control techniques applied: Topics by WorldWideScience.org

Sample records for control techniques applied

Applied ALARA techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waggoner, L.O.

1998-01-01

The presentation focuses on some of the time-proven and new technologies being used to accomplish radiological work. These techniques can be applied at nuclear facilities to reduce radiation doses and protect the environment. The last reactor plants and processing facilities were shutdown and Hanford was given a new mission to put the facilities in a safe condition, decontaminate, and prepare them for decommissioning. The skills that were necessary to operate these facilities were different than the skills needed today to clean up Hanford. Workers were not familiar with many of the tools, equipment, and materials needed to accomplish:the new mission, which includes clean up of contaminated areas in and around all the facilities, recovery of reactor fuel from spent fuel pools, and the removal of millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste from 177 underground tanks. In addition, this work has to be done with a reduced number of workers and a smaller budget. At Hanford, facilities contain a myriad of radioactive isotopes that are 2048 located inside plant systems, underground tanks, and the soil. As cleanup work at Hanford began, it became obvious early that in order to get workers to apply ALARA and use hew tools and equipment to accomplish the radiological work it was necessary to plan the work in advance and get radiological control and/or ALARA committee personnel involved early in the planning process. Emphasis was placed on applying,ALARA techniques to reduce dose, limit contamination spread and minimize the amount of radioactive waste generated. Progress on the cleanup has,b6en steady and Hanford workers have learned to use different types of engineered controls and ALARA techniques to perform radiological work. The purpose of this presentation is to share the lessons learned on how Hanford is accomplishing radiological work
Applied ALARA techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waggoner, L.O.

1998-02-05

The presentation focuses on some of the time-proven and new technologies being used to accomplish radiological work. These techniques can be applied at nuclear facilities to reduce radiation doses and protect the environment. The last reactor plants and processing facilities were shutdown and Hanford was given a new mission to put the facilities in a safe condition, decontaminate, and prepare them for decommissioning. The skills that were necessary to operate these facilities were different than the skills needed today to clean up Hanford. Workers were not familiar with many of the tools, equipment, and materials needed to accomplish:the new mission, which includes clean up of contaminated areas in and around all the facilities, recovery of reactor fuel from spent fuel pools, and the removal of millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste from 177 underground tanks. In addition, this work has to be done with a reduced number of workers and a smaller budget. At Hanford, facilities contain a myriad of radioactive isotopes that are 2048 located inside plant systems, underground tanks, and the soil. As cleanup work at Hanford began, it became obvious early that in order to get workers to apply ALARA and use hew tools and equipment to accomplish the radiological work it was necessary to plan the work in advance and get radiological control and/or ALARA committee personnel involved early in the planning process. Emphasis was placed on applying,ALARA techniques to reduce dose, limit contamination spread and minimize the amount of radioactive waste generated. Progress on the cleanup has,b6en steady and Hanford workers have learned to use different types of engineered controls and ALARA techniques to perform radiological work. The purpose of this presentation is to share the lessons learned on how Hanford is accomplishing radiological work.
Evaluation of Economic Merger Control Techniques Applied to the European Electricity Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vandezande, Leen; Meeus, Leonardo; Delvaux, Bram; Van Calster, Geert; Belmans, Ronnie

2006-01-01

With European electricity markets not yet functioning on a competitive basis and consolidation increasing, the European Commission has said it intends to more intensively apply competition law in the electricity sector. Yet economic techniques and theories used in EC merger control fail to take sufficiently into account some specific features of electricity markets. The authors offer suggestions to enhance their reliability and applicability in the electricity sector. (author)
Object oriented programming techniques applied to device access and control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goetz, A.; Klotz, W.D.; Meyer, J.

1992-01-01

In this paper a model, called the device server model, has been presented for solving the problem of device access and control faced by all control systems. Object Oriented Programming techniques were used to achieve a powerful yet flexible solution. The model provides a solution to the problem which hides device dependancies. It defines a software framework which has to be respected by implementors of device classes - this is very useful for developing groupware. The decision to implement remote access in the root class means that device servers can be easily integrated in a distributed control system. A lot of the advantages and features of the device server model are due to the adoption of OOP techniques. The main conclusion that can be drawn from this paper is that 1. the device access and control problem is adapted to being solved with OOP techniques, 2. OOP techniques offer a distinct advantage over traditional programming techniques for solving the device access problem. (J.P.N.)
Volcanic Monitoring Techniques Applied to Controlled Fragmentation Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Kueppers, U.; Alatorre-Ibarguengoitia, M. A.; Hort, M. K.; Kremers, S.; Meier, K.; Scharff, L.; Scheu, B.; Taddeucci, J.; Dingwell, D. B.

2010-12-01

Volcanic eruptions are an inevitable natural threat. The range of eruptive styles is large and short term fluctuations of explosivity or vent position pose a large risk that is not necessarily confined to the immediate vicinity of a volcano. Explosive eruptions rather may also affect aviation, infrastructure and climate, regionally as well as globally. Multiparameter monitoring networks are deployed on many active volcanoes to record signs of magmatic processes and help elucidate the secrets of volcanic phenomena. However, our mechanistic understanding of many processes hiding in recorded signals is still poor. As a direct consequence, a solid interpretation of the state of a volcano is still a challenge. In an attempt to bridge this gap, we combined volcanic monitoring and experimental volcanology. We performed 15 well-monitored, field-based, experiments and fragmented natural rock samples from Colima volcano (Mexico) by rapid decompression. We used cylindrical samples of 60 mm height and 25 mm and 60 mm diameter, respectively, and 25 and 35 vol.% open porosity. The applied pressure range was from 4 to 18 MPa. Using different experimental set-ups, the pressurised volume above the samples ranged from 60 - 170 cm3. The experiments were performed at ambient conditions and at controlled sample porosity and size, confinement geometry, and applied pressure. The experiments have been thoroughly monitored with 1) Doppler Radar (DR), 2) high-speed and high-definition cameras, 3) acoustic and infrasound sensors, 4) pressure transducers, and 5) electrically conducting wires. Our aim was to check for common results achieved by the different approaches and, if so, calibrate state-of-the-art monitoring tools. We present how the velocity of the ejected pyroclasts was measured by and evaluated for the different approaches and how it was affected by the experimental conditions and sample characteristics. We show that all deployed instruments successfully measured the pyroclast
Applying contemporary statistical techniques

CERN Document Server

Wilcox, Rand R

2003-01-01

Applying Contemporary Statistical Techniques explains why traditional statistical methods are often inadequate or outdated when applied to modern problems. Wilcox demonstrates how new and more powerful techniques address these problems far more effectively, making these modern robust methods understandable, practical, and easily accessible.* Assumes no previous training in statistics * Explains how and why modern statistical methods provide more accurate results than conventional methods* Covers the latest developments on multiple comparisons * Includes recent advanc
Applied Control Systems Design

CERN Document Server

Mahmoud, Magdi S

2012-01-01

Applied Control System Design examines several methods for building up systems models based on real experimental data from typical industrial processes and incorporating system identification techniques. The text takes a comparative approach to the models derived in this way judging their suitability for use in different systems and under different operational circumstances. A broad spectrum of control methods including various forms of filtering, feedback and feedforward control is applied to the models and the guidelines derived from the closed-loop responses are then composed into a concrete self-tested recipe to serve as a check-list for industrial engineers or control designers. System identification and control design are given equal weight in model derivation and testing to reflect their equality of importance in the proper design and optimization of high-performance control systems. Readers’ assimilation of the material discussed is assisted by the provision of problems and examples. Most of these e...
State and data techniques for control of discontinuous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisner, R.A.

1986-01-01

This paper describes a technique for structured analysis and design of automated control systems. The technique integrates control of continuous and discontinuous nuclear power plant subsystems and components. A hierarchical control system with distributed intelligence follows from applying the technique. Further, it can be applied to all phases of control system design. For simplicity, the example used in the paper is limited to phase 1 design (basic automatic control action), in which no maintenance, testing, or contingency capability is attempted. 11 figs
Positron Plasma Control Techniques Applied to Studies of Cold Antihydrogen

CERN Document Server

Funakoshi, Ryo

2003-01-01

In the year 2002, two experiments at CERN succeeded in producing cold antihydrogen atoms, first ATHENA and subsequently ATRAP. Following on these results, it is now feasible to use antihydrogen to study the properties of antimatter. In the ATHENA experiment, the cold antihydrogen atoms are produced by mixing large amounts of antiprotons and positrons in a nested Penning trap. The complicated behaviors of the charged particles are controlled and monitored by plasma manipulation techniques. The antihydrogen events are studied using position sensitive detectors and the evidence of production of antihydrogen atoms is separated out with the help of analysis software. This thesis covers the first production of cold antihydrogen in the first section as well as the further studies of cold antihydrogen performed by using the plasma control techniques in the second section.
Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

1991-01-01

The sterile insect technique involves the mass-rearing of insects, which are sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source before being released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produce no progeny, and so if enough of these matings occur the pest population can be controlled or even eradicated. A modification of the technique, especially suitable for the suppression of the moths and butterflies, is called the F, or inherited sterility method. In this, lower radiation doses are used such that the released males are only partially sterile (30-60%) and the females are fully sterile. When released males mate with native females some progeny are produced, but they are completely sterile. Thus, full expression of the sterility is delayed by one generation. This article describes the use of the sterile insect technique in controlling the screwworm fly, the tsetse fly, the medfly, the pink bollworm and the melon fly, and of the F 1 sterility method in the eradication of local gypsy moth infestations. 18 refs, 5 figs, 1 tab
Development of adaptive control applied to chaotic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Rhode, Martin Andreas

1997-12-01

Continuous-time derivative control and adaptive map-based recursive feedback control techniques are used to control chaos in a variety of systems and in situations that are of practical interest. The theoretical part of the research includes the review of fundamental concept of control theory in the context of its applications to deterministic chaotic systems, the development of a new adaptive algorithm to identify the linear system properties necessary for control, and the extension of the recursive proportional feedback control technique, RPF, to high dimensional systems. Chaos control was applied to models of a thermal pulsed combustor, electro-chemical dissolution and the hyperchaotic Rossler system. Important implications for combustion engineering were suggested by successful control of the model of the thermal pulsed combustor. The system was automatically tracked while maintaining control into regions of parameter and state space where no stable attractors exist. In a simulation of the electrochemical dissolution system, application of derivative control to stabilize a steady state, and adaptive RPF to stabilize a period one orbit, was demonstrated. The high dimensional adaptive control algorithm was applied in a simulation using the Rossler hyperchaotic system, where a period-two orbit with two unstable directions was stabilized and tracked over a wide range of a system parameter. In the experimental part, the electrochemical system was studied in parameter space, by scanning the applied potential and the frequency of the rotating copper disk. The automated control algorithm is demonstrated to be effective when applied to stabilize a period-one orbit in the experiment. We show the necessity of small random perturbations applied to the system in order to both learn the dynamics and control the system at the same time. The simultaneous learning and control capability is shown to be an important part of the active feedback control.
fuzzy control technique fuzzy control technique applied to modified

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eobe

epidemiological parameters) to the malaria model simulated by 9 fully ... The Mamdani controllers use a standard max-min inference process and a fast centre of min inference process and a ... Numerical results obtained using Matlab 2008a software software .... simulation environment using the 9 ODE Simulators. The test ...
Applying of USB interface technique in nuclear spectrum acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Jianbin; Huang Jinhua

2004-01-01

This paper introduces applying of USB technique and constructing nuclear spectrum acquisition system via PC's USB interface. The authors choose the USB component USB100 module and the W77E58μc to do the key work. It's easy to apply USB interface technique, when USB100 module is used. USB100 module can be treated as a common I/O component for the μc controller, and can be treated as a communication interface (COM) when connected to PC' USB interface. It's easy to modify the PC's program for the new system with USB100 module. The authors can smoothly change from ISA, RS232 bus to USB bus. (authors)
Applied methods and techniques for mechatronic systems modelling, identification and control

CERN Document Server

Zhu, Quanmin; Cheng, Lei; Wang, Yongji; Zhao, Dongya

2014-01-01

Applied Methods and Techniques for Mechatronic Systems brings together the relevant studies in mechatronic systems with the latest research from interdisciplinary theoretical studies, computational algorithm development and exemplary applications. Readers can easily tailor the techniques in this book to accommodate their ad hoc applications. The clear structure of each paper, background - motivation - quantitative development (equations) - case studies/illustration/tutorial (curve, table, etc.) is also helpful. It is mainly aimed at graduate students, professors and academic researchers in related fields, but it will also be helpful to engineers and scientists from industry. Lei Liu is a lecturer at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China; Quanmin Zhu is a professor at University of the West of England, UK; Lei Cheng is an associate professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, China; Yongji Wang is a professor at HUST; Dongya Zhao is an associate professor at China University o...
State and data techniques for control of discontinuous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisner, R.A.

1986-01-01

The need for automated control systems becomes clear as the complexity of nuclear power plants increases and economic incentives demand higher plant availability. A control system with intelligence distributed throughout its controllers allows reduction in operator workload, perhaps reduction in crew size, and potentially a reduction in on-line human error. In automated systems of this kind, each controller should be capable of making decisions and carrying out a plan of action. This paper describes a technique for structured analysis and design of automated control systems. The technique integrates control of continuous and discontinuous nuclear power plant subsystems and components. A hierarchical control system with distributed intelligence follows from applying the technique. Further, it can be applied to all phases of control system design. For simplicity, the example used in the paper is limited to phase I design (basic automatic control action), in which no maintenance, testing, or contingency capability is attempted
Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaChance, L.E.; Klassen, W.

1991-01-01

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a 60 Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment
Applying the sterile insect technique to the control of insect pests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LaChance, L E; Klassen, W [Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna (Austria)

1991-09-01

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is basically a novel twentieth century approach to insect birth control. It is species specific and exploits the mate seeking behaviour of the insect. The basic principle is simple. Insects are mass reared in 'factories' and sexually sterilized by gamma rays from a {sup 60}Co source. The sterile insects are then released in a controlled fashion into nature. Matings between the sterile insects released and native insects produced no progeny. If enough of these matings take place, reproduction of the pest population decreases. With continued release, the pest population can be controlled and in some cases eradicated. In the light of the many important applications of the SIT worldwide and the great potential that SIT concepts hold for insect and pest control in developing countries, two special benefits should be stressed. Of greatest significance is the fact that the SIT permits suppression and eradication of insect pests in an environmentally harmless manner. It combines nuclear techniques with genetic approaches and, in effect, replaces intensive use of chemicals in pest control. Although chemicals are used sparingly at the outset in some SIT programmes to reduce the size of the pest population before releases of sterilized insects are started, the total amount of chemicals used in an SIT programme is a mere fraction of what would be used without the SIT. It is also of great importance that the SIT is not designed strictly for the eradication of pest species but can readily be used in the suppression of insect populations. In fact, the SIT is ideally suited for use in conjunction with other agricultural pest control practices such as the use of parasites and predators, attractants and cultural controls (e.g. ploughing under or destruction of crop residues) in integrated pest management programmes to achieve control at the lowest possible price and with a minimum of chemical contamination of the environment.
Two applications of airtightness control techniques on big assemblies

CERN Document Server

Devallan, C; Marcellin, J

1973-01-01

Deals with two airtightness control techniques respectively applied on intersecting storage rings (ISR) at CERN in Geneva and on a liquid methane storage tank. These two big assemblies called for two different control techniques which use helium and ammonia respectively as tracer gas. Existing practical leakage detection techniques to meet industrial needs are discussed at the end of the article. (2 refs).
The impact of applying product-modelling techniques in configurator projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvam, Lars; Kristjansdottir, Katrin; Shafiee, Sara

2018-01-01

This paper aims to increase understanding of the impact of using product-modelling techniques to structure and formalise knowledge in configurator projects. Companies that provide customised products increasingly apply configurators in support of sales and design activities, reaping benefits...... that include shorter lead times, improved quality of specifications and products, and lower overall product costs. The design and implementation of configurators are a challenging task that calls for scientifically based modelling techniques to support the formal representation of configurator knowledge. Even...... the phenomenon model and information model are considered visually, (2) non-UML-based modelling techniques, in which only the phenomenon model is considered and (3) non-formal modelling techniques. This study analyses the impact to companies from increased availability of product knowledge and improved control...
Active structural control with stable fuzzy PID techniques

CERN Document Server

Yu, Wen

2016-01-01

This book presents a detailed discussion of intelligent techniques to measure the displacement of buildings when they are subjected to vibration. It shows how these techniques are used to control active devices that can reduce vibration 60–80% more effectively than widely used passive anti-seismic systems. After introducing various structural control devices and building-modeling and active structural control methods, the authors propose offset cancellation and high-pass filtering techniques to solve some common problems of building-displacement measurement using accelerometers. The most popular control algorithms in industrial settings, PD/PID controllers, are then analyzed and then combined with fuzzy compensation. The stability of this combination is proven with standard weight-training algorithms. These conditions provide explicit methods for selecting PD/PID controllers. Finally, fuzzy-logic and sliding-mode control are applied to the control of wind-induced vibration. The methods described are support...

Applying AI techniques to improve alarm display effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, J.M.; Birrer, S.A.; Crosberg, D.R.

1987-01-01

The Alarm Filtering System (AFS) addresses the problem of information overload in a control room during abnormal operations. Since operators can miss vital information during these periods, systems which emphasize important messages are beneficial. AFS uses the artificial intelligence (AI) technique of object-oriented programming to filter and dynamically prioritize alarm messages. When an alarm's status changes, AFS determines the relative importance of that change according to the current process state. AFS bases that relative importance on relationships the newly changed alarm has with other activated alarms. Evaluations of a alarm importance take place without regard to the activation sequence of alarm signals. The United States Department of Energy has applied for a patent on the approach used in this software. The approach was originally developed by EG and G Idaho for a nuclear reactor control room
Technique applied in electrical power distribution for Satellite Launch Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Maurício Rosário

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The Satellite Launch Vehicle electrical network, which is currently being developed in Brazil, is sub-divided for analysis in the following parts: Service Electrical Network, Controlling Electrical Network, Safety Electrical Network and Telemetry Electrical Network. During the pre-launching and launching phases, these electrical networks are associated electrically and mechanically to the structure of the vehicle. In order to succeed in the integration of these electrical networks it is necessary to employ techniques of electrical power distribution, which are proper to Launch Vehicle systems. This work presents the most important techniques to be considered in the characterization of the electrical power supply applied to Launch Vehicle systems. Such techniques are primarily designed to allow the electrical networks, when submitted to the single-phase fault to ground, to be able of keeping the power supply to the loads.
Active load control techniques for wind turbines.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Dam, C.P. (University of California, Davis, CA); Berg, Dale E.; Johnson, Scott J. (University of California, Davis, CA)

2008-07-01

This report provides an overview on the current state of wind turbine control and introduces a number of active techniques that could be potentially used for control of wind turbine blades. The focus is on research regarding active flow control (AFC) as it applies to wind turbine performance and loads. The techniques and concepts described here are often described as 'smart structures' or 'smart rotor control'. This field is rapidly growing and there are numerous concepts currently being investigated around the world; some concepts already are focused on the wind energy industry and others are intended for use in other fields, but have the potential for wind turbine control. An AFC system can be broken into three categories: controls and sensors, actuators and devices, and the flow phenomena. This report focuses on the research involved with the actuators and devices and the generated flow phenomena caused by each device.
Automatic diameter control system applied to the laser heated pedestal growth technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreeta M.R.B.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available We described an automatic diameter control system (ADC, for the laser heated pedestal growth technique, that reduces the diameter fluctuations in oxide fibers grown from unreacted and non-sinterized pedestals, to less than 2% of the average fiber diameter, and diminishes the average diameter fluctuation, over the entire length of the fiber, to less than 1%. The ADC apparatus is based on an artificial vision system that controls the pulling speed and the height of the molten zone within a precision of 30 mum. We also show that this system can be used for periodic in situ axial doping the fiber. Pure and Cr3+ doped LaAlO3 and pure LiNbO3 were usedas model materials.
On-line diagnostic techniques for air-operated control valves based on time series analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Kenji; Matsuoka, Yoshinori; Minamikawa, Shigeru; Komatsu, Yasuki; Satoh, Takeshi.

1996-01-01

The objective of this research is to study the feasibility of applying on-line diagnostic techniques based on time series analysis to air-operated control valves - numerous valves of the type which are used in PWR plants. Generally the techniques can detect anomalies by failures in the initial stages for which detection is difficult by conventional surveillance of process parameters measured directly. However, the effectiveness of these techniques depends on the system being diagnosed. The difficulties in applying diagnostic techniques to air-operated control valves seem to come from the reduced sensitivity of their response as compared with hydraulic control systems, as well as the need to identify anomalies in low level signals that fluctuate only slightly but continuously. In this research, simulation tests were performed by setting various kinds of failure modes for a test valve with the same specifications as of a valve actually used in the plants. Actual control signals recorded from an operating plant were then used as input signals for simulation. The results of the tests confirmed the feasibility of applying on-line diagnostic techniques based on time series analysis to air-operated control valves. (author)
Statistic techniques of process control for MTR type

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, F.S.; Ferrufino, F.B.J.; Santos, G.R.T.; Lima, R.M.

2002-01-01

This work aims at introducing some improvements on the fabrication of MTR type fuel plates, applying statistic techniques of process control. The work was divided into four single steps and their data were analyzed for: fabrication of U 3 O 8 fuel plates; fabrication of U 3 Si 2 fuel plates; rolling of small lots of fuel plates; applying statistic tools and standard specifications to perform a comparative study of these processes. (author)
Application of Multivariable Statistical Techniques in Plant-wide WWTP Control Strategies Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flores Alsina, Xavier; Comas, J.; Rodríguez-Roda, I.

2007-01-01

The main objective of this paper is to present the application of selected multivariable statistical techniques in plant-wide wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) control strategies analysis. In this study, cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) and discriminant...... analysis (DA) are applied to the evaluation matrix data set obtained by simulation of several control strategies applied to the plant-wide IWA Benchmark Simulation Model No 2 (BSM2). These techniques allow i) to determine natural groups or clusters of control strategies with a similar behaviour, ii......) to find and interpret hidden, complex and casual relation features in the data set and iii) to identify important discriminant variables within the groups found by the cluster analysis. This study illustrates the usefulness of multivariable statistical techniques for both analysis and interpretation...
Advanced analytical techniques for boiling water reactor chemistry control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alder, H P; Schenker, E [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

1997-02-01

The analytical techniques applied can be divided into 5 classes: OFF-LINE (discontinuous, central lab), AT-LINE (discontinuous, analysis near loop), ON-LINE (continuous, analysis in bypass). In all cases pressure and temperature of the water sample are reduced. In a strict sense only IN-LINE (continuous, flow disturbance) and NON-INVASIVE (continuous, no flow disturbance) techniques are suitable for direct process control; - the ultimate goal. An overview of the analytical techniques tested in the pilot loop is given. Apart from process and overall water quality control, standard for BWR operation, the main emphasis is on water impurity characterization (crud particles, hot filtration, organic carbon); on stress corrosion crackling control for materials (corrosion potential, oxygen concentration) and on the characterization of the oxide layer on austenites (impedance spectroscopy, IR-reflection). The above mentioned examples of advanced analytical techniques have the potential of in-line or non-invasive application. They are different stages of development and are described in more detail. 28 refs, 1 fig., 5 tabs.
Review. Advantages and disadvantages of control theories applied in greenhouse climate control systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duarte-Galvan, C.; Torres-Pacheco, I.; Guevara-Gonzalez, R. G.; Romero-Troncoso, R. J.; Contreras-Medina, L. M.; Rios-Alcaraz, M. A.; Millan-Almaraz, J. R.

2012-07-01

Today agriculture is changing in response to the requirements of modern society, where ensuring food supply through practices such as water conservation, reduction of agrochemicals and the required planted surface, which guarantees high quality crops are in demand. Greenhouses have proven to be a reliable solution to achieve these goals; however, a greenhouse as a means for protected agriculture has the potential to lead to serious problems. The most of these are related to the inside greenhouse climate conditions where controlling the temperature and relative humidity (RH) are the main objectives of engineering. Achieving appropriate climate conditions to ensure high yield and quality crops reducing energy consumption have been the objective of investigations for some time. Different schemes in control theories have been applied in this field to solve the aforementioned problems. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present a review of different control techniques applied in protected agriculture to manage greenhouse climate conditions, presenting advantages and disadvantages of developed control platforms in order to suggest a design methodology according to results obtained from different investigations. (Author) 64 refs.
Contamination Control Techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

EBY, J.L.

2000-05-16

Welcome to a workshop on contamination Control techniques. This work shop is designed for about two hours. Attendee participation is encouraged during the workshop. We will address different topics within contamination control techniques; present processes, products and equipment used here at Hanford and then open the floor to you, the attendees for your input on the topics.
Contamination Control Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EBY, J.L.

2000-01-01

Welcome to a workshop on contamination Control techniques. This work shop is designed for about two hours. Attendee participation is encouraged during the workshop. We will address different topics within contamination control techniques; present processes, products and equipment used here at Hanford and then open the floor to you, the attendees for your input on the topics
Application of Artificial Intelligence Techniques for the Control of the Asynchronous Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Khammar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The induction machine is experiencing a growing success for two decades by gradually replacing the DC machines and synchronous in many industrial applications. This paper is devoted to the study of advanced methods applied to the command of the asynchronous machine in order to obtain a system of control of high performance. While the criteria for response time, overtaking, and static error can be assured by the techniques of conventional control, the criterion of robustness remains a challenge for researchers. This criterion can be satisfied only by applying advanced techniques of command. After mathematical modeling of the asynchronous machine, it defines the control strategies based on the orientation of the rotor flux. The results of the different simulation tests highlight the properties of robustness of algorithms proposed and suggested to compare the different control strategies.
Simple robust technique using time delay estimation for the control and synchronization of Lorenz systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Maolin; Chang, Pyung Hun

2009-01-01

This work presents two simple and robust techniques based on time delay estimation for the respective control and synchronization of chaos systems. First, one of these techniques is applied to the control of a chaotic Lorenz system with both matched and mismatched uncertainties. The nonlinearities in the Lorenz system is cancelled by time delay estimation and desired error dynamics is inserted. Second, the other technique is applied to the synchronization of the Lue system and the Lorenz system with uncertainties. The synchronization input consists of three elements that have transparent and clear meanings. Since time delay estimation enables a very effective and efficient cancellation of disturbances and nonlinearities, the techniques turn out to be simple and robust. Numerical simulation results show fast, accurate and robust performance of the proposed techniques, thereby demonstrating their effectiveness for the control and synchronization of Lorenz systems.
Linear and Non-Linear Control Techniques Applied to Actively Lubricated Journal Bearings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nicoletti, Rodrigo; Santos, Ilmar

2003-01-01

The main objectives of actively lubricated bearings are the simultaneous reduction of wear and vibration between rotating and stationary machinery parts. For reducing wear and dissipating vibration energy until certain limits, one can count with the conventional hydrodynamic lubrication. For furt......The main objectives of actively lubricated bearings are the simultaneous reduction of wear and vibration between rotating and stationary machinery parts. For reducing wear and dissipating vibration energy until certain limits, one can count with the conventional hydrodynamic lubrication....... For further reduction of shaft vibrations one can count with the active lubrication action, which is based on injecting pressurised oil into the bearing gap through orifices machined in the bearing sliding surface. The design and efficiency of some linear (PD, PI and PID) and non-linear controllers, applied...... vibration reduction of unbalance response of a rigid rotor, where the PD and the non-linear P controllers show better performance for the frequency range of study (0 to 80 Hz). The feasibility of eliminating rotor-bearing instabilities (phenomena of whirl) by using active lubrication is also investigated...
Chemical vapor deposition: A technique for applying protective coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wallace, T.C. Sr.; Bowman, M.G.

1979-01-01

Chemical vapor deposition is discussed as a technique for applying coatings for materials protection in energy systems. The fundamentals of the process are emphasized in order to establish a basis for understanding the relative advantages and limitations of the technique. Several examples of the successful application of CVD coating are described. 31 refs., and 18 figs.
Statistical learning techniques applied to epidemiology: a simulated case-control comparison study with logistic regression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Land Walker H

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background When investigating covariate interactions and group associations with standard regression analyses, the relationship between the response variable and exposure may be difficult to characterize. When the relationship is nonlinear, linear modeling techniques do not capture the nonlinear information content. Statistical learning (SL techniques with kernels are capable of addressing nonlinear problems without making parametric assumptions. However, these techniques do not produce findings relevant for epidemiologic interpretations. A simulated case-control study was used to contrast the information embedding characteristics and separation boundaries produced by a specific SL technique with logistic regression (LR modeling representing a parametric approach. The SL technique was comprised of a kernel mapping in combination with a perceptron neural network. Because the LR model has an important epidemiologic interpretation, the SL method was modified to produce the analogous interpretation and generate odds ratios for comparison. Results The SL approach is capable of generating odds ratios for main effects and risk factor interactions that better capture nonlinear relationships between exposure variables and outcome in comparison with LR. Conclusions The integration of SL methods in epidemiology may improve both the understanding and interpretation of complex exposure/disease relationships.
Early counterpulse technique applied to vacuum interrupters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warren, R.W.

1979-11-01

Interruption of dc currents using counterpulse techniques is investigated with vacuum interrupters and a novel approach in which the counterpulse is applied before contact separation. Important increases have been achieved in this way in the maximum interruptible current as well as large reductions in contact erosion. The factors establishing these new limits are presented and ways are discussed to make further improvements
Active vibration control by robust control techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lohar, F.A.

2001-01-01

This paper studies active vibration control of multi-degree-of-freedom system. The control techniques considered are LTR, H/sup 2/ and H/sup infinite/. The results show that LTR controls the vibration but its respective settling time is higher than that of the other techniques. The control performance of H/sup infinite/ control is similar to that of H/sup 2/ control in the case of it weighting functions. However, H/sup infinite/ control is superior to H/sup 2/ control with respect to robustness, steady state error and settling time. (author)
In vitro Seed-dressing Technique for the Control of Seed-borne ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In vitro Seed-dressing Technique for the Control of Seed-borne Fungi of Rice variety Faro -29. ... Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management ... Fernasan-D, Apron Plus 50 DS and Dithane–M45), and soaking and slurry methods at various concentrations, for the control of seed-borne fungi of rice variety
Gamma-radiography techniques applied to quality control of welds in water pipe lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, W.; Oki, H.

1974-01-01

Non-destructive testing of welds may be done by the gamma-radiography technique, in order to detect the presence or absence of discontinuities and defects in the bulk of deposited metal and near the base metal. Gamma-radiography allows the documentation of the test with a complete inspection record, which is a fact not common in other non-destructive testing methods. In the quality control of longitudinal or transversal welds in water pipe lines, two exposition techniques are used: double wall and panoramic exposition. Three different water pipe lines systems have analysed for weld defects, giving a total of 16,000 gamma-radiographies. The tests were made according to the criteria established by the ASME standard. The principal metallic discontinuites found in the weld were: porosity (32%), lack of penetration (29%), lack of fusion (20%), and slag inclusion (19%). The percentage of gamma-radiographies showing welds without defects was 39% (6168 gamma-radiographies). On the other hand, 53% (8502 gamma-radiographies) showed the presence of acceptable discontinuities and 8% (1330 gamma-radiographies) were rejected according to the ASME standards [pt

Synchronization of uncertain time-varying network based on sliding mode control technique

Science.gov (United States)

Lü, Ling; Li, Chengren; Bai, Suyuan; Li, Gang; Rong, Tingting; Gao, Yan; Yan, Zhe

2017-09-01

We research synchronization of uncertain time-varying network based on sliding mode control technique. The sliding mode control technique is first modified so that it can be applied to network synchronization. Further, by choosing the appropriate sliding surface, the identification law of uncertain parameter, the adaptive law of the time-varying coupling matrix element and the control input of network are designed, it is sure that the uncertain time-varying network can synchronize effectively the synchronization target. At last, we perform some numerical simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.
Early counterpulse technique applied to vacuum interrupters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warren, R.W.

1979-01-01

Interruption of dc currents using counterpulse techniques is investigated with vacuum interrupters and a novel approach in which the counterpulse is applied before contact separation. Important increases have been achieved in this way in the maximum interruptible current and large reductions in contact erosion. The factors establishing these new limits are presented and ways are discussed to make further improvements to the maximum interruptible current
Fuzzy model predictive control algorithm applied in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuheir, Ahmad

2006-01-01

The aim of this paper is to design a predictive controller based on a fuzzy model. The Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model with an Adaptive B-splines neuro-fuzzy implementation is used and incorporated as a predictor in a predictive controller. An optimization approach with a simplified gradient technique is used to calculate predictions of the future control actions. In this approach, adaptation of the fuzzy model using dynamic process information is carried out to build the predictive controller. The easy description of the fuzzy model and the easy computation of the gradient sector during the optimization procedure are the main advantages of the computation algorithm. The algorithm is applied to the control of a U-tube steam generation unit (UTSG) used for electricity generation. (author)
Computational optimization techniques applied to microgrids planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gamarra, Carlos; Guerrero, Josep M.

2015-01-01

Microgrids are expected to become part of the next electric power system evolution, not only in rural and remote areas but also in urban communities. Since microgrids are expected to coexist with traditional power grids (such as district heating does with traditional heating systems......), their planning process must be addressed to economic feasibility, as a long-term stability guarantee. Planning a microgrid is a complex process due to existing alternatives, goals, constraints and uncertainties. Usually planning goals conflict each other and, as a consequence, different optimization problems...... appear along the planning process. In this context, technical literature about optimization techniques applied to microgrid planning have been reviewed and the guidelines for innovative planning methodologies focused on economic feasibility can be defined. Finally, some trending techniques and new...
Software factory techniques applied to process control at CERN

CERN Document Server

Dutour, Mathias D

2008-01-01

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) requires constant monitoring and control of quantities of parameters to guarantee operational conditions. For this purpose, a methodology called UNICOS (UNIfied Industrial COntrols Systems) has been implemented to standardize the design of process control applications. To further accelerate the development of these applications, we migrated our existing UNICOS tooling suite toward a software factory in charge of assembling project, domain and technical information seamlessly into deployable PLC (Programmable logic Controller) - SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems. This software factory delivers consistently high quality by reducing human error and repetitive tasks, and adapts to user specifications in a cost-efficient way. Hence, this production tool is designed to encapsulate and hide the PLC and SCADA target platforms, enabling the experts to focus on the business model rather than specific syntaxes and grammars. Based on industry standard software, ...
Applying traditional signal processing techniques to social media exploitation for situational understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelzaher, Tarek; Roy, Heather; Wang, Shiguang; Giridhar, Prasanna; Al Amin, Md. Tanvir; Bowman, Elizabeth K.; Kolodny, Michael A.

2016-05-01

Signal processing techniques such as filtering, detection, estimation and frequency domain analysis have long been applied to extract information from noisy sensor data. This paper describes the exploitation of these signal processing techniques to extract information from social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram. Specifically, we view social networks as noisy sensors that report events in the physical world. We then present a data processing stack for detection, localization, tracking, and veracity analysis of reported events using social network data. We show using a controlled experiment that the behavior of social sources as information relays varies dramatically depending on context. In benign contexts, there is general agreement on events, whereas in conflict scenarios, a significant amount of collective filtering is introduced by conflicted groups, creating a large data distortion. We describe signal processing techniques that mitigate such distortion, resulting in meaningful approximations of actual ground truth, given noisy reported observations. Finally, we briefly present an implementation of the aforementioned social network data processing stack in a sensor network analysis toolkit, called Apollo. Experiences with Apollo show that our techniques are successful at identifying and tracking credible events in the physical world.
Software factory techniques applied to Process Control at CERN

CERN Multimedia

Dutour, MD

2007-01-01

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) requires constant monitoring and control of quantities of parameters to guarantee operational conditions. For this purpose, a methodology called UNICOS (UNIfied Industrial COntrols Systems) has been implemented to standardize the design of process control applications. To further accelerate the development of these applications, we migrated our existing UNICOS tooling suite toward a software factory in charge of assembling project, domain and technical information seamlessly into deployable PLC (Programmable logic Controller) – SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems. This software factory delivers consistently high quality by reducing human error and repetitive tasks, and adapts to user specifications in a cost-efficient way. Hence, this production tool is designed to encapsulate and hide the PLC and SCADA target platforms, enabling the experts to focus on the business model rather than specific syntaxes and grammars. Based on industry standard software...
Software factory techniques applied to process control at CERN

OpenAIRE

Dutour, Mathias D

2007-01-01

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) requires constant monitoring and control of quantities of parameters to guarantee operational conditions. For this purpose, a methodology called UNICOS (UNIfied Industrial COntrols Systems) has been implemented to standardize the design of process control applications. To further accelerate the development of these applications, we migrated our existing UNICOS tooling suite toward a software factory in charge of assembling project, domain and technical inf...
Statistical Techniques for Project Control

CERN Document Server

Badiru, Adedeji B

2012-01-01

A project can be simple or complex. In each case, proven project management processes must be followed. In all cases of project management implementation, control must be exercised in order to assure that project objectives are achieved. Statistical Techniques for Project Control seamlessly integrates qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques for project control. It fills the void that exists in the application of statistical techniques to project control. The book begins by defining the fundamentals of project management then explores how to temper quantitative analysis with qualitati
The digital geometric phase technique applied to the deformation evaluation of MEMS devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Z W; Xie, H M; Gu, C Z; Meng, Y G

2009-01-01

Quantitative evaluation of the structure deformation of microfabricated electromechanical systems is of importance for the design and functional control of microsystems. In this investigation, a novel digital geometric phase technique was developed to meet the deformation evaluation requirement of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The technique is performed on the basis of regular artificial lattices, instead of a natural atom lattice. The regular artificial lattices with a pitch ranging from micrometer to nanometer will be directly fabricated on the measured surface of MEMS devices by using a focused ion beam (FIB). Phase information can be obtained from the Bragg filtered images after fast Fourier transform (FFT) and inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) of the scanning electronic microscope (SEM) images. Then the in-plane displacement field and the local strain field related to the phase information will be evaluated. The obtained results show that the technique can be well applied to deformation measurement with nanometer sensitivity and stiction force estimation of a MEMS device
Adaptive Control Using Residual Mode Filters Applied to Wind Turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Susan A.; Balas, Mark J.

2011-01-01

Many dynamic systems containing a large number of modes can benefit from adaptive control techniques, which are well suited to applications that have unknown parameters and poorly known operating conditions. In this paper, we focus on a model reference direct adaptive control approach that has been extended to handle adaptive rejection of persistent disturbances. We extend this adaptive control theory to accommodate problematic modal subsystems of a plant that inhibit the adaptive controller by causing the open-loop plant to be non-minimum phase. We will augment the adaptive controller using a Residual Mode Filter (RMF) to compensate for problematic modal subsystems, thereby allowing the system to satisfy the requirements for the adaptive controller to have guaranteed convergence and bounded gains. We apply these theoretical results to design an adaptive collective pitch controller for a high-fidelity simulation of a utility-scale, variable-speed wind turbine that has minimum phase zeros.
On the Active and Passive Flow Separation Control Techniques over Airfoils

Science.gov (United States)

Moghaddam, Tohid; Banazadeh Neishabouri, Nafiseh

2017-10-01

In the present work, recent advances in the field of the active and passive flow separation control, particularly blowing and suction flow control techniques, applied on the common airfoils are briefly reviewed. This broad research area has remained the point of interest for many years as it is applicable to various applications. The suction and blowing flow control methods, among other methods, are more technically feasible and market ready techniques. It is well established that the uniform and/or oscillatory blowing and suction flow control mechanisms significantly improve the lift-to-drag ratio, and further, postpone the boundary layer separation as well as the stall. The oscillatory blowing and suction flow control, however, is more efficient compared to the uniform one. A wide range of parameters is involved in controlling the behavior of a blowing and/or suction flow control, including the location, length, and angle of the jet slots. The oscillation range of the jet slot is another substantial parameter.
Application of the control variate technique to estimation of total sensitivity indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucherenko, S.; Delpuech, B.; Iooss, B.; Tarantola, S.

