010-10-22

    The physics of traffic congestion occurring at a moving bottleneck on a multi-lane road is revealed based on the numerical analyses of vehicular traffic with a discrete stochastic traffic flow model in the framework of three-phase traffic theory. We find that there is a critical speed of a moving bottleneck at which traffic breakdown, i.e. a first-order phase transition from free flow to synchronized flow, occurs spontaneously at the moving bottleneck, if the flow rate upstream of the bottleneck is great enough. The greater the flow rate, the higher the critical speed of the moving bottleneck. A diagram of congested traffic patterns at the moving bottleneck is found, which shows regions in the flow-rate-moving-bottleneck-speed plane in which congested patterns emerge spontaneously or can be induced through large enough disturbances in an initial free flow. A comparison of features of traffic breakdown and resulting congested patterns at the moving bottleneck with known ones at an on-ramp (and other motionless) bottleneck is made. Nonlinear features of complex interactions and transformations of congested traffic patterns occurring at on- and off-ramp bottlenecks due to the existence of the moving bottleneck are found. The physics of the phenomenon of traffic congestion due to 'elephant racing' on a multi-lane road is revealed.

  18. A theory of traffic congestion at moving bottlenecks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerner, Boris S; Klenov, Sergey L

    2010-01-01

    The physics of traffic congestion occurring at a moving bottleneck on a multi-lane road is revealed based on the numerical analyses of vehicular traffic with a discrete stochastic traffic flow model in the framework of three-phase traffic theory. We find that there is a critical speed of a moving bottleneck at which traffic breakdown, i.e. a first-order phase transition from free flow to synchronized flow, occurs spontaneously at the moving bottleneck, if the flow rate upstream of the bottleneck is great enough. The greater the flow rate, the higher the critical speed of the moving bottleneck. A diagram of congested traffic patterns at the moving bottleneck is found, which shows regions in the flow-rate-moving-bottleneck-speed plane in which congested patterns emerge spontaneously or can be induced through large enough disturbances in an initial free flow. A comparison of features of traffic breakdown and resulting congested patterns at the moving bottleneck with known ones at an on-ramp (and other motionless) bottleneck is made. Nonlinear features of complex interactions and transformations of congested traffic patterns occurring at on- and off-ramp bottlenecks due to the existence of the moving bottleneck are found. The physics of the phenomenon of traffic congestion due to 'elephant racing' on a multi-lane road is revealed.

  19. A concept analysis of the term migrant women in the context of pregnancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balaam, Marie-Clare; Haith-Cooper, Melanie; Pařízková, Alena; Weckend, Marina Joanna; Fleming, Valerie; Roosalu, Triin; Vržina, Sanja Špoljar

    2017-12-01

    This paper explores the concept of migrant women as used in European healthcare literature in context of pregnancy to provide a clearer understanding of the concept for use in research and service delivery. Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis. The literature demonstrates ambiguity around the concept; most papers do not provide an explicit or detailed definition of the concept. They include the basic idea that women have moved from an identifiable region/country to the country in which the research is undertaken but fail to acknowledge adequately the heterogeneity of migrant women. The paper provides a definition of the concept as a descriptive theory and argues that research must include a clear definition of the migrant specific demographics of the women. This should include country/region of origin and host, status within the legal system of host country, type of migration experience, and length of residence. There is a need for a more systematic conceptualization of the idea of migrant women within European literature related to pregnancy experiences and outcomes to reflect the heterogeneity of this concept. To this end, the schema suggested in this paper should be adopted in future research. © 2017 The Authors. International Journal of Nursing Practice Published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  20. Heterogeneous CPU-GPU moving targets detection for UAV video

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Maowen; Tang, Linbo; Han, Yuqi; Yu, Chunlei; Zhang, Chao; Fu, Huiquan

    2017-07-01

    Moving targets detection is gaining popularity in civilian and military applications. On some monitoring platform of motion detection, some low-resolution stationary cameras are replaced by moving HD camera based on UAVs. The pixels of moving targets in the HD Video taken by UAV are always in a minority, and the background of the frame is usually moving because of the motion of UAVs. The high computational cost of the algorithm prevents running it at higher resolutions the pixels of frame. Hence, to solve the problem of moving targets detection based UAVs video, we propose a heterogeneous CPU-GPU moving target detection algorithm for UAV video. More specifically, we use background registration to eliminate the impact of the moving background and frame difference to detect small moving targets. In order to achieve the effect of real-time processing, we design the solution of heterogeneous CPU-GPU framework for our method. The experimental results show that our method can detect the main moving targets from the HD video taken by UAV, and the average process time is 52.16ms per frame which is fast enough to solve the problem.

  1. A Design Framework for Predictive Engine Control Un cadre de conception pour la commande prédictive de moteurs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang X.

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Model Predictive Control (MPC has been proposed several times for automotive control, with promising results, mostly based on a linear MPC approach. However, as most automotive systems are nonlinear, Nonlinear MPC (NMPC would be an interesting option. Unfortunately, an optimal control design with a generic nonlinear model usually leads to a complex, non convex problem. Against this background, this paper presents two different schemes to take into account the system nonlinearity in the control design. First, a multi-linear MPC method is shown based on the segmentation of the system and then a control system design based on a nonlinear system identification using a quasi Linear Parameter Varying (LPV structure is proposed, which is then used in a NMPC design framework. This paper presents the approaches and the application to a well studied system, the air path of a Diesel engine. La commande prédictive par modèle (Model Predictive Control; MPC a été proposée plusieurs fois dans l’automatique pour l’automobile, avec des résultats prometteurs, principalement à partir d’une approche MPC linéaire. Toutefois, comme la plupart des systèmes automobiles sont non linéaires, la commande prédictive non linéaire (Nonlinear MPC; NMPC pourrait représenter une option intéressante. Malheureusement, la conception d’une commande optimale à partir d’un modèle non linéaire générique conduit généralement à un problème non convexe complexe. Dans ce contexte, cet article présente deux schémas différents pour prendre en compte la non linéarité du système en vue de la conception de la commande. En premier lieu, une méthode MPC multilinéaire est présentée sur la base d’une segmentation du système et, en second lieu, une conception de système de commande basée sur une identification de système non linéaire utilisant une structure quasi linéaire à paramètres variants (Linear Parameter Varying; LPV est proposée; celle

  2. Guidance concepts for time-based flight operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vicroy, Dan D.

    1990-01-01

    Airport congestion and the associated delays are severe in today's airspace system and are expected to increase. NASA and the FAA is investigating various methods of alleviating this problem through new technology and operational procedures. One concept for improving airspace productivity is time-based control of aircraft. Research to date has focused primarily on the development of time-based flight management systems and Air Traffic Control operational procedures. Flight operations may, however, require special onboard guidance in order to satisfy the Air Traffic Control imposed time constraints. The results are presented of a simulation study aimed at evaluating several time-based guidance concepts in terms of tracking performance, pilot workload, and subjective preference. The guidance concepts tested varied in complexity from simple digital time-error feedback to an advanced time-referenced-energy guidance scheme.

  3. Putting aside the LNT dilemma in the controllable dose concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koblinger, Laszlo

    2000-01-01

    Recently, Professor R. Clarke, ICRP Chairman has published his proposal for a renewal of the basic radiation protection concept. The two main points of his proposed system are: (1) the term Controllable Dose is introduced, and (2) the protection philosophy is based on the individual. For practical uses terms like 'Action Level', 'Investigation Level' etc. are introduced. The outline of the new system promises a really less complex frame; no distinction between practices and interventions, unified treatment for occupational, medical and public exposures. There is, however, an inconsistency within the new system: Though linearity is not assumed, the relations between the definitions of the new terms of the system of protection and the doses assigned to them are still based on the LNT hypothesis. To avoid this discrepancy a new definition of Action Level is recommended as a conservative estimate of the lowest dose where harmful effects have ever been demonstrated. Other levels should be defined by the Action Level and Safety Factors applied on the doses. (author)

  4. Transient heating and evaporation of moving fuel droplets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yin, Chungen

    2014-01-01

    In combustion devices involving direct injection of low-volatility liquid fuel (e.g., bio-oils from pyrolysis process) into the combustor, transient heating and vaporization is an important controlling factor in ignition and combustion of the fuel vapor/air mixture. As a result, quite many...... experimental and numerical efforts have been made on this topic. In this paper, a comprehensive 3D model that addresses the internal circulation, heat and mass transfer within a moving droplet has been successfully developed. The model is calibrated by analytical solutions for simplified cases and validated...