2015-01-01

Global sensitivity analysis is widely used in many areas of science, biology, sociology and policy planning. The variance-based methods also known as Sobol' sensitivity indices has become the method of choice among practitioners due to its efficiency and ease of interpretation. For complex practical problems, estimation of Sobol' sensitivity indices generally requires a large number of function evaluations to achieve reasonable convergence. To improve the efficiency of the Monte Carlo estimates for the Sobol' total sensitivity indices we apply the control variate reduction technique and develop a new formula for evaluation of total sensitivity indices. Presented results using well known test functions show the efficiency of the developed technique. - Highlights: • We analyse the efficiency of the Monte Carlo estimates of Sobol' sensitivity indices. • The control variate technique is applied for estimation of total sensitivity indices. • We develop a new formula for evaluation of Sobol' total sensitivity indices. • We present test results demonstrating the high efficiency of the developed formula
Statistical process control applied to the manufacturing of beryllia ceramics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, G.P.; Jech, D.E.; Sepulveda, J.L.

1991-01-01

To compete effectively in an international market, scrap and re-work costs must be minimized. Statistical Process Control (SPC) provides powerful tools to optimize production performance. These techniques are currently being applied to the forming, metallizing, and brazing of beryllia ceramic components. This paper describes specific examples of applications of SPC to dry-pressing of beryllium oxide 2x2 substrates, to Mo-Mn refractory metallization, and to metallization and brazing of plasma tubes used in lasers where adhesion strength is critical
Current control design for three-phase grid-connected inverters using a pole placement technique based on numerical models

OpenAIRE

Citro, Costantino; Gavriluta, Catalin; Nizak Md, H. K.; Beltran, H.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a design procedure for linear current controllers of three-phase grid-connected inverters. The proposed method consists in deriving a numerical model of the converter by using software simulations and applying the pole placement technique to design the controller with the desired performances. A clear example on how to apply the technique is provided. The effectiveness of the proposed design procedure has been verified through the experimental results obtained with ...
Diagonal ordering operation technique applied to Morse oscillator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Popov, Dušan, E-mail: dusan_popov@yahoo.co.uk [Politehnica University Timisoara, Department of Physical Foundations of Engineering, Bd. V. Parvan No. 2, 300223 Timisoara (Romania); Dong, Shi-Hai [CIDETEC, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Unidad Profesional Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Mexico D.F. 07700 (Mexico); Popov, Miodrag [Politehnica University Timisoara, Department of Steel Structures and Building Mechanics, Traian Lalescu Street, No. 2/A, 300223 Timisoara (Romania)

2015-11-15

We generalize the technique called as the integration within a normally ordered product (IWOP) of operators referring to the creation and annihilation operators of the harmonic oscillator coherent states to a new operatorial approach, i.e. the diagonal ordering operation technique (DOOT) about the calculations connected with the normally ordered product of generalized creation and annihilation operators that generate the generalized hypergeometric coherent states. We apply this technique to the coherent states of the Morse oscillator including the mixed (thermal) state case and get the well-known results achieved by other methods in the corresponding coherent state representation. Also, in the last section we construct the coherent states for the continuous dynamics of the Morse oscillator by using two new methods: the discrete–continuous limit, respectively by solving a finite difference equation. Finally, we construct the coherent states corresponding to the whole Morse spectrum (discrete plus continuous) and demonstrate their properties according the Klauder’s prescriptions.
Applicability of statistical process control techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schippers, W.A.J.

1998-01-01

This paper concerns the application of Process Control Techniques (PCTs) for the improvement of the technical performance of discrete production processes. Successful applications of these techniques, such as Statistical Process Control Techniques (SPC), can be found in the literature. However, some
Applied potential tomography. A new noninvasive technique for measuring gastric emptying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avill, R.; Mangnall, Y.F.; Bird, N.C.; Brown, B.H.; Barber, D.C.; Seagar, A.D.; Johnson, A.G.; Read, N.W.

1987-01-01

Applied potential tomography is a new, noninvasive technique that yields sequential images of the resistivity of gastric contents after subjects have ingested a liquid or semisolid meal. This study validates the technique as a means of measuring gastric emptying. Experiments in vitro showed an excellent correlation between measurements of resistivity and either the square of the radius of a glass rod or the volume of water in a spherical balloon when both were placed in an oval tank containing saline. Altering the lateral position of the rod in the tank did not alter the values obtained. Images of abdominal resistivity were also directly correlated with the volume of air in a gastric balloon. Profiles of gastric emptying of liquid meals obtained using applied potential tomography were very similar to those obtained using scintigraphy or dye dilution techniques, provided that acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Profiles of emptying of a mashed potato meal using applied potential tomography were also very similar to those obtained by scintigraphy. Measurements of the emptying of a liquid meal from the stomach were reproducible if acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Thus, applied potential tomography is an accurate and reproducible method of measuring gastric emptying of liquids and particulate food. It is inexpensive, well tolerated, easy to use, and ideally suited for multiple studies in patients, even those who are pregnant
Applied potential tomography. A new noninvasive technique for measuring gastric emptying

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Avill, R.; Mangnall, Y.F.; Bird, N.C.; Brown, B.H.; Barber, D.C.; Seagar, A.D.; Johnson, A.G.; Read, N.W.

1987-04-01

Applied potential tomography is a new, noninvasive technique that yields sequential images of the resistivity of gastric contents after subjects have ingested a liquid or semisolid meal. This study validates the technique as a means of measuring gastric emptying. Experiments in vitro showed an excellent correlation between measurements of resistivity and either the square of the radius of a glass rod or the volume of water in a spherical balloon when both were placed in an oval tank containing saline. Altering the lateral position of the rod in the tank did not alter the values obtained. Images of abdominal resistivity were also directly correlated with the volume of air in a gastric balloon. Profiles of gastric emptying of liquid meals obtained using applied potential tomography were very similar to those obtained using scintigraphy or dye dilution techniques, provided that acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Profiles of emptying of a mashed potato meal using applied potential tomography were also very similar to those obtained by scintigraphy. Measurements of the emptying of a liquid meal from the stomach were reproducible if acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Thus, applied potential tomography is an accurate and reproducible method of measuring gastric emptying of liquids and particulate food. It is inexpensive, well tolerated, easy to use, and ideally suited for multiple studies in patients, even those who are pregnant.
Microscale and nanoscale strain mapping techniques applied to creep of rocks

Science.gov (United States)

Quintanilla-Terminel, Alejandra; Zimmerman, Mark E.; Evans, Brian; Kohlstedt, David L.

2017-07-01

Usually several deformation mechanisms interact to accommodate plastic deformation. Quantifying the contribution of each to the total strain is necessary to bridge the gaps from observations of microstructures, to geomechanical descriptions, to extrapolating from laboratory data to field observations. Here, we describe the experimental and computational techniques involved in microscale strain mapping (MSSM), which allows strain produced during high-pressure, high-temperature deformation experiments to be tracked with high resolution. MSSM relies on the analysis of the relative displacement of initially regularly spaced markers after deformation. We present two lithography techniques used to pattern rock substrates at different scales: photolithography and electron-beam lithography. Further, we discuss the challenges of applying the MSSM technique to samples used in high-temperature and high-pressure experiments. We applied the MSSM technique to a study of strain partitioning during creep of Carrara marble and grain boundary sliding in San Carlos olivine, synthetic forsterite, and Solnhofen limestone at a confining pressure, Pc, of 300 MPa and homologous temperatures, T/Tm, of 0.3 to 0.6. The MSSM technique works very well up to temperatures of 700 °C. The experimental developments described here show promising results for higher-temperature applications.

Wire-mesh and ultrasound techniques applied for the characterization of gas-liquid slug flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ofuchi, Cesar Y.; Sieczkowski, Wytila Chagas; Neves Junior, Flavio; Arruda, Lucia V.R.; Morales, Rigoberto E.M.; Amaral, Carlos E.F.; Silva, Marco J. da [Federal University of Technology of Parana, Curitiba, PR (Brazil)], e-mails: ofuchi@utfpr.edu.br, wytila@utfpr.edu.br, neves@utfpr.edu.br, lvrarruda@utfpr.edu.br, rmorales@utfpr.edu.br, camaral@utfpr.edu.br, mdasilva@utfpr.edu.br

2010-07-01

Gas-liquid two-phase flows are found in a broad range of industrial applications, such as chemical, petrochemical and nuclear industries and quite often determine the efficiency and safety of process and plants. Several experimental techniques have been proposed and applied to measure and quantify two-phase flows so far. In this experimental study the wire-mesh sensor and an ultrasound technique are used and comparatively evaluated to study two-phase slug flows in horizontal pipes. The wire-mesh is an imaging technique and thus appropriated for scientific studies while ultrasound-based technique is robust and non-intrusive and hence well suited for industrial applications. Based on the measured raw data it is possible to extract some specific slug flow parameters of interest such as mean void fraction and characteristic frequency. The experiments were performed in the Thermal Sciences Laboratory (LACIT) at UTFPR, Brazil, in which an experimental two-phase flow loop is available. The experimental flow loop comprises a horizontal acrylic pipe of 26 mm diameter and 9 m length. Water and air were used to produce the two phase flow under controlled conditions. The results show good agreement between the techniques. (author)
Dielectric spectroscopy technique applied to study the behaviour of irradiated polymer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saoud, R.; Soualmia, A.; Guerbi, C.A.; Benrekaa, N.

2006-01-01

Relaxation spectroscopy provides an excellent method for the study of motional processes in materials and has been widely applied to macromolecules and polymers. The technique is potentially of most interest when applied to irradiated systems. Application to the study of the structure beam-irradiated Teflon is thus an outstanding opportunity for the dielectric relaxation technique, particularly as this material exhibits clamping problems when subjected to dynamic mechanical relaxation studies. A very wide frequency range is necessary to resolve dipolar effects. In this paper, we discuss some significant results about the behavior and the modification of the structure of Teflon submitted to weak energy radiations
Statistical Techniques Used in Three Applied Linguistics Journals: "Language Learning,""Applied Linguistics" and "TESOL Quarterly," 1980-1986: Implications for Readers and Researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Teleni, Vicki; Baldauf, Richard B., Jr.

A study investigated the statistical techniques used by applied linguists and reported in three journals, "Language Learning,""Applied Linguistics," and "TESOL Quarterly," between 1980 and 1986. It was found that 47% of the published articles used statistical procedures. In these articles, 63% of the techniques used could be called basic, 28%…
Stochastic Feedforward Control Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Halyo, Nesim

1990-01-01

Class of commanded trajectories modeled as stochastic process. Advanced Transport Operating Systems (ATOPS) research and development program conducted by NASA Langley Research Center aimed at developing capabilities for increases in capacities of airports, safe and accurate flight in adverse weather conditions including shear, winds, avoidance of wake vortexes, and reduced consumption of fuel. Advances in techniques for design of modern controls and increased capabilities of digital flight computers coupled with accurate guidance information from Microwave Landing System (MLS). Stochastic feedforward control technique developed within context of ATOPS program.
Design techniques for mutlivariable flight control systems

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

Techniques which address the multi-input closely coupled nature of advanced flight control applications and digital implementation issues are described and illustrated through flight control examples. The techniques described seek to exploit the advantages of traditional techniques in treating conventional feedback control design specifications and the simplicity of modern approaches for multivariable control system design.
FEEDBACK LINEARISATION APPLIED ON A HYDRAULIC

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Torben Ole; Hansen, Michael Rygaard; Pedersen, Henrik C.

2005-01-01

is on developing and applying several different feedback linearisation (FL) controllers to the individual servo actuators in a hydraulically driven servo robot to evaluate and compare their possiblities and limitations. This is done based on both simulation and experimental results.......Generally most hydraulic systems are intrensically non-linear, why applying linear control techniques typically results in conservatively dimensioned controllers to obtain stable performance. Non-linear control techniques have the potential of overcoming these problems, and in this paper the focus...
Techniques for developing reliable and functional materials control and accounting software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barlich, G.

1988-01-01

The media has increasingly focused on failures of computer systems resulting in financial, material, and other losses and on systems failing to function as advertised. Unfortunately, such failures with equally disturbing losses are possible in computer systems providing materials control and accounting (MCandA) functions. Major improvements in the reliability and correctness of systems are possible with disciplined design and development techniques applied during software development. This paper describes some of the techniques used in the Safeguard Systems Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory for various MCandA systems
Determination of palladium in biological samples applying nuclear analytical techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavalcante, Cassio Q.; Sato, Ivone M.; Salvador, Vera L. R.; Saiki, Mitiko

2008-01-01

This study presents Pd determinations in bovine tissue samples containing palladium prepared in the laboratory, and CCQM-P63 automotive catalyst materials of the Proficiency Test, using instrumental thermal and epithermal neutron activation analysis and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence techniques. Solvent extraction and solid phase extraction procedures were also applied to separate Pd from interfering elements before the irradiation in the nuclear reactor. The results obtained by different techniques were compared against each other to examine sensitivity, precision and accuracy. (author)
Tokamak impurity-control techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, J.A.

1980-01-01

A brief review is given of the impurity-control functions in tokamaks, their relative merits and disadvantages and some prominent edge-interaction-control techniques, and there is a discussion of a new proposal, the particle scraper, and its potential advantages. (author)
Software engineering techniques applied to agricultural systems an object-oriented and UML approach

CERN Document Server

Papajorgji, Petraq J

2014-01-01

Software Engineering Techniques Applied to Agricultural Systems presents cutting-edge software engineering techniques for designing and implementing better agricultural software systems based on the object-oriented paradigm and the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The focus is on the presentation of rigorous step-by-step approaches for modeling flexible agricultural and environmental systems, starting with a conceptual diagram representing elements of the system and their relationships. Furthermore, diagrams such as sequential and collaboration diagrams are used to explain the dynamic and static aspects of the software system. This second edition includes: a new chapter on Object Constraint Language (OCL), a new section dedicated to the Model-VIEW-Controller (MVC) design pattern, new chapters presenting details of two MDA-based tools – the Virtual Enterprise and Olivia Nova, and a new chapter with exercises on conceptual modeling. It may be highly useful to undergraduate and graduate students as t...
Investigation of the shear bond strength to dentin of universal adhesives applied with two different techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elif Yaşa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength of universal adhesives applied with self-etch and etch&rinse techniques to dentin. Materials and Method: Fourty-eight sound extracted human third molars were used in this study. Occlusal enamel was removed in order to expose the dentinal surface, and the surface was flattened. Specimens were randomly divided into four groups and were sectioned vestibulo-lingually using a diamond disc. The universal adhesives: All Bond Universal (Group 1a and 1b, Gluma Bond Universal (Group 2a and 2b and Single Bond Universal (Group 3a and 3b were applied onto the tooth specimens either with self-etch technique (a or with etch&rinse technique (b according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Clearfil SE Bond (Group 4a; self-etch and Optibond FL (Group 4b; etch&rinse were used as control groups. Then the specimens were restored with a nanohybrid composite resin (Filtek Z550. After thermocycling, shear bond strength test was performed with a universal test machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Fracture analysis was done under a stereomicroscope (×40 magnification. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey tests. Results: Statistical analysis showed significant differences in shear bond strength values between the universal adhesives (p<0.05. Significantly higher bond strength values were observed in self-etch groups (a in comparison to etch&rinse groups (b (p<0.05. Among all groups, Single Bond Universal showed the greatest shear bond strength values, whereas All Bond Universal showed the lowest shear bond strength values with both application techniques. Conclusion: Dentin bonding strengths of universal adhesives applied with different techniques may vary depending on the adhesive material. For the universal bonding agents tested in this study, the etch&rinse technique negatively affected the bond strength to dentin.
Time-series-analysis techniques applied to nuclear-material accounting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pike, D.H.; Morrison, G.W.; Downing, D.J.

1982-05-01

This document is designed to introduce the reader to the applications of Time Series Analysis techniques to Nuclear Material Accountability data. Time series analysis techniques are designed to extract information from a collection of random variables ordered by time by seeking to identify any trends, patterns, or other structure in the series. Since nuclear material accountability data is a time series, one can extract more information using time series analysis techniques than by using other statistical techniques. Specifically, the objective of this document is to examine the applicability of time series analysis techniques to enhance loss detection of special nuclear materials. An introductory section examines the current industry approach which utilizes inventory differences. The error structure of inventory differences is presented. Time series analysis techniques discussed include the Shewhart Control Chart, the Cumulative Summation of Inventory Differences Statistics (CUSUM) and the Kalman Filter and Linear Smoother
Applying BI Techniques To Improve Decision Making And Provide Knowledge Based Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Maria Ioana FLOREA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on BI techniques and especially data mining algorithms that can support and improve the decision making process, with applications within the financial sector. We consider the data mining techniques to be more efficient and thus we applied several techniques, supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms The case study in which these algorithms have been implemented regards the activity of a banking institution, with focus on the management of lending activities.
Technique of nuclear reactors controls; Technique des controles des reacteurs nucleaires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weill, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1953-12-15

This report deal about 'Techniques of control of the nuclear reactors' in the goal to achieve the control of natural uranium reactors and especially the one of Saclay. This work is mainly about the measurement into nuclear parameters and go further in the measurement of thermodynamic variables,etc... putting in relief the new features required on behalf of the detectors because of their use in the thermal neutrons flux. In the domain of nuclear measurement, we indicate the realizations and the results obtained with thermal neutron detectors and for the measurement of ionizations currents. We also treat the technical problem of the start-up of a reactor and of the reactivity measurement. We give the necessary details for the comprehension of all essential diagrams and plans put on, in particular, for the reactor of Saclay. (author) [French] Nous avons aborde le probleme de la ''Technique du Controle des reacteurs nucleaires'' dans le but de realiser le controle du reacteur de Saclay. C'est ainsi que nous avons ete amene a etudier le probleme dans son ensemble, tel qu'il se pose pour tout reacteur a uranium naturel. Ce travail traite principalement du domaine des mesures a caractere nucleaire et s'etend dans le domaine des mesures thermodynamque de niveaux, etc... mettant en relief les caracteristiques nouvelles exigees de la part des detecteurs du fait de leur utilisation dans le flux de neutrons thermiques. Dans le domaine de mesures nucleaires, nous indiquons principalement les realisations et les resultats obtenus pour les detecteurs de neutrons thermiques et pour la mesure de courants d'ionisations. Nous traitons egalement du probleme technique du demarrage d'un reacteur et du probleme de la mesure de la reactivite. Nous donnons les details necessaires a la comrehension de tous les schemas et plans de cablages essentiels mis au point, en particulier, pour le reacteur de Saclay. (auteur)
Nonlinear Model-Based Predictive Control applied to Large Scale Cryogenic Facilities

CERN Document Server

Blanco Vinuela, Enrique; de Prada Moraga, Cesar

2001-01-01

The thesis addresses the study, analysis, development, and finally the real implementation of an advanced control system for the 1.8 K Cooling Loop of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) accelerator. The LHC is the next accelerator being built at CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research), it will use superconducting magnets operating below a temperature of 1.9 K along a circumference of 27 kilometers. The temperature of these magnets is a control parameter with strict operating constraints. The first control implementations applied a procedure that included linear identification, modelling and regulation using a linear predictive controller. It did improve largely the overall performance of the plant with respect to a classical PID regulator, but the nature of the cryogenic processes pointed out the need of a more adequate technique, such as a nonlinear methodology. This thesis is a first step to develop a global regulation strategy for the overall control of the LHC cells when they will operate simultaneously....
A Novel Sliding Mode Control Technique for Indirect Current Controlled Active Power Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juntao Fei

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A novel sliding mode control (SMC method for indirect current controlled three-phase parallel active power filter is presented in this paper. There are two designed closed loops in the system: one is the DC voltage controlling loop and the other is the reference current tracking loop. The first loop with a PI regulator is used to control the DC voltage approximating to the given voltage of capacitor, and the output of PI regulator through a low-pass filter is applied as the input of the power supply reference currents. The second loop implements the tracking of the reference currents using integral sliding mode controller, which can improve the harmonic treating performance. Compared with the direct current control technique, it is convenient to be implemented with digital signal processing system because of simpler system structure and better harmonic treating property. Simulation results verify that the generated reference currents have the same amplitude with the load currents, demonstrating the superior harmonic compensating effects with the proposed shunt active power filter compared with the hysteresis method.
Controller modification applied for active fault detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niemann, Hans Henrik; Stoustrup, Jakob; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

2014-01-01

This paper is focusing on active fault detection (AFD) for parametric faults in closed-loop systems. This auxiliary input applied for the fault detection will also disturb the external output and consequently reduce the performance of the controller. Therefore, only small auxiliary inputs are used...... with the result that the detection and isolation time can be long. In this paper it will be shown, that this problem can be handled by using a modification of the feedback controller. By applying the YJBK-parameterization (after Youla, Jabr, Bongiorno and Kucera) for the controller, it is possible to modify...... the frequency for the auxiliary input is selected. This gives that it is possible to apply an auxiliary input with a reduced amplitude. An example is included to show the results....
Applying DEA Technique to Library Evaluation in Academic Research Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Wonsik

2003-01-01

This study applied an analytical technique called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate the relative technical efficiency of 95 academic research libraries, all members of the Association of Research Libraries. DEA, with the proper model of library inputs and outputs, can reveal best practices in the peer groups, as well as the technical…
Applying model predictive control to power system frequency control

OpenAIRE

Ersdal, AM; Imsland, L; Cecilio, IM; Fabozzi, D; Thornhill, NF

2013-01-01

16.07.14 KB Ok to add accepted version to Spiral Model predictive control (MPC) is investigated as a control method which may offer advantages in frequency control of power systems than the control methods applied today, especially in presence of increased renewable energy penetration. The MPC includes constraints on both generation amount and generation rate of change, and it is tested on a one-area system. The proposed MPC is tested against a conventional proportional-integral (PI) cont...
Super Resolution and Interference Suppression Technique applied to SHARAD Radar Data

Science.gov (United States)

Raguso, M. C.; Mastrogiuseppe, M.; Seu, R.; Piazzo, L.

2017-12-01

We will present a super resolution and interference suppression technique applied to the data acquired by the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) on board the NASA's 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission, currently operating around Mars [1]. The algorithms allow to improve the range resolution roughly by a factor of 3 and the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) by a several decibels. Range compression algorithms usually adopt conventional Fourier transform techniques, which are limited in the resolution by the transmitted signal bandwidth, analogous to the Rayleigh's criterion in optics. In this work, we investigate a super resolution method based on autoregressive models and linear prediction techniques [2]. Starting from the estimation of the linear prediction coefficients from the spectral data, the algorithm performs the radar bandwidth extrapolation (BWE), thereby improving the range resolution of the pulse-compressed coherent radar data. Moreover, the EMIs (ElectroMagnetic Interferences) are detected and the spectra is interpolated in order to reconstruct an interference free spectrum, thereby improving the SNR. The algorithm can be applied to the single complex look image after synthetic aperture processing (SAR). We apply the proposed algorithm to simulated as well as to real radar data. We will demonstrate the effective enhancement on vertical resolution with respect to the classical spectral estimator. We will show that the imaging of the subsurface layered structures observed in radargrams is improved, allowing additional insights for the scientific community in the interpretation of the SHARAD radar data, which will help to further our understanding of the formation and evolution of known geological features on Mars. References: [1] Seu et al. 2007, Science, 2007, 317, 1715-1718 [2] K.M. Cuomo, "A Bandwidth Extrapolation Technique for Improved Range Resolution of Coherent Radar Data", Project Report CJP-60, Revision 1, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (4 Dec. 1992).

Surface analytical techniques applied to minerals processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smart, R.St.C.

1991-01-01

An understanding of the chemical and physical forms of the chemically altered layers on the surfaces of base metal sulphides, particularly in the form of hydroxides, oxyhydroxides and oxides, and the changes that occur in them during minerals processing lies at the core of a complete description of flotation chemistry. This paper reviews the application of a variety of surface-sensitive techniques and methodologies applied to the study of surface layers on single minerals, mixed minerals, synthetic ores and real ores. Evidence from combined XPS/SAM/SEM studies have provided images and analyses of three forms of oxide, oxyhydroxide and hydroxide products on the surfaces of single sulphide minerals, mineral mixtures and complex sulphide ores. 4 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs
The correlated k-distribution technique as applied to the AVHRR channels

Science.gov (United States)

Kratz, David P.

1995-01-01

Correlated k-distributions have been created to account for the molecular absorption found in the spectral ranges of the five Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite channels. The production of the k-distributions was based upon an exponential-sum fitting of transmissions (ESFT) technique which was applied to reference line-by-line absorptance calculations. To account for the overlap of spectral features from different molecular species, the present routines made use of the multiplication transmissivity property which allows for considerable flexibility, especially when altering relative mixing ratios of the various molecular species. To determine the accuracy of the correlated k-distribution technique as compared to the line-by-line procedure, atmospheric flux and heating rate calculations were run for a wide variety of atmospheric conditions. For the atmospheric conditions taken into consideration, the correlated k-distribution technique has yielded results within about 0.5% for both the cases where the satellite spectral response functions were applied and where they were not. The correlated k-distribution's principal advantages is that it can be incorporated directly into multiple scattering routines that consider scattering as well as absorption by clouds and aerosol particles.
[Technique and value of direct MR arthrography applying articular distraction].

Science.gov (United States)

Becce, Fabio; Wettstein, Michael; Guntern, Daniel; Mouhsine, Elyazid; Palhais, Nuno; Theumann, Nicolas

2010-02-24

Direct MR arthrography has a better diagnostic accuracy than MR imaging alone. However, contrast material is not always homogeneously distributed in the articular space. Lesions of cartilage surfaces or intra-articular soft tissues can thus be misdiagnosed. Concomitant application of axial traction during MR arthrography leads to articular distraction. This enables better distribution of contrast material in the joint and better delineation of intra-articular structures. Therefore, this technique improves detection of cartilage lesions. Moreover, the axial stress applied on articular structures may reveal lesions invisible on MR images without traction. Based on our clinical experience, we believe that this relatively unknown technique is promising and should be further developed.
Robust control technique for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, G.V.; Bailey, J.M.

1989-03-01

This report summarizes the linear quadratic Guassian (LQG) design technique with loop transfer recovery (LQG/LTR) for design of control systems. The concepts of return ratio, return difference, inverse return difference, and singular values are summarized. The LQG/LTR design technique allows the synthesis of a robust control system. To illustrate the LQG/LTR technique, a linearized model of a simple process has been chosen. The process has three state variables, one input, and one output. Three control system design methods are compared: LQG, LQG/LTR, and a proportional plus integral controller (PI). 7 refs., 20 figs., 6 tabs
Optimization technique applied to interpretation of experimental data and research of constitutive laws

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossette, J.C.

1982-01-01

The feasibility of identification technique applied to one dimensional numerical analysis of the split-Hopkinson pressure bar experiment is proven. A general 1-D elastic-plastic-viscoplastic computer program was written down so as to give an adequate solution for elastic-plastic-viscoplastic response of a pressure bar subjected to a general Heaviside step loading function in time which is applied over one end of the bar. Special emphasis is placed on the response of the specimen during the first microseconds where no equilibrium conditions can be stated. During this transient phase discontinuity conditions related to wave propagation are encountered and must be carefully taken into account. Having derived an adequate numerical model, then Pontryagin identification technique has been applied in such a way that the unknowns are physical parameters. The solutions depend mainly on the selection of a class of proper eigen objective functionals (cost functions) which may be combined so as to obtain a convenient numerical objective function. A number of significant questions arising in the choice of parameter adjustment algorithms are discussed. In particular, this technique leads to a two point boundary value problem which has been solved using an iterative gradient like technique usually referred to as a double operator gradient method. This method combines the classical Fletcher-Powell technique and a partial quadratic technique with an automatic parameter step size selection. This method is much more efficient than usual ones. Numerical experimentation with simulated data was performed to test the accuracy and stability of the identification algorithm and to determine the most adequate type and quantity of data for estimation purposes
Effectiveness of radon control techniques in fifteen homes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turk, B.H.; Prill, R.J.; Fisk, W.J.; Grimsrud, D.T.; Sextro, R.G.

1991-01-01

Radon control systems were installed and evaluated in fourteen homes in the Spokane River Valley/Rathdrum Prairie and in one home in Vancouver, Washington. Because of local soil conditions, subsurface ventilation (SSV) by pressurization was always more effective in these houses than SSV by depressurization in reducing indoor radon levels to below guidelines. Basement overpressurization was successfully applied in five houses with airtight basements where practical-sized fans could develop an overpressure of 1 to 3 Pascals. Crawlspace ventilation was more effective than crawlspace isolation in reducing radon entry from the crawlspace, but had to be used in conjunction with other mitigation techniques, from the crawlspace, but had to be used in conjunction with other mitigation techniques, since the houses also had basements. Indoor radon concentrations in two houses with air-to-air heat exchangers (AAHX) were reduced to levels inversely dependent on the new total ventilation rates and were lowered even further in one house where the air distribution system was modified. Sealing penetrations in the below-grade surfaces of substructures was relatively ineffective in controlling radon. Operation of the radon control systems (except for the AAHX's) made no measurable change in ventilation rates or indoor concentrations of other measured pollutants. Installation costs ranged from approximately $4/m 2 for sealing to $28/m 2 for the AAHXs. Annual operating costs for the active systems were estimated to be approximately $60 to $170
Evaluation of irradiation damage effect by applying electric properties based techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acosta, B.; Sevini, F.

2004-01-01

The most important effect of the degradation by radiation is the decrease in the ductility of the pressure vessel of the reactor (RPV) ferritic steels. The main way to determine the mechanical behaviour of the RPV steels is tensile and impact tests, from which the ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) and its increase due to neutron irradiation can be calculated. These tests are destructive and regularly applied to surveillance specimens to assess the integrity of RPV. The possibility of applying validated non-destructive ageing monitoring techniques would however facilitate the surveillance of the materials that form the reactor vessel. The JRC-IE has developed two devices, focused on the measurement of the electrical properties to assess non-destructively the embrittlement state of materials. The first technique, called Seebeck and Thomson Effects on Aged Material (STEAM), is based on the measurement of the Seebeck coefficient, characteristic of the material and related to the microstructural changes induced by irradiation embrittlement. With the same aim the second technique, named Resistivity Effects on Aged Material (REAM), measures instead the resistivity of the material. The purpose of this research is to correlate the results of the impact tests, STEAM and REAM measurements with the change in the mechanical properties due to neutron irradiation. These results will make possible the improvement of such techniques based on the measurement of material electrical properties for their application to the irradiation embrittlement assessment
Manual and Instrument Applied Cervical Manipulation for Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorrell, Lindsay M; Beath, Kenneth; Engel, Roger M

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of 2 different cervical manipulation techniques for mechanical neck pain (MNP). Participants with MNP of at least 1 month's duration (n = 65) were randomly allocated to 3 groups: (1) stretching (control), (2) stretching plus manually applied manipulation (MAM), and (3) stretching plus instrument-applied manipulation (IAM). MAM consisted of a single high-velocity, low-amplitude cervical chiropractic manipulation, whereas IAM involved the application of a single cervical manipulation using an (Activator IV) adjusting instrument. Preintervention and postintervention measurements were taken of all outcomes measures. Pain was the primary outcome and was measured using visual analogue scale and pressure pain thresholds. Secondary outcomes included cervical range of motion, hand grip-strength, and wrist blood pressure. Follow-up subjective pain scores were obtained via telephone text message 7 days postintervention. Subjective pain scores decreased at 7-day follow-up in the MAM group compared with control (P = .015). Cervical rotation bilaterally (ipsilateral: P = .002; contralateral: P = .015) and lateral flexion on the contralateral side to manipulation (P = .001) increased following MAM. Hand grip-strength on the contralateral side to manipulation (P = .013) increased following IAM. No moderate or severe adverse events were reported. Mild adverse events were reported on 6 occasions (control, 4; MAM, 1; IAM, 1). This study demonstrates that a single cervical manipulation is capable of producing immediate and short-term benefits for MNP. The study also demonstrates that not all manipulative techniques have the same effect and that the differences may be mediated by neurological or biomechanical factors inherent to each technique. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Effect of novel inhaler technique reminder labels on the retention of inhaler technique skills in asthma: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Basheti, Iman A; Obeidat, Nathir M; Reddel, Helen K

2017-02-09

labels on asthma inhalers remind patients of correct technique and help improve symptoms over time. Iman Basheti at the Applied Science Private University in Jordan and co-workers trialed the approach of placing patient-specific reminder labels on dry-powder asthma inhalers to improve long-term technique. Poor asthma control is often exacerbated by patients making mistakes when using their inhalers. During the trial, 95 patients received inhaler training before being split into two groups: the control group received no further help, while the other group received individualized labels on their inhalers reminding them of their initial errors. After three months, 67% of patients with reminder labels retained correct technique compared to only 12% of controls. They also required less reliever medication and reported improved symptoms. This represents a simple, cheap way of tackling inhaler technique errors.
Applying field mapping refractive beam shapers to improve holographic techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Laskin, Alexander; Williams, Gavin; McWilliam, Richard; Laskin, Vadim

2012-03-01

Performance of various holographic techniques can be essentially improved by homogenizing the intensity profile of the laser beam with using beam shaping optics, for example, the achromatic field mapping refractive beam shapers like πShaper. The operational principle of these devices presumes transformation of laser beam intensity from Gaussian to flattop one with high flatness of output wavefront, saving of beam consistency, providing collimated output beam of low divergence, high transmittance, extended depth of field, negligible residual wave aberration, and achromatic design provides capability to work with several laser sources with different wavelengths simultaneously. Applying of these beam shapers brings serious benefits to the Spatial Light Modulator based techniques like Computer Generated Holography or Dot-Matrix mastering of security holograms since uniform illumination of an SLM allows simplifying mathematical calculations and increasing predictability and reliability of the imaging results. Another example is multicolour Denisyuk holography when the achromatic πShaper provides uniform illumination of a field at various wavelengths simultaneously. This paper will describe some design basics of the field mapping refractive beam shapers and optical layouts of their applying in holographic systems. Examples of real implementations and experimental results will be presented as well.
Quaternion error-based optimal control applied to pinpoint landing

Science.gov (United States)

Ghiglino, Pablo

Accurate control techniques for pinpoint planetary landing - i.e., the goal of achieving landing errors in the order of 100m for unmanned missions - is a complex problem that have been tackled in different ways in the available literature. Among other challenges, this kind of control is also affected by the well known trade-off in UAV control that for complex underlying models the control is sub-optimal, while optimal control is applied to simplifed models. The goal of this research has been the development new control algorithms that would be able to tackle these challenges and the result are two novel optimal control algorithms namely: OQTAL and HEX2OQTAL. These controllers share three key properties that are thoroughly proven and shown in this thesis; stability, accuracy and adaptability. Stability is rigorously demonstrated for both controllers. Accuracy is shown in results of comparing these novel controllers with other industry standard algorithms in several different scenarios: there is a gain in accuracy of at least 15% for each controller, and in many cases much more than that. A new tuning algorithm based on swarm heuristics optimisation was developed as well as part of this research in order to tune in an online manner the standard Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers used for benchmarking. Finally, adaptability of these controllers can be seen as a combination of four elements: mathematical model extensibility, cost matrices tuning, reduced computation time required and finally no prior knowledge of the navigation or guidance strategies needed. Further simulations in real planetary landing trajectories has shown that these controllers have the capacity of achieving landing errors in the order of pinpoint landing requirements, making them not only very precise UAV controllers, but also potential candidates for pinpoint landing unmanned missions.
Just-in-Time techniques as applied to hazardous materials management

OpenAIRE

Spicer, John S.

1996-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited This study investigates the feasibility of integrating JIT techniques in the context of hazardous materials management. This study provides a description of JIT, a description of environmental compliance issues and the outgrowth of related HAZMAT policies, and a broad perspective on strategies for applying JIT to HAZMAT management. http://archive.org/details/justintimetechn00spic Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy
Computer vision techniques applied to the quality control of ceramic plates

OpenAIRE

Silveira, Joaquim; Ferreira, Manuel João Oliveira; Santos, Cristina; Martins, Teresa

2009-01-01

This paper presents a system, based on computer vision techniques, that detects and quantifies different types of defects in ceramic plates. It was developed in collaboration with the industrial ceramic sector and consequently it was focused on the defects that are considered more quality depreciating by the Portuguese industry. They are of three main types: cracks; granules and relief surface. For each type the development was specific as far as image processing techn...
Three-dimensional integrated CAE system applying computer graphic technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Toshisada; Tanaka, Kazuo; Akitomo, Norio; Obata, Tokayasu.

1991-01-01

A three-dimensional CAE system for nuclear power plant design is presented. This system utilizes high-speed computer graphic techniques for the plant design review, and an integrated engineering database for handling the large amount of nuclear power plant engineering data in a unified data format. Applying this system makes it possible to construct a nuclear power plant using only computer data from the basic design phase to the manufacturing phase, and it increases the productivity and reliability of the nuclear power plants. (author)
Applying recursive numerical integration techniques for solving high dimensional integrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ammon, Andreas; Genz, Alan; Hartung, Tobias; Jansen, Karl; Volmer, Julia; Leoevey, Hernan

2016-11-01

The error scaling for Markov-Chain Monte Carlo techniques (MCMC) with N samples behaves like 1/√(N). This scaling makes it often very time intensive to reduce the error of computed observables, in particular for applications in lattice QCD. It is therefore highly desirable to have alternative methods at hand which show an improved error scaling. One candidate for such an alternative integration technique is the method of recursive numerical integration (RNI). The basic idea of this method is to use an efficient low-dimensional quadrature rule (usually of Gaussian type) and apply it iteratively to integrate over high-dimensional observables and Boltzmann weights. We present the application of such an algorithm to the topological rotor and the anharmonic oscillator and compare the error scaling to MCMC results. In particular, we demonstrate that the RNI technique shows an error scaling in the number of integration points m that is at least exponential.
Applying recursive numerical integration techniques for solving high dimensional integrals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ammon, Andreas [IVU Traffic Technologies AG, Berlin (Germany); Genz, Alan [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States). Dept. of Mathematics; Hartung, Tobias [King' s College, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Mathematics; Jansen, Karl; Volmer, Julia [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany). John von Neumann-Inst. fuer Computing NIC; Leoevey, Hernan [Humboldt Univ. Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Mathematik

2016-11-15

The error scaling for Markov-Chain Monte Carlo techniques (MCMC) with N samples behaves like 1/√(N). This scaling makes it often very time intensive to reduce the error of computed observables, in particular for applications in lattice QCD. It is therefore highly desirable to have alternative methods at hand which show an improved error scaling. One candidate for such an alternative integration technique is the method of recursive numerical integration (RNI). The basic idea of this method is to use an efficient low-dimensional quadrature rule (usually of Gaussian type) and apply it iteratively to integrate over high-dimensional observables and Boltzmann weights. We present the application of such an algorithm to the topological rotor and the anharmonic oscillator and compare the error scaling to MCMC results. In particular, we demonstrate that the RNI technique shows an error scaling in the number of integration points m that is at least exponential.
Applied Behavior Analysis and Statistical Process Control?

Science.gov (United States)

Hopkins, B. L.

1995-01-01

Incorporating statistical process control (SPC) methods into applied behavior analysis is discussed. It is claimed that SPC methods would likely reduce applied behavior analysts' intimate contacts with problems and would likely yield poor treatment and research decisions. Cases and data presented by Pfadt and Wheeler (1995) are cited as examples.…
Development of technique to apply induction heating stress improvement to recirculation inlet nozzle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiba, Kunihiko; Nihei, Kenichi; Ootaka, Minoru

2009-01-01

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) have been found in the primary loop recirculation (PLR) systems of boiling water reactors (BWR). Residual stress in welding heat-affected zone is one of the factors of SCC, and the residual stress improvement is one of the most effective methods to prevent SCC. Induction heating stress improvement (IHSI) is one of the techniques to improve reduce residual stress. However, it is difficult to apply IHSI to the place such as the recirculation inlet nozzle where the flow stagnates. In this present study, the technique to apply IHSI to the recirculation inlet nozzle was developed using water jet which blowed into the crevice between the nozzle safe end and the thermal sleeve. (author)
Airflow measurement techniques applied to radon mitigation problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrje, D.T.; Gadsby, K.J.

1989-01-01

During the past decade a multitude of diagnostic procedures associated with the evaluation of air infiltration and air leakage sites have been developed. The spirit of international cooperation and exchange of ideas within the AIC-AIVC conferences has greatly facilitated the adoption and use of these measurement techniques in the countries participating in Annex V. But wide application of such diagnostic methods are not limited to air infiltration alone. The subject of this paper concerns the ways to evaluate and improve radon reduction in buildings using diagnostic methods directly related to developments familiar to the AIVC. Radon problems are certainly not unique to the United States, and the methods described here have to a degree been applied by researchers of other countries faced with similar problems. The radon problem involves more than a harmful pollutant of the living spaces of our buildings -- it also involves energy to operate radon removal equipment and the loss of interior conditioned air as a direct result. The techniques used for air infiltration evaluation will be shown to be very useful in dealing with the radon mitigation challenge. 10 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab
Thematic Plan for Fruit Fly Control Using the Sterile Insect Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

This thematic plan for fruit flies is the summation of ideas and recommendations put forth by a group of experts composed of fruit fly program managers and workers, stakeholders from the affected industry, a commodity specialist from the FAO, and technical, planning and policy specialists from the IAEA and the FAO. This document provides strategic guidance and direction on how and where the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) can most effectively be applied to control or eradicate fruit flies in the future.

Performance values for non destructive assay (NDA) techniques applied to safeguards: the 2002 evaluation by the ESARDA NDA Working Group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guardini, S.

2003-01-01

The first evaluation of NDA performance values undertaken by the ESARDA Working Group for Standards and Non Destructive Assay Techniques (WGNDA) was published in 1993. Almost 10 years later the Working Group decided to review those values, to report about improvements and to issue new performance values for techniques which were not applied in the early nineties, or were at that time only emerging. Non-Destructive Assay techniques have become more and more important in recent years, and they are used to a large extent in nuclear material accountancy and control both by operators and control authorities. As a consequence, the performance evaluation for NDA techniques is of particular relevance to safeguards authorities in optimising Safeguards operations and reducing costs. Performance values are important also for NMAC regulators, to define detection levels, limits for anomalies, goal quantities and to negotiate basic audit rules. This paper presents the latest evaluation of ESARDA Performance Values (EPVs) for the most common NDA techniques currently used for the assay of nuclear materials for Safeguards purposes. The main topics covered by the document are: techniques for plutonium bearing materials: PuO 2 and MOX; techniques for U-bearing materials; techniques for U and Pu in liquid form; techniques for spent fuel assay. This issue of the performance values is the result of specific international round robin exercises, field measurements and ad hoc experiments, evaluated and discussed in the ESARDA NDA Working Group. (author)
Database 'catalogue of techniques applied to materials and products of nuclear engineering'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lebedeva, E.E.; Golovanov, V.N.; Podkopayeva, I.A.; Temnoyeva, T.A.

2002-01-01

The database 'Catalogue of techniques applied to materials and products of nuclear engineering' (IS MERI) was developed to provide informational support for SSC RF RIAR and other enterprises in scientific investigations. This database contains information on the techniques used at RF Minatom enterprises for reactor material properties investigation. The main purpose of this system consists in the assessment of the current status of the reactor material science experimental base for the further planning of experimental activities and methodical support improvement. (author)
Identifying a cooperative control mechanism between an applied field and the environment of open quantum systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Fang; Rey-de-Castro, Roberto; Wang, Yaoxiong; Rabitz, Herschel; Shuang, Feng

2016-05-01

Many systems under control with an applied field also interact with the surrounding environment. Understanding the control mechanisms has remained a challenge, especially the role played by the interaction between the field and the environment. In order to address this need, here we expand the scope of the Hamiltonian-encoding and observable-decoding (HE-OD) technique. HE-OD was originally introduced as a theoretical and experimental tool for revealing the mechanism induced by control fields in closed quantum systems. The results of open-system HE-OD analysis presented here provide quantitative mechanistic insights into the roles played by a Markovian environment. Two model open quantum systems are considered for illustration. In these systems, transitions are induced by either an applied field linked to a dipole operator or Lindblad operators coupled to the system. For modest control yields, the HE-OD results clearly show distinct cooperation between the dynamics induced by the optimal field and the environment. Although the HE-OD methodology introduced here is considered in simulations, it has an analogous direct experimental formulation, which we suggest may be applied to open systems in the laboratory to reveal mechanistic insights.
Statistical comparisons of Savannah River anemometer data applied to quality control of instrument networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porch, W.M.; Dickerson, M.H.

1976-08-01

Continuous monitoring of extensive meteorological instrument arrays is a requirement in the study of important mesoscale atmospheric phenomena. The phenomena include pollution transport prediction from continuous area sources, or one time releases of toxic materials and wind energy prospecting in areas of topographic enhancement of the wind. Quality control techniques that can be applied to these data to determine if the instruments are operating within their prescribed tolerances were investigated. Savannah River Plant data were analyzed with both independent and comparative statistical techniques. The independent techniques calculate the mean, standard deviation, moments about the mean, kurtosis, skewness, probability density distribution, cumulative probability and power spectra. The comparative techniques include covariance, cross-spectral analysis and two dimensional probability density. At present the calculating and plotting routines for these statistical techniques do not reside in a single code so it is difficult to ascribe independent memory size and computation time accurately. However, given the flexibility of a data system which includes simple and fast running statistics at the instrument end of the data network (ASF) and more sophisticated techniques at the computational end (ACF) a proper balance will be attained. These techniques are described in detail and preliminary results are presented
Applying Ancestry and Sex Computation as a Quality Control Tool in Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathias, Patrick C; Turner, Emily H; Scroggins, Sheena M; Salipante, Stephen J; Hoffman, Noah G; Pritchard, Colin C; Shirts, Brian H

2016-03-01

To apply techniques for ancestry and sex computation from next-generation sequencing (NGS) data as an approach to confirm sample identity and detect sample processing errors. We combined a principal component analysis method with k-nearest neighbors classification to compute the ancestry of patients undergoing NGS testing. By combining this calculation with X chromosome copy number data, we determined the sex and ancestry of patients for comparison with self-report. We also modeled the sensitivity of this technique in detecting sample processing errors. We applied this technique to 859 patient samples with reliable self-report data. Our k-nearest neighbors ancestry screen had an accuracy of 98.7% for patients reporting a single ancestry. Visual inspection of principal component plots was consistent with self-report in 99.6% of single-ancestry and mixed-ancestry patients. Our model demonstrates that approximately two-thirds of potential sample swaps could be detected in our patient population using this technique. Patient ancestry can be estimated from NGS data incidentally sequenced in targeted panels, enabling an inexpensive quality control method when coupled with patient self-report. © American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Use of nuclear techniques in biological control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greany, Patrick D.; Carpenter, James E.

2000-01-01

As pointed out by Benbrook (1996), pest management is at a crossroads, and there is a great need for new, biointensive pest management strategies. Among these approaches, biological control is a keystone. However, because of increasing concerns about the introduction of exotic natural enemies of insect pests and weeds (Howarth 1991, Delfosse 1997), the overall thrust of biological control has moved toward augmentative biological control, involving releases of established natural enemy species (Knipling 1992). This in turn has created a need to develop more cost-effective mass rearing technologies for beneficial insects. Nuclear techniques could play an especially important role in augmentative biological control, not only in facilitating mass rearing, but in several other ways, as indicated below. Recognising the potential value for use of nuclear techniques in biological control, the Insect and Pest Control Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, International Atomic Energy Agency, sponsored a Consultants' Group Meeting on this subject in April 1997. The Group produced a document entitled Use of Nuclear Techniques in Biological Control: Managing Pests, Facilitating Trade and Protecting the Environment. The consultants included the authors of this paper as well as Ernest Delfosse (at that time, with the USDA-APHIS National Biological Control Institute), Garry Hill (Intl. Institute for Biological Control), Sinthya Penn (Beneficial Insectary), and Felipe Jeronimo (USDA-APHIS PPQ, Guatemala). The remarks presented in this paper reflect the thoughts presented by these consultants and other participants at the IAEA-sponsored meeting. Several potential uses for nuclear techniques were identified by the Consultants' Group, including: 1) improvements in rearing media (either artificial diets or natural hosts/prey), 2) provision of sterilised natural prey to be used as food during shipment, to ameliorate concerns relating to the
Performance Analysis of a Neuro-PID Controller Applied to a Robot Manipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Pezeshki

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The performance of robot manipulators with nonadaptive controllers might degrade significantly due to the open loop unstable system and the effect of some uncertainties on the robot model or environment. A novel Neural Network PID controller (NNP is proposed in order to improve the system performance and its robustness. The Neural Network (NN technique is applied to compensate for the effect of the uncertainties of the robot model. With the NN compensator introduced, the system errors and the NN weights with large dispersion are guaranteed to be bounded in the Lyapunov sense. The weights of the NN compensator are adaptively tuned. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the model validation approach and its efficiency to guarantee a stable and accurate trajectory tracking process in the presence of uncertainties.
Applying Brainstorming Techniques to EFL Classroom

OpenAIRE

Toshiya, Oishi; 湘北短期大学; aPart-time Lecturer at Shohoku College

2015-01-01

This paper focuses on brainstorming techniques for English language learners. From the author's teaching experiences at Shohoku College during the academic year 2014-2015, the importance of brainstorming techniques was made evident. The author explored three elements of brainstorming techniques for writing using literaturereviews: lack of awareness, connecting to prior knowledge, and creativity. The literature reviews showed the advantage of using brainstorming techniques in an English compos...
Strategies and techniques of communication and public relations applied to non-profit sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana – Julieta Josan

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to summarize the strategies and techniques of communication and public relations applied to non-profit sector.The approach of the paper is to identify the most appropriate strategies and techniques that non-profit sector can use to accomplish its objectives, to highlight specific differences between the strategies and techniques of the profit and non-profit sectors and to identify potential communication and public relations actions in order to increase visibility among target audience, create brand awareness and to change into positive brand sentiment the target perception about the non-profit sector.
Chaos control applied to heart rhythm dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borem Ferreira, Bianca, E-mail: biaborem@gmail.com [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P.O. Box 68.503, 21.941.972 Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Souza de Paula, Aline, E-mail: alinedepaula@unb.br [Universidade de Brasi' lia, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 70.910.900 Brasilia, DF (Brazil); Amorim Savi, Marcelo, E-mail: savi@mecanica.ufrj.br [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P.O. Box 68.503, 21.941.972 Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2011-08-15

Highlights: > A natural cardiac pacemaker is modeled by a modified Van der Pol oscillator. > Responses related to normal and chaotic, pathological functioning of the heart are investigated. > Chaos control methods are applied to avoid pathological behaviors of heart dynamics. > Different approaches are treated: stabilization of unstable periodic orbits and chaos suppression. - Abstract: The dynamics of cardiovascular rhythms have been widely studied due to the key aspects of the heart in the physiology of living beings. Cardiac rhythms can be either periodic or chaotic, being respectively related to normal and pathological physiological functioning. In this regard, chaos control methods may be useful to promote the stabilization of unstable periodic orbits using small perturbations. In this article, the extended time-delayed feedback control method is applied to a natural cardiac pacemaker described by a mathematical model. The model consists of a modified Van der Pol equation that reproduces the behavior of this pacemaker. Results show the ability of the chaos control strategy to control the system response performing either the stabilization of unstable periodic orbits or the suppression of chaotic response, avoiding behaviors associated with critical cardiac pathologies.
Controlling the Adhesion of Superhydrophobic Surfaces Using Electrolyte Jet Machining Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaolong; Liu, Xin; Lu, Yao; Zhou, Shining; Gao, Mingqian; Song, Jinlong; Xu, Wenji

2016-01-01

Patterns with controllable adhesion on superhydrophobic areas have various biomedical and chemical applications. Electrolyte jet machining technique (EJM), an electrochemical machining method, was firstly exploited in constructing dimples with various profiles on the superhydrophobic Al alloy surface using different processing parameters. Sliding angles of water droplets on those dimples firstly increased and then stabilized at a certain value with the increase of the processing time or the applied voltages of the EJM, indicating that surfaces with different adhesion force could be obtained by regulating the processing parameters. The contact angle hysteresis and the adhesion force that restricts the droplet from sliding off were investigated through experiments. The results show that the adhesion force could be well described using the classical Furmidge equation. On account of this controllable adhesion force, water droplets could either be firmly pinned to the surface, forming various patterns or slide off at designed tilting angles at specified positions on a superhydrophobic surface. Such dimples on superhydrophopbic surfaces can be applied in water harvesting, biochemical analysis and lab-on-chip devices. PMID:27046771
Digital linear control theory applied to automatic stepsize control in electrical circuit simulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, A.; Beelen, T.G.J.; Hautus, M.L.J.; Maten, ter E.J.W.; Di Bucchianico, A.; Mattheij, R.M.M.; Peletier, M.A.

2006-01-01

Adaptive stepsize control is used to control the local errors of the numerical solution. For optimization purposes smoother stepsize controllers are wanted, such that the errors and stepsizes also behave smoothly. We consider approaches from digital linear control theory applied to multistep
Digital linear control theory applied to automatic stepsize control in electrical circuit simulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, A.; Beelen, T.G.J.; Hautus, M.L.J.; Maten, ter E.J.W.

2005-01-01

Adaptive stepsize control is used to control the local errors of the numerical solution. For optimization purposes smoother stepsize controllers are wanted, such that the errors and stepsizes also behave smoothly. We consider approaches from digital linear control theory applied to multistep
Switching EKF technique for rotor and stator resistance estimation in speed sensorless control of IMs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barut, Murat; Bogosyan, Seta; Gokasan, Metin

2007-01-01

High performance speed sensorless control of induction motors (IMs) calls for estimation and control schemes that offer solutions to parameter uncertainties as well as to difficulties involved with accurate flux/velocity estimation at very low and zero speed. In this study, a new EKF based estimation algorithm is proposed for the solution of both problems and is applied in combination with speed sensorless direct vector control (DVC). The technique is based on the consecutive execution of two EKF algorithms, by switching from one algorithm to another at every n sampling periods. The number of sampling periods, n, is determined based on the desired system performance. The switching EKF approach, thus applied, provides an accurate estimation of an increased number of parameters than would be possible with a single EKF algorithm. The simultaneous and accurate estimation of rotor, R r ' and stator, R s resistances, both in the transient and steady state, is an important challenge in speed sensorless IM control and reported studies achieving satisfactory results are few, if any. With the proposed technique in this study, the sensorless estimation of R r ' and R s is achieved in transient and steady state and in both high and low speed operation while also estimating the unknown load torque, velocity, flux and current components. The performance demonstrated by the simulation results at zero speed, as well as at low and high speed operation is very promising when compared with individual EKF algorithms performing either R r ' or R s estimation or with the few other approaches taken in past studies, which require either signal injection and/or a change of algorithms based on the speed range. The results also motivate utilization of the technique for multiple parameter estimation in a variety of control methods
Improvement technique of sensitized HAZ by GTAW cladding applied to a BWR power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tujimura, Hiroshi; Tamai, Yasumasa; Furukawa, Hideyasu; Kurosawa, Kouichi; Chiba, Isao; Nomura, Keiichi.

1995-01-01

A SCC(Stress Corrosion Cracking)-resistant technique, in which the sleeve installed by expansion is melted by GTAW process without filler metal with outside water cooling, was developed. The technique was applied to ICM (In-Core Monitor) housings of a BWR power plant in 1993. The ICM housings of which materials are type 304 Stainless Steels are sensitized with high tensile residual stresses by welding to the RPV (Reactor Pressure Vessel). As the result, ICM housings have potential of SCC initiation. Therefore, the improvement technique resistant to SCC was needed. The technique can improve chemical composition of the housing inside and residual stresses of the housing outside at the same time. Sensitization of the housing inner surface area is eliminated by replacing low-carbon with proper-ferrite microstructure clad. High tensile residual stresses of housing outside surface area is improved into compressive side. Compressive stresses of outside surface are induced by thermal stresses which are caused by inside cladding with outside water cooling. The clad is required to be low-carbon metal with proper ferrite and not to have the new sensitized HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) on the surface by cladding. The effect of the technique was qualified by SCC test, chemical composition check, ferrite content measurement and residual stresses measurement etc. All equipment for remote application were developed and qualified, too. The technique was successfully applied to a BWR plant after sufficient training
Fuzzy control techniques applied to a three phase synchronous rectifier current loop

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Berzoy-Lleren

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo presenta tres técnicas de control difuso de estructura variable (FVSC aplicadas al lazo de control de corriente en un rectificador síncrono trifásico. Estas técnicas se basan en un controlador PI difuso Takagi-Sugeno (T-S. El primer controlador es un FVSC de primer orden que se usa como referencia. A continuación se presentan y prueban dos estrategias FVSC, FVSC de segundo y tercer orden. Estos esquemas de control se simulan primero y luego se prueban en un rectificador síncrono de propósito general de laboratorio. Los resultados experimentales muestran que el rendimiento del control es bueno en los tres esquemas, logrando compensación de las corrientes armónicas y corrección del factor de potencia.
Discrete Event Supervisory Control Applied to Propulsion Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Litt, Jonathan S.; Shah, Neerav

2005-01-01

The theory of discrete event supervisory (DES) control was applied to the optimal control of a twin-engine aircraft propulsion system and demonstrated in a simulation. The supervisory control, which is implemented as a finite-state automaton, oversees the behavior of a system and manages it in such a way that it maximizes a performance criterion, similar to a traditional optimal control problem. DES controllers can be nested such that a high-level controller supervises multiple lower level controllers. This structure can be expanded to control huge, complex systems, providing optimal performance and increasing autonomy with each additional level. The DES control strategy for propulsion systems was validated using a distributed testbed consisting of multiple computers--each representing a module of the overall propulsion system--to simulate real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing. In the first experiment, DES control was applied to the operation of a nonlinear simulation of a turbofan engine (running in closed loop using its own feedback controller) to minimize engine structural damage caused by a combination of thermal and structural loads. This enables increased on-wing time for the engine through better management of the engine-component life usage. Thus, the engine-level DES acts as a life-extending controller through its interaction with and manipulation of the engine s operation.
Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm applied to dengue control.

Science.gov (United States)

Florentino, Helenice O; Cantane, Daniela R; Santos, Fernando L P; Bannwart, Bettina F

2014-12-01

Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by a virus of the Flaviridae family and transmitted to the person by a mosquito of the genus Aedes aegypti. This disease has been a global public health problem because a single mosquito can infect up to 300 people and between 50 and 100 million people are infected annually on all continents. Thus, dengue fever is currently a subject of research, whether in the search for vaccines and treatments for the disease or efficient and economical forms of mosquito control. The current study aims to study techniques of multiobjective optimization to assist in solving problems involving the control of the mosquito that transmits dengue fever. The population dynamics of the mosquito is studied in order to understand the epidemic phenomenon and suggest strategies of multiobjective programming for mosquito control. A Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm (MGA_DENGUE) is proposed to solve the optimization model treated here and we discuss the computational results obtained from the application of this technique. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Power system stabilizers based on modern control techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malik, O P; Chen, G P; Zhang, Y; El-Metwally, K [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

1994-12-31

Developments in digital technology have made it feasible to develop and implement improved controllers based on sophisticated control techniques. Power system stabilizers based on adaptive control, fuzzy logic and artificial networks are being developed. Each of these control techniques possesses unique features and strengths. In this paper, the relative performance of power systems stabilizers based on adaptive control, fuzzy logic and neural network, both in simulation studies and real time tests on a physical model of a power system, is presented and compared to that of a fixed parameter conventional power system stabilizer. (author) 16 refs., 45 figs., 3 tabs.
Validation and qualification of surface-applied fibre optic strain sensors using application-independent optical techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schukar, Vivien G; Kadoke, Daniel; Kusche, Nadine; Münzenberger, Sven; Gründer, Klaus-Peter; Habel, Wolfgang R

2012-01-01

Surface-applied fibre optic strain sensors were investigated using a unique validation facility equipped with application-independent optical reference systems. First, different adhesives for the sensor's application were analysed regarding their material properties. Measurements resulting from conventional measurement techniques, such as thermo-mechanical analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis, were compared with measurements resulting from digital image correlation, which has the advantage of being a non-contact technique. Second, fibre optic strain sensors were applied to test specimens with the selected adhesives. Their strain-transfer mechanism was analysed in comparison with conventional strain gauges. Relative movements between the applied sensor and the test specimen were visualized easily using optical reference methods, digital image correlation and electronic speckle pattern interferometry. Conventional strain gauges showed limited opportunities for an objective strain-transfer analysis because they are also affected by application conditions. (paper)

A two isocenter IMRT technique with a controlled junction dose for long volume targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, G G; Heaton, R K; Catton, C N; Chung, P W; O'Sullivan, B; Lau, M; Parent, A; Jaffray, D A

2007-01-01

Most IMRT techniques have been designed to treat targets smaller than the field size of conventional linac accelerators. In order to overcome the field size restrictions in applying IMRT, we developed a two isocenter IMRT technique to treat long volume targets. The technique exploits an extended dose gradient throughout a junction region of 4-6 cm to minimize the impact of field match errors on a junction dose and manipulates the inverse planning and IMRT segments to fill in the dose gradient and achieve dose uniformity. Techniques for abutting both conventional fields with IMRT ('Static + IMRT') and IMRT fields ('IMRT + IMRT') using two separate isocenters have been developed. Five long volume sarcoma cases have been planned in Pinnacle (Philips, Madison, USA) using Elekta Synergy and Varian 2100EX linacs; two of the cases were clinically treated with this technique. Advantages were demonstrated with well-controlled junction target uniformity and tolerance to setup uncertainties. The junction target dose heterogeneity was controlled at a level of ±5%; for 3 mm setup errors at the field edges, the junction target dose changed less than 5% and the dose sparing to organs at risk (OARs) was maintained. Film measurements confirmed the treatment planning results
A novel technique for active vibration control, based on optimal

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

In the last few decades, researchers have proposed many control techniques to suppress unwanted vibrations in a structure. In this work, a novel and simple technique is proposed for the active vibration control. In this technique, an optimal tracking control is employed to suppress vibrations in a structure by simultaneously ...
Analytical techniques applied to study cultural heritage objects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rizzutto, M.A.; Curado, J.F.; Bernardes, S.; Campos, P.H.O.V.; Kajiya, E.A.M.; Silva, T.F.; Rodrigues, C.L.; Moro, M.; Tabacniks, M.; Added, N., E-mail: rizzutto@if.usp.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

2015-07-01

The scientific study of artistic and cultural heritage objects have been routinely performed in Europe and the United States for decades. In Brazil this research area is growing, mainly through the use of physical and chemical characterization methods. Since 2003 the Group of Applied Physics with Particle Accelerators of the Physics Institute of the University of Sao Paulo (GFAA-IF) has been working with various methodologies for material characterization and analysis of cultural objects. Initially using ion beam analysis performed with Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and recently Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL), for the determination of the elements and chemical compounds in the surface layers. These techniques are widely used in the Laboratory of Materials Analysis with Ion Beams (LAMFI-USP). Recently, the GFAA expanded the studies to other possibilities of analysis enabled by imaging techniques that coupled with elemental and compositional characterization provide a better understanding on the materials and techniques used in the creative process in the manufacture of objects. The imaging analysis, mainly used to examine and document artistic and cultural heritage objects, are performed through images with visible light, infrared reflectography (IR), fluorescence with ultraviolet radiation (UV), tangential light and digital radiography. Expanding more the possibilities of analysis, new capabilities were added using portable equipment such as Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) and Raman Spectroscopy that can be used for analysis 'in situ' at the museums. The results of these analyzes are providing valuable information on the manufacturing process and have provided new information on objects of different University of Sao Paulo museums. Improving the arsenal of cultural heritage analysis it was recently constructed an 3D robotic stage for the precise positioning of samples in the external beam setup
Analytical techniques applied to study cultural heritage objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rizzutto, M.A.; Curado, J.F.; Bernardes, S.; Campos, P.H.O.V.; Kajiya, E.A.M.; Silva, T.F.; Rodrigues, C.L.; Moro, M.; Tabacniks, M.; Added, N.

2015-01-01

The scientific study of artistic and cultural heritage objects have been routinely performed in Europe and the United States for decades. In Brazil this research area is growing, mainly through the use of physical and chemical characterization methods. Since 2003 the Group of Applied Physics with Particle Accelerators of the Physics Institute of the University of Sao Paulo (GFAA-IF) has been working with various methodologies for material characterization and analysis of cultural objects. Initially using ion beam analysis performed with Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and recently Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL), for the determination of the elements and chemical compounds in the surface layers. These techniques are widely used in the Laboratory of Materials Analysis with Ion Beams (LAMFI-USP). Recently, the GFAA expanded the studies to other possibilities of analysis enabled by imaging techniques that coupled with elemental and compositional characterization provide a better understanding on the materials and techniques used in the creative process in the manufacture of objects. The imaging analysis, mainly used to examine and document artistic and cultural heritage objects, are performed through images with visible light, infrared reflectography (IR), fluorescence with ultraviolet radiation (UV), tangential light and digital radiography. Expanding more the possibilities of analysis, new capabilities were added using portable equipment such as Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) and Raman Spectroscopy that can be used for analysis 'in situ' at the museums. The results of these analyzes are providing valuable information on the manufacturing process and have provided new information on objects of different University of Sao Paulo museums. Improving the arsenal of cultural heritage analysis it was recently constructed an 3D robotic stage for the precise positioning of samples in the external beam setup
Applying Student Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) Model on Material of Basic Programme Branch Control Structure to Increase Activity and Student Result

Science.gov (United States)

Akhrian Syahidi, Aulia; Asyikin, Arifin Noor; Asy’ari

2018-04-01

Based on my experience of teaching the material of branch control structure, it is found that the condition of the students is less active causing the low activity of the students on the attitude assessment during the learning process on the material of the branch control structure i.e. 2 students 6.45% percentage of good activity and 29 students percentage 93.55% enough and less activity. Then from the low activity resulted in low student learning outcomes based on a daily re-examination of branch control material, only 8 students 26% percentage reached KKM and 23 students 74% percent did not reach KKM. The purpose of this research is to increase the activity and learning outcomes of students of class X TKJ B SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Banjarmasin after applying STAD type cooperative learning model on the material of branch control structure. The research method used is Classroom Action Research. The study was conducted two cycles with six meetings. The subjects of this study were students of class X TKJ B with a total of 31 students consisting of 23 men and 8 women. The object of this study is the activity and student learning outcomes. Data collection techniques used are test and observation techniques. Data analysis technique used is a percentage and mean. The results of this study indicate that: an increase in activity and learning outcomes of students on the basic programming learning material branch control structure after applying STAD type cooperative learning model.
Applying Metrological Techniques to Satellite Fundamental Climate Data Records

Science.gov (United States)

Woolliams, Emma R.; Mittaz, Jonathan PD; Merchant, Christopher J.; Hunt, Samuel E.; Harris, Peter M.

2018-02-01

Quantifying long-term environmental variability, including climatic trends, requires decadal-scale time series of observations. The reliability of such trend analysis depends on the long-term stability of the data record, and understanding the sources of uncertainty in historic, current and future sensors. We give a brief overview on how metrological techniques can be applied to historical satellite data sets. In particular we discuss the implications of error correlation at different spatial and temporal scales and the forms of such correlation and consider how uncertainty is propagated with partial correlation. We give a form of the Law of Propagation of Uncertainties that considers the propagation of uncertainties associated with common errors to give the covariance associated with Earth observations in different spectral channels.
Modelling the effects of the sterile insect technique applied to Eldana saccharina Walker in sugarcane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Potgieter

2012-12-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model is formulated for the population dynamics of an Eldana saccharina Walker infestation of sugarcane under the influence of partially sterile released insects. The model describes the population growth of and interaction between normal and sterile E.saccharina moths in a temporally variable, but spatially homogeneous environment. The model consists of a deterministic system of difference equations subject to strictly positive initial data. The primary objective of this model is to determine suitable parameters in terms of which the above population growth and interaction may be quantified and according to which E.saccharina infestation levels and the associated sugarcane damage may be measured. Although many models have been formulated in the past describing the sterile insect technique, few of these models describe the technique for Lepidopteran species with more than one life stage and where F1-sterility is relevant. In addition, none of these models consider the technique when fully sterile females and partially sterile males are being released. The model formulated is also the first to describe the technique applied specifically to E.saccharina, and to consider the economic viability of applying the technique to this species. Pertinent decision support is provided to farm managers in terms of the best timing for releases, release ratios and release frequencies.
Zero order and signal processing spectrophotometric techniques applied for resolving interference of metronidazole with ciprofloxacin in their pharmaceutical dosage form.

Science.gov (United States)

Attia, Khalid A M; Nassar, Mohammed W I; El-Zeiny, Mohamed B; Serag, Ahmed

2016-02-05

Four rapid, simple, accurate and precise spectrophotometric methods were used for the determination of ciprofloxacin in the presence of metronidazole as interference. The methods under study are area under the curve, simultaneous equation in addition to smart signal processing techniques of manipulating ratio spectra namely Savitsky-Golay filters and continuous wavelet transform. All the methods were validated according to the ICH guidelines where accuracy, precision and repeatability were found to be within the acceptable limits. The selectivity of the proposed methods was tested using laboratory prepared mixtures and assessed by applying the standard addition technique. So, they can therefore be used for the routine analysis of ciprofloxacin in quality-control laboratories. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
SCADA system with predictive controller applied to irrigation canals

OpenAIRE

Figueiredo, João; Botto, Miguel; Rijo, Manuel

2013-01-01

This paper applies a model predictive controller (MPC) to an automatic water canal with sensors and actuators controlled by a network (programmable logic controller), and supervised by a SCADA system (supervisory control and a data acquisition). This canal is composed by a set of distributed sub-systems that control the water level in each canal pool, constrained by discharge gates (control variables) and water off-takes (disturbances). All local controllers are available through an industria...
Satellite SAR interferometric techniques applied to emergency mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Stefanova Vassileva, Magdalena; Riccardi, Paolo; Lecci, Daniele; Giulio Tonolo, Fabio; Boccardo Boccardo, Piero; Chiesa, Giuliana; Angeluccetti, Irene

2017-04-01

This paper aim to investigate the capabilities of the currently available SAR interferometric algorithms in the field of emergency mapping. Several tests have been performed exploiting the Copernicus Sentinel-1 data using the COTS software ENVI/SARscape 5.3. Emergency Mapping can be defined as "creation of maps, geo-information products and spatial analyses dedicated to providing situational awareness emergency management and immediate crisis information for response by means of extraction of reference (pre-event) and crisis (post-event) geographic information/data from satellite or aerial imagery". The conventional differential SAR interferometric technique (DInSAR) and the two currently available multi-temporal SAR interferometric approaches, i.e. Permanent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Small BAseline Subset (SBAS), have been applied to provide crisis information useful for the emergency management activities. Depending on the considered Emergency Management phase, it may be distinguished between rapid mapping, i.e. fast provision of geospatial data regarding the area affected for the immediate emergency response, and monitoring mapping, i.e. detection of phenomena for risk prevention and mitigation activities. In order to evaluate the potential and limitations of the aforementioned SAR interferometric approaches for the specific rapid and monitoring mapping application, five main factors have been taken into account: crisis information extracted, input data required, processing time and expected accuracy. The results highlight that DInSAR has the capacity to delineate areas affected by large and sudden deformations and fulfills most of the immediate response requirements. The main limiting factor of interferometry is the availability of suitable SAR acquisition immediately after the event (e.g. Sentinel-1 mission characterized by 6-day revisiting time may not always satisfy the immediate emergency request). PSI and SBAS techniques are suitable to produce
Controller design for flexible, distributed parameter mechanical arms via combined state space and frequency domain techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Book, W. J.; Majett, M.

1982-01-01

The potential benefits of the ability to control more flexible mechanical arms are discussed. A justification is made in terms of speed of movement. A new controller design procedure is then developed to provide this capability. It uses both a frequency domain representation and a state variable representation of the arm model. The frequency domain model is used to update the modal state variable model to insure decoupled states. The technique is applied to a simple example with encouraging results.
Applying Statistical Process Quality Control Methodology to Educational Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Blumberg, Carol Joyce

A subset of Statistical Process Control (SPC) methodology known as Control Charting is introduced. SPC methodology is a collection of graphical and inferential statistics techniques used to study the progress of phenomena over time. The types of control charts covered are the null X (mean), R (Range), X (individual observations), MR (moving…
Archaeometry: nuclear and conventional techniques applied to the archaeological research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esparza L, R.; Cardenas G, E.

2005-01-01

The book that now is presented is formed by twelve articles that approach from different perspective topics as the archaeological prospecting, the analysis of the pre hispanic and colonial ceramic, the obsidian and the mural painting, besides dating and questions about the data ordaining. Following the chronological order in which the exploration techniques and laboratory studies are required, there are presented in the first place the texts about the systematic and detailed study of the archaeological sites, later we pass to relative topics to the application of diverse nuclear techniques as PIXE, RBS, XRD, NAA, SEM, Moessbauer spectroscopy and other conventional techniques. The multidisciplinary is an aspect that highlights in this work, that which owes to the great specialization of the work that is presented even in the archaeological studies including in the open ground of the topography, mapping, excavation and, of course, in the laboratory tests. Most of the articles are the result of several years of investigation and it has been consigned in the responsibility of each article. The texts here gathered emphasize the technical aspects of each investigation, the modern compute systems applied to the prospecting and the archaeological mapping, the chemical and physical analysis of organic materials, of metal artifacts, of diverse rocks used in the pre hispanic epoch, of mural and ceramic paintings, characteristics that justly underline the potential of the collective works. (Author)
English Language Teachers' Perceptions on Knowing and Applying Contemporary Language Teaching Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Sucuoglu, Esen

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of English language teachers teaching at a preparatory school in relation to their knowing and applying contemporary language teaching techniques in their lessons. An investigation was conducted of 21 English language teachers at a preparatory school in North Cyprus. The SPSS statistical…
Applying Statistical Process Control to Clinical Data: An Illustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfadt, Al; And Others

1992-01-01

Principles of statistical process control are applied to a clinical setting through the use of control charts to detect changes, as part of treatment planning and clinical decision-making processes. The logic of control chart analysis is derived from principles of statistical inference. Sample charts offer examples of evaluating baselines and…
Stability of Closed Loop Controlled Repetitive Periodic System applied to control of CD-Player

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob; Andersen, Palle

2005-01-01

In this paper a criterion for stability of specific control scheme for handling linear dynamic control systems with repetitive periodic sensor faults is derived. The given system and control scheme are described and defined. By combining these with the lifting technique a necessary and sufficient...
Fast Fourier and discrete wavelet transforms applied to sensorless vector control induction motor for rotor bar faults diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Talhaoui, Hicham; Menacer, Arezki; Kessal, Abdelhalim; Kechida, Ridha

2014-09-01

This paper presents new techniques to evaluate faults in case of broken rotor bars of induction motors. Procedures are applied with closed-loop control. Electrical and mechanical variables are treated using fast Fourier transform (FFT), and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) at start-up and steady state. The wavelet transform has proven to be an excellent mathematical tool for the detection of the faults particularly broken rotor bars type. As a performance, DWT can provide a local representation of the non-stationary current signals for the healthy machine and with fault. For sensorless control, a Luenberger observer is applied; the estimation rotor speed is analyzed; the effect of the faults in the speed pulsation is compensated; a quadratic current appears and used for fault detection. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A study on the Horizontal Control of a Seat for Heavy Machinery using a Phase Adjusting Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Chae-sil.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study proposes a dynamic plant model to simulate the performance of a heavy equipment vehicle seat system. The system controls the transmission of vibration using a phase adjustment control method. First, a dynamic model for the flexible heavy equipment seat is proposed using a commercial multi-body dynamic analysis tool, ADAMS. This model is used as a plant model. Then a phase adjustment control mechanism for reducing the vibration and shock transmitted by the seat is applied to the driving dynamics control plant model. Angle control using the phase adjustment control was confirmed. This technique is expected to be the basis for a future commercial system.
Improving skill development: an exploratory study comparing a philosophical and an applied ethical analysis technique

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Saggaf, Yeslam; Burmeister, Oliver K.

2012-09-01

This exploratory study compares and contrasts two types of critical thinking techniques; one is a philosophical and the other an applied ethical analysis technique. The two techniques analyse an ethically challenging situation involving ICT that a recent media article raised to demonstrate their ability to develop the ethical analysis skills of ICT students and professionals. In particular the skill development focused on includes: being able to recognise ethical challenges and formulate coherent responses; distancing oneself from subjective judgements; developing ethical literacy; identifying stakeholders; and communicating ethical decisions made, to name a few.
Advanced nondestructive techniques applied for the detection of discontinuities in aluminum foams

Science.gov (United States)

Katchadjian, Pablo; García, Alejandro; Brizuela, Jose; Camacho, Jorge; Chiné, Bruno; Mussi, Valerio; Britto, Ivan

2018-04-01

Metal foams are finding an increasing range of applications by their lightweight structure and physical, chemical and mechanical properties. Foams can be used to fill closed moulds for manufacturing structural foam parts of complex shape [1]; foam filled structures are expected to provide good mechanical properties and energy absorption capabilities. The complexity of the foaming process and the number of parameters to simultaneously control, demand a preliminary and hugely wide experimental activity to manufacture foamed components with a good quality. That is why there are many efforts to improve the structure of foams, in order to obtain a product with good properties. The problem is that even for seemingly identical foaming conditions, the effective foaming can vary significantly from one foaming trial to another. The variation of the foams often is related by structural imperfections, joining region (foam-foam or foam-wall mold) or difficulties in achieving a complete filling of the mould. That is, in a closed mold, the result of the mold filling and its structure or defects are not known a priori and can eventually vary significantly. These defects can cause a drastic deterioration of the mechanical properties [2] and lead to a low performance in its application. This work proposes the use of advanced nondestructive techniques for evaluating the foam distribution after filling the mold to improve the manufacturing process. To achieved this purpose ultrasonic technique (UT) and cone beam computed tomography (CT) were applied on plate and structures of different thicknesses filled with foam of different porosity. UT was carried out on transmission mode with low frequency air-coupled transducers [3], in focused and unfocused configurations.