  5. Stormwater Management Concept Information

    Data.gov (United States)

    Montgomery County of Maryland — A stormwater management concept is a statement or drawing, or both, describing the manner in which stormwater runoff from a proposed development will be controlled...

  6. Surfaces in classical geometries a treatment by moving frames

    CERN Document Server

    Jensen, Gary R; Nicolodi, Lorenzo

    2016-01-01

    Designed for intermediate graduate studies, this text will broaden students' core knowledge of differential geometry providing foundational material to relevant topics in classical differential geometry. The method of moving frames, a natural means for discovering and proving important results, provides the basis of treatment for topics discussed. Its application in many areas helps to connect the various geometries and to uncover many deep relationships, such as the Lawson correspondence. The nearly 300 problems and exercises range from simple applications to open problems. Exercises are embedded in the text as essential parts of the exposition. Problems are collected at the end of each chapter; solutions to select problems are given at the end of the book. Mathematica®, Matlab™, and Xfig are used to illustrate selected concepts and results. The careful selection of results serves to show the reader how to prove the most important theorems in the subject, which may become the foundation of future progress...

  7. Stochastic gradient ascent outperforms gamers in the Quantum Moves game

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sels, Dries

    2018-04-01

    In a recent work on quantum state preparation, Sørensen and co-workers [Nature (London) 532, 210 (2016), 10.1038/nature17620] explore the possibility of using video games to help design quantum control protocols. The authors present a game called "Quantum Moves" (https://www.scienceathome.org/games/quantum-moves/) in which gamers have to move an atom from A to B by means of optical tweezers. They report that, "players succeed where purely numerical optimization fails." Moreover, by harnessing the player strategies, they can "outperform the most prominent established numerical methods." The aim of this Rapid Communication is to analyze the problem in detail and show that those claims are untenable. In fact, without any prior knowledge and starting from a random initial seed, a simple stochastic local optimization method finds near-optimal solutions which outperform all players. Counterdiabatic driving can even be used to generate protocols without resorting to numeric optimization. The analysis results in an accurate analytic estimate of the quantum speed limit which, apart from zero-point motion, is shown to be entirely classical in nature. The latter might explain why gamers are reasonably good at the game. A simple modification of the BringHomeWater challenge is proposed to test this hypothesis.

  8. Concepts Concerning 'Disease' Causation, Control, and the current ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2008-12-02

    Dec 2, 2008 ... practice (and thus disease concepts) is attributable to Michael Foucault who, amongst his other insights, recognises that the development of modern medicine has taken the particular route that it has because it simultaneously constructs its own object of enquiry and comes up with ideas to explain and deal ...

  9. Cyber security level assignment for research reactor digital instrumentation and control system architecture using concept of defense in depth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Jin Soo; Heo, Gyun Young; Son, Han Seong; Kim, Young Ki; Park, Jaek Wan

    2012-01-01

    Due to recent aging of the analog instrumentation of many nuclear power plants (NPPs) and research reactors, the system reliability decreases while maintenance and testing costs increase. In addition, it is difficult to find the substitutable analog equipment s due to obsolescence. Therefore, the instrumentation and control (I and C) systems have changed from analog system to digital system due to these facts. With the introduction of digital systems, research reactors are forced to care for the problem of cyber attacks because I and C systems have been digitalized using networks or communication systems. Especially, it is more issued at research reactors due to the accessibility of human resources. In the real world, an IBM researcher has been successful in controlling the software by penetrating a NPPs network in U.S. on July 2008 and acquiring the control right of nuclear facilities after one week. Moreover, the malignant code called 'stuxnet' impaired the nearly 1,000 centrifugal separators in Iran according to an IAEA report. The problem of cyber attacks highlights the important of cyber security, which should be emphasized. Defense.in.depth (DID) is a significant concept for the cyber security to work properly. DID institutes and maintains a hardy program for critical digital asset (CDA) by implementing multiple security boundaries. In this work, we assign cyber security levels to a typical digital I and C system using DID concept. This work is very useful in applying the concept of DID to nuclear industry with respect to cyber security

  10. Cyber security level assignment for research reactor digital instrumentation and control system architecture using concept of defense in depth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, Jin Soo; Heo, Gyun Young [Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Son, Han Seong [Joongbu Univ., Chungnam (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Young Ki; Park, Jaek Wan [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-10-15

    Due to recent aging of the analog instrumentation of many nuclear power plants (NPPs) and research reactors, the system reliability decreases while maintenance and testing costs increase. In addition, it is difficult to find the substitutable analog equipment s due to obsolescence. Therefore, the instrumentation and control (I and C) systems have changed from analog system to digital system due to these facts. With the introduction of digital systems, research reactors are forced to care for the problem of cyber attacks because I and C systems have been digitalized using networks or communication systems. Especially, it is more issued at research reactors due to the accessibility of human resources. In the real world, an IBM researcher has been successful in controlling the software by penetrating a NPPs network in U.S. on July 2008 and acquiring the control right of nuclear facilities after one week. Moreover, the malignant code called 'stuxnet' impaired the nearly 1,000 centrifugal separators in Iran according to an IAEA report. The problem of cyber attacks highlights the important of cyber security, which should be emphasized. Defense.in.depth (DID) is a significant concept for the cyber security to work properly. DID institutes and maintains a hardy program for critical digital asset (CDA) by implementing multiple security boundaries. In this work, we assign cyber security levels to a typical digital I and C system using DID concept. This work is very useful in applying the concept of DID to nuclear industry with respect to cyber security.

  11. ColorMoves: Optimizing Color's Potential for Exploration and Communication of Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samsel, F.

    2017-12-01

    Color is the most powerful perceptual channel available for exposing and communicating data. Most visualizations are rendered in one of a handful of common colormaps - the rainbow, cool-warm, heat map and viridis. These maps meet the basic criteria for encoding data - perceptual uniformity and reasonable discriminatory power. However, as the size and complexity of data grows, our need to optimize the potential of color grows. The ability to expose greater detail and differentiate between multiple variables becomes ever more important. To meet this need we have created ColorMoves, an interactive colormap construction tool that enables scientists to quickly and easily align a concentration contrast with the data ranges of interest. Perceptual research tells us that luminance is the strongest contrast and thus provides the highest degree of perceptual discrimination. However, the most commonly used colormaps contain a limited range of luminance contrast. ColorMoves enables interactive constructing colormaps enabling one to distribute the luminance where is it most needed. The interactive interface enables optimal placement of the color scales. The ability to watch the changes on ones data, in real time makes precision adjustment quick and easy. By enabling more precise placement and multiple ranges of luminance one can construct colomaps containing greater discriminatory power. By selecting from the wide range of color scale hues scientists can create colormaps intuitive to their subject. ColorMoves is comprised of four main components: a set of 40 color scales; a histogram of the data distribution; a viewing area showing the colormap on your data; and the controls section. The 40 color scales span the spectrum of hues, saturation levels and value distributions. The histogram of the data distribution enables placement of the color scales in precise locations. The viewing area show is the impact of changes on the data in real time. The controls section enables export

  12. Why Do Athletes Drink Sports Drinks? A Learning Cycle to Explore the Concept of Osmosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlsen, Brook; Marek, Edmund A.