Applying Trusted Network Technology To Process Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Okhravi, Hamed; Nicol, David

Interconnections between process control networks and enterprise networks expose instrumentation and control systems and the critical infrastructure components they operate to a variety of cyber attacks. Several architectural standards and security best practices have been proposed for industrial control systems. However, they are based on older architectures and do not leverage the latest hardware and software technologies. This paper describes new technologies that can be applied to the design of next generation security architectures for industrial control systems. The technologies are discussed along with their security benefits and design trade-offs.
Development of an Active Flow Control Technique for an Airplane High-Lift Configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Shmilovich, Arvin; Yadlin, Yoram; Dickey, Eric D.; Hartwich, Peter M.; Khodadoust, Abdi

2017-01-01

This study focuses on Active Flow Control methods used in conjunction with airplane high-lift systems. The project is motivated by the simplified high-lift system, which offers enhanced airplane performance compared to conventional high-lift systems. Computational simulations are used to guide the implementation of preferred flow control methods, which require a fluidic supply. It is first demonstrated that flow control applied to a high-lift configuration that consists of simple hinge flaps is capable of attaining the performance of the conventional high-lift counterpart. A set of flow control techniques has been subsequently considered to identify promising candidates, where the central requirement is that the mass flow for actuation has to be within available resources onboard. The flow control methods are based on constant blowing, fluidic oscillators, and traverse actuation. The simulations indicate that the traverse actuation offers a substantial reduction in required mass flow, and it is especially effective when the frequency of actuation is consistent with the characteristic time scale of the flow.
Active noise control technique and its application on ships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHEN Kean

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid development during past three decades, Active Noise Control(ANC has become a highly complementary noise control approach in comparison with traditional approaches, and has formed a complete system including basic theory, investigation approach, key techniques and system implementation. Meanwhile, substantial progress has been achieved in such fields as the practical application, industrialization development and commercial popularization of ANC, and this developed technique provides a practical and feasible choice for the active control of ship noise. In this review paper, its sound field analysis, system setup and key techniques are summarized, typical examples of ANC-based engineering applications including control of cabin noise and duct noise are briefly described, and a variety of forefronts and problems associated with the applications of ANC in ship noise control, such as active sound absorption, active sound insulation and smart acoustic structure, are subsequently discussed.
Applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related analytical techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

A co-ordinated research programme (CRP) on applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related techniques is a global CRP which will run from 1992-1996, and will build upon the experience gained by the Agency from the laboratory support that it has been providing for several years to BAPMoN - the Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network programme organized under the auspices of the World Meterological Organization. The purpose of this CRP is to promote the use of nuclear analytical techniques in air pollution studies, e.g. NAA, XFR, and PIXE for the analysis of toxic and other trace elements in suspended particulate matter (including air filter samples), rainwater and fog-water samples, and in biological indicators of air pollution (e.g. lichens and mosses). The main purposes of the core programme are i) to support the use of nuclear and nuclear-related analytical techniques for practically-oriented research and monitoring studies on air pollution ii) to identify major sources of air pollution affecting each of the participating countries with particular reference to toxic heavy metals, and iii) to obtain comparative data on pollution levels in areas of high pollution (e.g. a city centre or a populated area downwind of a large pollution source) and low pollution (e.g. rural areas). This document reports the discussions held during the first Research Co-ordination Meeting (RCM) for the CRP which took place at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna. Refs, figs and tabs
Renormalization techniques applied to the study of density of states in disordered systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez Ibanez, J.

1985-01-01

A general scheme for real space renormalization of formal scattering theory is presented and applied to the calculation of density of states (DOS) in some finite width systems. This technique is extended in a self-consistent way, to the treatment of disordered and partially ordered chains. Numerical results of moments and DOS are presented in comparison with previous calculations. In addition, a self-consistent theory for the magnetic order problem in a Hubbard chain is derived and a parametric transition is observed. Properties of localization of the electronic states in disordered chains are studied through various decimation averaging techniques and using numerical simulations. (author) [pt
Control of a deareador level of a thermoelectric power station using modern control techniques; Control de nivel de un deareador de una central termoelectrica utilizando tecnicas de control moderno

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chavez Estrada, Jose Israel

1997-01-01

The present work shows the implementation of the scheme of predictive control IMC (Internal Model Control) in order to control the level of the deareador of a combined cycle thermoelectric power station of (C.C.T.S.). The implementation has the purpose of looking for alternative strategies of control to the classic ones (PID`s) that more efficiently control the variables of interest, in addition to getting into the new control techniques of control. Following the philosophy of predictive control IMC the form to applying this technique is shown, as well as the implementation of this type of controllers. A comparison of predictive control IMC is made with the scheme of conventional control (three control elements PID`s ) used at present to control the level of the deareador in the Combined Cycle Thermoelectric Power stations of Dos Bocas, Veracruz, Mexico and of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. [Espanol] El presente trabajo muestra la implementacion del esquema de control predictivo IMC (Control con Modelo Interno) con el objeto de controlar el nivel del deareador de una Central Termoelectrica de Ciclo Combinado (C.T.C.C.). La implementacion tiene la finalidad de buscar estrategias de control alternas a las clasicas (PID`s) que controlen mas eficientemente la variable de interes, ademas de incursionar en las nuevas tecnicas de control. Siguiendo la filosofia del control predictivo IMC se muestra la forma de aplicar esta tecnica, asi como la implementacion de este tipo de controladores. Se hace una comparacion del control predictivo IMC con el esquema de control convencional (control de tres elementos PID`s) utilizando actualmente para controlar el nivel del deareador en las centrales termoelectricas de ciclo combinado de Dos Bocas, Veracruz y de Gomez Palacio, Durango en Mexico.
MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO EVALUATION OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC RESIDUES FOR BIOENERGY PRODUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiago de Paula Protásio

2013-12-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1980509812361The evaluation of lignocellulosic wastes for bioenergy production demands to consider several characteristicsand properties that may be correlated. This fact demands the use of various multivariate analysis techniquesthat allow the evaluation of relevant energetic factors. This work aimed to apply cluster analysis and principalcomponents analyses for the selection and evaluation of lignocellulosic wastes for bioenergy production.8 types of residual biomass were used, whose the elemental components (C, H, O, N, S content, lignin, totalextractives and ashes contents, basic density and higher and lower heating values were determined. Bothmultivariate techniques applied for evaluation and selection of lignocellulosic wastes were efficient andsimilarities were observed between the biomass groups formed by them. Through the interpretation of thefirst principal component obtained, it was possible to create a global development index for the evaluationof the viability of energetic uses of biomass. The interpretation of the second principal component alloweda contrast between nitrogen and sulfur contents with oxygen content.
Adaptive Wavelet Coding Applied in a Wireless Control System.

Science.gov (United States)

Gama, Felipe O S; Silveira, Luiz F Q; Salazar, Andrés O

2017-12-13

Wireless control systems can sense, control and act on the information exchanged between the wireless sensor nodes in a control loop. However, the exchanged information becomes susceptible to the degenerative effects produced by the multipath propagation. In order to minimize the destructive effects characteristic of wireless channels, several techniques have been investigated recently. Among them, wavelet coding is a good alternative for wireless communications for its robustness to the effects of multipath and its low computational complexity. This work proposes an adaptive wavelet coding whose parameters of code rate and signal constellation can vary according to the fading level and evaluates the use of this transmission system in a control loop implemented by wireless sensor nodes. The performance of the adaptive system was evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER) versus E b / N 0 and spectral efficiency, considering a time-varying channel with flat Rayleigh fading, and in terms of processing overhead on a control system with wireless communication. The results obtained through computational simulations and experimental tests show performance gains obtained by insertion of the adaptive wavelet coding in a control loop with nodes interconnected by wireless link. These results enable the use of this technique in a wireless link control loop.
Adaptive Wavelet Coding Applied in a Wireless Control System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe O. S. Gama

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Wireless control systems can sense, control and act on the information exchanged between the wireless sensor nodes in a control loop. However, the exchanged information becomes susceptible to the degenerative effects produced by the multipath propagation. In order to minimize the destructive effects characteristic of wireless channels, several techniques have been investigated recently. Among them, wavelet coding is a good alternative for wireless communications for its robustness to the effects of multipath and its low computational complexity. This work proposes an adaptive wavelet coding whose parameters of code rate and signal constellation can vary according to the fading level and evaluates the use of this transmission system in a control loop implemented by wireless sensor nodes. The performance of the adaptive system was evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER versus E b / N 0 and spectral efficiency, considering a time-varying channel with flat Rayleigh fading, and in terms of processing overhead on a control system with wireless communication. The results obtained through computational simulations and experimental tests show performance gains obtained by insertion of the adaptive wavelet coding in a control loop with nodes interconnected by wireless link. These results enable the use of this technique in a wireless link control loop.
Unified Modeling of Discrete Event and Control Systems Applied in Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda Arêas de Souza

2015-05-01

Full Text Available For the development of both a simulation modeland a control system, it is necessary to build, inadvance, a conceptual model. This is what isusually suggested by the methodologies applied inprojects of this nature. Some conceptual modelingtechniques allow for a better understanding ofthe simulation model, and a clear descriptionof the logic of control systems. Therefore, thispaper aims to present and evaluate conceptuallanguages for unified modeling of models ofdiscrete event simulation and control systemsapplied in manufacturing. The results show thatthe IDEF-SIM language can be applied both insimulation systems and in process control.
Research review: Indoor air quality control techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisk, W.J.

1986-10-01

Techniques for controlling the concentration of radon, formaldehyde, and combustion products in the indoor air are reviewed. The most effective techniques, which are generally based on limiting or reducing indoor pollutant source strengths, can decrease indoor pollutant concentrations by a factor of 3 to 10. Unless the initial ventilation rate is unusually low, it is difficult to reduce indoor pollutant concentrations more than approximately 50% by increasing the ventilation rate of an entire building. However, the efficiency of indoor pollutant control by ventilation can be enhanced through the use of local exhaust ventilation near concentrated sources of pollutants, by minimizing short circuiting of air from supply to exhaust when pollutant sources are dispersed and, in some situations, by promoting a displacement flow of air and pollutants toward the exhaust. Active air cleaning is also examined briefly. Filtration and electrostatic air cleaning for removal of particles from the indoor air are the most practical and effective currently available techniques of air cleaning. 49 refs., 7 figs
Selective weed control using laser techniques

OpenAIRE

Marx, Christian; Pastrana-Perez, Julio; Hustedt, Michael; Barcikowski, Stephan; Haferkamp, Heinz; Rath, Thomas

2012-01-01

This contribution discusses technical and growth relevant aspects of using laser techniques for weed control. The research on thermal weed control via laser first focused on the interaction of laser beams and weed plants. Due to preliminary studies, a CO2-laser was selected for further studies with regard to the process factors laser energy, laser spot area, coverage of the weeds meristem, weed species (Amaranthus retroflexus), and weed growth stage. Thereby, the laser damage was modeled in o...
Electron sterilization validation techniques using the controlled depth of sterilization process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleghorn, D.A.; Nablo, S.V.

1990-01-01

Many pharmaceutical products, especially parenteral drugs, cannot be sterilized with gamma rays or high energy electrons due to the concomitant product degradation. In view of the well-controlled electron energy spectrum available in modern electron processors, it is practical to deliver sterilizing doses over depths considerably less than those defining the thickness of blister-pack constructions or pharmaceutical containers. Because bremsstrahlung and X-ray production are minimized at these low electron energies and in these low Z materials, very high electron: penetrating X-ray dose ratios are possible for the application of the technique. Thin film dosimetric techniques have been developed utilizing radiochromic film in the 10-60 g/m 2 range for determining the surface dose distribution in occluded surface areas where direct electron illumination is not possible. Procedures for validation of the process using dried spore inoculum on the product as well as in good geometry are employed to determine the process lethality and its dependence on product surface geometry. Applications of the process to labile pharmaceuticals in glass and polystyrene syringes are reviewed. It has been applied to the sterilization of commercial sterile products since 1987, and the advantages and the natural limitations of the technique are discussed. (author)
PID feedback controller used as a tactical asset allocation technique: The G.A.M. model

Science.gov (United States)

Gandolfi, G.; Sabatini, A.; Rossolini, M.

2007-09-01

The objective of this paper is to illustrate a tactical asset allocation technique utilizing the PID controller. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is widely applied in most industrial processes; it has been successfully used for over 50 years and it is used by more than 95% of the plants processes. It is a robust and easily understood algorithm that can provide excellent control performance in spite of the diverse dynamic characteristics of the process plant. In finance, the process plant, controlled by the PID controller, can be represented by financial market assets forming a portfolio. More specifically, in the present work, the plant is represented by a risk-adjusted return variable. Money and portfolio managers’ main target is to achieve a relevant risk-adjusted return in their managing activities. In literature and in the financial industry business, numerous kinds of return/risk ratios are commonly studied and used. The aim of this work is to perform a tactical asset allocation technique consisting in the optimization of risk adjusted return by means of asset allocation methodologies based on the PID model-free feedback control modeling procedure. The process plant does not need to be mathematically modeled: the PID control action lies in altering the portfolio asset weights, according to the PID algorithm and its parameters, Ziegler-and-Nichols-tuned, in order to approach the desired portfolio risk-adjusted return efficiently.
Contributions to fuzzy polynomial techniques for stability analysis and control

OpenAIRE

Pitarch Pérez, José Luis

2014-01-01

The present thesis employs fuzzy-polynomial control techniques in order to improve the stability analysis and control of nonlinear systems. Initially, it reviews the more extended techniques in the field of Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems, such as the more relevant results about polynomial and fuzzy polynomial systems. The basic framework uses fuzzy polynomial models by Taylor series and sum-of-squares techniques (semidefinite programming) in order to obtain stability guarantees...
Robust intelligent backstepping tracking control for uncertain non-linear chaotic systems using H∞ control technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Y.-F.

2009-01-01

The cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) is a non-linear adaptive system with built-in simple computation, good generalization capability and fast learning property. In this paper, a robust intelligent backstepping tracking control (RIBTC) system combined with adaptive CMAC and H ∞ control technique is proposed for a class of chaotic systems with unknown system dynamics and external disturbance. In the proposed control system, an adaptive backstepping cerebellar model articulation controller (ABCMAC) is used to mimic an ideal backstepping control (IBC), and a robust H ∞ controller is designed to attenuate the effect of the residual approximation errors and external disturbances with desired attenuation level. Moreover, the all adaptation laws of the RIBTC system are derived based on the Lyapunov stability analysis, the Taylor linearization technique and H ∞ control theory, so that the stability of the closed-loop system and H ∞ tracking performance can be guaranteed. Finally, three application examples, including a Duffing-Holmes chaotic system, a Genesio chaotic system and a Sprott circuit system, are used to demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of proposed robust control technique.
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
Application of object oriented techniques in the TRIUMF beam line 2C control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, N.A.; Ludgate, G.A.

1992-07-01

The KAON Factory central control system study employed a uniform approach to requirements analysis, architectural design and programming based on well established object oriented principles. These principles were applied to the successful analysis, design and implementation of the control system for the TRIUMF Beam Line 2C Solid Target Facility. The specification for this control system was created in collaboration with Beam Line 2C equipment management experts and, once the analysis models were validated, an approach was developed for the direct translation of these models into C code. A commercial real time database was central to this translation, as inter-object data and control flows are implemented by channels in the database. This paper focuses on the experience gained in the use of object oriented techniques during the complete analysis-design-implementation cycle of a working control system and on the utility of implementing such a system using a commercial real time database and graphical interface. (author)
Operating control techniques for maglev transport systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kraft, K H; Schnieder, E

1984-06-01

The technical and operational possibilities of magnetic levitation transport systems can only be fully exploited by introducing 'intelligent' control systems which ensure automatic and trouble-free train running. The solution of exacting requirements in the fields of traction dynamics, security and control as well as information gathering transmission and processing is an important prior condition in that respect. The authors report here on the present state of research and development in operating control techniques applicable to maglev transport systems.
[Molecular techniques applied in species identification of Toxocara].

Science.gov (United States)

Fogt, Renata

2006-01-01

Toxocarosis is still an important and actual problem in human medicine. It can manifest as visceral (VLM), ocular (OLM) or covert (CT) larva migrans syndroms. Complicated life cycle of Toxocara, lack of easy and practical methods of species differentiation of the adult nematode and embarrassing in recognition of the infection in definitive hosts create difficulties in fighting with the infection. Although studies on human toxocarosis have been continued for over 50 years there is no conclusive answer, which of species--T. canis or T. cati constitutes a greater risk of transmission of the nematode to man. Neither blood serological examinations nor microscopic observations of the morphological features of the nematode give the satisfied answer on the question. Since the 90-ths molecular methods were developed for species identification and became useful tools being widely applied in parasitological diagnosis. This paper cover the survey of methods of DNA analyses used for identification of Toxocara species. The review may be helpful for researchers focused on Toxocara and toxocarosis as well as on detection of new species. The following techniques are described: PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism), RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) and SSCP (Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism).

Impact of fruit fly control programmes using the sterile insect technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enkerlin, W.R.

2005-01-01

Measuring the impact of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes, that use the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control fruit fly pests of economic significance, is complex. These programmes affect practically the whole horticultural food chain. In this chapter, the impact of the programmes is assessed by focusing only on the benefits generated to producers and traders of horticultural products, the direct beneficiaries. This is done first by describing the types of benefits accrued from these programmes, second by explaining the factors that shape programme benefits, and finally by presenting several examples to illustrate how the SIT technology, when properly applied for eradication, containment, suppression, or prevention purposes, can generate substantial direct and indirect benefits to the horticulture industry. (author)
Application of functional analysis techniques to supervisory systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, Manuel; Riera, Bernard; Martel, Gregory

1999-01-01

The aim of this paper is to apply firstly two interesting functional analysis techniques for the design of supervisory systems for complex processes, and secondly to discuss the strength and the weaknesses of each of them. Two functional analysis techniques have been applied, SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique) and FAST (Functional Analysis System Technique) on a process, an example of a Water Supply Process Control (WSPC) system. These techniques allow a functional description of industrial processes. The paper briefly discusses the functions of a supervisory system and some advantages of the application of functional analysis for the design of a 'human' centered supervisory system. Then the basic principles of the two techniques applied on the WSPC system are presented. Finally, the different results obtained from the two techniques are discussed
Applying value stream mapping techniques to eliminate non-value-added waste for the procurement of endovascular stents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teichgräber, Ulf K.; Bucourt, Maximilian de

2012-01-01

Objectives: To eliminate non-value-adding (NVA) waste for the procurement of endovascular stents in interventional radiology services by applying value stream mapping (VSM). Materials and methods: The Lean manufacturing technique was used to analyze the process of material and information flow currently required to direct endovascular stents from external suppliers to patients. Based on a decision point analysis for the procurement of stents in the hospital, a present state VSM was drawn. After assessment of the current status VSM and progressive elimination of unnecessary NVA waste, a future state VSM was drawn. Results: The current state VSM demonstrated that out of 13 processes for the procurement of stents only 2 processes were value-adding. Out of the NVA processes 5 processes were unnecessary NVA activities, which could be eliminated. The decision point analysis demonstrated that the procurement of stents was mainly a forecast driven push system. The future state VSM applies a pull inventory control system to trigger the movement of a unit after withdrawal by using a consignment stock. Conclusion: VSM is a visualization tool for the supply chain and value stream, based on the Toyota Production System and greatly assists in successfully implementing a Lean system.
Vibration monitoring/diagnostic techniques, as applied to reactor coolant pumps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sculthorpe, B.R.; Johnson, K.M.

1986-01-01

With the increased awareness of reactor coolant pump (RCP) cracked shafts, brought about by the catastrophic shaft failure at Crystal River number3, Florida Power and Light Company, in conjunction with Bently Nevada Corporation, undertook a test program at St. Lucie Nuclear Unit number2, to confirm the integrity of all four RCP pump shafts. Reactor coolant pumps play a major roll in the operation of nuclear-powered generation facilities. The time required to disassemble and physically inspect a single RCP shaft would be lengthy, monetarily costly to the utility and its customers, and cause possible unnecessary man-rem exposure to plant personnel. When properly applied, vibration instrumentation can increase unit availability/reliability, as well as provide enhanced diagnostic capability. This paper reviews monitoring benefits and diagnostic techniques applicable to RCPs/motor drives
Backstepping Based Formation Control of Quadrotors with the State Transformation Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keun Uk Lee

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a backstepping-based formation control of quadrotors with the state transformation technique is proposed. First, the dynamics of a quadrotor is derived by using the Newton–Euler formulation. Next, a backstepping-based formation control for quadrotors using a state transformation technique is presented. In the position control, which is the basis of formation control, it is possible to derive the reference attitude angles employing a state transformation technique without the small angle assumption or the simplified dynamics usually used. Stability analysis based on the Lyapunov theorem shows that the proposed formation controller can provide a quadrotor formation error system that is asymptotically stabilized. Finally, we verify the performance of the proposed formation control method through comparison simulations.
Removal of benzaldehyde from a water/ethanol mixture by applying scavenging techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitic, Aleksandar; Skov, Thomas; Gernaey, Krist V.

2017-01-01

A presence of carbonyl compounds is very common in the food industry. The nature of such compounds is to be reactive and thus many products involve aldehydes/ketones in their synthetic routes. By contrast, the high reactivity of carbonyl compounds could also lead to formation of undesired compounds......, such as genotoxic impurities. It can therefore be important to remove carbonyl compounds by implementing suitable removal techniques, with the aim of protecting final product quality. This work is focused on benzaldehyde as a model component, studying its removal from a water/ethanol mixture by applying different...
Real-time simulation of electric motors. Applying software and control theory; Echtzeit-Simulation von E-Maschinen. Regelungstechnik im Hybridantrieb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Werner, Joerg; Tauber, Hermann [Silver-Atena, Muenchen (Germany)

2010-02-15

Developments in the electric drive-train have the highest priority, but all the same proven development methods are not consequently applied. For example the simulation of the hybrid drive-train excludes the e-motor and its system environment such as the corresponding controllers. ''Too complex and too much effort'', is the justification. Silver-Atena produces a proof of the contrary and achieves with a real-time simulation of an electric machine using the Hardware-in-the-loop technique more precise system verifications. Despite the undoubtedly high complexity Software- and Control-Theory engineers can thus work more efficiently. (orig.)
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 ...
Application of the partitive analytical forecasting (PAF) technique to the United States controlled thermonuclear research effort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichols, S.P.

1975-01-01

The Partitive Analytical Forecasting (PAF) technique is applied to the overall long-term program plans for the Division of Controlled Thermonuclear Research (DCTR) of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). As part of the PAF technique, the Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERTS) IIIZ computer code is used to perform simulations on a logic network describing the DCTR long-term program plan. Logic networks describing the tokamak, mirror, and theta-pinch developments are simulated individually and then together to form an overall DCTR program network. The results of the simulation of the overall network using various funding schemes and strategies are presented. An economic sensitivity analysis is provided for the tokamak logic networks. An analysis is also performed of the fusion-fission hybrid concept in the context of the present DCTR goals. The results mentioned above as well as the PAF technique itself are evaluated, and recommendations for further research are discussed
Enhanced Quality Control in Pharmaceutical Applications by Combining Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, J. C.; Guzmán-Sepúlveda, J. R.; Bolañoz Evia, G. R.; Córdova, T.; Guzmán-Cabrera, R.

2018-06-01

In this work, we applied machine learning techniques to Raman spectra for the characterization and classification of manufactured pharmaceutical products. Our measurements were taken with commercial equipment, for accurate assessment of variations with respect to one calibrated control sample. Unlike the typical use of Raman spectroscopy in pharmaceutical applications, in our approach the principal components of the Raman spectrum are used concurrently as attributes in machine learning algorithms. This permits an efficient comparison and classification of the spectra measured from the samples under study. This also allows for accurate quality control as all relevant spectral components are considered simultaneously. We demonstrate our approach with respect to the specific case of acetaminophen, which is one of the most widely used analgesics in the market. In the experiments, commercial samples from thirteen different laboratories were analyzed and compared against a control sample. The raw data were analyzed based on an arithmetic difference between the nominal active substance and the measured values in each commercial sample. The principal component analysis was applied to the data for quantitative verification (i.e., without considering the actual concentration of the active substance) of the difference in the calibrated sample. Our results show that by following this approach adulterations in pharmaceutical compositions can be clearly identified and accurately quantified.
Open abdomen in gastrointestinal surgery: Which technique is the best for temporary closure during damage control?

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro Junior, Marcelo A F; Barros, Emily Alves; de Carvalho, Sabrina Marques; Nascimento, Vinicius Pereira; Cruvinel Neto, José; Fonseca, Alexandre Zanchenko

2016-01-01

AIM To compare the 3 main techniques of temporary closure of the abdominal cavity, vacuum assisted closure (vacuum-assisted closure therapy - VAC), Bogota bag and Barker technique, in damage control surgery. METHODS After systematic review of the literature, 33 articles were selected to compare the efficiency of the three procedures. Criteria such as cost, infections, capacity of reconstruction of the abdominal wall, diseases associated with the technique, among others were analyzed. RESULTS The Bogota bag and Barker techniques present as advantage the availability of material and low cost, what is not observed in the VAC procedure. The VAC technique is the most efficient, not only because it reduces the tension on the boarders of the lesion, but also removes stagnant fluids and debris and acts at cellular level increasing cell proliferation and division. Bogota bag presents the higher rates of skin laceration and evisceration, greater need for a stent for draining fluids and wash-ups, higher rates of intestinal adhesion to the abdominal wall. The Barker technique presents lack of efficiency in closing the abdominal wall and difficulty on maintaining pressure on the dressing. The VAC dressing can generate irritation and dermatitis when the drape is applied, in addition to pain, infection and bleeding, as well as toxic shock syndrome, anaerobic sepsis and thrombosis. CONCLUSION The VAC technique, showed to be superior allowing a better control of liquid on the third space, avoiding complications such as fistula with small mortality, low infection rate, and easier capability on primary closure of the abdominal cavity. PMID:27648164
PTTL Dose Re-estimation Applied to Quality Control in TLD-100 Based Personal Dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muniz, J.L.; Correcher, V.; Delgado, A.

1999-01-01

A new method for quality control of dose performance in Personal Dosimetry using TLD-100 is presented. This method consists of the application of dose reassessment techniques based on phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL). Reassessment is achieved through a second TL readout of the dosemeters worn by the controlled workers, after a reproducible UV exposure. Recent refinements in the PTTL technique developed in our laboratory allow reassessing doses as low as 0.2 mSv, thus extending the reassessment capability to the entire dose range that must be monitored in personal dosimetry. After a one month exposure, even purely environmental doses can be reassessed. This method can be applied for either re-estimation of single doses or of the total dose accumulated after a number of exposures and dose measurements. Several tests to reconfirm low doses in normal working conditions for personal dosimetry have been performed. Each test consisted of several cycles of exposure and TL evaluations and a final PTTL re-estimation of the total accumulated dose in those cycles. The results obtained always showed very good agreement between the sum of the partial doses and the total reassessed dose. The simplicity of the method and the possibility of re-evaluating the doses assessed to the workers employing their own dosemeters are advantageous features to be considered in designing systems for the determination of real performance in personal dosimetry. (author)
Case study: how to apply data mining techniques in a healthcare data warehouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, M; Sakata, T; Su, H C; Herman, C; Dolins, S B; O'Shea, M J

2001-01-01

Healthcare provider organizations are faced with a rising number of financial pressures. Both administrators and physicians need help analyzing large numbers of clinical and financial data when making decisions. To assist them, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and Hitachi America, Ltd. (HAL), Inc., have partnered to build an enterprise data warehouse and perform a series of case study analyses. This article focuses on one analysis, which was performed by a team of physicians and computer science researchers, using a commercially available on-line analytical processing (OLAP) tool in conjunction with proprietary data mining techniques developed by HAL researchers. The initial objective of the analysis was to discover how to use data mining techniques to make business decisions that can influence cost, revenue, and operational efficiency while maintaining a high level of care. Another objective was to understand how to apply these techniques appropriately and to find a repeatable method for analyzing data and finding business insights. The process used to identify opportunities and effect changes is described.
Applying Distributed Object Technology to Distributed Embedded Control Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard; Dalgaard, Lars

2012-01-01

In this paper, we describe our Java RMI inspired Object Request Broker architecture MicroRMI for use with networked embedded devices. MicroRMI relieves the software developer from the tedious and error-prone job of writing communication protocols for interacting with such embedded devices. MicroR...... in developing control systems for distributed embedded platforms possessing severe resource restrictions.......RMI supports easy integration of high-level application specific control logic with low-level device specific control logic. Our experience from applying MicroRMI in the context of a distributed robotics control application, clearly demonstrates that it is feasible to use distributed object technology...
Emissions control techniques applied to industrial vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, B.

2004-12-15

As emission standards for industrial vehicles become increasingly stringent, many research projects are seeking to develop after-treatment systems. These systems will have to combine efficiency, durability and low operating cost.
Engine control techniques to account for fuel effects

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Shankar; Frazier, Timothy R.; Stanton, Donald W.; Xu, Yi; Bunting, Bruce G.; Wolf, Leslie R.

2014-08-26

A technique for engine control to account for fuel effects including providing an internal combustion engine and a controller to regulate operation thereof, the engine being operable to combust a fuel to produce an exhaust gas; establishing a plurality of fuel property inputs; establishing a plurality of engine performance inputs; generating engine control information as a function of the fuel property inputs and the engine performance inputs; and accessing the engine control information with the controller to regulate at least one engine operating parameter.
Reusable Launch Vehicle Attitude Control Using a Time-Varying Sliding Mode Control Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Shtessel, Yuri B.; Zhu, J. Jim; Daniels, Dan; Jackson, Scott (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In this paper we present a time-varying sliding mode control (TVSMC) technique for reusable launch vehicle (RLV) attitude control in ascent and entry flight phases. In ascent flight the guidance commands Euler roll, pitch and yaw angles, and in entry flight it commands the aerodynamic angles of bank, attack and sideslip. The controller employs a body rate inner loop and the attitude outer loop, which are separated in time-scale by the singular perturbation principle. The novelty of the TVSMC is that both the sliding surface and the boundary layer dynamics can be varied in real time using the PD-eigenvalue assignment technique. This salient feature is used to cope with control command saturation and integrator windup in the presence of severe disturbance or control effector failure, which enhances the robustness and fault tolerance of the controller. The TV-SMC ascent and descent designs are currently being tested with high fidelity, 6-DOF dispersion simulations. The test results will be presented in the final version of this paper.
Discrete classification technique applied to TV advertisements liking recognition system based on low-cost EEG headsets.

Science.gov (United States)

Soria Morillo, Luis M; Alvarez-Garcia, Juan A; Gonzalez-Abril, Luis; Ortega Ramírez, Juan A

2016-07-15

In this paper a new approach is applied to the area of marketing research. The aim of this paper is to recognize how brain activity responds during the visualization of short video advertisements using discrete classification techniques. By means of low cost electroencephalography devices (EEG), the activation level of some brain regions have been studied while the ads are shown to users. We may wonder about how useful is the use of neuroscience knowledge in marketing, or what could provide neuroscience to marketing sector, or why this approach can improve the accuracy and the final user acceptance compared to other works. By using discrete techniques over EEG frequency bands of a generated dataset, C4.5, ANN and the new recognition system based on Ameva, a discretization algorithm, is applied to obtain the score given by subjects to each TV ad. The proposed technique allows to reach more than 75 % of accuracy, which is an excellent result taking into account the typology of EEG sensors used in this work. Furthermore, the time consumption of the algorithm proposed is reduced up to 30 % compared to other techniques presented in this paper. This bring about a battery lifetime improvement on the devices where the algorithm is running, extending the experience in the ubiquitous context where the new approach has been tested.
Admission Control Techniques for UMTS System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Kejik

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS is one of the 3rd generation (3G cell phone technologies. The capacity of UMTS is interference limited. Radio resources management (RRM functions are therefore used. They are responsible for supplying optimum coverage, ensuring efficient use of physical resources, and providing the maximum planned capacity. This paper deals with admission control techniques for UMTS. An own UMTS simulation program and several versions of proposed admission control algorithms are presented in this paper. These algorithms are based on fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms. The performance of algorithms is verified via simulations.
Mathematical Model and Artificial Intelligent Techniques Applied to a Milk Industry through DSM

Science.gov (United States)

Babu, P. Ravi; Divya, V. P. Sree

2011-08-01

The resources for electrical energy are depleting and hence the gap between the supply and the demand is continuously increasing. Under such circumstances, the option left is optimal utilization of available energy resources. The main objective of this chapter is to discuss about the Peak load management and overcome the problems associated with it in processing industries such as Milk industry with the help of DSM techniques. The chapter presents a generalized mathematical model for minimizing the total operating cost of the industry subject to the constraints. The work presented in this chapter also deals with the results of application of Neural Network, Fuzzy Logic and Demand Side Management (DSM) techniques applied to a medium scale milk industrial consumer in India to achieve the improvement in load factor, reduction in Maximum Demand (MD) and also the consumer gets saving in the energy bill.

Application of Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Frank H. (Technical Monitor); Dufrene, Warren R., Jr.

2003-01-01

This paper describes the development of an application of Artificial Intelligence for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) control. The project was done as part of the requirements for a class in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Nova southeastern University and as an adjunct to a project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility for a resilient, robust, and intelligent UAV flight control system. A method is outlined which allows a base level application for applying an AI method, Fuzzy Logic, to aspects of Control Logic for UAV flight. One element of UAV flight, automated altitude hold, has been implemented and preliminary results displayed. A low cost approach was taken using freeware, gnu, software, and demo programs. The focus of this research has been to outline some of the AI techniques used for UAV flight control and discuss some of the tools used to apply AI techniques. The intent is to succeed with the implementation of applying AI techniques to actually control different aspects of the flight of an UAV.
VAR control in distribution systems by using artificial intelligence techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golkar, M.A. [Curtin Univ. of Technology, Sarawak (Malaysia). School of Engineering and Science

2005-07-01

This paper reviewed artificial intelligence techniques used in VAR control systems. Reactive power controls in distribution systems were also reviewed. While artificial intelligence methods are widely used in power control systems, the techniques require extensive human knowledge bases and experiences in order to operate correctly. Expert systems use knowledge and interface procedures to solve problems that often require human expertise. Expert systems often cause knowledge bottlenecks as they are unable to learn or adopt to new situations. While neural networks possess learning ability, they are computationally expensive. However, test results in recent neural network studies have demonstrated that they work well in a variety of loading conditions. Fuzzy logic techniques are used to accurately represent the operational constraints of power systems. Fuzzy logic has an advantage over other artificial intelligence techniques as it is able to remedy uncertainties in data. Evolutionary computing algorithms use probabilistic transition rules which can search complicated data to determine optimal constraints and parameters. Over 95 per cent of all papers published on power systems use genetic algorithms. It was concluded that hybrid systems using various artificial intelligence techniques are now being used by researchers. 69 refs.
Control System Design for Cylindrical Tank Process Using Neural Model Predictive Control Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Sridevi

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Chemical manufacturing and process industry requires innovative technologies for process identification. This paper deals with model identification and control of cylindrical process. Model identification of the process was done using ARMAX technique. A neural model predictive controller was designed for the identified model. The performance of the controllers was evaluated using MATLAB software. The performance of NMPC controller was compared with Smith Predictor controller and IMC controller based on rise time, settling time, overshoot and ISE and it was found that the NMPC controller is better suited for this process.
Modern insect control: Nuclear techniques and biotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The Symposium dealt primarily with genetic methods of insect control, including sterile insect technique (SIT), F 1 sterility, compound chromosomes, translocations and conditional lethals. Research and development activities on various aspects of these control technologies were reported by participants during the Symposium. Of particular interest was development of F 1 sterility as a practical method of controlling pest Lepidoptera. Genetic methods of insect control are applicable only on an area wide basis. They are species specific and thus do not reduce populations of beneficial insects or cause other environmental problems. Other papers presented reported on the potential use of radiation as a quarantine treatment for commodities in international trade and the use of radioisotopes as ''tags'' in studying insects
Fabrication of Polymeric Coatings with Controlled Microtopographies Using an Electrospraying Technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiongyu Guo

Full Text Available Surface topography of medical implants provides an important biophysical cue on guiding cellular functions at the cell-implant interface. However, few techniques are available to produce polymeric coatings with controlled microtopographies onto surgical implants, especially onto implant devices of small dimension and with complex structures such as drug-eluting stents. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop a new strategy to fabricate polymeric coatings using an electrospraying technique based on the uniqueness of this technique in that it can be used to produce a mist of charged droplets with a precise control of their shape and dimension. We hypothesized that this technique would allow facile manipulation of coating morphology by controlling the shape and dimension of electrosprayed droplets. More specifically, we employed the electrospraying technique to coat a layer of biodegradable polyurethane with tailored microtopographies onto commercial coronary stents. The topography of such stent coatings was modulated by controlling the ratio of round to stretched droplets or the ratio of round to crumped droplets under high electric field before deposition. The shape of electrosprayed droplets was governed by the stability of these charged droplets right after ejection or during their flight in the air. Using the electrospraying technique, we achieved conformal polymeric coatings with tailored microtopographies onto conductive surgical implants. The approach offers potential for controlling the surface topography of surgical implant devices to modulate their integration with surrounding tissues.
Applying value stream mapping techniques to eliminate non-value-added waste for the procurement of endovascular stents.

Science.gov (United States)

Teichgräber, Ulf K; de Bucourt, Maximilian

2012-01-01

OJECTIVES: To eliminate non-value-adding (NVA) waste for the procurement of endovascular stents in interventional radiology services by applying value stream mapping (VSM). The Lean manufacturing technique was used to analyze the process of material and information flow currently required to direct endovascular stents from external suppliers to patients. Based on a decision point analysis for the procurement of stents in the hospital, a present state VSM was drawn. After assessment of the current status VSM and progressive elimination of unnecessary NVA waste, a future state VSM was drawn. The current state VSM demonstrated that out of 13 processes for the procurement of stents only 2 processes were value-adding. Out of the NVA processes 5 processes were unnecessary NVA activities, which could be eliminated. The decision point analysis demonstrated that the procurement of stents was mainly a forecast driven push system. The future state VSM applies a pull inventory control system to trigger the movement of a unit after withdrawal by using a consignment stock. VSM is a visualization tool for the supply chain and value stream, based on the Toyota Production System and greatly assists in successfully implementing a Lean system. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Technique of nuclear reactors controls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weill, J.

1953-12-01

This report deal about 'Techniques of control of the nuclear reactors' in the goal to achieve the control of natural uranium reactors and especially the one of Saclay. This work is mainly about the measurement into nuclear parameters and go further in the measurement of thermodynamic variables,etc... putting in relief the new features required on behalf of the detectors because of their use in the thermal neutrons flux. In the domain of nuclear measurement, we indicate the realizations and the results obtained with thermal neutron detectors and for the measurement of ionizations currents. We also treat the technical problem of the start-up of a reactor and of the reactivity measurement. We give the necessary details for the comprehension of all essential diagrams and plans put on, in particular, for the reactor of Saclay. (author) [fr
Applying Data Mining Techniques to Improve Information Security in the Cloud: A Single Cache System Approach

OpenAIRE

Amany AlShawi

2016-01-01

Presently, the popularity of cloud computing is gradually increasing day by day. The purpose of this research was to enhance the security of the cloud using techniques such as data mining with specific reference to the single cache system. From the findings of the research, it was observed that the security in the cloud could be enhanced with the single cache system. For future purposes, an Apriori algorithm can be applied to the single cache system. This can be applied by all cloud providers...
Non destructive assay techniques applied to nuclear materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavron, A.

2001-01-01

Nondestructive assay is a suite of techniques that has matured and become precise, easily implementable, and remotely usable. These techniques provide elaborate safeguards of nuclear material by providing the necessary information for materials accounting. NDA techniques are ubiquitous, reliable, essentially tamper proof, and simple to use. They make the world a safer place to live in, and they make nuclear energy viable. (author)
Effect of the reinforcement bar arrangement on the efficiency of electrochemical chloride removal technique applied to reinforced concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garces, P.; Sanchez de Rojas, M.J.; Climent, M.A.

2006-01-01

This paper reports on the research done to find out the effect that different bar arrangements may have on the efficiency of the electrochemical chloride removal (ECR) technique when applied to a reinforced concrete structural member. Five different types of bar arrangements were considered, corresponding to typical structural members such as columns (with single and double bar reinforcing), slabs, beams and footings. ECR was applied in several steps. We observe that the extraction efficiency depends on the reinforcing bar arrangement. A uniform layer set-up favours chloride extraction. Electrochemical techniques were also used to estimate the reinforcing bar corrosion states, as well as measure the corrosion potential, and instant corrosion rate based on the polarization resistance technique. After ECR treatment, a reduction in the corrosion levels is observed falling short of the depassivation threshold
Gráfico de controle de regressão aplicado na monitoração de processos Regression control chart applied in process monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciane Flores Jacobi

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo empregar o gráfico de controle de regressão, como ferramenta de controle estatístico, para monitorar processos produtivos, onde uma variável de estado, que seja de interesse, possa ser expressa como função de uma variável de controle. Existem vários estudos sobre o controle de variáveis em processos produtivos, mas, na maioria das vezes, são em relação ao controle de cada variável, separadamente, não podendo ser utilizados para um estudo comparativo. Esta pesquisa, portanto, apresenta uma técnica eficiente no controle simultâneo de variáveis correlacionadas.The main purpose of this research is to apply the regression control chart as tool of statistical control to monitor productive processes, where a state variable that is of interest can be expressed as function of a control variable. Several studies exist to control variables in productive processes, but most of time they are separately in relation to the control of each variable, and however not could be used for a comparative study. This research, therefore, it presents an efficient technique to control simultaneous by correlated variables.
Motion Capture Technique Applied Research in Sports Technique Diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiwu LIU

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The motion capture technology system definition is described in the paper, and its components are researched, the key parameters are obtained from motion technique, the quantitative analysis are made on technical movements, the method of motion capture technology is proposed in sport technical diagnosis. That motion capture step includes calibration system, to attached landmarks to the tester; to capture trajectory, and to analyze the collected data.
Nuclear radioactive techniques applied to materials research

CERN Document Server

Correia, João Guilherme; Wahl, Ulrich

2011-01-01

In this paper we review materials characterization techniques using radioactive isotopes at the ISOLDE/CERN facility. At ISOLDE intense beams of chemically clean radioactive isotopes are provided by selective ion-sources and high-resolution isotope separators, which are coupled on-line with particle accelerators. There, new experiments are performed by an increasing number of materials researchers, which use nuclear spectroscopic techniques such as Mössbauer, Perturbed Angular Correlations (PAC), beta-NMR and Emission Channeling with short-lived isotopes not available elsewhere. Additionally, diffusion studies and traditionally non-radioactive techniques as Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy, Hall effect and Photoluminescence measurements are performed on radioactive doped samples, providing in this way the element signature upon correlation of the time dependence of the signal with the isotope transmutation half-life. Current developments, applications and perspectives of using radioactive ion beams and tech...
Fuzzy Logic Applied to an Oven Temperature Control System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagabhushana KATTE

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the methodology of design and development of fuzzy logic based oven temperature control system. As simple fuzzy logic controller (FLC structure with an efficient realization and a small rule base that can be easily implemented in existing underwater control systems is proposed. The FLC has been designed using bell-shaped membership function for fuzzification, 49 control rules in its rule base and centre of gravity technique for defuzzification. Analog interface card with 16-bits resolution is designed to achieve higher precision in temperature measurement and control. The experimental results of PID and FLC implemented system are drawn for a step input and presented in a comparative fashion. FLC exhibits fast response and it has got sharp rise time and smooth control over conventional PID controller. The paper scrupulously discusses the hardware and software (developed using ‘C’ language features of the system.
Measurement and control techniques for electric equipment development; Tecnicas de medicion y control para el desarrollo de equipos electricos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruiz Neblina, Joaquin [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1988-12-31

In broad outlines the measuring and control techniques that are used in the electric equipment development in the short circuit laboratories, are described. In this article the utilization criteria of the traditional and modern (analogical and digital) instruments are described as well as the tendency towards the system`s integration for the automation of the measurement and control processes. Also, mention is made of the systems currently being developed at the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) to be applied at the Short Circuit Laboratories of Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and of the IIE. [Espanol] Se describen a grandes rasgos las tecnicas de medicion y control que se emplean para el desarrollo de equipos electricos en los laboratorios de corto circuito. En este articulo se describen los criterios de utilizacion de los instrumentos tradicionales y modernos (analogicos y digitales), asi como la tendencia hacia la integracion de sistemas para la automatizacion de los procesos de medicion y control. Tambien se mencionan los sistemas que actualmente se desarrollan en el Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) para aplicarlos en los Laboratorios de Corto Circuito de la Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) y del Instituto.
Measurement and control techniques for electric equipment development; Tecnicas de medicion y control para el desarrollo de equipos electricos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruiz Neblina, Joaquin [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1987-12-31

In broad outlines the measuring and control techniques that are used in the electric equipment development in the short circuit laboratories, are described. In this article the utilization criteria of the traditional and modern (analogical and digital) instruments are described as well as the tendency towards the system`s integration for the automation of the measurement and control processes. Also, mention is made of the systems currently being developed at the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) to be applied at the Short Circuit Laboratories of Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and of the IIE. [Espanol] Se describen a grandes rasgos las tecnicas de medicion y control que se emplean para el desarrollo de equipos electricos en los laboratorios de corto circuito. En este articulo se describen los criterios de utilizacion de los instrumentos tradicionales y modernos (analogicos y digitales), asi como la tendencia hacia la integracion de sistemas para la automatizacion de los procesos de medicion y control. Tambien se mencionan los sistemas que actualmente se desarrollan en el Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) para aplicarlos en los Laboratorios de Corto Circuito de la Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) y del Instituto.
Soil bioengineering applied to the environmental rehabilitation of controlled landfills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luria, P.

2005-01-01

Soil bioengineering is a discipline characterised by the capability of associating geo-technical approaches (e.g. soil stabilisation) with naturalistic rehabilitation and creation of biotopes. It is extremely suitable for the environmental rehabilitation of controlled landfills, especially of area and depression landfills, mainly through soil protection and stabilisation measures. Its increasing notoriety is mainly due to the great variety and specificity of its techniques, to the capability of joining technical matters with naturalistic aspects, and to the reduced cost of some interventions. Nevertheless, its application to environmental rehabilitation of controlled landfills is still scarce in Italy. Only 3% of 87 closed landfills analysed, whose rehabilitation projects adopt natural techniques for soil stabilisation and protection, explicitly refers to Soil Bioengineering [it
Analysis technique for controlling system wavefront error with active/adaptive optics

Science.gov (United States)

Genberg, Victor L.; Michels, Gregory J.

2017-08-01

The ultimate goal of an active mirror system is to control system level wavefront error (WFE). In the past, the use of this technique was limited by the difficulty of obtaining a linear optics model. In this paper, an automated method for controlling system level WFE using a linear optics model is presented. An error estimate is included in the analysis output for both surface error disturbance fitting and actuator influence function fitting. To control adaptive optics, the technique has been extended to write system WFE in state space matrix form. The technique is demonstrated by example with SigFit, a commercially available tool integrating mechanical analysis with optical analysis.
Plug and Play Process Control Applied to a District Heating System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Torben; Trangbæk, Klaus; Kallesøe, Carsten Skovmose

2008-01-01

The general ideas within plug and play process control (PTC) are to initialize and reconfigure control systems just by plug and play. In this paper these ideas are applied to a district heating pressure control problem. First of all this serves as a concrete example of PTC, secondly some of the f...
Applied predictive control

CERN Document Server

Sunan, Huang; Heng, Lee Tong

2002-01-01

The presence of considerable time delays in the dynamics of many industrial processes, leading to difficult problems in the associated closed-loop control systems, is a well-recognized phenomenon. The performance achievable in conventional feedback control systems can be significantly degraded if an industrial process has a relatively large time delay compared with the dominant time constant. Under these circumstances, advanced predictive control is necessary to improve the performance of the control system significantly. The book is a focused treatment of the subject matter, including the fundamentals and some state-of-the-art developments in the field of predictive control. Three main schemes for advanced predictive control are addressed in this book: • Smith Predictive Control; • Generalised Predictive Control; • a form of predictive control based on Finite Spectrum Assignment. A substantial part of the book addresses application issues in predictive control, providing several interesting case studie...

An approach of optimal sensitivity applied in the tertiary loop of the automatic generation control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belati, Edmarcio A. [CIMATEC - SENAI, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Alves, Dilson A. [Electrical Engineering Department, FEIS, UNESP - Sao Paulo State University (Brazil); da Costa, Geraldo R.M. [Electrical Engineering Department, EESC, USP - Sao Paulo University (Brazil)

2008-09-15

This paper proposes an approach of optimal sensitivity applied in the tertiary loop of the automatic generation control. The approach is based on the theorem of non-linear perturbation. From an optimal operation point obtained by an optimal power flow a new optimal operation point is directly determined after a perturbation, i.e., without the necessity of an iterative process. This new optimal operation point satisfies the constraints of the problem for small perturbation in the loads. The participation factors and the voltage set point of the automatic voltage regulators (AVR) of the generators are determined by the technique of optimal sensitivity, considering the effects of the active power losses minimization and the network constraints. The participation factors and voltage set point of the generators are supplied directly to a computational program of dynamic simulation of the automatic generation control, named by power sensitivity mode. Test results are presented to show the good performance of this approach. (author)
Multidisciplinary Techniques and Novel Aircraft Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Padula, Sharon L.; Rogers, James L.; Raney, David L.

2000-01-01

The Aircraft Morphing Program at NASA Langley Research Center explores opportunities to improve airframe designs with smart technologies. Two elements of this basic research program are multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) and advanced flow control. This paper describes examples where MDO techniques such as sensitivity analysis, automatic differentiation, and genetic algorithms contribute to the design of novel control systems. In the test case, the design and use of distributed shape-change devices to provide low-rate maneuvering capability for a tailless aircraft is considered. The ability of MDO to add value to control system development is illustrated using results from several years of research funded by the Aircraft Morphing Program.
Beam Techniques - Beam Control and Manipulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minty, Michiko G

2003-01-01

We describe commonly used strategies for the control of charged particle beams and the manipulation of their properties. Emphasis is placed on relativistic beams in linear accelerators and storage rings. After a brief review of linear optics, we discuss basic and advanced beam control techniques, such as transverse and longitudinal lattice diagnostics, matching, orbit correction and steering, beam-based alignment, and linac emittance preservation. A variety of methods for the manipulation of particle beam properties are also presented, for instance, bunch length and energy compression, bunch rotation, changes to the damping partition number, and beam collimation. The different procedures are illustrated by examples from various accelerators. Special topics include injection and extraction methods, beam cooling, spin transport and polarization
Beam Techniques - Beam Control and Manipulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minty, Michiko G

2003-04-24

We describe commonly used strategies for the control of charged particle beams and the manipulation of their properties. Emphasis is placed on relativistic beams in linear accelerators and storage rings. After a brief review of linear optics, we discuss basic and advanced beam control techniques, such as transverse and longitudinal lattice diagnostics, matching, orbit correction and steering, beam-based alignment, and linac emittance preservation. A variety of methods for the manipulation of particle beam properties are also presented, for instance, bunch length and energy compression, bunch rotation, changes to the damping partition number, and beam collimation. The different procedures are illustrated by examples from various accelerators. Special topics include injection and extraction methods, beam cooling, spin transport and polarization.
Applying decision-making techniques to Civil Engineering Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fam F. Abdel-malak

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM techniques are found to be useful tools in project managersâ hands to overcome decision-making (DM problems in Civil Engineering Projects (CEPs. The main contribution of this paper includes selecting and studying the popular MCDM techniques that uses different and wide ranges of data types in CEPs. A detailed study including advantages and pitfalls of using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP and Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (Fuzzy TOPSIS is introduced. Those two techniques are selected for the purpose of forming a package that covers most available data types in CEPs. The results indicated that AHP has a structure which simplifies complicated problems, while Fuzzy TOPSIS uses the advantages of linguistic variables to solve the issue of undocumented data and ill-defined problems. Furthermore, AHP is a simple technique that depends on pairwise comparisons of factors and natural attributes, beside it is preferable for widely spread hierarchies. On the other hand, Fuzzy TOPSIS needs more information but works well for the one-tier decision tree as well as it shows more flexibility to work in fuzzy environments. The two techniques have the facility to be integrated and combined in a new module to support most of the decisions required in CEPs. Keywords: Decision-making, AHP, Fuzzy TOPSIS, CBA, Civil Engineering Projects
Recent trends on sterile insect technique and area-wide integrated pest management. Economic feasibility, control projects, farmer organization and Bactrocera dorsalis complex control study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-03-01

We have invited professional papers from over the world, including Okinawa, for compilation of recent trends on Sterile Insect Techniques and Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management to further pursue environment friendly pest insects control measures in agricultural production in the Asia-Pacific region. Pest insects such as the tephritid fruit flies have long been and are still today causing serious damage to agricultural products in the Asia-Pacific region and farmers in the region apply such insecticides that are no longer allowed or being subjected to strict usage control in Japan. This, in return, may endanger the health of the very farmers, food safety and the ecosystem itself. The purpose of this report is, therefore, to clarify keys for technology transfer of so called SIT/AWIPM to potential recipients engaged in agricultural production in the region. This report focused on several topics, which make up important parts for the effective Sterile Insect Technique and Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management: economic feasibility; pest insects control projects; farmers' education; research progress in Bactrocera dorsalis complex issues specific to the Asia-Pacific region. The 12 of the papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)
Tuning of PID controller using optimization techniques for a MIMO process

Science.gov (United States)

Thulasi dharan, S.; Kavyarasan, K.; Bagyaveereswaran, V.

2017-11-01

In this paper, two processes were considered one is Quadruple tank process and the other is CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor) process. These are majorly used in many industrial applications for various domains, especially, CSTR in chemical plants.At first mathematical model of both the process is to be done followed by linearization of the system due to MIMO process and controllers are the major part to control the whole process to our desired point as per the applications so the tuning of the controller plays a major role among the whole process. For tuning of parameters we use two optimizations techniques like Particle Swarm Optimization, Genetic Algorithm. The above techniques are majorly used in different applications to obtain which gives the best among all, we use these techniques to obtain the best tuned values among many. Finally, we will compare the performance of the each process with both the techniques.
Applying Nonverbal Techniques to Organizational Diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tubbs, Stewart L.; Koske, W. Cary

Ongoing research programs conducted at General Motors Institute are motivated by the practical objective of improving the company's organizational effectiveness. Computer technology is being used whenever possible; for example, a technique developed by Herman Chernoff was used to process data from a survey of employee attitudes into 18 different…
LFC based adaptive PID controller using ANN and ANFIS techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed I. Mosaad

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an adaptive PID Load Frequency Control (LFC for power systems using Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN oriented by Genetic Algorithm (GA. PID controller parameters are tuned off-line by using GA to minimize integral error square over a wide-range of load variations. The values of PID controller parameters obtained from GA are used to train both ANFIS and ANN. Therefore, the two proposed techniques could, online, tune the PID controller parameters for optimal response at any other load point within the operating range. Testing of the developed techniques shows that the adaptive PID-LFC could preserve optimal performance over the whole loading range. Results signify superiority of ANFIS over ANN in terms of performance measures.
APPLYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES TO HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERFACES

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonnenwald, Diane H.

1988-01-01

A description is given of UIMS (User Interface Management System), a system using a variety of artificial intelligence techniques to build knowledge-based user interfaces combining functionality and information from a variety of computer systems that maintain, test, and configure customer telephone...... and data networks. Three artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used in UIMS are discussed, namely, frame representation, object-oriented programming languages, and rule-based systems. The UIMS architecture is presented, and the structure of the UIMS is explained in terms of the AI techniques....
Use of serological diagnostic techniques in the control and eradication of caprine arthritis encephalitis: an update

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamili Maria Suhet Mussi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE is a chronic disease caused by a small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV, which causes significant losses in goat breeding. The actual state of animal infection with SRLV is difficult to determine due to a complex pathogenesis of the virus, including factors such as delayed or intermittent seroconversion in serological tests. Several serological techniques are available for disease diagnosis, such as screening or confirmation tests, which are different in sensitivity and specificity. Regarding the choice of the test to be applied, availability of commercial immunoreagents, team training, antigen used, and cost of techniques must be considered. This review presents the serological methods available for use in different stages of CAE control and eradication programs, and management measures to be adopted in conjunction with serological diagnosis of the disease.
Hybrid model predictive control applied to switching control of burner load for a compact marine boiler design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Solberg, Brian; Andersen, Palle; Maciejowski, Jan

2008-01-01

This paper discusses the application of hybrid model predictive control to control switching between different burner modes in a novel compact marine boiler design. A further purpose of the present work is to point out problems with finite horizon model predictive control applied to systems for w...
Applying Online Monitoring for Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation and Control

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemian, H. M.

2010-10-01

This paper presents a practical review of the state-of-the-art means for applying OLM data acquisition in nuclear power plant instrumentation and control, qualifying or validating the OLM data, and then analyzing it for static and dynamic performance monitoring applications. Whereas data acquisition for static or steady-state OLM applications can require sample rates of anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds to 1 minutes per sample, for dynamic data acquisition, higher sampling frequencies are required (e.g., 100 to 1000 Hz) using a dedicated data acquisition system capable of providing isolation, anti-aliasing and removal of extraneous noise, and analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. Qualifying the data for use with OLM algorithms can involve removing data `dead' spots (for static data) and calculating, examining, and trending amplitude probability density, variance, skewness, and kurtosis. For static OLM applications with redundant signals, trending and averaging qualification techniques are used, and for single or non-redundant signals physical and empirical modeling are used. Dynamic OLM analysis is performed in the frequency domain and/or time domain, and is based on the assumption that sensors' or transmitters' dynamic characteristics are linear and that the input noise signal (i.e., the process fluctuations) has proper spectral characteristics.
Considerations in applying on-line IC techniques to BWR's

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaleda, R.J.

1992-01-01

Ion-Chromatography (IC) has moved from its traditional role as a laboratory analytical tool to a real time, dynamic, on-line measurement device to follow ppb and sub-ppb concentrations of deleterious impurities in nuclear power plants. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), individual utilities, and industry all have played significant roles in effecting the transition. This paper highlights considerations and the evolution in current on-line Ion Chromatography systems. The first applications of on-line techniques were demonstrated by General Electric (GE) under EPRI sponsorship at Rancho Seco (1980), Calvert Cliffs, and McGuire nuclear units. The primary use was for diagnostic purposes. Today the on-line IC applications have been expanded to include process control and routine plant monitoring. Current on-line IC's are innovative in design, promote operational simplicity, are modular for simplified maintenance and repair, and use field-proven components which enhance reliability. Conductivity detection with electronic or chemical suppression and spectrometric detection techniques are intermixed in applications. Remote multi-point sample systems have addressed memory effects. Early applications measured ionic species in the part per billion range. Today reliable part per trillion measurements are common for on-line systems. Current systems are meeting the challenge of EPRI guideline requirements. Today's on-line IC's, with programmed sampling systems, monitor fluid streams throughout a power plant, supplying data that can be trended, stored and retrieved easily. The on-line IC has come of age. Many technical challenges were overcome to achieve today's IC
An analog simulation technique for distributed flow systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Sten Bay; Kümmel, Mogens

1973-01-01

earlier[3]. This is an important extension since flow systems are frequently controlled through manipulation of the flow rate. Previously the technique has been applied with constant flows [4, 5]. Results demonstrating the new hardware are presented from simulation of a transportation lag and a double......Simulation of distributed flow systems in chemical engineering has been applied more and more during the last decade as computer techniques have developed [l]. The applications have served the purpose of identification of process dynamics and parameter estimation as well as improving process...... and process control design. Although the conventional analog computer has been expanded with hybrid techniques and digital simulation languages have appeared, none of these has demonstrated superiority in simulating distributed flow systems in general [l]. Conventional analog techniques are expensive...
Investigation of energy management strategies for photovoltaic systems - An analysis technique

Science.gov (United States)

Cull, R. C.; Eltimsahy, A. H.

1982-01-01

Progress is reported in formulating energy management strategies for stand-alone PV systems, developing an analytical tool that can be used to investigate these strategies, applying this tool to determine the proper control algorithms and control variables (controller inputs and outputs) for a range of applications, and quantifying the relative performance and economics when compared to systems that do not apply energy management. The analysis technique developed may be broadly applied to a variety of systems to determine the most appropriate energy management strategies, control variables and algorithms. The only inputs required are statistical distributions for stochastic energy inputs and outputs of the system and the system's device characteristics (efficiency and ratings). Although the formulation was originally driven by stand-alone PV system needs, the techniques are also applicable to hybrid and grid connected systems.
Model Predictive Control techniques with application to photovoltaic, DC Microgrid, and a multi-sourced hybrid energy system

Science.gov (United States)

Shadmand, Mohammad Bagher

Renewable energy sources continue to gain popularity. However, two major limitations exist that prevent widespread adoption: availability and variability of the electricity generated and the cost of the equipment. The focus of this dissertation is Model Predictive Control (MPC) for optimal sized photovoltaic (PV), DC Microgrid, and multi-sourced hybrid energy systems. The main considered applications are: maximum power point tracking (MPPT) by MPC, droop predictive control of DC microgrid, MPC of grid-interaction inverter, MPC of a capacitor-less VAR compensator based on matrix converter (MC). This dissertation firstly investigates a multi-objective optimization technique for a hybrid distribution system. The variability of a high-penetration PV scenario is also studied when incorporated into the microgrid concept. Emerging (PV) technologies have enabled the creation of contoured and conformal PV surfaces; the effect of using non-planar PV modules on variability is also analyzed. The proposed predictive control to achieve maximum power point for isolated and grid-tied PV systems speeds up the control loop since it predicts error before the switching signal is applied to the converter. The low conversion efficiency of PV cells means we want to ensure always operating at maximum possible power point to make the system economical. Thus the proposed MPPT technique can capture more energy compared to the conventional MPPT techniques from same amount of installed solar panel. Because of the MPPT requirement, the output voltage of the converter may vary. Therefore a droop control is needed to feed multiple arrays of photovoltaic systems to a DC bus in microgrid community. Development of a droop control technique by means of predictive control is another application of this dissertation. Reactive power, denoted as Volt Ampere Reactive (VAR), has several undesirable consequences on AC power system network such as reduction in power transfer capability and increase in
Applied probability and stochastic processes

CERN Document Server

Sumita, Ushio

1999-01-01

Applied Probability and Stochastic Processes is an edited work written in honor of Julien Keilson. This volume has attracted a host of scholars in applied probability, who have made major contributions to the field, and have written survey and state-of-the-art papers on a variety of applied probability topics, including, but not limited to: perturbation method, time reversible Markov chains, Poisson processes, Brownian techniques, Bayesian probability, optimal quality control, Markov decision processes, random matrices, queueing theory and a variety of applications of stochastic processes. The book has a mixture of theoretical, algorithmic, and application chapters providing examples of the cutting-edge work that Professor Keilson has done or influenced over the course of his highly-productive and energetic career in applied probability and stochastic processes. The book will be of interest to academic researchers, students, and industrial practitioners who seek to use the mathematics of applied probability i...
Advanced instrumentation and control techniques for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Hiroyasu; Makino, Maomi

1989-01-01

Toshiba has been promoting the development and improvement of control and instrumentation (C and I) systems employing the latest technologies, to fulfill the requirements of nuclear power plants for increased reliability, the upgrading of functions, improved maintainability, and reasonable cost. Such development has been systematically performed based on a schematic view of integrated digital control and instrumentation systems, actively adopting state-of-the-art techniques such as the latest man-machine interfaces, digital and optical multiplexing techniques, and artificial intelligence. In addition, comprehensive feedback has been obtained from the accumulation of operating experience. This paper describes the purpose, contents and status of applications of representative newly-developed systems. (author)
Soft Computing Technique and Conventional Controller for Conical Tank Level Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudharsana Vijayan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In many process industries the control of liquid level is mandatory. But the control of nonlinear process is difficult. Many process industries use conical tanks because of its non linear shape contributes better drainage for solid mixtures, slurries and viscous liquids. So, control of conical tank level is a challenging task due to its non-linearity and continually varying cross-section. This is due to relationship between controlled variable level and manipulated variable flow rate, which has a square root relationship. The main objective is to execute the suitable controller for conical tank system to maintain the desired level. System identification of the non-linear process is done using black box modelling and found to be first order plus dead time (FOPDT model. In this paper it is proposed to obtain the mathematical modelling of a conical tank system and to study the system using block diagram after that soft computing technique like fuzzy and conventional controller is also used for the comparison.

Seismic qualification of nuclear control board by using base isolation technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koizumi, T.; Tsujiuchi, N.; Fujita, T.

1987-01-01

The purpose is to adopt base isolation technique as a new approach for seismic qualification of nuclear control board. Basic concept of base isolation technique is expressed. Two dimensional linear motion mechanism with pre-tensioned coil springs and some dampers are included in the isolation device. Control board is regarded as a lamped mass system with inertia moment. Fundamental movement of this device and control board is calculated as a non-linear response problems. Fundamental analysis and numerical estimation, experimental investigation has been undertaken using an actual size control board. Sufficient agreement was recognized between experimental results and numerical estimation. (orig./HP)
40 CFR 1060.104 - What running loss emission control requirements apply?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What running loss emission control... STATIONARY EQUIPMENT Emission Standards and Related Requirements § 1060.104 What running loss emission control requirements apply? (a) Engines and equipment must meet running loss requirements as follows: (1...
Recent developments and evaluation of selected geochemical techniques applied to uranium exploration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenrich-Verbeek, K.J.; Cadigan, R.A.; Felmlee, J.K.; Reimer, G.M.; Spirakis, C.S.

1976-01-01

Various geochemical techniques for uranium exploration are currently under study by the geochemical techniques team of the Branch of Uranium and Thorium Resources, US Geological Survey. Radium-226 and its parent uranium-238 occur in mineral spring water largely independently of the geochemistry of the solutions and thus are potential indicators of uranium in source rocks. Many radioactive springs, hot or cold, are believed to be related to hydrothermal systems which contain uranium at depth. Radium, when present in the water, is co-precipitated in iron and/or manganese oxides and hydroxides or in barium sulphate associated with calcium carbonate spring deposits. Studies of surface water samples have resulted in improved standardized sample treatment and collection procedures. Stream discharge has been shown to have a significant effect on uranium concentration, while conductivity shows promise as a ''pathfinder'' for uranium. Turbid samples behave differently and consequently must be treated with more caution than samples from clear streams. Both water and stream sediments should be sampled concurrently, as anomalous uranium concentrations may occur in only one of these media and would be overlooked if only one, the wrong one, were analysed. The fission-track technique has been applied to uranium determinations in the above water studies. The advantages of the designed sample collecting system are that only a small quantity, typically one drop, of water is required and sample manipulation is minimized, thereby reducing contamination risks. The fission-track analytical technique is effective at the uranium concentration levels commonly found in natural waters (5.0-0.01 μg/litre). Landsat data were used to detect alteration associated with uranium deposits. Altered areas were detected but were not uniquely defined. Nevertheless, computer processing of Landsat data did suggest a smaller size target for further evaluation and thus is useful as an exploration tool
Effect of applying wheat stubble on preservation and utilization of n-fertilizer by 15N trace technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Xinyu; Zhang Yumei; Xiang Hua; Hu Jisheng

1991-10-01

By using 15 N trace technique, the effect of applying wheat stubble on the preservation and utilization rate of 15 N- ammonium sulphate have been studied. The abundance of ( 15 NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 fertilizer was 8.92%. After three years pot test and field plot test, the results showed that the yields with ' 15 N+mulching' and ' 15 N+incorporating' treated were increased by 5.4∼30.0% for spring wheat and millet(pot test), and 18∼23% for winter wheat and summer corn(field plot test), as compared with only ' 15 N' treatment. The results of 15 N-fertilizer labelled tests showed that the utilization rates of 15 N-fertilizer treated by ' 15 N+mulching' for cropping seasons were 57.8%, 65.8%, 36.6% and 8.5% respectively. These were increased 3.7%, 10.2%, 21.5% and 2.8% as compared with only ' 15 N' treatment. Comparing with only ' 15 N'treatment, the N leached off by percolation water was decreasing 50%, the loss of N caused by volatilization was decreasing 30.3% and the N in humus was increasing 21.1%. All of these proved that the applying of wheat stubble in different mode would adjust and control the activation of microbe in the soil, and the preservation and utilization rate of fertilizer in the soul would be increased
NEW TECHNIQUES APPLIED IN ECONOMICS. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantin Ilie

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper has the objective to inform the public regarding the use of new techniques for the modeling, simulate and forecast of system from different field of activity. One of those techniques is Artificial Neural Network, one of the artificial in
Application of a pilot control strategy identification technique to a joint FAA/NASA ground-based simulation of head-up displays for CTOL aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Jewell, W. F.

1982-01-01

A technique for measuring a pilot's control strategy was developed, evaluated, and applied to a joint FAA-NASA ground-based simulation of two competing concepts of head-up displays for use in conventional takeoff and landing aircraft. The technique, called the Non-Intrusive Pilot Identification Program (NIPIP), estimates the pilot's input-output describing function and combined pilot-vehicle performance parameters such as crossover frequency and phase margin by using a time domain model of the pilot and a least-squares identification algorithm. NIPIP functions in realtime and uses a sliding time window to maintain freshness in the data; thus time-varying characteristics in the pilot's control strategy can be measured.
Insect population control by the sterile-male technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindquist, A.W.

1963-01-01

The successful use of the sterile male technique to eradicate the screw worm fly from the Southeastern part of the United States showed that a new biological method using radiation-sterilized insects could not only control but also eradicate harmful insect pests. A panel of experts met at the IAEA in Vienna in October 1962 to discuss the various aspects and applications of this new technique and to assess its usefulness and limitations. This report summarizes the panel proceedings. 42 refs, 18 figs, 1 tab
Insect population control by the sterile-male technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindquist, A W

1963-10-01

The successful use of the sterile male technique to eradicate the screw worm fly from the Southeastern part of the United States showed that a new biological method using radiation-sterilized insects could not only control but also eradicate harmful insect pests. A panel of experts met at the IAEA in Vienna in October 1962 to discuss the various aspects and applications of this new technique and to assess its usefulness and limitations. This report summarizes the panel proceedings. 42 refs, 18 figs, 1 tab.
Ant colony method to control variance reduction techniques in the Monte Carlo simulation of clinical electron linear accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia-Pareja, S.; Vilches, M.; Lallena, A.M.

2007-01-01

The ant colony method is used to control the application of variance reduction techniques to the simulation of clinical electron linear accelerators of use in cancer therapy. In particular, splitting and Russian roulette, two standard variance reduction methods, are considered. The approach can be applied to any accelerator in a straightforward way and permits, in addition, to investigate the 'hot' regions of the accelerator, an information which is basic to develop a source model for this therapy tool
Enhanced pid vs model predictive control applied to bldc motor

Science.gov (United States)

Gaya, M. S.; Muhammad, Auwal; Aliyu Abdulkadir, Rabiu; Salim, S. N. S.; Madugu, I. S.; Tijjani, Aminu; Aminu Yusuf, Lukman; Dauda Umar, Ibrahim; Khairi, M. T. M.

2018-01-01

BrushLess Direct Current (BLDC) motor is a multivariable and highly complex nonlinear system. Variation of internal parameter values with environment or reference signal increases the difficulty in controlling the BLDC effectively. Advanced control strategies (like model predictive control) often have to be integrated to satisfy the control desires. Enhancing or proper tuning of a conventional algorithm results in achieving the desired performance. This paper presents a performance comparison of Enhanced PID and Model Predictive Control (MPC) applied to brushless direct current motor. The simulation results demonstrated that the PSO-PID is slightly better than the PID and MPC in tracking the trajectory of the reference signal. The proposed scheme could be useful algorithms for the system.
Artificial intelligence techniques for voltage control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ekwue, A.; Cheng, D.T.Y.; Macqueen, J.F.

1997-12-31

In electric power systems, the advantages of reactive power dispatching or optimisation include improved utilisation of reactive power sources and hence reduction in reactive power flows and real losses of the system; unloading of the system and equipment as a result of reactive flow reduction; the power factors of generation are improved and system security is enhanced; reduced voltage gradients and somewhat higher voltages which result across the system from improved operation; deferred capital investment is new reactive power sources as a result of improved utilisation of existing equipment; and for the National Grid Company plc (NGC), the main advantage is reduced out-of-merit operation. The problem of reactive power control has been studied and widely reported in the literature. Non-linear programming methods as well as linear programming techniques for constraint dispatch have been described. Static optimisation of reactive power sources by the use of sensitivity analysis was described by Kishore and Hill. Long range optimum var planning has been considered and the optimum amount and location of network reactive compensation so as to maintain the system voltage within the desired limits, while operating under normal and various insecurity states, have also been studied using several methods. The objective of this chapter is therefore to review conventional methods as well as AI techniques for reactive power control. (Author)
Controller tuning of district heating networks using experiment design techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobos, Laszlo; Abonyi, Janos

2011-01-01

There are various governmental policies aimed at reducing the dependence on fossil fuels for space heating and the reduction in its associated emission of greenhouse gases. DHNs (District heating networks) could provide an efficient method for house and space heating by utilizing residual industrial waste heat. In such systems, heat is produced and/or thermally upgraded in a central plant and then distributed to the end users through a pipeline network. The control strategies of these networks are rather difficult thanks to the non-linearity of the system and the strong interconnection between the controlled variables. That is why a NMPC (non-linear model predictive controller) could be applied to be able to fulfill the heat demand of the consumers. The main objective of this paper is to propose a tuning method for the applied NMPC to fulfill the control goal as soon as possible. The performance of the controller is characterized by an economic cost function based on pre-defined operation ranges. A methodology from the field of experiment design is applied to tune the model predictive controller to reach the best performance. The efficiency of the proposed methodology is proven throughout a case study of a simulated NMPC controlled DHN. -- Highlights: → To improve the energetic and economic efficiency of a DHN an appropriate control system is necessary. → The time consumption of transitions can be shortened with the proper control system. → A NLMPC is proposed as control system. → The NLMPC is tuned by utilization of simplex methodology, using an economic oriented cost function. → The proposed NLMPC needs a detailed model of the DHN based on the physical description.
Rare event techniques applied in the Rasmussen study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesely, W.E.

1977-01-01

The Rasmussen Study estimated public risks from commercial nuclear power plant accidents, and therefore the statistics of rare events had to be treated. Two types of rare events were specifically handled, those rare events which were probabilistically rare events and those which were statistically rare events. Four techniques were used to estimate probabilities of rare events. These techniques were aggregating data samples, discretizing ''continuous'' events, extrapolating from minor to catastrophic severities, and decomposing events using event trees and fault trees. In aggregating or combining data the goal was to enlarge the data sample so that the rare event was no longer rare, i.e., so that the enlarged data sample contained one or more occurrences of the event of interest. This aggregation gave rise to random variable treatments of failure rates, occurrence frequencies, and other characteristics estimated from data. This random variable treatment can be interpreted as being comparable to an empirical Bayes technique or a Bayesian technique. In the discretizing event technique, events of a detailed nature were grouped together into a grosser event for purposes of analysis as well as for data collection. The treatment of data characteristics as random variables helped to account for the uncertainties arising from this discretizing. In the severity extrapolation technique a severity variable was associated with each event occurrence for the purpose of predicting probabilities of catastrophic occurrences. Tail behaviors of distributions therefore needed to be considered. Finally, event trees and fault trees were used to express accident occurrences and system failures in terms of more basic events for which data existed. Common mode failures and general dependencies therefore needed to be treated. 2 figures
Leakage Reduction in Water Distribution Systems with Efficient Placement and Control of Pressure Reducing Valves Using Soft Computing Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Gupta

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Reduction of leakages in a water distribution system (WDS is one of the major concerns of water industries. Leakages depend on pressure, hence installing pressure reducing valves (PRVs in the water network is a successful techniques for reducing leakages. Determining the number of valves, their locations, and optimal control setting are the challenges faced. This paper presents a new algorithm-based rule for determining the location of valves in a WDS having a variable demand pattern, which results in more favorable optimization of PRV localization than that caused by previous techniques. A multiobjective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II was used to determine the optimized control value of PRVs and to minimize the leakage rate in the WDS. Minimum required pressure was maintained at all nodes to avoid pressure deficiency at any node. Proposed methodology is applied in a benchmark WDS and after using PRVs, the average leakage rate was reduced by 6.05 l/s (20.64%, which is more favorable than the rate obtained with the existing techniques used for leakage control in the WDS. Compared with earlier studies, a lower number of PRVs was required for optimization, thus the proposed algorithm tends to provide a more cost-effective solution. In conclusion, the proposed algorithm leads to more favorable optimized localization and control of PRV with improved leakage reduction rate.
Chaos control applied to cardiac rhythms represented by ECG signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borem Ferreira, Bianca; Amorim Savi, Marcelo; Souza de Paula, Aline

2014-01-01

The control of irregular or chaotic heartbeats is a key issue in cardiology. In this regard, chaos control techniques represent a good alternative since they suggest treatments different from those traditionally used. This paper deals with the application of the extended time-delayed feedback control method to stabilize pathological chaotic heart rhythms. Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals are employed to represent the cardiovascular behavior. A mathematical model is employed to generate ECG signals using three modified Van der Pol oscillators connected with time delay couplings. This model provides results that qualitatively capture the general behavior of the heart. Controlled ECG signals show the ability of the strategy either to control or to suppress the chaotic heart dynamics generating less-critical behaviors. (paper)
Application Of Nuclear Techniques In Environmental Studies And Pollution Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

EI-Motaium, R A [Plant Research Department, Nuclear Research Ceter, Atomic Energy Authority, Inshas P.O. Box 13759, Cairo (Egypt)

2007-07-01

Environmental pollution has become a world wide concern. One of the main sources of such pollution is sewage wastewater and sludge. Their utilization without proper treatment can pollute the ecosystem (plant, soil, surface and ground water). Sewage wastewater and sludge contains several pollutants such as: pathogens, toxic organic compounds, heavy metals, high level of BOD and COD, seed weed. The reuse of sewage water and sludge in agriculture can lead to the transfer of some of these pollutants into the food chain causing health hazard. In addition, most of these contaminants are not biodegradable, becoming dangerous to plant and human health. Nuclear techniques has recently been used to control environmental pollution. Ionizing radiation provide a fast and reliable means of sewage water and sludge treatment than the conventional methods. Gamma radiation ( {sup 60}Co) and electron beam (accelerator) has been successfully used for alleviation of environmental pollution. Such alleviation includes: disinfection of harmful pathogens, degradation of toxic organic pollutants, destruction of seed weed and reduction of soluble heavy metals, odor and BOD and COD. The use of radioactive and stable isotopes are a useful tools to investigate the contribution of sludge nutrients to plant nutrition. Nitrogen, using {sup 15}N-ammonium sulfate, uptake and translocation by plant from soil amended with sewage sludge was studied under field condition. The contribution of sludge to phosphorus nutrition of plants was quantified using {sup 32}p as tracer. In both cases the principal of isotopic dilution technique was applied. The information generated from these experiments could help preserve the environment. It could help optimize the application rate of sludge to meet plant requirements while avoiding the accumulation of N and P in the soil or leaching to the aquifer. Isotope exchange kinetic technique is used to evaluate nutrients availability from sludge. Neutron moisture meter is
Application Of Nuclear Techniques In Environmental Studies And Pollution Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EI-Motaium, R.A.