    2010-01-01

    Why does an athlete reach for a sports drink after a tough game or practice? The learning cycle presented in this article helps students answer this question. Learning cycles (Marek 2009) are designed to guide students through direct experiences with a particular concept. In this article, students learn about "osmosis," or the moving of water into…

  13. Moving in Circles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simonsen, Gunvor

    2008-01-01

    The article examines the development of African diaspora history during the last fifty years. It outlines the move from a focus on African survivals to a focus on deep rooted cultural principles and back again to a revived interest in concrete cultural transfers from Africa to the Americas....... This circular movement can be explained by a combination of elements characterizing African Atlantic and black Atlantic history. Among them is a lack of attention to questions of periodisation and change. Likewise, it has proven difficult to conceptualize Africa and America at one and the same time...... as characterized by cultural diversity and variation. Moreover, the field has been haunted by a tendency of moving to easily from descriptive evidence to conclusions about African identity in the Americas. A promising way to overcome these problems, it is suggested, is to develop research that focuses on single...

  14. Moving to get aHead: Local Mobility and Collaborative Work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bardram, Jacob Eyvind; Bossen, Claus

    2003-01-01

    Local mobility is a central aspect of collaborative work that is in need of close analysis. Between the face-to-face interaction of offices or control rooms and longdistance interaction facilitated through e.g. telephones, e-mail, the www or teleconferences lie a number of work-settings in which......, and the challenges that actors have to face to accomplish their work. Based on this ethnographic case, we propose a set of concepts for understanding local mobility as an intermediate field of distributed cooperation between centres of coordination and remote collaboration. Finally, we introduce the concept...... of ‘mobility work ’ as complementary to the concept of ‘articulation work’....

  15. Moving Beyond 'Aging In Place' to Understand Migration and Aging: Place Making and the Centrality Of Occupation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansson, Karin; Rudman, Debbie Laliberte; Mondaca, Margarita; Park, Melissa; Luborsky, Mark; Josephsson, Staffan; Asaba, Eric

    2013-04-01

    'Aging in place' has become a key conceptual framework for understanding and addressing place within the aging process. However, aging in place has been critiqued for not sufficiently providing tools to understand relations or transactions between aging and place, and for not matching the diversity of contemporary society in which people are moving between and across nations more than ever before. In this article, the authors draw from concepts of place and migration that are becoming increasingly visible in occupational science. The concept of 'aging in place' is critically examined as an example of an ideal where the understanding of place is insufficiently dynamic in a context of migration. The authors suggest that the concept of place making can instead be a useful tool to understand how occupation can be drawn upon to negotiate relationships that connect people to different places around the world, how the negotiated relations are embedded within the occupations that fill daily lives, and how this process is contextualized and enacted in relation to resources and capabilities.

  16. Linear Motor Motion Control Experiment System Design Based on LabVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cuixian He

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to meet the needs of experimental training of electrical information industry, a linear motor motion experiment system based on LabVIEW was developed. This system is based on the STM32F103ZET6 system processor controller, a state signal when the motor moves through the grating encoder feedback controller to form a closed loop, through the RS232 serial port communication with the host computer, the host computer is designed in the LabVIEW interactive environment monitoring software. Combined with the modular design concept proposed overall program, given the detailed hardware circuit, targeted for the software function design, to achieve man-machine interface. The system control of high accuracy, good stability, meet the training requirements for laboratory equipment, but also as a reference embodiment of the linear motor monitoring system.

  17. Moving ring reactor 'Karin-1'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-12-01

    The conceptual design of a moving ring reactor ''Karin-1'' has been carried out to advance fusion system design, to clarify the research and development problems, and to decide their priority. In order to attain these objectives, a D-T reactor with tritium breeding blanket is designed, a commercial reactor with net power output of 500 MWe is designed, the compatibility of plasma physics with fusion engineering is demonstrated, and some other guideline is indicated. A moving ring reactor is composed mainly of three parts. In the first formation section, a plasma ring is formed and heated up to ignition temperature. The plasma ring of compact torus is transported from the formation section through the next burning section to generate fusion power. Then the plasma ring moves into the last recovery section, and the energy and particles of the plasma ring are recovered. The outline of a moving ring reactor ''Karin-1'' is described. As a candidate material for the first wall, SiC was adopted to reduce the MHD effect and to minimize the interaction with neutrons and charged particles. The thin metal lining was applied to the SiC surface to solve the problem of the compatibility with lithium blanket. Plasma physics, the engineering aspect and the items of research and development are described. (Kako, I.)

  18. Moving vertices to make drawings plane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goaoc, X.; Kratochvil, J.; Okamoto, Y.; Shin, C.S.; Wolff, A.; Hong, S.K.; Nishizeki, T.; Quan, W.

    2008-01-01

    In John Tantalo’s on-line game Planarity the player is given a non-plane straight-line drawing of a planar graph. The aim is to make the drawing plane as quickly as possible by moving vertices. In this paper we investigate the related problem MinMovedVertices which asks for the minimum number of

  19. Relational autonomy: moving beyond the limits of isolated individualism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Jennifer K; Ross, Lainie Friedman

    2014-02-01

    Although clinicians may value respecting a patient's or surrogate's autonomy in decision-making, it is not always clear how to proceed in clinical practice. The confusion results, in part, from which conception of autonomy is used to guide ethical practice. Reliance on an individualistic conception such as the "in-control agent" model prioritizes self-sufficiency in decision-making and highlights a decision-maker's capacity to have reason transcend one's emotional experience. An alternative model of autonomy, relational autonomy, highlights the social context within which all individuals exist and acknowledges the emotional and embodied aspects of decision-makers. These 2 conceptions of autonomy lead to different interpretations of several aspects of ethical decision-making. The in-control agent model believes patients or surrogates should avoid both the influence of others and emotional persuasion in decision-making. As a result, providers have a limited role to play and are expected to provide medical expertise but not interfere with the individual's decision-making process. In contrast, a relational autonomy approach acknowledges the central role of others in decision-making, including clinicians, who have a responsibility to engage patients' and surrogates' emotional experiences and offer clear guidance when patients are confronting serious illness. In the pediatric setting, in which decision-making is complicated by having a surrogate decision-maker in addition to a patient, these conceptions of autonomy also may influence expectations about the role that adolescents can play in decision-making.

  20. THE CONCEPT OF REFERENCE CONDITION, REVISITED ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ecological assessments of aquatic ecosystems depend on the ability to compare current conditions against some expectation of how they could be in the absence of significant human disturbance. The concept of a ‘‘reference condition’’ is often used to describe the standard or benchmark against which current condition is compared. If assessments are to be conducted consistently, then a common understanding of the definitions and complications of reference condition is necessary. A 2006 paper (Stoddard et al., 2006, Ecological Applications 16:1267-1276) made an early attempt at codifying the reference condition concept; in this presentation we will revisit the points raised in that paper (and others) and examine how our thinking has changed in a little over 10 years.Among the issues to be discussed: (1) the “moving target” created when reference site data are used to set thresholds in large scale assessments; (2) natural vs. human disturbance and their effects on reference site distributions; (3) circularity and the use of biological data to assist in reference site identification; (4) using site-scale (in-stream or in-lake) measurements vs. landscape-level human activity to identify reference conditions. Ecological assessments of aquatic ecosystems depend on the ability to compare current conditions against some expectation of how they could be in the absence of significant human disturbance. The concept of a ‘‘reference condition’’ is often use

  1. Preliminary Design Concept for a Reactor-internal CRDM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jae Seon; Kim, Jong Wook; Kim, Tae Wan; Choi, Suhn; Kim, Keung Koo