2007-01-01

Environmental pollution has become a world wide concern. One of the main sources of such pollution is sewage wastewater and sludge. Their utilization without proper treatment can pollute the ecosystem (plant, soil, surface and ground water). Sewage wastewater and sludge contains several pollutants such as: pathogens, toxic organic compounds, heavy metals, high level of BOD and COD, seed weed. The reuse of sewage water and sludge in agriculture can lead to the transfer of some of these pollutants into the food chain causing health hazard. In addition, most of these contaminants are not biodegradable, becoming dangerous to plant and human health. Nuclear techniques has recently been used to control environmental pollution. Ionizing radiation provide a fast and reliable means of sewage water and sludge treatment than the conventional methods. Gamma radiation ( 60 Co) and electron beam (accelerator) has been successfully used for alleviation of environmental pollution. Such alleviation includes: disinfection of harmful pathogens, degradation of toxic organic pollutants, destruction of seed weed and reduction of soluble heavy metals, odor and BOD and COD. The use of radioactive and stable isotopes are a useful tools to investigate the contribution of sludge nutrients to plant nutrition. Nitrogen, using 15 N-ammonium sulfate, uptake and translocation by plant from soil amended with sewage sludge was studied under field condition. The contribution of sludge to phosphorus nutrition of plants was quantified using 32 p as tracer. In both cases the principal of isotopic dilution technique was applied. The information generated from these experiments could help preserve the environment. It could help optimize the application rate of sludge to meet plant requirements while avoiding the accumulation of N and P in the soil or leaching to the aquifer. Isotope exchange kinetic technique is used to evaluate nutrients availability from sludge. Neutron moisture meter is used to
\\mathscr{H}_2 optimal control techniques for resistive wall mode feedback in tokamaks

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Mitchell; Hanson, Jeremy; Bialek, Jim; Navratil, Gerald

2018-04-01

DIII-D experiments show that a new, advanced algorithm enables resistive wall mode (RWM) stability control in high performance discharges using external coils. DIII-D can excite strong, locked or nearly locked external kink modes whose rotation frequencies and growth rates are on the order of the magnetic flux diffusion time of the vacuum vessel wall. Experiments have shown that modern control techniques like linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control require less current than the proportional controller in use at DIII-D when using control coils external to DIII-D’s vacuum vessel. Experiments were conducted to develop control of a rotating n = 1 perturbation using an LQG controller derived from VALEN and external coils. Feedback using this LQG algorithm outperformed a proportional gain only controller in these perturbation experiments over a range of frequencies. Results from high βN experiments also show that advanced feedback techniques using external control coils may be as effective as internal control coil feedback using classical control techniques.
Applying the GNSS Volcanic Ash Plume Detection Technique to Consumer Navigation Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Rainville, N.; Palo, S.; Larson, K. M.

2017-12-01

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) rely on predictably structured and constant power RF signals to fulfill their primary use for navigation and timing. When the received strength of GNSS signals deviates from the expected baseline, it is typically due to a change in the local environment. This can occur when signal reflections from the ground are modified by changes in snow or soil moisture content, as well as by attenuation of the signal from volcanic ash. This effect allows GNSS signals to be used as a source for passive remote sensing. Larson et al. (2017) have developed a detection technique for volcanic ash plumes based on the attenuation seen at existing geodetic GNSS sites. Since these existing networks are relatively sparse, this technique has been extended to use lower cost consumer GNSS receiver chips to enable higher density measurements of volcanic ash. These low-cost receiver chips have been integrated into a fully stand-alone sensor, with independent power, communications, and logging capabilities as part of a Volcanic Ash Plume Receiver (VAPR) network. A mesh network of these sensors transmits data to a local base-station which then streams the data real-time to a web accessible server. Initial testing of this sensor network has uncovered that a different detection approach is necessary when using consumer GNSS receivers and antennas. The techniques to filter and process the lower quality data from consumer receivers will be discussed and will be applied to initial results from a functioning VAPR network installation.
AN ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF GEOREFERENCED POINT CLOUDS PRODUCED VIA MULTI-VIEW STEREO TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO IMAGERY ACQUIRED VIA UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Harwin

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs are becoming viable environmental remote sensing tools. Sensor and battery technology is expanding the data capture opportunities. The UAV, as a close range remote sensing platform, can capture high resolution photography on-demand. This imagery can be used to produce dense point clouds using multi-view stereopsis techniques (MVS combining computer vision and photogrammetry. This study examines point clouds produced using MVS techniques applied to UAV and terrestrial photography. A multi-rotor micro UAV acquired aerial imagery from a altitude of approximately 30–40 m. The point clouds produced are extremely dense (<1–3 cm point spacing and provide a detailed record of the surface in the study area, a 70 m section of sheltered coastline in southeast Tasmania. Areas with little surface texture were not well captured, similarly, areas with complex geometry such as grass tussocks and woody scrub were not well mapped. The process fails to penetrate vegetation, but extracts very detailed terrain in unvegetated areas. Initially the point clouds are in an arbitrary coordinate system and need to be georeferenced. A Helmert transformation is applied based on matching ground control points (GCPs identified in the point clouds to GCPs surveying with differential GPS. These point clouds can be used, alongside laser scanning and more traditional techniques, to provide very detailed and precise representations of a range of landscapes at key moments. There are many potential applications for the UAV-MVS technique, including coastal erosion and accretion monitoring, mine surveying and other environmental monitoring applications. For the generated point clouds to be used in spatial applications they need to be converted to surface models that reduce dataset size without loosing too much detail. Triangulated meshes are one option, another is Poisson Surface Reconstruction. This latter option makes use of point normal

Wind Erosion Processes and Control Techniques in the Sahelian Zone of Niger

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sterk, G.; Stroosnijder, L.; Raats, P.A.C.

1999-01-01

Wind Erosion Processes and Control Techniques in the Sahelian Zone of Niger G. Sterk, L. Stroosnijder, and P.A.C. Raats Abstract The objective of this paper is to present the main results and conclusions from three years of field research on wind erosion processes and control techniques in the
AC electric motors control advanced design techniques and applications

CERN Document Server

Giri, Fouad

2013-01-01

The complexity of AC motor control lies in the multivariable and nonlinear nature of AC machine dynamics. Recent advancements in control theory now make it possible to deal with long-standing problems in AC motors control. This text expertly draws on these developments to apply a wide range of model-based control designmethods to a variety of AC motors. Contributions from over thirty top researchers explain how modern control design methods can be used to achieve tight speed regulation, optimal energetic efficiency, and operation reliability and safety, by considering online state var
Nuclear reactor vessel surface inspecting technique applying electric resistance probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, T.; Enami, K.; Yoshioka, M.

1975-01-01

A new technique for inspecting the inner surface of the PWR type nuclear reactor vessel by use of an electric resistance probe is introduced, centering on a data processing system. This system is composed of a mini-computer, a system typewriter, an interface unit, a D-A converter and controller, and X-Y recorder and others. Its functions are judging flaws and making flaw detection maps. In order to judge flaws by flaw detection signals, three kinds of flaw judging methods have been developed. In case there is a flaw, its position and depth are calculated and listed on the system typewriter. The flaw detection maps are expressed in four kinds of modes and they are displayed on the X-Y recorder. (auth.)
Supersonic impinging jet noise reduction using a hybrid control technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, Alex; Kumar, Rajan

2015-07-01

Control of the highly resonant flowfield associated with supersonic impinging jet has been experimentally investigated. Measurements were made in the supersonic impinging jet facility at the Florida State University for a Mach 1.5 ideally expanded jet. Measurements included unsteady pressures on a surface plate near the nozzle exit, acoustics in the nearfield and beneath the impingement plane, and velocity field using particle image velocimetry. Both passive control using porous surface and active control with high momentum microjet injection are effective in reducing nearfield noise and flow unsteadiness over a range of geometrical parameters; however, the type of noise reduction achieved by the two techniques is different. The passive control reduces broadband noise whereas microjet injection attenuates high amplitude impinging tones. The hybrid control, a combination of two control methods, reduces both broadband and high amplitude impinging tones and surprisingly its effectiveness is more that the additive effect of the two control techniques. The flow field measurements show that with hybrid control the impinging jet is stabilized and the turbulence quantities such as streamwise turbulence intensity, transverse turbulence intensity and turbulent shear stress are significantly reduced.
Sterile insect technique and radiation in insect control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

Out of 39 papers and 6 summaries of the poster presentations published in this proceeding series, 23 respectively fall within the INIS subject scope. Four main topics were covered: a review of the sterile insect technique against various insect pests; its application to tsetse flies in eradication programmes; quality control of mass-reared insects for release; and the development of genetic approaches to insect mass rearing and control. Other topics emphasized integrated pest management, computer models and radioisotope labelling
Effect of manual therapy techniques on headache disability in patients with tension-type headache. Randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Espí-López, G V; Rodríguez-Blanco, C; Oliva-Pascual-Vaca, A; Benítez-Martínez, J C; Lluch, E; Falla, D

2014-12-01

Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most common type of primary headache however there is no clear evidence as to which specific treatment is most effective or whether combined treatment is more effective than individual treatments. To assess the effectiveness of manual therapy techniques, applied to the suboccipital region, on aspects of disability in a sample of patients with tension-type headache. Randomized Controlled Trial. Specialized centre for headache treatment. Seventy-six (62 women) patients (age: 39.9 ± 10.9 years) with episodic chronic TTH. Patients were randomly divided into four treatment groups: 1) suboccipital soft tissue inhibition; 2) occiput-atlas-axis manipulation; 3) combined treatment of both techniques; 4) control. Four sessions were applied over 4 weeks and disability was assessed before and after treatment using the Headache Disability Inventory (HDI). Headache frequency, severity and the functional and emotional subscales of the questionnaire were assessed. Photophobia, phonophobia and pericranial tenderness were also monitored. Headache frequency was significantly reduced with the manipulative and combined treatment (Ptreatment groups (Ptreatment also reduced the score on the emotional subscale of the HDI (Ptreatments were combined, effectiveness was noted for all aspects of disability and other symptoms including photophobia, phonophobia and pericranial tenderness. Although individual manual therapy treatments showed a positive change in headache features, measures of photophobia, photophobia and pericranial tenderness only improved in the group that received the combined treatment suggesting that combined treatment is the most appropriate for symptomatic relief of TTH.
How Can Synchrotron Radiation Techniques Be Applied for Detecting Microstructures in Amorphous Alloys?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gu-Qing Guo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In this work, how synchrotron radiation techniques can be applied for detecting the microstructure in metallic glass (MG is studied. The unit cells are the basic structural units in crystals, though it has been suggested that the co-existence of various clusters may be the universal structural feature in MG. Therefore, it is a challenge to detect microstructures of MG even at the short-range scale by directly using synchrotron radiation techniques, such as X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption methods. Here, a feasible scheme is developed where some state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation-based experiments can be combined with simulations to investigate the microstructure in MG. By studying a typical MG composition (Zr70Pd30, it is found that various clusters do co-exist in its microstructure, and icosahedral-like clusters are the popular structural units. This is the structural origin where there is precipitation of an icosahedral quasicrystalline phase prior to phase transformation from glass to crystal when heating Zr70Pd30 MG.
Controlling applied to information processing: quality management applied to IP projects and IP services; Informationsverarbeitungs-Controlling: Qualitaetsmanagement fuer IV-Projekte und fuer IV-Service

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, B. [Vereinigung Deutscher Elektrizitaetswerke e.V. (VDEW), Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Beckers, F. [Isar-Amperwerke AG, Muenchen (Germany); Dewald, N. [Bayernwerk AG, Muenchen (Germany); Hauffe, P. [Pfalzwerke AG, Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Germany); Hein, F. [EVS AG Stuttgart (Germany); Hoederath, M. [Vereinigte Elektrizitaetswerke Westfalen AG (VEW), Dortmund (Germany); Seyen, R. [Staedtische Werke Nuernberg GmbH (Germany)

1998-01-12

The working group on information processing (IP) basics (in German: `IV-Grundlagen`) has prepared this contribution dealing with controlling applied to information processing. This new report, on the one hand, takes into consideration the role of the organizational IP unit as one offering its services to all sections of a company. On the other hand, information processing as an operational infrastructure influencing all business processes becomes increasingly important with respect to the competitiveness of the EVU. Therefore, quality management applied to IP projects and IP services must support this development. (orig./RHM) [Deutsch] Der VDEW Arbeitskreis `IV-Grundlagen` hat einen Beitrag zum Controlling fuer die Informationsverarbeitung erstellt. Hier geht zum einen die Rolle der Organisationseinheit IV als Dienstleister fuer alle Unternehmensbereiche ein. Zum anderen gewinnt die Informationsverarbeitung als betriebliche Infrastruktur fuer alle Geschaeftsprozesse zunehmende Bedeutung fuer die Wettbewerbsfaehigkeit der EVU. Das Qualitaetsmanagement fuer IV-Projekte und fuer IV-Service muss dies unterstuetzen. (orig./RHM)
Quantification of UV-Visible and Laser Spectroscopic Techniques for Materials Accountability and Process Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czerwinski, Kenneth; Weck, Phil

2013-01-01

Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Visible) and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) optical techniques can permit on-line analysis of actinide elements in a solvent extraction process in real time. These techniques have been used for measuring actinide speciation and concentration under laboratory conditions and are easily adaptable to multiple sampling geometries, such as dip probes, fiber-optic sample cells, and flow-through cell geometries. To fully exploit these techniques, researchers must determine the fundamental speciation of target actinides and the resulting influence on spectroscopic properties. Detection limits, process conditions, and speciation of key actinide components can be established and utilized in a range of areas, particularly those related to materials accountability and process control. Through this project, researchers will develop tools and spectroscopic techniques to evaluate solution extraction conditions and concentrations of U, Pu, and Cm in extraction processes, addressing areas of process control and materials accountability. The team will evaluate UV- Visible and TRLFS for use in solvent extraction-based separations. Ongoing research is examining efficacy of UV-Visible spectroscopy to evaluate uranium and plutonium speciation under conditions found in the UREX process and using TRLFS to evaluate Cm speciation and concentration in the TALSPEAK process. A uranyl and plutonium nitrate UV-Visible spectroscopy study met with success, which supports the utility and continued exploration of spectroscopic methods for evaluation of actinide concentrations and solution conditions for other aspects of the UREX+ solvent extraction scheme. This project will examine U and Pu absorbance in TRUEX and TALSPEAK, perform detailed examination of Cm in TRUEX and TALSPEAK, study U laser fluorescence, and apply project data to contactors. The team will also determine peak ratios as a function of solution concentrations for the UV
Ant colony method to control variance reduction techniques in the Monte Carlo simulation of clinical electron linear accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia-Pareja, S. [Servicio de Radiofisica Hospitalaria, Hospital Regional Universitario ' Carlos Haya' , Avda. Carlos Haya, s/n, E-29010 Malaga (Spain)], E-mail: garciapareja@gmail.com; Vilches, M. [Servicio de Fisica y Proteccion Radiologica, Hospital Regional Universitario ' Virgen de las Nieves' , Avda. de las Fuerzas Armadas, 2, E-18014 Granada (Spain); Lallena, A.M. [Departamento de Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada (Spain)

2007-09-21

The ant colony method is used to control the application of variance reduction techniques to the simulation of clinical electron linear accelerators of use in cancer therapy. In particular, splitting and Russian roulette, two standard variance reduction methods, are considered. The approach can be applied to any accelerator in a straightforward way and permits, in addition, to investigate the 'hot' regions of the accelerator, an information which is basic to develop a source model for this therapy tool.
Material control in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities. Part II. Accountability, instrumentation and measurement techniques in fuel fabrication facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borgonovi, G.M.; McCartin, T.J.; McDaniel, T.; Miller, C.L.; Nguyen, T.

1978-01-01

This report describes the measurement techniques, the instrumentation, and the procedures used in accountability and control of nuclear materials, as they apply to fuel fabrication facilities. A general discussion is given of instrumentation and measurement techniques which are presently used being considered for fuel fabrication facilities. Those aspects which are most significant from the point of view of satisfying regulatory constraints have been emphasized. Sensors and measurement devices have been discussed, together with their interfacing into a computerized system designed to permit real-time data collection and analysis. Estimates of accuracy and precision of measurement techniques have been given, and, where applicable, estimates of associated costs have been presented. A general description of material control and accounting is also included. In this section, the general principles of nuclear material accounting have been reviewed first (closure of material balance). After a discussion of the most current techniques used to calculate the limit of error on inventory difference, a number of advanced statistical techniques are reviewed. The rest of the section deals with some regulatory aspects of data collection and analysis, for accountability purposes, and with the overall effectiveness of accountability in detecting diversion attempts in fuel fabrication facilities. A specific example of application of the accountability methods to a model fuel fabrication facility is given. The effect of random and systematic errors on the total material uncertainty has been discussed, together with the effect on uncertainty of the length of the accounting period
Material control in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities. Part II. Accountability, instrumentation and measurement techniques in fuel fabrication facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borgonovi, G.M.; McCartin, T.J.; McDaniel, T.; Miller, C.L.; Nguyen, T.

1978-01-01

This report describes the measurement techniques, the instrumentation, and the procedures used in accountability and control of nuclear materials, as they apply to fuel fabrication facilities. A general discussion is given of instrumentation and measurement techniques which are presently used being considered for fuel fabrication facilities. Those aspects which are most significant from the point of view of satisfying regulatory constraints have been emphasized. Sensors and measurement devices have been discussed, together with their interfacing into a computerized system designed to permit real-time data collection and analysis. Estimates of accuracy and precision of measurement techniques have been given, and, where applicable, estimates of associated costs have been presented. A general description of material control and accounting is also included. In this section, the general principles of nuclear material accounting have been reviewed first (closure of material balance). After a discussion of the most current techniques used to calculate the limit of error on inventory difference, a number of advanced statistical techniques are reviewed. The rest of the section deals with some regulatory aspects of data collection and analysis, for accountability purposes, and with the overall effectiveness of accountability in detecting diversion attempts in fuel fabrication facilities. A specific example of application of the accountability methods to a model fuel fabrication facility is given. The effect of random and systematic errors on the total material uncertainty has been discussed, together with the effect on uncertainty of the length of the accounting period.
Total quality control: the deming management philosophy applied to nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heising, C.D.; Wetherell, D.L.; Melhem, S.A.; Sato, M.

1987-01-01

In recent years, a call has come for the development of inherently safe nuclear reactor systems that cannot have large-scale accidents. In the search for the perfect inherently safe reactor system, some are calling for the institution of computerized automated control of reactors eliminating most human operators from the control room. A different approach to the problem of the control of inherently safe reactors is that both future and present nuclear power plants need to institute total quality control (TQC) to plant operations and management. The Deming management philosophy of TQC has been implemented in a wide range of industries - particularly in Japan and the US. Specific attention is given, however, to TQC implementation in the electric power industry as applied to nuclear plants. The Kansai Electric Power Company and Florida Power and Light Company have recently implemented TQC. Statistical quality control methods have been applied to monitor and control reactor variables (for example, to the steam generator water level important to start-up operations of pressurized water reactors)
Applied research into direct numerical control of A-1 reactor temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpeta, C.; Volf, K.

1974-01-01

Partial results of research efforts aimed at applying modern control theory in the control of the reactor of the A-1 nuclear power station are presented. A mathematical model of the process dynamics was developed. Some parameters of the model were determined using the results of an experimentally performed reactor scram. The optimal stochastic discrete regulator was determined and closed-loop transients were studied. The possibilities of implementing control routines were investigated using the RPP-16 computer. (author)
Experimental Investigation on Adaptive Robust Controller Designs Applied to Constrained Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco H. Terra

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, two interlaced studies are presented. The first is directed to the design and construction of a dynamic 3D force/moment sensor. The device is applied to provide a feedback signal of forces and moments exerted by the robotic end-effector. This development has become an alternative solution to the existing multi-axis load cell based on static force and moment sensors. The second one shows an experimental investigation on the performance of four different adaptive nonlinear H∞ control methods applied to a constrained manipulator subject to uncertainties in the model and external disturbances. Coordinated position and force control is evaluated. Adaptive procedures are based on neural networks and fuzzy systems applied in two different modeling strategies. The first modeling strategy requires a well-known nominal model for the robot, so that the intelligent systems are applied only to estimate the effects of uncertainties, unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances. The second strategy considers that the robot model is completely unknown and, therefore, intelligent systems are used to estimate these dynamics. A comparative study is conducted based on experimental implementations performed with an actual planar manipulator and with the dynamic force sensor developed for this purpose.
Applying advanced digital signal processing techniques in industrial radioisotopes applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmoud, H.K.A.E.

2012-01-01

Radioisotopes can be used to obtain signals or images in order to recognize the information inside the industrial systems. The main problems of using these techniques are the difficulty of identification of the obtained signals or images and the requirement of skilled experts for the interpretation process of the output data of these applications. Now, the interpretation of the output data from these applications is performed mainly manually, depending heavily on the skills and the experience of trained operators. This process is time consuming and the results typically suffer from inconsistency and errors. The objective of the thesis is to apply the advanced digital signal processing techniques for improving the treatment and the interpretation of the output data from the different Industrial Radioisotopes Applications (IRA). This thesis focuses on two IRA; the Residence Time Distribution (RTD) measurement and the defect inspection of welded pipes using a gamma source (gamma radiography). In RTD measurement application, this thesis presents methods for signal pre-processing and modeling of the RTD signals. Simulation results have been presented for two case studies. The first case study is a laboratory experiment for measuring the RTD in a water flow rig. The second case study is an experiment for measuring the RTD in a phosphate production unit. The thesis proposes an approach for RTD signal identification in the presence of noise. In this approach, after signal processing, the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) and polynomial coefficients are extracted from the processed signal or from one of its transforms. The Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), and Discrete Sine Transform (DST) have been tested and compared for efficient feature extraction. Neural networks have been used for matching of the extracted features. Furthermore, the Power Density Spectrum (PDS) of the RTD signal has been also used instead of the discrete
Parameter Identification and Adaptive Control Applied to the Inverted Pendulum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos A. Saldarriaga-Cortés

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology to implement an adaptive control of the inverted pendulum system; which uses the recursive square minimum method for the identification of a dynamic digital model of the plant and then, with its estimated parameters, tune in real time a pole placement control. The plant to be used is an unstable and nonlinear system. This fact, combined with the adaptive controller characteristics, allows the obtained results to be extended to a great variety of systems. The results show that the above methodology was implemented satisfactorily in terms of estimation, stability and control of such a system. It was established that adaptive techniques have a proper performance even in systems with complex features such as nonlinearity and instability.
Use of the Generating Options for Active Risk Control (GO-ARC) Technique can lead to more robust risk control options.

Science.gov (United States)

Card, Alan J; Simsekler, Mecit Can Emre; Clark, Michael; Ward, James R; Clarkson, P John

2014-01-01

Risk assessment is widely used to improve patient safety, but healthcare workers are not trained to design robust solutions to the risks they uncover. This leads to an overreliance on the weakest category of risk control recommendations: administrative controls. Increasing the proportion of non-administrative risk control options (NARCOs) generated would enable (though not ensure) the adoption of more robust solutions. Experimentally assess a method for generating stronger risk controls: The Generating Options for Active Risk Control (GO-ARC) Technique. Participants generated risk control options in response to two patient safety scenarios. Scenario 1 (baseline): All participants used current practice (unstructured brainstorming). Scenario 2: Control group used current practice; intervention group used the GO-ARC Technique. To control for individual differences between participants, analysis focused on the change in the proportion of NARCOs for each group. Proportion of NARCOs decreased from 0.18 at baseline to 0.12. Intervention group: Proportion increased from 0.10 at baseline to 0.29 using the GO-ARC Technique. Results were statistically significant. There was no decrease in the number of administrative controls generated by the intervention group. The Generating Options for Active Risk Control (GO-ARC) Technique appears to lead to more robust risk control options.
Applied mathematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nedelec, J.C.

1988-01-01

The 1988 progress report of the Applied Mathematics center (Polytechnic School, France), is presented. The research fields of the Center are the scientific calculus, the probabilities and statistics and the video image synthesis. The research topics developed are: the analysis of numerical methods, the mathematical analysis of the physics and mechanics fundamental models, the numerical solution of complex models related to the industrial problems, the stochastic calculus and the brownian movement, the stochastic partial differential equations, the identification of the adaptive filtering parameters, the discrete element systems, statistics, the stochastic control and the development, the image synthesis techniques for education and research programs. The published papers, the congress communications and the thesis are listed [fr
Statistical and Computational Techniques in Manufacturing

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

In recent years, interest in developing statistical and computational techniques for applied manufacturing engineering has been increased. Today, due to the great complexity of manufacturing engineering and the high number of parameters used, conventional approaches are no longer sufficient. Therefore, in manufacturing, statistical and computational techniques have achieved several applications, namely, modelling and simulation manufacturing processes, optimization manufacturing parameters, monitoring and control, computer-aided process planning, etc. The present book aims to provide recent information on statistical and computational techniques applied in manufacturing engineering. The content is suitable for final undergraduate engineering courses or as a subject on manufacturing at the postgraduate level. This book serves as a useful reference for academics, statistical and computational science researchers, mechanical, manufacturing and industrial engineers, and professionals in industries related to manu...

Control technique for enhancing the stable operation of distributed generation units within a microgrid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehrasa, Majid; Pouresmaeil, Edris; Mehrjerdi, Hasan; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard; Catalão, João P.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A control technique for enhancing the stable operation of distributed generation units is proposed. • Passivity-based control technique is considered to analyze the dynamic and steady-state behaviors. • The compensation of instantaneous variations in the reference current components is considered. • Simulation results confirm the performance of the control scheme within the microgrid. - Abstract: This paper describes a control technique for enhancing the stable operation of distributed generation (DG) units based on renewable energy sources, during islanding and grid-connected modes. The Passivity-based control technique is considered to analyze the dynamic and steady-state behaviors of DG units during integration and power sharing with loads and/or power grid, which is an appropriate tool to analyze and define a stable operating condition for DG units in microgrid technology. The compensation of instantaneous variations in the reference current components of DG units in ac-side, and dc-link voltage variations in dc-side of interfaced converters, are considered properly in the control loop of DG units, which is the main contribution and novelty of this control technique over other control strategies. By using the proposed control technique, DG units can provide the continuous injection of active power from DG sources to the local loads and/or utility grid. Moreover, by setting appropriate reference current components in the control loop of DG units, reactive power and harmonic current components of loads can be supplied during the islanding and grid-connected modes with a fast dynamic response. Simulation results confirm the performance of the control scheme within the microgrid during dynamic and steady-state operating conditions
Operational techniques employed for the liquid sodium source term control loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chulos, L.E.

1976-01-01

Four Source Term Control Loops (STCLs) have been designed, constructed, and placed into operation at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL) as part of the Radioactivity Control Technology program. The data obtained are used to determine the corrosion and deposition of LMFBR materials, including corrosion product radionuclides, in a non-isothermal flowing sodium system. The paper discusses operation of the STCL Facilities and, in particular, the methods used for controlling the oxygen content of the liquid sodium. These methods include cold trapping techniques, hot trapping, seeding the cold traps with sodium oxide, and precipitating the oxygen in the cold trap in a controlled manner. Operational problems encountered with the STCL Facilities and the techniques for correcting these problems are also discussed
Humidity control and hydrophilic glue coating applied to mounted protein crystals improves X-ray diffraction experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baba, Seiki; Hoshino, Takeshi; Ito, Len; Kumasaka, Takashi

2013-01-01

A new crystal-mounting method has been developed that involves a combination of controlled humid air and polymer glue for crystal coating. This method is particularly useful when applied to fragile protein crystals that are known to be sensitive to subtle changes in their physicochemical environment. Protein crystals are fragile, and it is sometimes difficult to find conditions suitable for handling and cryocooling the crystals before conducting X-ray diffraction experiments. To overcome this issue, a protein crystal-mounting method has been developed that involves a water-soluble polymer and controlled humid air that can adjust the moisture content of a mounted crystal. By coating crystals with polymer glue and exposing them to controlled humid air, the crystals were stable at room temperature and were cryocooled under optimized humidity. Moreover, the glue-coated crystals reproducibly showed gradual transformations of their lattice constants in response to a change in humidity; thus, using this method, a series of isomorphous crystals can be prepared. This technique is valuable when working on fragile protein crystals, including membrane proteins, and will also be useful for multi-crystal data collection
Humidity control and hydrophilic glue coating applied to mounted protein crystals improves X-ray diffraction experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baba, Seiki; Hoshino, Takeshi; Ito, Len; Kumasaka, Takashi, E-mail: kumasaka@spring8.or.jp [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI/SPring-8), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan)

2013-09-01

A new crystal-mounting method has been developed that involves a combination of controlled humid air and polymer glue for crystal coating. This method is particularly useful when applied to fragile protein crystals that are known to be sensitive to subtle changes in their physicochemical environment. Protein crystals are fragile, and it is sometimes difficult to find conditions suitable for handling and cryocooling the crystals before conducting X-ray diffraction experiments. To overcome this issue, a protein crystal-mounting method has been developed that involves a water-soluble polymer and controlled humid air that can adjust the moisture content of a mounted crystal. By coating crystals with polymer glue and exposing them to controlled humid air, the crystals were stable at room temperature and were cryocooled under optimized humidity. Moreover, the glue-coated crystals reproducibly showed gradual transformations of their lattice constants in response to a change in humidity; thus, using this method, a series of isomorphous crystals can be prepared. This technique is valuable when working on fragile protein crystals, including membrane proteins, and will also be useful for multi-crystal data collection.
Developments in operator assistance techniques for nuclear power plant control and operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poujol, A.; Papin, B.; Beltranda, G.; Soldermann, R.

1989-01-01

This paper describes an approach which has been developed in order to improve nuclear power plants control and monitoring in normal and abnormal situations. These developments take full advantage of the trend towards the computerization of control rooms in industrial continuous processes. This research program consists in a thorough exploration of different information processing techniques, ranking from the rather simple visual synthetization of informations on graphic displays to sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. These techniques are put into application for the solving of man-machine interface problems in the different domains of plant operation
Applying Data Mining Techniques to Improve Information Security in the Cloud: A Single Cache System Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amany AlShawi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Presently, the popularity of cloud computing is gradually increasing day by day. The purpose of this research was to enhance the security of the cloud using techniques such as data mining with specific reference to the single cache system. From the findings of the research, it was observed that the security in the cloud could be enhanced with the single cache system. For future purposes, an Apriori algorithm can be applied to the single cache system. This can be applied by all cloud providers, vendors, data distributors, and others. Further, data objects entered into the single cache system can be extended into 12 components. Database and SPSS modelers can be used to implement the same.
Ion backscattering techniques applied in materials science research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sood, D.K.

1978-01-01

The applications of Ion Backscattering Technique (IBT) to material analysis have expanded rapidly during the last decade. It is now regarded as an analysis tool indispensable for a versatile materials research program. The technique consists of simply shooting a beam of monoenergetic ions (usually 4 He + ions at about 2 MeV) onto a target, and measuring their energy distribution after backscattering at a fixed angle. Simple Rutherford scattering analysis of the backscattered ion spectrum yields information on the mass, the absolute amount and the depth profile of elements present upto a few microns of the target surface. The technique is nondestructive, quick, quantitative and the only known method of analysis which gives quantitative results without recourse to calibration standards. Its major limitations are the inability to separate elements of similar mass and a complete absence of chemical-binding information. A typical experimental set up and spectrum analysis have been described. Examples, some of them based on the work at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, have been given to illustrate the applications of this technique to semiconductor technology, thin film materials science and nuclear energy materials. Limitations of IBT have been illustrated and a few remedies to partly overcome these limitations are presented. (auth.)
Extraterrestrial Hemorrhage Control: Terrestrial Developments in Technique, Technology, and Philosophy with Applicability to Traumatic Hemorrhage in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkpatrick, Andrew; Dawson, David; Campbell, Mark; Jones, Jeff; Ball, Chad G.; Hamilton, Douglas R.; Dulchavsky, Scott; McBeth, Paul; Holcomb, John

2004-01-01

Managing injury and illness during long duration space flight limits efforts to explore beyond low earths orbit. Traumatic injury may be expected to occur in space and is a frequent cause of preventable deaths, often related to uncontrolled or ongoing hemorrhage (H). Such bleeding causes 40% of terrestrial injury mortality. Current guidelines emphasize early control of H compared to intravenous infusions. Recent advances in surgical and critical care may be applicable to trauma care in space, with appropriate considerations of the extreme logistical and personnel limitations. Methods: Recent developments in technique, resuscitation fluids, hemoglobin (Hb) substitutes, hemostatic agents, interventional angiography, damage control principles, and concepts related to suspended animation were reviewed. Results: H associated with instability frequently requires definitive intervention. Direct pressure should be applied to all compressible bleeding, but novel approaches are required for intracavitary noncompressible bleeding. Intravenous hemostatic agents such as recombinant Factor VII may facilitate hemostasis especially when combined with a controlled hypotension approach. Both open and laparoscopic techniques could be used in weightlessness, but require technical expertise not likely to be available. Specific rehearsed invasive techniques such as laparotomy with packing, or arterial catherterization with with robotic intravascular embolization might be considered . Hemodynamic support, thermal manipulation, or pharmacologic induction of a state of metabolic down regulation for whole body preservation may be appropriate. Hypertonic saline, with or without dextran, may temporize vascular support and decrease reperfusion injury, with less mass than other solutions. Hb substitutes have other theoretical advantages. Conclusions: Terrestrial developments suggest potential novel strategies to control H in space, but will required a coordinated program of evaluation and
Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques applied to parton distribution functions determination: Proof of concept

Science.gov (United States)

Gbedo, Yémalin Gabin; Mangin-Brinet, Mariane

2017-07-01

We present a new procedure to determine parton distribution functions (PDFs), based on Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. The aim of this paper is to show that we can replace the standard χ2 minimization by procedures grounded on statistical methods, and on Bayesian inference in particular, thus offering additional insight into the rich field of PDFs determination. After a basic introduction to these techniques, we introduce the algorithm we have chosen to implement—namely Hybrid (or Hamiltonian) Monte Carlo. This algorithm, initially developed for Lattice QCD, turns out to be very interesting when applied to PDFs determination by global analyses; we show that it allows us to circumvent the difficulties due to the high dimensionality of the problem, in particular concerning the acceptance. A first feasibility study is performed and presented, which indicates that Markov chain Monte Carlo can successfully be applied to the extraction of PDFs and of their uncertainties.
Enhanced performance of CdS/CdTe thin-film devices through temperature profiling techniques applied to close-spaced sublimation deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiaonan Li; Sheldon, P.; Moutinho, H.; Matson, R. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

1996-05-01

The authors describe a methodology developed and applied to the close-spaced sublimation technique for thin-film CdTe deposition. The developed temperature profiles consisted of three discrete temperature segments, which the authors called the nucleation, plugging, and annealing temperatures. They have demonstrated that these temperature profiles can be used to grow large-grain material, plug pinholes, and improve CdS/CdTe photovoltaic device performance by about 15%. The improved material and device properties have been obtained while maintaining deposition temperatures compatible with commercially available substrates. This temperature profiling technique can be easily applied to a manufacturing environment by adjusting the temperature as a function of substrate position instead of time.
Exploring machine-learning-based control plane intrusion detection techniques in software defined optical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huibin; Wang, Yuqiao; Chen, Haoran; Zhao, Yongli; Zhang, Jie

2017-12-01

In software defined optical networks (SDON), the centralized control plane may encounter numerous intrusion threatens which compromise the security level of provisioned services. In this paper, the issue of control plane security is studied and two machine-learning-based control plane intrusion detection techniques are proposed for SDON with properly selected features such as bandwidth, route length, etc. We validate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed techniques by simulations. Results show an accuracy of 83% for intrusion detection can be achieved with the proposed machine-learning-based control plane intrusion detection techniques.
Application of PQR Theory for control of a 3-phase 4-wire 4-legs shunt active power filter in the aß?-axes using 3D-SVM technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali CHEBABHI

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This article discusses and compares two control strategies applied to a 3-phase 4-wire 4-leg shunt active power filter. These two control strategies, including the cross-vector theory called CV theory and the direct method called PQR theory, are based on the instantaneous control of active and reactive power. On one hand, it is shown that, in some cases, cross-vector theory requires elimination of the zero sequence currents in a 3-phase 4-wire 4-leg shunt active power filter, which needs a power storage element, and on the other hand pretreatment system voltage is necessary to obtain compensated sinusoidal current and a degree of freedom. By relying on the cross-vector theory, the PQR theory is used to extract and remove harmonic currents components. In this control technique, there are two internal current control loops and an external voltage control loop, these control loops have been realized by PI controllers when applied 3D-SVM of switching technique. We choose as criteria for comparison the transient and the Total Harmonic Distortion in the line current. A series of simulations in MATLAB/ Simulink environment have been presented and discussed to show the performance of the two control strategies.
PSO-Based Algorithm Applied to Quadcopter Micro Air Vehicle Controller Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huu-Khoa Tran

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid development of science and technology in recent times, many effective controllers are designed and applied successfully to complicated systems. The significant task of controller design is to determine optimized control gains in a short period of time. With this purpose in mind, a combination of the particle swarm optimization (PSO-based algorithm and the evolutionary programming (EP algorithm is introduced in this article. The benefit of this integration algorithm is the creation of new best-parameters for control design schemes. The proposed controller designs are then demonstrated to have the best performance for nonlinear micro air vehicle models.
Greenhouse Environmental Control Using Optimized MIMO PID Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fateh BOUNAAMA

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Climate control for protected crops brings the added dimension of a biological system into a physical system control situation. The thermally dynamic nature of a greenhouse suggests that disturbance attenuation (load control of external temperature, humidity, and sunlight is far more important than is the case for controlling other types of buildings. This paper investigates the application of multi-inputs multi-outputs (MIMO PID controller to a MIMO greenhouse environmental model with actuation constraints. This method is based on decoupling the system at low frequency point. The optimal tuning values are determined using genetic algorithms optimization (GA. The inside outsides climate model of the environmental greenhouse, and the automatically collected data sets of Avignon, France are used to simulate and test this technique. The control objective is to maintain a highly coupled inside air temperature and relative humidity of strongly perturbed greenhouse, at specified set-points, by the ventilation/cooling and moisturizing operations.
Myoelectric Control Techniques for a Rehabilitation Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Smith

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This work examines two different types of myoelectric control schemes for the purpose of rehabilitation robot applications. The first is a commonly used technique based on a Gaussian classifier. It is implemented in real time for healthy subjects in addition to a subject with Central Cord Syndrome (CCS. The myoelectric control scheme is used to control three degrees of freedom (DOF on a robot manipulator which corresponded to the robot's elbow joint, wrist joint, and gripper. The classes of motion controlled include elbow flexion and extension, wrist pronation and supination, hand grasping and releasing, and rest. Healthy subjects were able to achieve 90% accuracy. Single DOF controllers were first tested on the subject with CCS and he achieved 100%, 96%, and 85% accuracy for the elbow, gripper, and wrist controllers respectively. Secondly, he was able to control the three DOF controller at 68% accuracy. The potential applications for this scheme are rehabilitation and teleoperation. To overcome limitations in the pattern recognition based scheme, a second myoelectric control scheme is also presented which is trained using electromyographic (EMG data derived from natural reaching motions in the sagittal plane. This second scheme is based on a time delayed neural network (TDNN which has the ability to control multiple DOF at once. The controller tracked a subject's elbow and shoulder joints in the sagittal plane. Results showed an average error of 19° for the two joints. This myoelectric control scheme has the potential of being used in the development of exoskeleton and orthotic rehabilitation applications.
An Alternative Technique in the Control of Massive Presacral Rectal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bleeding control was provided by GORE‑TEX® graft. We conclude that fıxatıon of GORE‑TEX® aortic patch should be kept in mind for uncontrolled massive presacral bleeding. KEYWORDS: GORE‑TEX® graft, presacral bleeding, rectal cancer. An Alternative Technique in the Control of Massive Presacral Rectal. Bleeding: ...
Frequency Adaptive Control Technique for Periodic Runout and Wobble Cancellation in Optical Disk Drives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yee-Pien Yang

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Periodic disturbance occurs in various applications on the control of the rotational mechanical systems. For optical disk drives, the spirally shaped tracks are usually not perfectly circular and the assembly of the disk and spindle motor is unavoidably eccentric. The resulting periodic disturbance is, therefore, synchronous with the disk rotation, and becomes particularly noticeable for the track following and focusing servo system. This paper applies a novel adaptive controller, namely Frequency Adaptive Control Technique (FACT, for rejecting the periodic runout and wobble effects in the optical disk drive with dual actuators. The control objective is to attenuate adaptively the specific frequency contents of periodic disturbances without amplifying its rest harmonics. FACT is implemented in a plug-in manner and provides a suitable framework for periodic disturbance rejection in the cases where the fundamental frequencies of the disturbance are alterable. It is shown that the convergence property of parameters in the proposed adaptive algorithm is exponentially stable. It is applicable to both the spindle modes of constant linear velocity (CLV and constant angular velocity (CAV for various operation speeds. The experiments showed that the proposed FACT has successful improvement on the tracking and focusing performance of the CD-ROM, and is extended to various compact disk drives.
Implementasi Fuzzy Logic Controller untuk Mengatur Ph Nutrisi pada Sistem Hidroponik Nutrient Film Technique (NFT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dian Pancawati

2016-07-01

Full Text Available One solution to solve limited agricultural land is applying hydroponics Nutrient Film Technique (NFT. The advantage of NFT is using water circulated as a growing medium in order to obtain water, nutrients and oxygen to accelerate the growth of plants with good results. The most important parameter is the pH of nutrients. This article discusses how to design an automatic nutritional pH control system by implementing the method of Fuzzy Logic Controller. The control system use Arduino Mega2560, Analog pH Meter Kit as input, and the solenoid valve as actuators. The best response of the implementation of Fuzzy Logic Controller with the system which has 25 rules. The response shows that the system has in 1200 millisecond rise time and the steady state in 5530 milliseconds to increase the pH. While to decrease the pH system has response of rise time at 2000 milliseconds and steady state at the time of 3000 milliseconds. The system is able to maintain the pH at 5.5, with the result of the growth of lettuce as high as 20 cm and seven leaves for 54 days.
Robust control of an industrial boiler system; a comparison between two approaches: Sliding mode control and H∞ technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moradi, Hamed; Bakhtiari-Nejad, Firooz; Saffar-Avval, Majid

2009-01-01

To achieve a good performance of the utility boiler, dynamic variables such as drum pressure, steam temperature and water level of drum must be controlled. In this paper, a linear time invariant (LTI) model of a boiler system is considered in which the input variables are feed-water and fuel mass rates. However this dynamic model may associate with uncertainties. With considering the uncertainties of the dynamic model, a sliding mode controller is designed. After representation of the uncertain dynamic system in general control configuration and modelling the parametric uncertainties, nominal performance, robust stability and robust performance are analyzed by the concept of structured singular value μ. Using an algorithm for μ-analysis and applying an inversed-base controller, robust stability and nominal performance are guaranteed but robust performance is not satisfied. Finally, an optimal robust controller is designed based on μ-synthesis with DK-iteration algorithm. Both optimal robust and sliding mode controllers guarantee robust performance of the system against the uncertainties and result in desired time responses of the output variables. By applying H ∞ robust control, system tracks the desire reference inputs in a less time and with smoother time responses. However, less control efforts, feedwater and fuel mass rates, are needed when the sliding mode controller is applied.
Advanced gamma spectrum processing technique applied to the analysis of scattering spectra for determining material thickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoang Duc Tam; VNUHCM-University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City; Huynh Dinh Chuong; Tran Thien Thanh; Vo Hoang Nguyen; Hoang Thi Kieu Trang; Chau Van Tao

2015-01-01

In this work, an advanced gamma spectrum processing technique is applied to analyze experimental scattering spectra for determining the thickness of C45 heat-resistant steel plates. The single scattering peak of scattering spectra is taken as an advantage to measure the intensity of single scattering photons. Based on these results, the thickness of steel plates is determined with a maximum deviation of real thickness and measured thickness of about 4 %. Monte Carlo simulation using MCNP5 code is also performed to cross check the results, which yields a maximum deviation of 2 %. These results strongly confirm the capability of this technique in analyzing gamma scattering spectra, which is a simple, effective and convenient method for determining material thickness. (author)

DSC: software tool for simulation-based design of control strategies applied to wastewater treatment plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruano, M V; Ribes, J; Seco, A; Ferrer, J

2011-01-01

This paper presents a computer tool called DSC (Simulation based Controllers Design) that enables an easy design of control systems and strategies applied to wastewater treatment plants. Although the control systems are developed and evaluated by simulation, this tool aims to facilitate the direct implementation of the designed control system to the PC of the full-scale WWTP (wastewater treatment plants). The designed control system can be programmed in a dedicated control application and can be connected to either the simulation software or the SCADA of the plant. To this end, the developed DSC incorporates an OPC server (OLE for process control) which facilitates an open-standard communication protocol for different industrial process applications. The potential capabilities of the DSC tool are illustrated through the example of a full-scale application. An aeration control system applied to a nutrient removing WWTP was designed, tuned and evaluated with the DSC tool before its implementation in the full scale plant. The control parameters obtained by simulation were suitable for the full scale plant with only few modifications to improve the control performance. With the DSC tool, the control systems performance can be easily evaluated by simulation. Once developed and tuned by simulation, the control systems can be directly applied to the full-scale WWTP.
Basic principles of applied nuclear techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basson, J.K.

1976-01-01

The technological applications of radioactive isotopes and radiation in South Africa have grown steadily since the first consignment of man-made radioisotopes reached this country in 1948. By the end of 1975 there were 412 authorised non-medical organisations (327 industries) using hundreds of sealed sources as well as their fair share of the thousands of radioisotope consignments, annually either imported or produced locally (mainly for medical purposes). Consequently, it is necessary for South African technologists to understand the principles of radioactivity in order to appreciate the industrial applications of nuclear techniques [af
Fuzzy modeling and control of rotary inverted pendulum system using LQR technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fairus, M A; Mohamed, Z; Ahmad, M N

2013-01-01

Rotary inverted pendulum (RIP) system is a nonlinear, non-minimum phase, unstable and underactuated system. Controlling such system can be a challenge and is considered a benchmark in control theory problem. Prior to designing a controller, equations that represent the behaviour of the RIP system must be developed as accurately as possible without compromising the complexity of the equations. Through Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy modeling technique, the nonlinear system model is then transformed into several local linear time-invariant models which are then blended together to reproduce, or approximate, the nonlinear system model within local region. A parallel distributed compensation (PDC) based fuzzy controller using linear quadratic regulator (LQR) technique is designed to control the RIP system. The results show that the designed controller able to balance the RIP system
Methods of applied mathematics with a software overview

CERN Document Server

Davis, Jon H

2016-01-01

This textbook, now in its second edition, provides students with a firm grasp of the fundamental notions and techniques of applied mathematics as well as the software skills to implement them. The text emphasizes the computational aspects of problem solving as well as the limitations and implicit assumptions inherent in the formal methods. Readers are also given a sense of the wide variety of problems in which the presented techniques are useful. Broadly organized around the theme of applied Fourier analysis, the treatment covers classical applications in partial differential equations and boundary value problems, and a substantial number of topics associated with Laplace, Fourier, and discrete transform theories. Some advanced topics are explored in the final chapters such as short-time Fourier analysis and geometrically based transforms applicable to boundary value problems. The topics covered are useful in a variety of applied fields such as continuum mechanics, mathematical physics, control theory, and si...
Condition monitoring and signature analysis techniques as applied to Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) [Paper No.: VIA - 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rangarajan, V.; Suryanarayana, L.

1981-01-01

The technique of vibration signature analysis for identifying the machine troubles in their early stages is explained. The advantage is that a timely corrective action can be planned to avoid breakdowns and unplanned shutdowns. At the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), this technique is applied to regularly monitor vibrations of equipment and thus is serving as a tool for doing corrective maintenance of equipment. Case studies of application of this technique to main boiler feed pumps, moderation pump motors, centrifugal chiller, ventilation system fans, thermal shield ventilation fans, filtered water pumps, emergency process sea water pumps, and antifriction bearings of MAPS are presented. Condition monitoring during commissioning and subsequent operation could indicate defects. Corrective actions which were taken are described. (M.G.B.)
Development of NSTX Particle Control Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kugel, H.W.; Maingi, R.; Bell, M.; Gates, D.; Hill, K.; LeBlanc, B.; Mueller, D.; Kaita, R.; Paul, S.; Sabbagh, S.; Skinner, C.H.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Stratton, B.; Raman, R.

2004-01-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) High Harmonic Fast Wave (HHFW) current-drive discharges will require density control for acceptable efficiency. In NSTX, this involves primarily controlling impurity influxes and recycling. We have compared boronization on hot and cold surfaces, varying helium glow discharge conditioning (HeGDC) durations, helium discharge cleaning, brief daily boronization, and between discharge boronization to reduce and control spontaneous density rises. Access to Ohmic H-modes was enabled by boronization on hot surfaces, however, the duration of the effectiveness of hot and cold boronization was comparable. A 15 minute HeGDC between discharges was needed for reproducible L-H transitions. Helium discharge conditioning yielded slower density rises than 15 minutes of HeGDC. Brief daily boronization followed by a comparable duration of applied HeGDC restored and enhanced good conditions. Additional brief boronizations between discharges did not improve plasma performance (reduced recycling, reduced impurity luminosities, earlier L-H transitions, longer plasma current flattops, higher stored energies) if conditions were already good. Between discharge boronization required increases in the NSTX duty cycle due to the need for additional HeGDC to remove codeposited D
Control charts technique - a tool to data analysis for chemical experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yadav, M.B.; Venugopal, V.

1999-01-01

A procedure using control charts technique has been developed to analyse data of a chemical experiment which was conducted to assign a value to uranium content in Rb 2 U(SO 4 ) 3 . A value of (34.164 ± 0.031)% has been assigned against (34.167 ± 0.042)% already assigned by analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. These values do not differ significantly. Merits and demerits of the two techniques have been discussed. (author)
Large-timestep techniques for particle-in-cell simulation of systems with applied fields that vary rapidly in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friedman, A.; Grote, D.P.

1996-10-01

Under conditions which arise commonly in space-charge-dominated beam applications, the applied focusing, bending, and accelerating fields vary rapidly with axial position, while the self-fields (which are, on average, comparable in strength to the applied fields) vary smoothly. In such cases it is desirable to employ timesteps which advance the particles over distances greater than the characteristic scales over which the applied fields vary. Several related concepts are potentially applicable: sub-cycling of the particle advance relative to the field solution, a higher-order time-advance algorithm, force-averaging by integration along approximate orbits, and orbit-averaging. We report on our investigations into the utility of such techniques for systems typical of those encountered in accelerator studies for heavy-ion beam-driven inertial fusion
Using wavelet denoising and mathematical morphology in the segmentation technique applied to blood cells images.

Science.gov (United States)

Boix, Macarena; Cantó, Begoña

2013-04-01

Accurate image segmentation is used in medical diagnosis since this technique is a noninvasive pre-processing step for biomedical treatment. In this work we present an efficient segmentation method for medical image analysis. In particular, with this method blood cells can be segmented. For that, we combine the wavelet transform with morphological operations. Moreover, the wavelet thresholding technique is used to eliminate the noise and prepare the image for suitable segmentation. In wavelet denoising we determine the best wavelet that shows a segmentation with the largest area in the cell. We study different wavelet families and we conclude that the wavelet db1 is the best and it can serve for posterior works on blood pathologies. The proposed method generates goods results when it is applied on several images. Finally, the proposed algorithm made in MatLab environment is verified for a selected blood cells.
Applied Distributed Model Predictive Control for Energy Efficient Buildings and Ramp Metering

Science.gov (United States)

Koehler, Sarah Muraoka

suited for nonlinear optimization problems. The parallel computation of the algorithm exploits iterative linear algebra methods for the main linear algebra computations in the algorithm. We show that the splitting of the algorithm is flexible and can thus be applied to various distributed platform configurations. The two proposed algorithms are applied to two main energy and transportation control problems. The first application is energy efficient building control. Buildings represent 40% of energy consumption in the United States. Thus, it is significant to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The goal is to minimize energy consumption subject to the physics of the building (e.g. heat transfer laws), the constraints of the actuators as well as the desired operating constraints (thermal comfort of the occupants), and heat load on the system. In this thesis, we describe the control systems of forced air building systems in practice. We discuss the "Trim and Respond" algorithm which is a distributed control algorithm that is used in practice, and show that it performs similarly to a one-step explicit DMPC algorithm. Then, we apply the novel distributed primal-dual active-set method and provide extensive numerical results for the building MPC problem. The second main application is the control of ramp metering signals to optimize traffic flow through a freeway system. This application is particularly important since urban congestion has more than doubled in the past few decades. The ramp metering problem is to maximize freeway throughput subject to freeway dynamics (derived from mass conservation), actuation constraints, freeway capacity constraints, and predicted traffic demand. In this thesis, we develop a hybrid model predictive controller for ramp metering that is guaranteed to be persistently feasible and stable. This contrasts to previous work on MPC for ramp metering where such guarantees are absent. We apply a smoothing method to the hybrid model predictive
Biomechanical study of the funnel technique applied in thoracic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of vertebra was made for injury model of anterior and central column ... data were collected to eliminate creep and relaxation of soft tissues in .... 3 Pullout strength curve for Magerl technique (A) and Funnel technique (B). 210x164mm (72 x 72 ...
A Polar Fuzzy Control Scheme for Hybrid Power System Using Vehicle-To-Grid Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Elsayed Lotfy

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A novel polar fuzzy (PF control approach for a hybrid power system is proposed in this research. The proposed control scheme remedies the issues of system frequency and the continuity of demand supply caused by renewable sources’ uncertainties. The hybrid power system consists of a wind turbine generator (WTG, solar photovoltaics (PV, a solar thermal power generator (STPG, a diesel engine generator (DEG, an aqua-electrolyzer (AE, an ultra-capacitor (UC, a fuel-cell (FC, and a flywheel (FW. Furthermore, due to the high cost of the battery energy storage system (BESS, a new idea of vehicle-to-grid (V2G control is applied to use the battery of the electric vehicle (EV as equivalent to large-scale energy storage units instead of small batteries to improve the frequency stability of the system. In addition, EV customers’ convenience is taken into account. A minimal-order observer is used to estimate the supply error. Then, the area control error (ACE signal is calculated in terms of the estimated supply error and the frequency deviation. ACE is considered in the frequency domain. Two PF approaches are utilized in the intended system. The mission of each controller is to mitigate one frequency component of ACE. The responsibility for ACE compensation is shared among all parts of the system according to their speed of response. The performance of the proposed control scheme is compared to the conventional fuzzy logic control (FLC. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control technique are verified by numerical simulations under various scenarios.
A simple pulse shape discrimination technique applied to a silicon strip detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figuera, P.; Lu, J.; Amorini, F.; Cardella, G.; DiPietro, A.; Papa, M.; Musumarra, A.; Pappalardo, G.; Rizzo, F.; Tudisco, S.

2001-01-01

Full text: Since the early sixties, it has been known that the shape of signals from solid state detectors can be used for particle identification. Recently, this idea has been revised in a group of papers where it has been shown that the shape of current signals from solid state detectors is mainly governed by the combination of plasma erosion time and charge carrier collection time effects. We will present the results of a systematic study on a pulse shape identification method which, contrary to the techniques proposed, is based on the use of the same electronic chain normally used in the conventional time of flight technique. The method is based on the use of charge preamplifiers, low polarization voltages (i.e. just above full depletion ones), rear side injection of the incident particles, and on a proper setting of the constant fraction discriminators which enhances the dependence of the timing output on the rise time of the input signals (which depends on the charge and energy of the incident ions). The method has been applied to an annular Si strip detector with an inner radius of about 16 mm and an outer radius of about 88 mm. The detector, manufactured by Eurisys Measures (Type Ips.73.74.300.N9), is 300 microns thick and consists of 8 independent sectors each divided into 9 circular strips. On beam tests have been performed at the cyclotron of the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud in Catania using a 25.7 MeV/nucleon 58 Ni beam impinging on a 51 V and 45 Sc composite target. Excellent charge identification from H up to the Ni projectile has been observed and typical charge identification thresholds are: ∼ 1.7 MeV/nucleon for Z ≅ 6, ∼ 3.0 MeV/nucleon for Z ≅ 11, and ∼ 5.5 MeV/nucleon for Z ≅ 20. Isotope identification up to A ≅ 13 has been observed with an energy threshold of about 6 MeV/nucleon. The identification quality has been studied as a function of the constant fraction settings. The method has been applied to all the 72 independent strips
Applying machine-learning techniques to Twitter data for automatic hazard-event classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Filgueira, R.; Bee, E. J.; Diaz-Doce, D.; Poole, J., Sr.; Singh, A.

2017-12-01

The constant flow of information offered by tweets provides valuable information about all sorts of events at a high temporal and spatial resolution. Over the past year we have been analyzing in real-time geological hazards/phenomenon, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods or the aurora, as part of the GeoSocial project, by geo-locating tweets filtered by keywords in a web-map. However, not all the filtered tweets are related with hazard/phenomenon events. This work explores two classification techniques for automatic hazard-event categorization based on tweets about the "Aurora". First, tweets were filtered using aurora-related keywords, removing stop words and selecting the ones written in English. For classifying the remaining between "aurora-event" or "no-aurora-event" categories, we compared two state-of-art techniques: Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) algorithms. Both approaches belong to the family of supervised learning algorithms, which make predictions based on labelled training dataset. Therefore, we created a training dataset by tagging 1200 tweets between both categories. The general form of SVM is used to separate two classes by a function (kernel). We compared the performance of four different kernels (Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, Multinomial Naïve Bayesian and Stochastic Gradient Descent) provided by Scikit-Learn library using our training dataset to build the SVM classifier. The results shown that the Logistic Regression (LR) gets the best accuracy (87%). So, we selected the SVM-LR classifier to categorise a large collection of tweets using the "dispel4py" framework.Later, we developed a CNN classifier, where the first layer embeds words into low-dimensional vectors. The next layer performs convolutions over the embedded word vectors. Results from the convolutional layer are max-pooled into a long feature vector, which is classified using a softmax layer. The CNN's accuracy
Longitudinal vortex control - Techniques and applications (The 32nd Lanchester Lecture)

Science.gov (United States)

Bushnell, D. M.

1992-01-01

A summary is presented of vortex control applications and current techniques for the control of longitudinal vortices produced by bodies, leading edges, tips and intersections. Vortex control has up till now been performed by many approaches in an empirical fashion, assisted by the essentially inviscid nature of much of longitudinal vortex behavior. Attention is given to Reynolds number sensitivities, vortex breakdown and interactions, vortex control on highly swept wings, and vortex control in juncture flows.
Stable adaptive PI control for permanent magnet synchronous motor drive based on improved JITL technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Shiqi; Tang, Xiaoqi; Song, Bao; Lu, Shaowu; Ye, Bosheng

2013-07-01

In this paper, a stable adaptive PI control strategy based on the improved just-in-time learning (IJITL) technique is proposed for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive. Firstly, the traditional JITL technique is improved. The new IJITL technique has less computational burden and is more suitable for online identification of the PMSM drive system which is highly real-time compared to traditional JITL. In this way, the PMSM drive system is identified by IJITL technique, which provides information to an adaptive PI controller. Secondly, the adaptive PI controller is designed in discrete time domain which is composed of a PI controller and a supervisory controller. The PI controller is capable of automatically online tuning the control gains based on the gradient descent method and the supervisory controller is developed to eliminate the effect of the approximation error introduced by the PI controller upon the system stability in the Lyapunov sense. Finally, experimental results on the PMSM drive system show accurate identification and favorable tracking performance. Copyright © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Applying Mixed Methods Techniques in Strategic Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Voorhees, Richard A.

2008-01-01

In its most basic form, strategic planning is a process of anticipating change, identifying new opportunities, and executing strategy. The use of mixed methods, blending quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques and data, in the process of assembling a strategic plan can help to ensure a successful outcome. In this article, the author…
2D and 3D optical diagnostic techniques applied to Madonna dei Fusi by Leonardo da Vinci

Science.gov (United States)

Fontana, R.; Gambino, M. C.; Greco, M.; Marras, L.; Materazzi, M.; Pampaloni, E.; Pelagotti, A.; Pezzati, L.; Poggi, P.; Sanapo, C.

2005-06-01

3D measurement and modelling have been traditionally applied to statues, buildings, archeological sites or similar large structures, but rarely to paintings. Recently, however, 3D measurements have been performed successfully also on easel paintings, allowing to detect and document the painting's surface. We used 3D models to integrate the results of various 2D imaging techniques on a common reference frame. These applications show how the 3D shape information, complemented with 2D colour maps as well as with other types of sensory data, provide the most interesting information. The 3D data acquisition was carried out by means of two devices: a high-resolution laser micro-profilometer, composed of a commercial distance meter mounted on a scanning device, and a laser-line scanner. The 2D data acquisitions were carried out using a scanning device for simultaneous RGB colour imaging and IR reflectography, and a UV fluorescence multispectral image acquisition system. We present here the results of the techniques described, applied to the analysis of an important painting of the Italian Reinassance: `Madonna dei Fusi', attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
New approaches in intelligent control techniques, methodologies and applications

CERN Document Server

Kountchev, Roumen

2016-01-01

This volume introduces new approaches in intelligent control area from both the viewpoints of theory and application. It consists of eleven contributions by prominent authors from all over the world and an introductory chapter. This volume is strongly connected to another volume entitled "New Approaches in Intelligent Image Analysis" (Eds. Roumen Kountchev and Kazumi Nakamatsu). The chapters of this volume are self-contained and include summary, conclusion and future works. Some of the chapters introduce specific case studies of various intelligent control systems and others focus on intelligent theory based control techniques with applications. A remarkable specificity of this volume is that three chapters are dealing with intelligent control based on paraconsistent logics.
Techniques of Ultrasound Cavitation Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. P. Skvortsov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The control methods of ultrasonic cavitation applied now within the range from 20 kHz to 80 kHz use either control of ultrasound source parameters (amplitude, acoustic power, etc. or control of one of the cavitation effects (erosion of materials, sonoluminescence, power of acoustic noise, etc.. These methods provide effective management of technological processes, however, make it impossible to relate the estimated effect with parameters of pulsations of cavitation bubbles. This is, mainly, due to influence of a number of uncontrollable parameters, in particular, such as temperature, composition of liquid, gas content, etc. as well as because of the difficulty to establish interrelation between the estimated effect and parameters of pulsations. As a result, in most cases it is difficult to compare controlled parameters of ultrasonic cavitation among themselves, and quantitative characteristics of processes become depending on the type of ultrasonic installation and conditions of their measurement.In this regard, methods to determine parameters of bubble pulsations through sounding a cavitation area by low-intensity laser radiation or to record cavitation noise sub-harmonics reflecting dynamics of changing radius of cavitation bubbles are of interest. The method of optical sounding, via the analysis of spectral components of a scattered signal recorded by a photo-detector, allows us to define a phase of the bubbles collapse with respect to the sound wave and a moving speed of the bubbles wall, as well as to estimate a cavitation index within the light beam section.The method to record sub-harmonicas of cavitation noise allows us to define parameters of pulsations, average for cavitation areas.The above methods allow us both to study mechanisms of cavitation action and to form quantitative criteria of its efficiency based on the physical processes, rather than their consequences and are convenient for arranging a feedback in the units using

Applying modern psychometric techniques to melodic discrimination testing: Item response theory, computerised adaptive testing, and automatic item generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Peter M C; Collins, Tom; Müllensiefen, Daniel

2017-06-15

Modern psychometric theory provides many useful tools for ability testing, such as item response theory, computerised adaptive testing, and automatic item generation. However, these techniques have yet to be integrated into mainstream psychological practice. This is unfortunate, because modern psychometric techniques can bring many benefits, including sophisticated reliability measures, improved construct validity, avoidance of exposure effects, and improved efficiency. In the present research we therefore use these techniques to develop a new test of a well-studied psychological capacity: melodic discrimination, the ability to detect differences between melodies. We calibrate and validate this test in a series of studies. Studies 1 and 2 respectively calibrate and validate an initial test version, while Studies 3 and 4 calibrate and validate an updated test version incorporating additional easy items. The results support the new test's viability, with evidence for strong reliability and construct validity. We discuss how these modern psychometric techniques may also be profitably applied to other areas of music psychology and psychological science in general.
Flight test trajectory control analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, R.; Gupta, N.

1983-01-01

Recent extensions to optimal control theory applied to meaningful linear models with sufficiently flexible software tools provide powerful techniques for designing flight test trajectory controllers (FTTCs). This report describes the principal steps for systematic development of flight trajectory controllers, which can be summarized as planning, modeling, designing, and validating a trajectory controller. The techniques have been kept as general as possible and should apply to a wide range of problems where quantities must be computed and displayed to a pilot to improve pilot effectiveness and to reduce workload and fatigue. To illustrate the approach, a detailed trajectory guidance law is developed and demonstrated for the F-15 aircraft flying the zoom-and-pushover maneuver.
Fuzzy Controller Design Using Evolutionary Techniques for Twin Rotor MIMO System: A Comparative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. A. Hashim

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a comparative study of fuzzy controller design for the twin rotor multi-input multioutput (MIMO system (TRMS considering most promising evolutionary techniques. These are gravitational search algorithm (GSA, particle swarm optimization (PSO, artificial bee colony (ABC, and differential evolution (DE. In this study, the gains of four fuzzy proportional derivative (PD controllers for TRMS have been optimized using the considered techniques. The optimization techniques are developed to identify the optimal control parameters for system stability enhancement, to cancel high nonlinearities in the model, to reduce the coupling effect, and to drive TRMS pitch and yaw angles into the desired tracking trajectory efficiently and accurately. The most effective technique in terms of system response due to different disturbances has been investigated. In this work, it is observed that GSA is the most effective technique in terms of solution quality and convergence speed.
Development of irradiation technique on controlling food contamination residue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Bin; Xiong Shanbai; Xiong Guangquan; Cheng Wei; Chen Yuxia; Liao Tao; Li Xin; Lin Ruotai

2010-01-01

The current state of the researches of irradiation technology on controlling food mycotoxin, pesticide, veterinary drugs and fishery drugs residue was summarized. And the degradation rate, mechanism, products and toxicities of food contamination were expatiated. The free radical from irradiation attack the site of weaker bond, and the less or more toxic substances were produced, which lead to the degradation of the food contamination. The limitations and future application of irradiation technique on controlling food contamination were also analyzed. (authors)
Power electronic converters PWM strategies and current control techniques

CERN Document Server

Monmasson, Eric

2013-01-01

A voltage converter changes the voltage of an electrical power source and is usually combined with other components to create a power supply. This title is devoted to the control of static converters, which deals with pulse-width modulation (PWM) techniques, and also discusses methods for current control. Various application cases are treated. The book is ideal for professionals in power engineering, power electronics, and electric drives industries, as well as practicing engineers, university professors, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
Personnel contamination protection techniques applied during the TMI-2 [Three Mile Island Unit 2] cleanup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hildebrand, J.E.

1988-01-01

The severe damage to the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) core and the subsequent discharge of reactor coolant to the reactor and auxiliary buildings resulted in extremely hostile radiological environments in the TMI-2 plant. High fission product surface contamination and radiation levels necessitated the implementation of innovative techniques and methods in performing cleanup operations while assuring effective as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) practices. The approach utilized by GPU Nuclear throughout the cleanup in applying protective clothing requirements was to consider the overall health risk to the worker including factors such as cardiopulmonary stress, visual and hearing acuity, and heat stress. In applying protective clothing requirements, trade-off considerations had to be made between preventing skin contaminations and possibly overprotecting the worker, thus impacting his ability to perform his intended task at maximum efficiency and in accordance with ALARA principles. The paper discusses the following topics: protective clothing-general use, beta protection, skin contamination, training, personnel access facility, and heat stress
A Technique for Controlling Matric Suction on Filter Papers . GroWth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

'Abstract. Moist filter papers are widely usedfor seed gennination tests but their water confent and matric suction are not usually controlled. A technique for controlling filter paper matric suction is described and usedfor germination studies involving fresh and aged sorghum seed (Sorghummcolor (L) Moench). Filter papers ...
Material control in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities. Part II. Accountability, instrumntation, and measurement techniques in fuel fabrication facilities, P.O.1236909. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borgonovi, G.M.; McCartin, T.J.; McDaniel, T.; Miller, C.L.; Nguyen, T.

1978-12-01

This report describes the measurement techniques, the instrumentation, and the procedures used in accountability and control of nuclear materials, as they apply to fuel fabrication facilities. Some of the material included has appeared elswhere and it has been summarized. An extensive bibliography is included. A spcific example of application of the accountability methods to a model fuel fabrication facility which is based on the Westinghouse Anderson design
Material control in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities. Part II. Accountability, instrumntation, and measurement techniques in fuel fabrication facilities, P. O. 1236909. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borgonovi, G.M.; McCartin, T.J.; McDaniel, T.; Miller, C.L.; Nguyen, T.

1978-12-01

This report describes the measurement techniques, the instrumentation, and the procedures used in accountability and control of nuclear materials, as they apply to fuel fabrication facilities. Some of the material included has appeared elswhere and it has been summarized. An extensive bibliography is included. A spcific example of application of the accountability methods to a model fuel fabrication facility which is based on the Westinghouse Anderson design.
Advances in insect population control by the sterile-male technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1965-06-01

The sterile male technique has been successfully used in the control or eradication of at least eight species of insects in experimental or field trials. In view of the importance of the method the IAEA convened a Panel of experts in July 1964 to review the progress made in research on the application of the technique and to suggest future actions. The findings of the Panel are published in this Technical Report. 52 refs, 10 figs, 10 tabs.
Advances in insect population control by the sterile-male technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1965-01-01

The sterile male technique has been successfully used in the control or eradication of at least eight species of insects in experimental or field trials. In view of the importance of the method the IAEA convened a Panel of experts in July 1964 to review the progress made in research on the application of the technique and to suggest future actions. The findings of the Panel are published in this Technical Report. 52 refs, 10 figs, 10 tabs
A Systematic Approach to Applying Lean Techniques to Optimize an Office Process at the Y-12 National Security Complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Credille, Jennifer [Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Owens, Elizabeth [Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

2017-10-11

This capstone offers the introduction of Lean concepts to an office activity to demonstrate the versatility of Lean. Traditionally Lean has been associated with process improvements as applied to an industrial atmosphere. However, this paper will demonstrate that implementing Lean concepts within an office activity can result in significant process improvements. Lean first emerged with the conception of the Toyota Production System. This innovative concept was designed to improve productivity in the automotive industry by eliminating waste and variation. Lean has also been applied to office environments, however the limited literature reveals most Lean techniques within an office are restricted to one or two techniques. Our capstone confronts these restrictions by introducing a systematic approach that utilizes multiple Lean concepts. The approach incorporates: system analysis, system reliability, system requirements, and system feasibility. The methodical Lean outline provides tools for a successful outcome, which ensures the process is thoroughly dissected and can be achieved for any process in any work environment.
CONTROLLING TRAFFIC FLOW IN MULTILANE-ISOLATED INTERSECTION USING ANFIS APPROACH TECHNIQUES

OpenAIRE

G. R. LAI; A. CHE SOH; H. MD. SARKAN; R. Z. ABDUL RAHMAN; M. K. HASSAN

2015-01-01

Many controllers have applied the Adaptive Neural-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) concept for optimizing the controller performance. However, there are less traffic signal controllers developed using the ANFIS concept. ANFIS traffic signal controller with its fuzzy rule base and its ability to learn from a set of sample data could improve the performance of Existing traffic signal controlling system to reduce traffic congestions at most of the busy traffic intersections in city such as Kuala L...
High speed resonant frequency determination applied to field mapping using perturbation techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, B.H.; Burton, R.J.; Hutcheon, R.M.

1992-01-01

Perturbation techniques are commonly used for measuring electric and magnetic field distributions in resonant structures. A field measurement system has been assembled using a Hewlett Packard model 8753C network analyzer interfaced via an HPIB bus to a personal computer to form an accurate, rapid and flexible system for data acquisition, control, and analysis of such measurements. Characterization of long linac structures (up to 3 m) is accomplished in about three minutes, minimizing thermal drift effects. This paper describes the system, its application and its extension to applications such as confirming the presence of weak, off-axis quadrupole fields in an on-axis coupled linac. (Author) 5 figs., 10 refs
A Technique for Controlling Matric Suction on Filter Papers Used in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Moist filter papers are widely usedfor seed gennination tests but their water confent and matric suction are not usually controlled. A technique for controlling filter paper matric suction is described and usedfor germination studies involving fresh and aged sorghum seed (Sorghummcolor (L) Moench). Filter papers wetted to ...
Influence of inhaler technique on asthma and COPD control: a multicenter experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dudvarski Ilic A

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Aleksandra Dudvarski Ilic,1,2 Vladimir Zugic,1,2 Biljana Zvezdin,3,4 Ivan Kopitovic,3,4 Ivan Cekerevac,5,6 Vojislav Cupurdija,5,6 Nela Perhoc,7 Vesna Veljkovic,7 Aleksandra Barac8 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 2Clinic for Pulmonology, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, 3Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, 4Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, 5Faculty of Medicine, University of Kragujevac, 6Clinic for Pulmonology, Clinical Centre Kragujevac, Kragujevac, 7Clinic for Pulmonary Diseases Knez Selo, Clinical Centre Nis, Nis, 8Faculty of Stomatology, University Academy of Business Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia Background: The successful management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD mostly depends on adherence to inhalation drug therapy, the usage of which is commonly associated with many difficulties in real life. Improvement of patients’ adherence to inhalation technique could lead to a better outcome in the treatment of asthma and COPD.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the utility of inhalation technique in clinical and functional control of asthma and COPD during a 3-month follow-up.Methods: A total of 312 patients with asthma or COPD who used dry powder Turbuhaler were enrolled in this observational study. During three visits (once a month, training in seven-step inhalation technique was given and it was practically demonstrated. Correctness of patients’ usage of inhaler was assessed in three visits by scoring each of the seven steps during administration of inhaler dose. Assessment of disease control was done at each visit and evaluated as: fully controlled, partially controlled, or uncontrolled. Patients’ subjective perception of the simplicity of inhalation technique, disease control, and quality of life were assessed by using specially designed questionnaires.Results: Significant improvement in inhalation technique was achieved after the
The differential dieaway technique applied to the measurement of the fissile content of drums of cement encapsulated waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinhoe, M.T.

1986-01-01

This report describes calculations of the differential dieaway technique as applied to cement encapsulated waste. The main difference from previous applications of the technique are that only one detector position is used (diametrically opposite the neutron source) and the chamber walls are made of concrete. The results show that by rotating the drum the response to fissile material across the central plane of the drum can be made relatively uniform. The absolute size of the response is about 0.4. counts per minute per gram fissile for a neutron source of 10 8 neutrons per second. Problems of neutron and gamma background and water content are considered. (author)
Applied Joint-Space Torque and Stiffness Control of Tendon-Driven Fingers

Science.gov (United States)

Abdallah, Muhammad E.; Platt, Robert, Jr.; Wampler, Charles W.; Hargrave, Brian

2010-01-01

Existing tendon-driven fingers have applied force control through independent tension controllers on each tendon, i.e. in the tendon-space. The coupled kinematics of the tendons, however, cause such controllers to exhibit a transient coupling in their response. This problem can be resolved by alternatively framing the controllers in the joint-space of the manipulator. This work presents a joint-space torque control law that demonstrates both a decoupled and significantly faster response than an equivalent tendon-space formulation. The law also demonstrates greater speed and robustness than comparable PI controllers. In addition, a tension distribution algorithm is presented here to allocate forces from the joints to the tendons. It allocates the tensions so that they satisfy both an upper and lower bound, and it does so without requiring linear programming or open-ended iterations. The control law and tension distribution algorithm are implemented on the robotic hand of Robonaut-2.
Non-destructive electrochemical techniques applied to the corrosion evaluation of the liner structures in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez, I.; Castillo, A.; Andrade, C.