    2013-01-01

    A rod ejection accident may cause severer result in SMRs because SMRs have relatively high control rod reactivity worth compared with commercial nuclear reactors. Because this accident would be perfectly excluded by adopting a reactor-internal CRDM (Control Rod Drive Mechanism), many SMRs accept this concept. The first concept was provided by JAERI with the MRX reactor which uses an electric motor with a ball screw driveline. Babcock and Wilcox introduced the concept in an mPower reactor that adopts an electric motor with a roller screw driveline and hydraulic system, and Westinghouse Electric Co. proposes an internal Control Rod Drive in its SMR with an electric motor with a latch mechanism. In addition, several other applications have been reported thus far. The reactor-internal CRDM concept is now widely adopted in many SMR designs, and this concept may also be applied in an evolutionary reactor development. So the preliminary study is conducted based on the SMART CRDM design. A preliminary design concept for a reactor-internal CRDM was proposed and evaluated through an electromagnetic analysis. It was found that there is an optimum design for the motor housing, and the results may contribute to the realization a reactor-internal CRDM for an evolutionary reactor development. More detailed analysis results will be reported later

  2. Agent Based Control of Electric Power Systems with Distributed Generation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saleem, Arshad

    and subsystems that are able to coordinate, communicate, cooperate, adapt to emerging situations and self organize in an intelligent way. At the same time, rapid development in information and and communication technologies (ICT) have brought new opportunities and elucidations. New Technologies and standards...... control strategies. The results have been discussed from case studies of multiagent based distributed control scenarios in electric power systems. The main contribution of this work is a proposal for system design methodology for application of intelligent agent technology in power systems....... Situation in Denmark is even more interesting, with a current 20% penetration of wind energy it is moving towards an ambitious goal of 50% penetration by the year 2050. Realization of these concepts requires that power systems should be of distributed nature { consisting of autonomous components...

  3. Autowaves in moving excitable media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.A.Davydov

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Within the framework of kinematic theory of autowaves we suggest a method for analytic description of stationary autowave structures appearing at the boundary between the moving and fixed excitable media. The front breakdown phenomenon is predicted for such structures. Autowave refraction and, particulary, one-side "total reflection" at the boundary is considered. The obtained analytical results are confirmed by computer simulations. Prospects of the proposed method for further studies of autowave dynamics in the moving excitable media are discussed.

  4. Infinite games with uncertain moves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas Asher

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available We study infinite two-player games where one of the players is unsure about the set of moves available to the other player. In particular, the set of moves of the other player is a strict superset of what she assumes it to be. We explore what happens to sets in various levels of the Borel hierarchy under such a situation. We show that the sets at every alternate level of the hierarchy jump to the next higher level.

  5. The integrated control concept and its relevance to current integrated pest management in California fresh market grapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bentley, Walter J

    2009-12-01

    The foundation of an integrated pest management program involves valid treatment thresholds, accurate and simple monitoring methods, effective natural controls, selective pesticides and trained individuals who can implement the concept. The Integrated Control Concept written by Stern, Smith, van den Bosch and Hagen elucidated each of these points in an alfalfa ecosystem. Alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa L.) has a low per acre value, requires little hand labor and is primarily marketed in the USA. In contrast, fresh market table grape (Vitis vinifera L.) has a high per acre value, requires frequent hand labor operations, suffers unacceptable cosmetic damage and is marketed throughout both the USA and the world. Each of the components of a working IPM program is present in table grape production. Marketing grapes to foreign countries presents special problems with pests considered invasive and where residue tolerances for some selective insecticides are lacking. However, fresh market grape farmers are still able to deal with these special problems and utilize an IPM program that has resulted in a 42% reduction in broad-spectrum insecticide use from 1995 to 2007. (c) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry.

  6. The concept of neurosis in a cross-cultural perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaturvedi, Santosh Kumar; Bhugra, Dinesh

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this review is to discuss the current state of research on the concept of neurosis across cultures and to document the advances made in this field over the previous year. There has been a significant alteration in the concept of neurosis in most cultures, with the relative abandonment of the term 'neurosis' and replacing the concept with that of common mental disorders. The state of research on the aetiopathogenesis of neurosis has moved towards neurobiological, neurophysiological and genetic factors. Neuroticism as a personality trait has retained its role in the development of neurotic disorders. The epidemiological studies on neurotic disorders are equivocal across cultures. Besides, studies on clinical presentation of common mental disorders, somatization and abnormal illness behaviour show some cultural variations. Though there are no significant advances in the management of neurosis equivalents, it seems that the specific serotonin receptor inhibitors may have a role in management of these conditions. The recent literature shows acceptance of common mental disorders across cultures replacing neurotic disorders. Other conceptual equivalents of neurosis are seen in somatoform disorders, somatization and abnormal illness behaviour. Some traditional culture-bound neurotic syndromes and idioms of distress persist.

  7. Reflections on the value concept in accounting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Buys

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The recent meltdown in global finances and the reasons for it may make people doubtful about the stewardship function of accounting. In the global financial markets, there is a great fascination with the reality that accounting values intend to reflect. However, what many people considered valuable is now suddenly of no value. The question can therefore be asked what is meant by the value concept as a foundation to modern-day accountancy. “Value” is a concept that is open to different interpretations, based on the needs, perspectives and personal values of the interpreter. This article aims to reflect on the value concept from an accounting perspective in analysing the fundamental quali-tative perspectives and how these perspectives might affect the quantitative value measurements, as reported in the financial statements. From a quantitative perspective, accounttancy aims to measure and report the monetary values of items. However, there is a move towards a mixed valuation model with many financial statements, including both historical cost and value-based accounting information. The article concludes that this questionable development opens up many additional and subjective interpretations of accounting value measurement and reporting. Both valuation measurement methods have merit when considered in the overall purpose of accounting information. However, subjective value-based mea-surements may cast a shadow of doubt on the reliability and comparability requirements of accounting value information.

  8. Self-care Concept Analysis in Cancer Patients: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasanpour-Dehkordi, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Background: Self-care is a frequently used concept in both the theory and the clinical practice of nursing and is considered an element of nursing theory by Orem. The aim of this paper is to identify the core attributes of the self-care concept in cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We used Rodgers’ evolutionary method of concept analysis. The articles published in English language from 1980 to 2015 on nursing and non-nursing disciplines were analyzed. Finally, 85 articles, an MSc thesis, and a PhD thesis were selected, examined, and analyzed in-depth. Two experts checked the process of analysis and monitored and reviewed the articles. Results: The analysis showed that self-care concept is determined by four attributes of education, interaction, self-control, and self-reliance. Three types of antecedents in the present study were client-related (self-efficacy, self-esteem), system-related (adequate sources, social networks, and cultural factors), and healthcare professionals-related (participation). Conclusion: The self-care concept has considerably evolved among patients with chronic diseases, particularly cancer, over the past 35 years, and nurses have managed to enhance their knowledge about self-care remarkably for the clients so that the nurses in healthcare teams have become highly efficient and able to assume the responsibility for self-care teams. PMID:27803559

  9. Self-care Concept Analysis in Cancer Patients: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasanpour-Dehkordi, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Self-care is a frequently used concept in both the theory and the clinical practice of nursing and is considered an element of nursing theory by Orem. The aim of this paper is to identify the core attributes of the self-care concept in cancer patients. We used Rodgers' evolutionary method of concept analysis. The articles published in English language from 1980 to 2015 on nursing and non-nursing disciplines were analyzed. Finally, 85 articles, an MSc thesis, and a PhD thesis were selected, examined, and analyzed in-depth. Two experts checked the process of analysis and monitored and reviewed the articles. The analysis showed that self-care concept is determined by four attributes of education, interaction, self-control, and self-reliance. Three types of antecedents in the present study were client-related (self-efficacy, self-esteem), system-related (adequate sources, social networks, and cultural factors), and healthcare professionals-related (participation). The self-care concept has considerably evolved among patients with chronic diseases, particularly cancer, over the past 35 years, and nurses have managed to enhance their knowledge about self-care remarkably for the clients so that the nurses in healthcare teams have become highly efficient and able to assume the responsibility for self-care teams.

  10. Generation IV concepts - Presentation at ACRS workshop 'Regulatory challenges for future nuclear power plants'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Versluis, Rob M.

    2001-01-01

    The concept of the Near-Term Deployment Working Group was to define a technical approach for Generation IV system with enough detail to allow evaluation against the goal, bur broad enough to allow for optional features and trade. The following concepts were taken into account: water coolant (water or heavy water), gas coolant, liquid metal coolants. Concepts were grouped according to concept sets of technology base share and design approach. Water coolant concepts were grouped as follows: PWR loop reactors, integral primary system PWRs, Integral BWRs, pressure tube reactors, high conversion cores, supercritical water reactors, advanced fuel cycle concepts. Gas coolant concepts were grouped as follows: pebble bed modular reactors; prismatic modular reactors, very high temperature reactors, fast spectrum reactors, others (fluidized bed, moving ignition zone concept). Liquid metal concepts were grouped in four major categories: Medium-to-large oxide-fueled systems; Medium-sized metal-fueled systems; Medium-sized Pb/Pb-Bi systems; Small-sized Pb/Pb-Bi systems. The three supporting technology areas were examined: Fuels (oxide, metal, nitride); Coolants (Na, Pb/Pb-Bi); Fuel Cycle (advanced aqueous, pyroprocess). Non-classical concepts were also grouped as follows: Eutectic metallic fuel; Molten salt fuel; Gas core reactor; Molten salt cooled/solid fuel; Organic cooled reactor; Solid conduction/heat pipe; Fission product direct energy conversion. The Technical working Groups are analyzing the candidate concepts for performance potential relative to the goals; and technology gaps

  11. Self concepts, health locus of control and cognitive functioning associated with health-promoting lifestyles in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chuang, Shu Ping; Wu, Jo Yung Wei; Wang, Chien Shu; Liu, Chia Hsuan; Pan, Li Hsiang

    2016-10-01

    The study aimed to investigate the relationship among self concepts, health locus of control, cognitive functioning and health-promoting lifestyles in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. We examined health-promoting lifestyles through self-efficacy, self-esteem, health locus of control and neurocognitive factors. Fifty-six people with schizophrenia were enrolled in the study group. All subjects participated in the self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale), health locus of control (The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales), health-promoting lifestyles (Health Promotion Life-style Profile-II) and a series of neurocognitive measures. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy, internal health locus of control and attentional set-shifting accounted for 42% of the variance in total health-promoting lifestyles scores. Self-efficacy, self-esteem, internal and powerful others health locus of control and attentional set-shifting were significant predictors for domains of health-promoting lifestyles, respectively. Study findings can help mental health professionals maintain and improve health-promoting behaviors through a better understanding of self-esteem, self-efficacy, health locus of control and neurocognitive functioning among people with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. RELACIÓN ENTRE LOS CONSTRUCTOS AUTOCONTROL Y AUTOCONCEPTO EN NIÑOS Y JÓVENES/ RELATION BETWEEN SELF-CONTROL AND SELF-CONCEPT IN CHILD AND YOUNG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fermino Fernandes Sisto*,

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available RESUMENEste estudio ha investigado las relaciones entre el autocontrol y el autoconcepto en 1213 niños, de ambos sexos, de 2ºa 8º grado de una escuela pública, con edades variando de 8 a 14 años. Han sido aplicadas las Escalas Feminina eMasculina de Autocontrole y la Escala de Autoconceito Infanto-Juvenil. Han sido observadas correlaciones positivas ysignificativas entre los autoconceptos personal y social y todas las medidas. En relación al autoconcepto escolar ha habidoasociación negativa con el autocontrol en los varones, mientras que en las niñas la relación se ha dado apenas con elautocontrol de los sentimientos y emociones. Además, han sido evidenciadas correlaciones negativas y significativas entreel autoconcepto familiar y el autocontrol que se refiere a las normas y conductas sociales y de forma general en los varones.En las niñas, esa asociación se ha observado con el autocontrol que se refiere a las normas y conductas sociales, comotambién con el autocontrol general.ABSTRACTThe relationships between the self-control and self-concept were studied among 8-to-14-years-old 1213 children of bothsexes, attending the second to eighth grade of a public school. The tests administered were the Escalas Feminina eMasculina de Autocontrole and the Escala de Autoconceito Infanto-Juvenil. The results showed positive and significantcorrelation coefficients among the social and personal self-concept and all the measures of the self-control, although theacademic self-concept referred to the males showed negative and significant correlations in relation to the self-control, andto the females the self-concept correlated significantly with the measures of the self-control related to the feelings andemotions. Besides negative and significant correlations were highlighted among the familial self-concept and the selfcontrolreferred to norms and social behavior and, in general, with the males. Among the females, this association wasobserved with

  13. Operationalizing physical literacy for learners: Embodying the motivation to move

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ang Chen

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Physical literacy is a concept that is expected to encompass the mind and body in an integrated way to explain, promote, and help sustain human beings' fundamental function: movement. According to Whitehead (2010, physical literacy is defined by motivation, especially by competence-based and interest-based motivation. This point of view is consistent with vast amount of research evidence on children and adolescents' physical activity behavior. In the article I attempt to interpret and operationalize physical literacy from a perspective that children's motivation in physical education is both an innate mental disposition and an acquired/learned attribute. Particularly I rely on the conceptual learning theory and motivation regulation mechanisms of the self-determination theory to argue that in physical education, children should experience tasks that inspire them to embody competence and interest along with self-regulation strategies necessary for developing and sustaining the motivation to move.

  14. Ready, set, move!

    CERN Multimedia

    Anaïs Schaeffer

    2012-01-01

    This year, the CERN Medical Service is launching a new public health campaign. Advertised by the catchphrase “Move! & Eat Better”, the particular aim of the campaign is to encourage people at CERN to take more regular exercise, of whatever kind.   The CERN annual relay race is scheduled on 24 May this year. The CERN Medical Service will officially launch its “Move! & Eat Better” campaign at this popular sporting event. “We shall be on hand on the day of the race to strongly advocate regular physical activity,” explains Rachid Belkheir, one of the Medical Service doctors. "We really want to pitch our campaign and answer any questions people may have. Above all we want to set an example. So we are going to walk the same circuit as the runners to underline to people that they can easily incorporate movement into their daily routine.” An underlying concern has prompted this campaign: during their first few year...

  15. Confronting, Representing, and Believing Counterintuitive Concepts: Navigating the Natural and the Supernatural.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lane, Jonathan D; Harris, Paul L

    2014-03-01

    Recent research shows that even preschoolers are skeptical; they frequently reject claims from other people when the claims conflict with their own perceptions and concepts. Yet, despite their skepticism, both children and adults come to believe in a variety of phenomena that defy their first-hand perceptions and intuitive conceptions of the world. In this review, we explore how children and adults acquire such concepts. We describe how a similar developmental process underlies mental representation of both the natural and the supernatural world, and we detail this process for two prominent supernatural counterintuitive ideas-God and the afterlife. In doing so, we highlight the fact that conceptual development does not always move in the direction of greater empirical truth, as described within naturalistic domains. We consider factors that likely help overcome skepticism and, in doing so, promote belief in counterintuitive phenomena. These factors include qualities of the learners, aspects of the context, qualities of the informants, and qualities of the information. © The Author(s) 2014.

  16. The implementation of the situational control concept of information security in automated training systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. M. Chernih

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The main approaches to ensuring security of information in the automated training systems are considered, need of application of situational management of security of information for the automated training systems is proved, the mathematical model and a problem definition of situational control is offered, the technique of situational control of security of information is developed.The purpose of the study. The aim of the study is to base the application of situational control of information security by subsystem of the control and protection of information in automated learning systems and to develop implementation methods of the situational control concept.Materials and methods. It is assumed that the automated learning system is a fragment of a larger information system that contains several information paths, each of them treats different information in the protection degree from information, containing constituting state secrets, to open access information.It is considered that the technical methods, measures and means of information protection in automated learning systems implement less than half (30% functions of subsystems of control and protection information. The main part of the functions of this subsystem are organizational measures to protect information. It is obvious that the task of ensuring the security of information in automated learning systems associated with the adoption of decisions on rational selection and proper combination of technical methods and institutional arrangements. Conditions of practical application of automated learning systems change over time and transform the situation of such a decision, and this leads to the use of situational control methods.When situational control is implementing, task of the protection of information in automated learning system is solved by the subsystem control and protection of information by distributing the processes ensuring the security of information and resources of

  17. Camouflage, detection and identification of moving targets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Joanna R; Cuthill, Innes C; Baddeley, Roland; Shohet, Adam J; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E

    2013-05-07

    Nearly all research on camouflage has investigated its effectiveness for concealing stationary objects. However, animals have to move, and patterns that only work when the subject is static will heavily constrain behaviour. We investigated the effects of different camouflages on the three stages of predation-detection, identification and capture-in a computer-based task with humans. An initial experiment tested seven camouflage strategies on static stimuli. In line with previous literature, background-matching and disruptive patterns were found to be most successful. Experiment 2 showed that if stimuli move, an isolated moving object on a stationary background cannot avoid detection or capture regardless of the type of camouflage. Experiment 3 used an identification task and showed that while camouflage is unable to slow detection or capture, camouflaged targets are harder to identify than uncamouflaged targets when similar background objects are present. The specific details of the camouflage patterns have little impact on this effect. If one has to move, camouflage cannot impede detection; but if one is surrounded by similar targets (e.g. other animals in a herd, or moving background distractors), then camouflage can slow identification. Despite previous assumptions, motion does not entirely 'break' camouflage.

  18. Validating concepts of mental disorder: precedents from the history of science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Robert

    2014-10-01

    A fundamental issue in any branch of the natural sciences is validating the basic concepts for use in that branch. In psychiatry, this issue has not yet been resolved, and indeed, the proper nature of the problem has scarcely been recognised. As a result, psychiatry (or at least those parts of the discipline which aspire to scientific status) still cannot claim to be a part of scientific medicine, or to be incorporated within the common language of the natural sciences. While this creates difficulties within the discipline, and its standing in relation to other branches of medicine, it makes it an exciting place for "frontiersmen" (and women). This is one of the key growing points in the natural science tradition. In this essay, which moves from the early history of that tradition to today's debates in scientific psychiatry, I give my views about how these fundamental issues can move towards resolution.

  19. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation of Replication Factors Moving with the Replication Fork

    OpenAIRE

    Rapp, Jordan B.; Ansbach, Alison B.; Noguchi, Chiaki; Noguchi, Eishi

    2009-01-01

    Replication of chromosomes involves a variety of replication proteins including DNA polymerases, DNA helicases, and other accessory factors. Many of these proteins are known to localize at replication forks and travel with them as components of the replisome complex. Other proteins do not move with replication forks but still play an essential role in DNA replication. Therefore, in order to understand the mechanisms of DNA replication and its controls, it is important to examine localization ...

  20. Virtual Simulator for Autonomous Mobile Robots Navigation System Using Concepts of Control Rapid Prototyping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonimer Flavio de Melo

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This work presents the proposal of virtual environment implementation for project simulation and conception of supervision and control systems for mobile robots, that are capable to operate and adapting in different environments and conditions. This virtual system has as purpose to facilitate the development of embedded architecture systems, emphasizing the implementation of tools that allow the simulation of the kinematic conditions, dynamic and control, with real time monitoring of all important system points. For this, open control architecture is proposal, integrating the two main techniques of robotic control implementation in the hardware level: systems microprocessors and reconfigurable hardware devices. The implemented simulator system is composed of a trajectory generating module, a kinematic and dynamic simulator module and of a analysis module of results and errors. The kinematic and dynamic simulator module makes all simulation of the mobile robot following the pre-determined trajectory of the trajectory generator. All the kinematic and dynamic results shown during the simulation can be evaluated and visualized in graphs and tables formats, in the results analysis module, allowing an improvement in the system, minimizing the errors with the necessary adjustments optimization. For controller implementation in the embedded system, it uses the rapid prototyping, which is the technology that allows, in set with the virtual simulation environment, the development of a controller project for mobile robots. The validation and tests had been accomplishing with nonholonomics mobile robots models with differential transmission.

  1. Anti-ejection system for control rod drives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthews, J.C.

    1977-01-01

    A linearly movable latch mechanism is provided to move into engagement with a deformable collet whenever an undesired ejection of a leadscrew is initiated from a nuclear reactor mounted control rod drive. Such an undesired ejection would occur in the event of a rupture in a housing of the control rod drive. The collet is deformed by the linear movement of the latch mechanism to wedge itself against the leadscrew and prevent the ejection of the leadscrew from the housing. The latch mechanism is made to be controllably engageable with the leadscrew and when thus engaged to allow the leadscrew to move in a control direction while moving with the leadscrew to engage and deform the collet when the leadscrew moves in an ejection direction. 13 claims, 2 figures

  2. Moving standard deviation and moving sum of outliers as quality tools for monitoring analytical precision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jiakai; Tan, Chin Hon; Badrick, Tony; Loh, Tze Ping

    2018-02-01

    An increase in analytical imprecision (expressed as CV a ) can introduce additional variability (i.e. noise) to the patient results, which poses a challenge to the optimal management of patients. Relatively little work has been done to address the need for continuous monitoring of analytical imprecision. Through numerical simulations, we describe the use of moving standard deviation (movSD) and a recently described moving sum of outlier (movSO) patient results as means for detecting increased analytical imprecision, and compare their performances against internal quality control (QC) and the average of normal (AoN) approaches. The power of detecting an increase in CV a is suboptimal under routine internal QC procedures. The AoN technique almost always had the highest average number of patient results affected before error detection (ANPed), indicating that it had generally the worst capability for detecting an increased CV a . On the other hand, the movSD and movSO approaches were able to detect an increased CV a at significantly lower ANPed, particularly for measurands that displayed a relatively small ratio of biological variation to CV a. CONCLUSION: The movSD and movSO approaches are effective in detecting an increase in CV a for high-risk measurands with small biological variation. Their performance is relatively poor when the biological variation is large. However, the clinical risks of an increase in analytical imprecision is attenuated for these measurands as an increased analytical imprecision will only add marginally to the total variation and less likely to impact on the clinical care. Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Counting on the mental number line to make a move: sensorimotor ('pen') control and numerical processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheridan, Rebecca; van Rooijen, Maaike; Giles, Oscar; Mushtaq, Faisal; Steenbergen, Bert; Mon-Williams, Mark; Waterman, Amanda

    2017-10-01

    Mathematics is often conducted with a writing implement. But is there a relationship between numerical processing and sensorimotor 'pen' control? We asked participants to move a stylus so it crossed an unmarked line at a location specified by a symbolic number (1-9), where number colour indicated whether the line ran left-right ('normal') or vice versa ('reversed'). The task could be simplified through the use of a 'mental number line' (MNL). Many modern societies use number lines in mathematical education and the brain's representation of number appears to follow a culturally determined spatial organisation (so better task performance is associated with this culturally normal orientation-the MNL effect). Participants (counter-balanced) completed two consistent blocks of trials, 'normal' and 'reversed', followed by a mixed block where line direction varied randomly. Experiment 1 established that the MNL effect was robust, and showed that the cognitive load associated with reversing the MNL not only affected response selection but also the actual movement execution (indexed by duration) within the mixed trials. Experiment 2 showed that an individual's motor abilities predicted performance in the difficult (mixed) condition but not the easier blocks. These results suggest that numerical processing is not isolated from motor capabilities-a finding with applied consequences.

  4. Moving backwards, moving forward: the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to life in New Zealand

    OpenAIRE

    Montayre, Jed; Neville, Stephen; Holroyd, Eleanor

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to living permanently in New Zealand. Method: The qualitative descriptive approach taken in this study involved 17 individual face-to-face interviews of older Filipino migrants in New Zealand. Results: Three main themes emerged from the data. The first theme was ?moving backwards and moving forward?, which described how these older Filipino migrants adjusted to challenges they experienced with migration. The sec...

  5. GAIA: A 2-D Curvilinear moving grid hydrodynamic code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jourdren, H.

    1987-02-01

    The GAIA computer code is developed for time dependent, compressible, multimaterial fluid flow problems, to overcome some drawbacks of traditional 2-D Lagrangian codes. The initial goals of robustness, entropy accuracies, efficiency in presence of large interfacial slip, have already been achieved. The general GODUNOV approach is applied to an arbitrary time varying control-volume formulation. We review in this paper the Riemann solver, the GODUNOV cartesian and curvilinear moving grid schemes and an efficient grid generation algorithm. We finally outline a possible second order accuracy extension

  6. Transient heating and evaporation of moving mono-component liquid fuel droplets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yin, Chungen

    2016-01-01

    of which the flow and energy transport equations are numerically solved using the finite volume method. The computer code for the model is developed in a generic 3D framework and verified in different ways (e.g., by comparison against analytical solutions for simplified cases, and against experimental......This paper presents a complete description of a model for transient heating and evaporation of moving mono-component liquid fuel droplets. The model mainly consists of gas phase heat and mass transfer analysis, liquid phase analysis, and droplet dynamics analysis, which address the interaction...... between the moving droplets and free-stream flow, the flow and heat and mass transfer within the droplets, and the droplet dynamics and size, respectively. For the liquid phase analysis, the droplets are discretized into a number of control volumes along the radial, polar and azimuthal directions, on each...

  7. Concept of a Programmable Fixture for 3-Axis CNC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Dalloul

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available CNC machine is the one of the major reasons for industrial advancement in recent decades for its ability of producing accurate parts. The most commen CNC machines are of 3-axis and adopted widely in the industrial sector. However, for producing more complicated parts 5-axis CNC machines are required. Although the introduction of the 5-axis machine came after the 3-axis CNC machine has established itself and many manufacturers did not make the move toward the newer model and its high pricing compared to the 3-axis model did not help either. In this time the development of a fixture or a platform to help transfer the 3-axis to a 5-axis to some degree. This paper discusses the concept of a programmable fixture that gives 3-axis CNC machine the freedom to act in similar manner as the 5-axis. The paper describes the mechanism with some initial results of the testing. Result showed that the platform moves in translation manner with an average error of 5.58 % and 7.303% average error for rotation movement.

  8. I Move: systematic development of a web-based computer tailored physical activity intervention, based on motivational interviewing and self-determination theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background This article describes the systematic development of the I Move intervention: a web-based computer tailored physical activity promotion intervention, aimed at increasing and maintaining physical activity among adults. This intervention is based on the theoretical insights and practical applications of self-determination theory and motivational interviewing. Methods/design Since developing interventions in a systemically planned way increases the likelihood of effectiveness, we used the Intervention Mapping protocol to develop the I Move intervention. In this article, we first describe how we proceeded through each of the six steps of the Intervention Mapping protocol. After that, we describe the content of the I Move intervention and elaborate on the planned randomized controlled trial. Discussion By integrating self-determination theory and motivational interviewing in web-based computer tailoring, the I Move intervention introduces a more participant-centered approach than traditional tailored interventions. Adopting this approach might enhance computer tailored physical activity interventions both in terms of intervention effectiveness and user appreciation. We will evaluate this in an randomized controlled trial, by comparing the I Move intervention to a more traditional web-based computer tailored intervention. Trial registration NTR4129 PMID:24580802

  9. Exploring the Effects of Employing Google Docs in Collaborative Concept Mapping on Achievement, Concept Representation, and Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yu-Tzu; Chang, Chia-Hu; Hou, Huei-Tse; Wu, Ke-Chou

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effectiveness of using Google Docs in collaborative concept mapping (CCM) by comparing it with a paper-and-pencil approach. A quasi-experimental study was conducted in a physics course. The control group drew concept maps using the paper-and-pencil method and face-to-face discussion, whereas the experimental group…

  10. Real-time moving horizon estimation for a vibrating active cantilever

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahpouri, Mohammad; Takács, Gergely; Rohaľ-Ilkiv, Boris

    2017-03-01

    Vibrating structures may be subject to changes throughout their operating lifetime due to a range of environmental and technical factors. These variations can be considered as parameter changes in the dynamic model of the structure, while their online estimates can be utilized in adaptive control strategies, or in structural health monitoring. This paper implements the moving horizon estimation (MHE) algorithm on a low-cost embedded computing device that is jointly observing the dynamic states and parameter variations of an active cantilever beam in real time. The practical behavior of this algorithm has been investigated in various experimental scenarios. It has been found, that for the given field of application, moving horizon estimation converges faster than the extended Kalman filter; moreover, it handles atypical measurement noise, sensor errors or other extreme changes, reliably. Despite its improved performance, the experiments demonstrate that the disadvantage of solving the nonlinear optimization problem in MHE is that it naturally leads to an increase in computational effort.

  11. Capacity gains of buffer-aided moving relays

    KAUST Repository

    Zafar, Ammar

    2017-03-14

    This work investigates the gain due to reduction in path loss by deploying buffer-aided moving relaying. In particular, the increase in gain due to moving relays is studied for dual-hop broadcast channels and the bidirectional relay channel. It is shown that the exploited gains in these channels due to buffer-aided relaying can be enhanced by utilizing the fact that a moving relay can communicate with the terminal closest to it and store the data in the buffer and then forward the data to the intended destination when it comes in close proximity with the destination. Numerical results show that for both the considered channels the achievable rates are increased as compared to the case of stationary relays. Numerical results also show that more significant increase in performance is seen when the relay moves to-and-fro between the source and the relay.

  12. Capacity gains of buffer-aided moving relays

    KAUST Repository

    Zafar, Ammar; Shaqfeh, Mohammad; Alnuweiri, Hussein; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

    2017-01-01

    This work investigates the gain due to reduction in path loss by deploying buffer-aided moving relaying. In particular, the increase in gain due to moving relays is studied for dual-hop broadcast channels and the bidirectional relay channel. It is shown that the exploited gains in these channels due to buffer-aided relaying can be enhanced by utilizing the fact that a moving relay can communicate with the terminal closest to it and store the data in the buffer and then forward the data to the intended destination when it comes in close proximity with the destination. Numerical results show that for both the considered channels the achievable rates are increased as compared to the case of stationary relays. Numerical results also show that more significant increase in performance is seen when the relay moves to-and-fro between the source and the relay.

  13. Zoom system without moving element by using two liquid crystal lenses with spherical electrode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ren-Kai; Lin, Chia-Ping; Su, Guo-Dung J.

    2017-08-01

    A traditional zoom system is composed of several elements moving relatively toward other components to achieve zooming. Unlike tradition system, an electrically control zoom system with liquid crystal (LC) lenses is demonstrated in this paper. To achieve zooming, we apply two LC lenses whose optical power is controlled by voltage to replace two moving lenses in traditional zoom system. The mechanism of zoom system is to use two LC lenses to form a simple zoom system. We found that with such spherical electrodes, we could operate LC lens at voltage range from 31V to 53 V for 3X tunability in optical power. For each LC lens, we use concave spherical electrode which provide lower operating voltage and great tunability in optical power, respectively. For such operating voltage and compact size, this zoom system with zoom ratio approximate 3:1 could be applied to mobile phone, camera and other applications.

  14. Elastically Shaped Wing Optimization and Aircraft Concept for Improved Cruise Efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan; Trinh, Khanh; Reynolds, Kevin; Kless, James; Aftosmis, Michael; Urnes, James, Sr.; Ippolito, Corey

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the findings of a study conducted tn 2010 by the NASA Innovation Fund Award project entitled "Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept". The study presents three themes in support of meeting national and global aviation challenges of reducing fuel burn for present and future aviation systems. The first theme addresses the drag reduction goal through innovative vehicle configurations via non-planar wing optimization. Two wing candidate concepts have been identified from the wing optimization: a drooped wing shape and an inflected wing shape. The drooped wing shape is a truly biologically inspired wing concept that mimics a seagull wing and could achieve about 5% to 6% drag reduction, which is aerodynamically significant. From a practical perspective, this concept would require new radical changes to the current aircraft development capabilities for new vehicles with futuristic-looking wings such as this concept. The inflected wing concepts could achieve between 3% to 4% drag reduction. While the drag reduction benefit may be less, the inflected-wing concept could have a near-term impact since this concept could be developed within the current aircraft development capabilities. The second theme addresses the drag reduction goal through a new concept of elastic wing shaping control. By aeroelastically tailoring the wing shape with active control to maintain optimal aerodynamics, a significant drag reduction benefit could be realized. A significant reduction in fuel burn for long-range cruise from elastic wing shaping control could be realized. To realize the potential of the elastic wing shaping control concept, the third theme emerges that addresses the drag reduction goal through a new aerodynamic control effector called a variable camber continuous trailing edge flap. Conventional aerodynamic control surfaces are discrete independent surfaces that cause geometric discontinuities at the trailing edge region. These discontinuities promote

  15. Feedback-controlled robotics-assisted treadmill exercise to assess and influence aerobic capacity early after stroke: a proof-of-concept study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoller, Oliver; Schindelholz, Matthias; Bichsel, Lukas; Schuster, Corina; de Bie, Rob A; de Bruin, Eling D; Hunt, Kenneth J

    2014-07-01

    The majority of post-stroke individuals suffer from low exercise capacity as a secondary reaction to immobility. The aim of this study was to prove the concept of feedback-controlled robotics-assisted treadmill exercise (RATE) to assess aerobic capacity and guide cardiovascular exercise in severely impaired individuals early after stroke. Subjects underwent constant load and incremental exercise testing using a human-in-the-loop feedback system within a robotics-assisted exoskeleton (Lokomat, Hocoma AG, CH). Inclusion criteria were: stroke onset ≤8 weeks, stable medical condition, non-ambulatory status, moderate motor control of the lower limbs and appropriate cognitive function. Outcome measures included oxygen uptake kinetics, peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), gas exchange threshold (GET), peak heart rate (HRpeak), peak work rate (Ppeak) and accuracy of reaching target work rate (P-RMSE). Three subjects (18-42 d post-stroke) were included. Oxygen uptake kinetics during constant load ranged from 42.0 to 60.2 s. Incremental exercise testing showed: VO2peak range 19.7-28.8 ml/min/kg, GET range 11.6-12.7 ml/min/kg, and HRpeak range 115-161 bpm. Ppeak range was 55.2-110.9 W and P-RMSE range was 3.8-7.5 W. The concept of feedback-controlled RATE for assessment of aerobic capacity and guidance of cardiovascular exercise is feasible. Further research is warranted to validate the method on a larger scale. Aerobic capacity is seriously reduced in post-stroke individuals as a secondary reaction to immobility. Robotics-assisted walking devices may have substantial clinical relevance regarding assessment and improvement of aerobic capacity early after stroke. Feedback-controlled robotics-assisted treadmill exercise represents a new concept for cardiovascular assessment and intervention protocols for severely impaired individuals.

  16. Novel concept of the smart NIR-light-controlled drug release of black phosphorus nanostructure for cancer therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Meng; Wang, Dou; Liang, Weiyuan; Liu, Liping; Zhang, Yin; Chen, Xing; Sang, David Kipkemoi; Xing, Chenyang; Li, Zhongjun; Dong, Biqin; Xing, Feng; Fan, Dianyuan; Bao, Shiyun; Zhang, Han; Cao, Yihai

    2018-01-16

    A biodegradable drug delivery system (DDS) is one the most promising therapeutic strategies for cancer therapy. Here, we propose a unique concept of light activation of black phosphorus (BP) at hydrogel nanostructures for cancer therapy. A photosensitizer converts light into heat that softens and melts drug-loaded hydrogel-based nanostructures. Drug release rates can be accurately controlled by light intensity, exposure duration, BP concentration, and hydrogel composition. Owing to sufficiently deep penetration of near-infrared (NIR) light through tissues, our BP-based system shows high therapeutic efficacy for treatment of s.c. cancers. Importantly, our drug delivery system is completely harmless and degradable in vivo. Together, our work proposes a unique concept for precision cancer therapy by external light excitation to release cancer drugs. If these findings are successfully translated into the clinic, millions of patients with cancer will benefit from our work.

  17. Biocatalytic coatings for air pollution control: a proof of concept study on VOC biodegradation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estrada, José M; Bernal, Oscar I; Flickinger, Michael C; Muñoz, Raúl; Deshusses, Marc A

    2015-02-01

    Although biofilm-based biotechnologies exhibit a large potential as solutions for off-gas treatment, the high water content of biofilms often causes pollutant mass transfer limitations, which ultimately limit their widespread application. The present study reports on the proof of concept of the applicability of bioactive latex coatings for air pollution control. Toluene vapors served as a model volatile organic compound (VOC). The results showed that Pseudomonas putida F1 cells could be successfully entrapped in nanoporous latex coatings while preserving their toluene degradation activity. Bioactive latex coatings exhibited toluene specific biodegradation rates 10 times higher than agarose-based biofilms, because the thin coatings were less subject to diffusional mass transfer limitations. Drying and pollutant starvation were identified as key factors inducing a gradual deterioration of the biodegradation capacity in these innovative coatings. This study constitutes the first application of bioactive latex coatings for VOC abatement. These coatings could become promising means for air pollution control. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Sense of moving

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Mark Schram; Grünbaum, Thor

    2017-01-01

    In this chapter, we assume the existence of a sense of “movement activity” that arises when a person actively moves a body part. This sense is usually supposed to be part of sense of agency (SoA). The purpose of the chapter is to determine whether the already existing experimental paradigms can...

  19. Refinement of the concept of uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penrod, J

    2001-04-01

    To analyse the conceptual maturity of uncertainty; to develop an expanded theoretical definition of uncertainty; to advance the concept using methods of concept refinement; and to analyse congruency with the conceptualization of uncertainty presented in the theory of hope, enduring, and suffering. Uncertainty is of concern in nursing as people experience complex life events surrounding health. In an earlier nursing study that linked the concepts of hope, enduring, and suffering into a single theoretical scheme, a state best described as 'uncertainty' arose. This study was undertaken to explore how this conceptualization fit with the scientific literature on uncertainty and to refine the concept. Initially, a concept analysis using advanced methods described by Morse, Hupcey, Mitcham and colleagues was completed. The concept was determined to be partially mature. A theoretical definition was derived and techniques of concept refinement using the literature as data were applied. The refined concept was found to be congruent with the concept of uncertainty that had emerged in the model of hope, enduring and suffering. Further investigation is needed to explore the extent of probabilistic reasoning and the effects of confidence and control on feelings of uncertainty and certainty.

  20. Scattering characteristics of relativistically moving concentrically layered spheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garner, Timothy J.; Lakhtakia, Akhlesh; Breakall, James K.; Bohren, Craig F.

    2018-02-01

    The energy extinction cross section of a concentrically layered sphere varies with velocity as the Doppler shift moves the spectral content of the incident signal in the sphere's co-moving inertial reference frame toward or away from resonances of the sphere. Computations for hollow gold nanospheres show that the energy extinction cross section is high when the Doppler shift moves the incident signal's spectral content in the co-moving frame near the wavelength of the sphere's localized surface plasmon resonance. The energy extinction cross section of a three-layer sphere consisting of an olivine-silicate core surrounded by a porous and a magnetite layer, which is used to explain extinction caused by interstellar dust, also depends strongly on velocity. For this sphere, computations show that the energy extinction cross section is high when the Doppler shift moves the spectral content of the incident signal near either of olivine-silicate's two localized surface phonon resonances at 9.7 μm and 18 μm.