2008-01-01

The liner structure in nuclear power plants provides containment for the operation and therefore the study of its durability and integrity during its service life is an important issue. There are several causes for the deterioration of the liner, which in general involve corrosion due to its metallic nature. The present paper is aimed at describing the assessment of corrosion problems of two liners from two different nuclear power plants, which were evaluated using non-destructive electrochemical techniques. In spite of the testing difficulties arisen, from the results extracted it can be concluded that the electrochemical techniques applied are adequate for the corrosion evaluation. They provide important information about the integrity of the structure and allow for its evolution with time to be assessed
Power electronics and control techniques for maximum energy harvesting in photovoltaic systems

CERN Document Server

Femia, Nicola

2012-01-01

Incentives provided by European governments have resulted in the rapid growth of the photovoltaic (PV) market. Many PV modules are now commercially available, and there are a number of power electronic systems for processing the electrical power produced by PV systems, especially for grid-connected applications. Filling a gap in the literature, Power Electronics and Control Techniques for Maximum Energy Harvesting in Photovoltaic Systems brings together research on control circuits, systems, and techniques dedicated to the maximization of the electrical power produced by a photovoltaic (PV) so

On the comparison of stochastic model predictive control strategies applied to a hydrogen-based microgrid

Science.gov (United States)

Velarde, P.; Valverde, L.; Maestre, J. M.; Ocampo-Martinez, C.; Bordons, C.

2017-03-01

In this paper, a performance comparison among three well-known stochastic model predictive control approaches, namely, multi-scenario, tree-based, and chance-constrained model predictive control is presented. To this end, three predictive controllers have been designed and implemented in a real renewable-hydrogen-based microgrid. The experimental set-up includes a PEM electrolyzer, lead-acid batteries, and a PEM fuel cell as main equipment. The real experimental results show significant differences from the plant components, mainly in terms of use of energy, for each implemented technique. Effectiveness, performance, advantages, and disadvantages of these techniques are extensively discussed and analyzed to give some valid criteria when selecting an appropriate stochastic predictive controller.
Speed control of induction motor using fuzzy recursive least squares technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santiago Sánchez

2008-12-01

Full Text Available A simple adaptive controller design is presented in this paper, the control system uses the adaptive fuzzy logic, sliding modes and is trained with the recursive least squares technique. The problem of parameter variation is solved with the adaptive controller; the use of an internal PI regulator produces that the speed control of the induction motor be achieved by the stator currents instead the input voltage. The rotor-flux oriented coordinated system model is used to develop and test the control system.
Beyond Astro 101: A First Report on Applying Interactive Education Techniques to an Astronphysics Class for Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Perrin, Marshall D.; Ghez, A. M.

2009-05-01

Learner-centered interactive instruction methods now have a proven track record in improving learning in "Astro 101" courses for non-majors, but have rarely been applied to higher-level astronomy courses. Can we hope for similar gains in classes aimed at astrophysics majors, or is the subject matter too fundamentally different for those techniques to apply? We present here an initial report on an updated calculus-based Introduction to Astrophysics class at UCLA that suggests such techniques can indeed result in increased learning for major students. We augmented the traditional blackboard-derivation lectures and challenging weekly problem sets by adding online questions on pre-reading assignments (''just-in-time teaching'') and frequent multiple-choice questions in class ("Think-Pair-Share''). We describe our approach, and present examples of the new Think-Pair-Share questions developed for this more sophisticated material. Our informal observations after one term are that with this approach, students are more engaged and alert, and score higher on exams than typical in previous years. This is anecdotal evidence, not hard data yet, and there is clearly a vast amount of work to be done in this area. But our first impressions strongly encourage us that interactive methods should be able improve the astrophysics major just as they have improved Astro 101.
A technique for aligning sextupole systems using beam optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, Yu-Chiu.

1992-03-01

A technique for beam based alignment of sextupole system is developed exploiting the enhancement effect of orbit differences by the sextupoles. This technique can in principle be applied to sextupole or sextupole strings with controlled orbit pattern and BPM configurations. This paper will discuss the theoretical basis, special optimization considerations and expected accuracy. Application to the SLC final focus is also discussed
Mid-Face Volumization With Hyaluronic Acid: Injection Technique and Safety Aspects from a Controlled, Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Prager, Welf; Agsten, Karla; Kravtsov, Maria; Kerscher, Prof Martina

2017-04-01

BACKGROUND: Injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) volumizing fillers in the malar area is intended for rejuvenation of the mid-face. The choice of products, depth, and technique of injection depends on the desired level of volume enhancement and practitioners' preferences. OBJECTIVE: To describe a volumizing injection technique in the scope of a controlled, randomized, double-blind, single-center, split-face clinical study. A total of 45 subjects with bilateral symmetrical moderate to severe volume loss in the malar area received a single 2 mL injection of CPM®-26 (Cohesive Polydensified Matrix®) on one side and VYC®-20 (VYCROSS®) on the contralateral side of the face. The same injection technique was applied for both sides of the face. Use of anesthetics, overcorrection, and touch-ups were not permitted. The investigator completed a product satisfaction questionnaire. Adverse events (AE) and injection-site reactions (ISRs) were reported during the study. RESULTS: The products were placed at the epiperiosteal depth in 88.9% (n=40), at the subdermal depth in 8.9% (n=4) and at both levels in 2.2% (n=1) of subjects. Fanning technique using cannulae was applied in most cases (97.8%, n=44). Results of the investigator satisfaction questionnaire allowed to characterize CPM-26 in comparison to other volumizing gels. Both study products were generally well tolerated. Local reactions were transient and of mild to moderate intensity, with the most frequent ones being redness, pain, and swelling. CONCLUSION: Adequate injection technique in volumizing treatments is essential to create a natural aesthetic rejuvenation while respecting the safety aspect of the procedures. A 22G blunt cannula used with CPM-26 was preferred due to an easier and a more homogeneous distribution of the product. The investigator also appreciated CPM-26 for its ease of injection, positioning, lifting, and volumizing capacity. J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(4):351-357..
Developing Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) as a tool Mosquito Control Districts can use for integrated Aedes aegypti control

Science.gov (United States)

New tools are clearly needed for integrated mosquito management of Ae. aegypti. We describe the sterile insect technique (SIT) that we are developing as a method to control Ae. aegypti by partnering with two prominent Florida mosquito control districts (MCD) and the FAO/IAEA Insect Pest Control Sub...
Connection between optimal control theory and adiabatic-passage techniques in quantum systems

Science.gov (United States)

Assémat, E.; Sugny, D.

2012-08-01

This work explores the relationship between optimal control theory and adiabatic passage techniques in quantum systems. The study is based on a geometric analysis of the Hamiltonian dynamics constructed from Pontryagin's maximum principle. In a three-level quantum system, we show that the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage technique can be associated to a peculiar Hamiltonian singularity. One deduces that the adiabatic pulse is solution of the optimal control problem only for a specific cost functional. This analysis is extended to the case of a four-level quantum system.
Demand Management Based on Model Predictive Control Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasser A. Davizón

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Demand management (DM is the process that helps companies to sell the right product to the right customer, at the right time, and for the right price. Therefore the challenge for any company is to determine how much to sell, at what price, and to which market segment while maximizing its profits. DM also helps managers efficiently allocate undifferentiated units of capacity to the available demand with the goal of maximizing revenue. This paper introduces control system approach to demand management with dynamic pricing (DP using the model predictive control (MPC technique. In addition, we present a proper dynamical system analogy based on active suspension and a stability analysis is provided via the Lyapunov direct method.
Nonlinear analysis of vehicle control actuations based on controlled invariant sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Németh Balázs

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the paper, an analysis method is applied to the lateral stabilization problem of vehicle systems. The aim is to find the largest state-space region in which the lateral stability of the vehicle can be guaranteed by the peak-bounded control input. In the analysis, the nonlinear polynomial sum-of-squares programming method is applied. A practical computation technique is developed to calculate the maximum controlled invariant set of the system. The method calculates the maximum controlled invariant sets of the steering and braking control systems at various velocities and road conditions. Illustration examples show that, depending on the environments, different vehicle dynamic regions can be reached and stabilized by these controllers. The results can be applied to the theoretical basis of their interventions into the vehicle control system.
Temperature Control of Gas Chromatograph Based on Switched Delayed System Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Liang Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We address the temperature control problem of the gas chromatograph. We model the temperature control system of the gas chromatograph into a switched delayed system and analyze the stability by common Lyapunov functional technique. The PI controller parameters can be given based on the proposed linear matrix inequalities (LMIs condition and the designed controller can make the temperature of gas chromatograph track the reference signal asymptotically. An experiment is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the stability criterion.
Speed control of induction motor using fuzzy recursive least squares technique

OpenAIRE

Santiago Sánchez; Eduardo Giraldo

2008-01-01

A simple adaptive controller design is presented in this paper, the control system uses the adaptive fuzzy logic, sliding modes and is trained with the recursive least squares technique. The problem of parameter variation is solved with the adaptive controller; the use of an internal PI regulator produces that the speed control of the induction motor be achieved by the stator currents instead the input voltage. The rotor-flux oriented coordinated system model is used to develop and test the c...
A systematic review of applying modern software engineering techniques to developing robotic systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Pons

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Robots have become collaborators in our daily life. While robotic systems become more and more complex, the need to engineer their software development grows as well. The traditional approaches used in developing these software systems are reaching their limits; currently used methodologies and tools fall short of addressing the needs of such complex software development. Separating robotics’ knowledge from short-cycled implementation technologies is essential to foster reuse and maintenance. This paper presents a systematic review (SLR of the current use of modern software engineering techniques for developing robotic software systems and their actual automation level. The survey was aimed at summarizing existing evidence concerning applying such technologies to the field of robotic systems to identify any gaps in current research to suggest areas for further investigation and provide a background for positioning new research activities.
An acceleration technique for the Gauss-Seidel method applied to symmetric linear systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús Cajigas

2014-06-01

Full Text Available A preconditioning technique to improve the convergence of the Gauss-Seidel method applied to symmetric linear systems while preserving symmetry is proposed. The preconditioner is of the form I + K and can be applied an arbitrary number of times. It is shown that under certain conditions the application of the preconditioner a finite number of steps reduces the matrix to a diagonal. A series of numerical experiments using matrices from spatial discretizations of partial differential equations demonstrates that both versions of the preconditioner, point and block version, exhibit lower iteration counts than its non-symmetric version. Resumen. Se propone una técnica de precondicionamiento para mejorar la convergencia del método Gauss-Seidel aplicado a sistemas lineales simétricos pero preservando simetría. El precondicionador es de la forma I + K y puede ser aplicado un número arbitrario de veces. Se demuestra que bajo ciertas condiciones la aplicación del precondicionador un número finito de pasos reduce la matriz del sistema precondicionado a una diagonal. Una serie de experimentos con matrices que provienen de la discretización de ecuaciones en derivadas parciales muestra que ambas versiones del precondicionador, por punto y por bloque, muestran un menor número de iteraciones en comparación con la versión que no preserva simetría.
Combined-stent covered technique and single covered stent technique for transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt: a prospective randomized controlled study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Changming; Li Xuan; Fu Jun; Lu Xianjun; Luan Jingyuan; Li Tianrun; Zhao Jun; Dong Guoxiang

2014-01-01

Objective: To compare the technique of combined stents with that of single stent-graft for the construction of transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt (TIPS) and to discuss their clinical outcomes. Methods: During the period from April 2011 to Dec. 2012, a total of 30 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to portal hypertension were admitted to the hospital. TIPS procedure was carried out in all the 30 patients. The patients were randomly allocated into either combined-stent group (n=17) or stent-graft group (control group, n=13) on the basis of a computer-generated randomization sequence. The PSC quality control, the patency rate of portal vein branches and the shunts, the incidence of encephalopathy and the survival rate of the two groups were documented and analyzed. Results: Technical success rate was 100%. After the treatment, in both groups the PSG became significantly lower than the PSG determined before the treatment (P<0.000). According to quality control chart, the of combined stents was superior to stent-graft technique in effectively controlling PSG. Five days after TIPS, the ammonia level in the combined- stent group was significantly decreased (P=0.029), while in the control group the ammonia level showed no significant changes (P=0.065). One patient died shortly after TIPS. The median follow- up time was 181 days. During the follow-up period death occurred in 3 cases in each group. The difference in the survival rate between the two groups was no significant (P=0.906). Of the three patients who developed encephalopathy, two were in the combined-stent group and one was in the control group. After medication the symptoms of encephalopathy were relieved. The patency rate of the shunts was 100% and the re-bleeding rate was 0% for both groups. The patency rate of portal vein branches was significantly higher in the combined-stent group than that in the control group (P=0.039). Conclusion: For the construction of TIPS, the technique of
On the application of bezier surfaces for GA-Fuzzy controller design for use in automatic generation control

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Boesack, CD

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Automatic Generation Control (AGC) of large interconnected power systems are typically controlled by a PI or PID type control law. Recently intelligent control techniques such as GA-Fuzzy controllers have been widely applied within the power...
Quality control of structural MRI images applied using FreeSurfer - a hands-on workflow to rate motion artifacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lea Luise Backhausen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In structural magnetic resonance imaging motion artifacts are common, especially when not scanning healthy young adults. It has been shown that motion affects the analysis with automated image-processing techniques (e.g. FreeSurfer. This can bias results. Several developmental and adult studies have found reduced volume and thickness of gray matter due to motion artifacts. Thus, quality control is necessary in order to ensure an acceptable level of quality and to define exclusion criteria of images (i.e. determine participants with most severe artifacts. However, information about the quality control workflow and image exclusion procedure is largely lacking in the current literature and the existing rating systems differ. Here we propose a stringent workflow of quality control steps during and after acquisition of T1-weighted images, which enables researchers dealing with populations that are typically affected by motion artifacts to enhance data quality and maximize sample sizes. As an underlying aim we established a thorough quality control rating system for T1-weighted images and applied it to the analysis of developmental clinical data using the automated processing pipeline FreeSurfer. This hands-on workflow and quality control rating system will aid researchers in minimizing motion artifacts in the final data set, and therefore enhance the quality of structural magnetic resonance imaging studies.
Application of the Delphi technique in healthcare maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

Njuangang, Stanley; Liyanage, Champika; Akintoye, Akintola

2017-10-09

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the research design, issues and considerations in the application of the Delphi technique to identify, refine and rate the critical success factors and performance measures in maintenance-associated infections. Design/methodology/approach In-depth literature review through the application of open and axial coding were applied to formulate the interview and research questions. These were used to conduct an exploratory case study of two healthcare maintenance managers, randomly selected from two National Health Service Foundation Trusts in England. The results of exploratory case study provided the rationale for the application of the Delphi technique in this research. The different processes in the application of the Delphi technique in healthcare research are examined thoroughly. Findings This research demonstrates the need to apply and integrate different research methods to enhance the validity of the Delphi technique. The rationale for the application of the Delphi technique in this research is because some healthcare maintenance managers lack knowledge about basic infection control (IC) principles to make hospitals safe for patient care. The result of first round of the Delphi exercise is a useful contribution in its own rights. It identified a number of salient issues and differences in the opinions of the Delphi participants, noticeably between healthcare maintenance managers and members of the infection control team. It also resulted in useful suggestions and comments to improve the quality and presentation of the second- and third-round Delphi instruments. Practical implications This research provides a research methodology that can be adopted by researchers investigating new and emerging issues in the healthcare sector. As this research demonstrates, the Delphi technique is relevant in soliciting expert knowledge and opinion to identify performance measures to control maintenance-associated infections in
A New V2G Control Strategy for Load Factor Improvement Using Smoothing Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHANHOM, P.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a new vehicle-to-grid (V2G control strategy for improving the load factor in the power network. To operate the proposed strategy, the available storage capacity of the PEVs’ batteries is considered as a battery energy storage system (BESS for charging and discharging an amount of power corresponding to the V2G power command. Due to the remarkable advantages of the technique so-called simple moving average, it is selected for applying in the proposed V2G control strategy. In this research, for investigating the load factor improvement, the essential data including the daily-load profiles with 7-day and 14-day periods are used for the 3 studied cases. These 3 studied cases present the power network with variation of the PEVs locations for describing the PEVs usage and charging or discharging behavior. The performance of the proposed strategy is simulated and verified by the MATPOWER software. The simulation results show that the load factors of the 3 studied cases are improved. Moreover, the encouragement of energy arbitrage for the PEVs owners is also discussed in this paper.
Madeira-Med, a sterile insect technique programme for control of the Mediterranean fruit fly in Madeira, Portugal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, R.; Barbosa, A.; Silva, N.; Caldeira, J.; Dantas, L.; Pacheco, J.

2000-01-01

The islands of Madeira are located 980 km west-southwest from mainland Portugal and have a population of approximately 255,000. The islands are volcanic with very little level land suitable for large agricultural production. Approximately 47% of the land area is above 700 m. Thus the area likely to require Medfly control is about half of the islands. Agricultural production is on small scale, frequently part-time and mostly terraced because of the volcanic nature of the land. Grapes for wine and bananas are the predominant fruit crops. Neither are primary Medfly hosts. Citrus and tropical fruits are not produced in large quantities and are generally not of high quality. This is, to a large extent, because intensive Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wied.), attack has prevented the establishment of citrus and tropical fruit production. Medflies are present the year round on land below 300 m, resulting in the necessity of continuous control measures, usually insecticide bait sprays. Current annual losses from the Medflies in Madeira are estimated at US$3 million. In 1992, the agricultural officials of Madeira applied for an European Union (EU) grant to eliminate the Medfly from Madeira using the sterile insect technique (SIT). After extensive discussions, the project was changed from eradication to control and approved in late 1993 with EU support of about 8 million ECU over a 7-year period. Subsequently, the Madeira officials applied for, and received, a technical assistance project from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA support is primarily for training and consultant services. Sterile female Medflies puncture fruits when they try to lay eggs. These punctures, called 'sterile stings', result in a reduced crop value. For this reason, the Madeira-Med programme will use only sterile male Medflies in its SIT programme. This not only eliminates the sterile sting problem but also increases the efficacy of the sterile males from
Laser--Doppler anemometry technique applied to two-phase dispersed flows in a rectangular channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.L.; Srinivasan, J.

1979-01-01

A new optical technique using Laser--Doppler anemometry has been applied to the local measurement of turbulent upward flow of a dilute water droplet--air two-phase dispersion in a vertical rectangular channel. Individually examined were over 20,000 droplet signals coming from each of a total of ten transversely placed measuring points, the closest of which to the channel wall was 250 μ away from the wall. Two flows of different patterns due to different imposed flow conditions were investigated, one with and the other without a liquid film formed on the channel wall. Reported are the size and number density distribution and the axial and lateral velocity distributions for the droplets as well as the axial and lateral velocity distributions for the air

Radioisotope techniques for process optimisation and control in the offshore oil and gas industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charlton, J.S.

2002-01-01

For over fifty years, radioisotope technology has been used by the oil industry to solve problems and to help optimise process operations. The widespread development of offshore oil and gas fields has brought, and continues to bring, new challenges and, in response, new or modified applications of radioisotope technology have been introduced. This paper presents case studies, which illustrate the use of radioisotopes, both in the sub-sea environment and on the offshore production platforms. On the platform, radioisotope techniques applied singly or in combination, have been applied to the performance assessment of oil/gas separation and gas dehydration units. Novel nucleonic instrumentation has been developed for the control of three-phase separators. Sub-sea, radioactive tracers and/or sealed sources have been used to investigate the integrity of submerged structures and to troubleshoot pipeline problems. The continuing expansion in the use of this technology stems from industry increasing awareness of its versatility and from the fact that the benefits it confers can be obtained at a relatively modest cost. Examples of economic benefit described in the paper are associated with production enhancements derived from the ability of radioisotope technology to measure performance and diagnose problems on line, without disrupting process operations in any way. (Author)
DC Microgrids–Part I: A Review of Control Strategies and Stabilization Techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dragicevic, Tomislav; Lu, Xiaonan; Vasquez, Juan; Guerrero, Josep

2015-01-01

This paper presents a review of control strategies, stability analysis, and stabilization techniques for dc microgrids (MGs). Overall control is systematically classified into local and coordinated control levels according to respective functionalities in each level. As opposed to local control, which relies only on local measurements, some line of communication between units needs to be made available in order to achieve the coordinated control. Depending on the communication method, three basic coordinated control strategies can be distinguished, i.e., decentralized, centralized, and distributed control. Decentralized control can be regarded as an extension of the local control since it is also based exclusively on local measurements. In contrast, centralized and distributed control strategies rely on digital communication technologies. A number of approaches using these three coordinated control strategies to achieve various control objectives are reviewed in this paper. Moreover, properties of dc MG dynamics and stability are discussed. This paper illustrates that tightly regulated point-of-load converters tend to reduce the stability margins of the system since they introduce negative impedances, which can potentially oscillate with lightly damped power supply input filters. It is also demonstrated that how the stability of the whole system is defined by the relationship of the source and load impedances, referred to as the minor loop gain. Several prominent specifications for the minor loop gain are reviewed. Finally, a number of active stabilization techniques are presented.
Isotope measurement techniques for atmospheric methane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, D.; White, J.; Levin, I.; Wahlen, M.; Miller, J.B.; Bergamaschi, P.

2002-01-01

Measurement techniques for the carbon isotopic composition of atmospheric methane (δ 13 C) are described in detail as applied in several leading institutions active in this field since many years. The standard techniques with offline sample preparation and subsequent measurement by dual inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) are compared with continuous flow IRMS. The potential use of infrared absorption spectroscopy is briefly discussed. Details on quality control and calibration are provided. Basic analytical aspects for the measurement of other species, 2 H and 14 C, are also given. (author)
Control of cooperative manipulators in holding deformable objects

Science.gov (United States)

Alkathiri, A. A.; Azlan, N. Z.

2017-11-01

This paper presents the implementation of a control system to control cooperative manipulators to hold deformable objects. The aim is to hold the deformable object without having information on the shape and stiffness of the deformable object beforehand. The prototype of a pair of manipulators has been designed and built to test the controller. A force sensor and a rotary encoder are used to give feedback to the controller, which controls the DC motor actuators accordingly. A position proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller technique has been applied for one of the manipulators and a PID force control technique is applied to the other. Simulations and experimental tests have been conducted on models and the controller has been implemented on the real plant. Both simulation and test results prove that the implemented control technique has successfully provided the desired position and force to hold the deformable object with maximum experimental errors of 0.34mm and 50mN respectively.
Control techniques for an automated mixed traffic vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Meisenholder, G. W.; Johnston, A. R.

1977-01-01

The paper describes an automated mixed traffic vehicle (AMTV), a driverless low-speed tram designed to operate in mixed pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The vehicle is a six-passenger electric tram equipped with sensing and control which permit it to function on existing streets in an automatic mode. The design includes established wire-following techniques for steering and near-IR headway sensors. A 7-mph cruise speed is reduced to 2 mph or a complete stop in response to sensor (or passenger) inputs. The AMTV performance is evaluated by operation on a loop route and by simulation. Some necessary improvements involving sensors, sensor pattern, use of an audible signal, and control lag are discussed. It is suggested that appropriate modifications will eliminate collision incidents.
Digital filtering techniques applied to electric power systems protection; Tecnicas de filtragem digital aplicadas a protecao de sistemas eletricos de potencia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brito, Helio Glauco Ferreira

1996-12-31

This work introduces an analysis and a comparative study of some of the techniques for digital filtering of the voltage and current waveforms from faulted transmission lines. This study is of fundamental importance for the development of algorithms applied to digital protection of electric power systems. The techniques studied are based on the Discrete Fourier Transform theory, the Walsh functions and the Kalman filter theory. Two aspects were emphasized in this study: Firstly, the non-recursive techniques were analysed with the implementation of filters based on Fourier theory and the Walsh functions. Secondly, recursive techniques were analyzed, with the implementation of the filters based on the Kalman theory and once more on the Fourier theory. (author) 56 refs., 25 figs., 16 tabs.
Various perspectives of using radiation in applied entomology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seth, R.K.

2016-01-01

Nuclear energy has manifold benefits due to its use in various disciplines of entomology ranging from basic to applied fields. Despite the laissez-faire use of broad-spectrum insecticides, especially in the tropical and subtropical zones of the world, the food losses due to insect pests both at pre- and post-harvest level are significant. New innovative, effective and environmentally sound pest control tactics are therefore needed. Presently, biological and para-biological control programmes are receiving major prominence due to insecticidal ill effects on health and environment, and development of insecticidal resistance in pests. Radiation mediated sterile insect technique (SIT) is an automatic birth control and it is a part of an arsenal of environmentally-friendly control tactics against some key insect pests. Inherited (F 1 ) Sterility technique (a modified SIT), has been potentially developed for managing the serious lepidopteran pests. Various other applications of ionizing radiation include disinfestation of agro-commodities for quarantine and phytosanitary purposes, augmentation of biological control and radiation hormesis for enhancing the efficacy of useful insects. Gamma radiation from isotopic sources (Cobalt-60 or Caesium 137) is most often used, but high-energy electrons and X-rays are the other practical options. Application of nuclear techniques for controlling a variety of noxious insects may lead to improvement in production of crop and animal produce, and protection from the dreadful communicable diseases. Various perspectives of application of radiation as a tool in different entomological arenas are highlighted. (author)
Machine-learning techniques applied to antibacterial drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Durrant, Jacob D; Amaro, Rommie E

2015-01-01

The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria threatens to revert humanity back to the preantibiotic era. Even now, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections annually result in millions of hospital days, billions in healthcare costs, and, most importantly, tens of thousands of lives lost. As many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned antibiotic development in search of more lucrative therapeutics, academic researchers are uniquely positioned to fill the pipeline. Traditional high-throughput screens and lead-optimization efforts are expensive and labor intensive. Computer-aided drug-discovery techniques, which are cheaper and faster, can accelerate the identification of novel antibiotics, leading to improved hit rates and faster transitions to preclinical and clinical testing. The current review describes two machine-learning techniques, neural networks and decision trees, that have been used to identify experimentally validated antibiotics. We conclude by describing the future directions of this exciting field. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Control techniques of tilt rotor unmanned aerial vehicle systems: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhong Liu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The tilt rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (TRUAV exhibits special application value due to its unique rotor structure. However, varying dynamics and aerodynamic interference caused by tiltable rotors are great technical challenges and key issues for TRUAV’s high-powered flight controls, which have attracted the attention of many researchers. This paper outlines the concept of TRUAV and some typical TRUAV platforms while focusing on control techniques. TRUAV structural features, dynamics modeling, and flight control methods are discussed, and major challenges and corresponding developmental tendencies associated with TRUAV flight control are summarized.
40 CFR 51.912 - What requirements apply for reasonably available control technology (RACT) and reasonably...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...) What is the Reasonably Available Control Measures (RACM) requirement for areas designated nonattainment... 40 Protection of Environment 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What requirements apply for reasonably available control technology (RACT) and reasonably available control measures (RACM) under the 8-hour NAAQS...
Bioremediation techniques applied to aqueous media contaminated with mercury.

Science.gov (United States)

Velásquez-Riaño, Möritz; Benavides-Otaya, Holman D

2016-12-01

In recent years, the environmental and human health impacts of mercury contamination have driven the search for alternative, eco-efficient techniques different from the traditional physicochemical methods for treating this metal. One of these alternative processes is bioremediation. A comprehensive analysis of the different variables that can affect this process is presented. It focuses on determining the effectiveness of different techniques of bioremediation, with a specific consideration of three variables: the removal percentage, time needed for bioremediation and initial concentration of mercury to be treated in an aqueous medium.
Construction techniques and management methods for BWR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Yohji; Tateishi, Mizuo; Hayashi, Yoshishige

1989-01-01

Toshiba is constantly striving for safer and more efficient plant construction to realize high-quality BWR plants within a short construction period. To achieve these aims, Toshiba has developed and improved a large number of construction techniques and construction management methods. In the area of installation, various techniques have been applied such as the modularization of piping and equipment, shop installation of reactor internals, etc. Further, installation management has been upgraded by the use of pre-installation review programs, the development of installation control systems, etc. For commissioning, improvements in commissioning management have been achieved through the use of computer systems, and testing methods have also been upgraded by the development of computer systems for the recording and analysis of test data and the automatic adjustment of controllers in the main control system of the BWR. This paper outlines these construction techniques and management methods. (author)
Feasibility of Applying Controllable Lubrication Techniques to Reciprocating Machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pulido, Edgar Estupinan

of the reciprocating engine, obtained with the help of multibody dynamics (rigid components) and finite elements method (flexible components), and the global system of equations is numerically solved. The analysis of the results was carried out with focus on the behaviour of the journal orbits, maximum fluid film...
The role of nuclear techniques in the control of agricultural pests and stored grains insects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansour, M.

2012-01-01

Peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in agriculture in general, and pest control specifically, are very numerous. Although this field of science is over a century old, its rapid developments occurred only in the last few decades. In fact, the contribution of nuclear techniques to insect pest control during the last half century is one of the most important developments in this science. This article is devoted to discuss the most important and widely used applications of nuclear techniques, particularly ionizing radiation, in insect pest control. In particular, it deals with the subject of sterilizing insects for the purpose of insect pest control and/or eradication in the field and storage, irradiation disinfestation of sorted products, particularly cereals and pulses, facilitating international trade by avoiding quarantine barriers and its role in biological control of insect pests. (author)
Computed tomography automatic exposure control techniques in 18F-FDG oncology PET-CT scanning.

Science.gov (United States)

Iball, Gareth R; Tout, Deborah

2014-04-01

Computed tomography (CT) automatic exposure control (AEC) systems are now used in all modern PET-CT scanners. A collaborative study was undertaken to compare AEC techniques of the three major PET-CT manufacturers for fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose half-body oncology imaging. An audit of 70 patients was performed for half-body CT scans taken on a GE Discovery 690, Philips Gemini TF and Siemens Biograph mCT (all 64-slice CT). Patient demographic and dose information was recorded and image noise was calculated as the SD of Hounsfield units in the liver. A direct comparison of the AEC systems was made by scanning a Rando phantom on all three systems for a range of AEC settings. The variation in dose and image quality with patient weight was significantly different for all three systems, with the GE system showing the largest variation in dose with weight and Philips the least. Image noise varied with patient weight in Philips and Siemens systems but was constant for all weights in GE. The z-axis mA profiles from the Rando phantom demonstrate that these differences are caused by the nature of the tube current modulation techniques applied. The mA profiles varied considerably according to the AEC settings used. CT AEC techniques from the three manufacturers yield significantly different tube current modulation patterns and hence deliver different doses and levels of image quality across a range of patient weights. Users should be aware of how their system works and of steps that could be taken to optimize imaging protocols.
Cold War Arms Control Motivations and Techniques - A Guide for the Future?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

White, Elmer

1996-01-01

.... This paper provides a brief historical account of some of the arms control agreements between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, examines their major motivations to enter into negotiations, and illustrates some successful negotiation techniques. The author hypothesizes on the utility of this Cold War arms control experience as a useful guide for arms control in a single superpower world.
Spatial analysis techniques applied to uranium prospecting in Chihuahua State, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Hinojosa de la Garza, Octavio R.; Montero Cabrera, María Elena; Sanín, Luz H.; Reyes Cortés, Manuel; Martínez Meyer, Enrique

2014-07-01

To estimate the distribution of uranium minerals in Chihuahua, the advanced statistical model "Maximun Entropy Method" (MaxEnt) was applied. A distinguishing feature of this method is that it can fit more complex models in case of small datasets (x and y data), as is the location of uranium ores in the State of Chihuahua. For georeferencing uranium ores, a database from the United States Geological Survey and workgroup of experts in Mexico was used. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of maximum entropy techniques to obtain the mineral's potential distribution. For this model were used 24 environmental layers like topography, gravimetry, climate (worldclim), soil properties and others that were useful to project the uranium's distribution across the study area. For the validation of the places predicted by the model, comparisons were done with other research of the Mexican Service of Geological Survey, with direct exploration of specific areas and by talks with former exploration workers of the enterprise "Uranio de Mexico". Results. New uranium areas predicted by the model were validated, finding some relationship between the model predictions and geological faults. Conclusions. Modeling by spatial analysis provides additional information to the energy and mineral resources sectors.
Tracer techniques applied to groundwater studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, W.

1975-01-01

The determination of several aquifer characteristics, primarily in the satured zone, namely: porosity, permeability, transmissivity, dispersivity, direction and velocity of sub-surface water is presented. These techniques are based on artificial radioisotopes utilization. Only field determination of porosity are considered here and their advantage over laboratory measurements are: better representation of volume average, insensibility to local inhomogenities and no distortion of the structure due to sampling. The radioisotope dilution method is used to obtain an independent and direct measurement of the filtration velocity in a water-bearing formation under natural or induced hydraulic gradient. The velocity of the flow is usually calculated from Darcy's formula through the measurement of gradients and requires a knowledge of the permeability of the formation. The filtration velocity interpreted in conjunction with other parameters can, under favourable conditions, provide valuable information on the permeability, transmissibility and amount of water moving through an aquifer
Nonlinear control techniques of a controllable rectifier/inverter-motor drive system with a small dc-link capacitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liutanakul, Pisit; Pierfederici, Serge; Meibody-Tabar, Farid

2008-01-01

The necessity of the converters compactness in many applications imposes the reduction of their different components size when it is possible. In this paper, a control method allowing the use of a small size dc-link capacitor for the cascade of voltage controlled-rectifier/inverter-motor drive system is proposed. This is achieved by adding the power balance equation in the system's model and the application of an exact input/output feedback linearization technique in a way that the rectifier controller compensates any sudden change in the inverter load, which is here an induction motor. Since the exact input/output feedback linearization technique is sensitive to the uncertainties over system parameters, a robust control strategy based on sliding mode controller is proposed. By this approach, the dc-link voltage becomes almost insensitive to the load variations. As a result, the level of the dc-link voltage could be stabilized with a small size dc-link capacitor. Without any considerations of the RMS current stress on this dc-link capacitor, a calculation method of a minimum value of this capacitor based on its storage energy is proposed. All the investigations are shown by computer simulations and the performance of controlled system is verified by experimentation results
Proposal of requirements for performance in Brazil for systems of external individual monitoring for neutrons applying the TLD-albedo technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, Marcelo M.; Mauricio, Claudia L.P.; Pereira, Walsan W.; Fonseca, Evaldo S. da; Silva, Ademir X.

2009-01-01

This work presents a criteria and conditions proposal for the regulations in Brazil of individual monitoring systems for neutrons applying the albedo technique with thermoluminescent detectors. Tests are proposed for the characterization performance of the system based on the Regulation ISO 21909 and on the experience of the authors

Characterization of controlled bone defects using 2D and 3D ultrasound imaging techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parmar, Biren J; Longsine, Whitney; Han, Arum; Righetti, Raffaella [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dwight Look College of Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX (United States); Sabonghy, Eric P [OneOrtho Orthopedic Surgery Clinic, Houston, TX (United States); Tasciotti, Ennio; Ferrari, Mauro [Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX (United States); Weiner, Bradley K, E-mail: righetti@ece.tamu.ed [Division of Spinal Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030 (United States)

2010-08-21

Ultrasound is emerging as an attractive alternative modality to standard x-ray and CT methods for bone assessment applications. As of today, however, there is a lack of systematic studies that investigate the performance of diagnostic ultrasound techniques in bone imaging applications. This study aims at understanding the performance limitations of new ultrasound techniques for imaging bones in controlled experiments in vitro. Experiments are performed on samples of mammalian and non-mammalian bones with controlled defects with size ranging from 400 {mu}m to 5 mm. Ultrasound findings are statistically compared with those obtained from the same samples using standard x-ray imaging modalities and optical microscopy. The results of this study demonstrate that it is feasible to use diagnostic ultrasound imaging techniques to assess sub-millimeter bone defects in real time and with high accuracy and precision. These results also demonstrate that ultrasound imaging techniques perform comparably better than x-ray imaging and optical imaging methods, in the assessment of a wide range of controlled defects both in mammalian and non-mammalian bones. In the future, ultrasound imaging techniques might provide a cost-effective, real-time, safe and portable diagnostic tool for bone imaging applications.
Applying Cooperative Techniques in Teaching Problem Solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krisztina Barczi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Teaching how to solve problems – from solving simple equations to solving difficult competition tasks – has been one of the greatest challenges for mathematics education for many years. Trying to find an effective method is an important educational task. Among others, the question arises as to whether a method in which students help each other might be useful. The present article describes part of an experiment that was designed to determine the effects of cooperative teaching techniques on the development of problem-solving skills.
Possibilities to employ noise analysis techniques in controlling nuclear power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfonso Pallares, C.; Iglesias Ferrer, R.; Sarabia Molina, I.

1998-01-01

This work shows basic requirements the authors think must be complied with by monitoring systems for operational surveillance based on noise analysis techniques that in turn can be employed in the regulatory control
The ordering operator technique applied to open systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedrosa, I.A.; Baseia, B.

1982-01-01

A normal ordering technique and the coherent representation are used to discribe the time evolution of an open system of a single oscillator, linearly coupled with an infinite number of reservoir oscillators and it is shown how to include the dissipation and get the exponential decay. (Author) [pt
X-diffraction technique applied for nano system metrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuznetsov, Alexei Yu.; Machado, Rogerio; Robertis, Eveline de; Campos, Andrea P.C.; Archanjo, Braulio S.; Gomes, Lincoln S.; Achete, Carlos A.

2009-01-01

The application of nano materials are fast growing in all industrial sectors, with a strong necessity in nano metrology and normalizing in the nano material area. The great potential of the X-ray diffraction technique in this field is illustrated at the example of metals, metal oxides and pharmaceuticals
Fault Diagnosis and Tolerant Control Using Observer Banks Applied to Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin F. Pico

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on studying the problem of fault tolerant control (FTC, including a detailed fault detection and diagnosis (FDD module using observer banks which consists of output and unknown input observers applied to a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR. The main objective of this paper is to use a FDD module here proposed to estimate the fault in order to apply this result in a FTC system (FTCS, to prevent a lost of of the control system performance. The benefits of the observer bank and fault adaptation here studied are illustrated by numerical simulations which assumes faults in manipulated and measuring elements of the CSTR.
Parameters and definitions in applied technique quality test for nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system (NMRI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Zhikai; Zhao Lancai

1999-08-01

During the past two decades, medical diagnostic imaging technique has achieved dramatic development such as CT, MRI, PET, DSA and so on. The most striking examples of them are the application of X ray computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging in the field of medical diagnosis. It can be predicted that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will definitely have more widespread prospects of applications and play more and more important role in clinical diagnosis looking forward to the development of image diagnostic technique for 21 st century. The authors also present the measuring methods for some parameters. The parameters described can be used for reference by clinical diagnosticians, operators on MRI and medical physicists who engages in image quality assurance (QA) and control (QC) in performing MRI acceptance test and routine test
Fate of trace element haps when applying mercury control technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nyberg, Carolyn M.; Thompson, Jeffrey S.; Zhuang, Ye; Pavlish, John H. [University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center 15 North 23rd Street, Stop 9018, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202-9018 (United States); Brickett, Lynn; Pletcher, Sara [U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory 626 Cochrans Mill Road, PO Box 10940, MS 922-273C, Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940 (United States)

2009-11-15

During the past several years, and particularly since the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) was promulgated in June of 2005, the electric utility industry, product vendors, and the research community have been working diligently to develop and test Hg control strategies for a variety of coal types and plant configurations. Some of these strategies include sorbent injection and chemical additives designed to increase mercury capture efficiency in particulate control devices. These strategies have the potential to impact the fate of other inorganic hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), which typically include As, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Sb. To evaluate this impact, flue gas samples using EPA Method 29, along with representative coal and ash samples, were collected during recent pilot-scale and field test projects that were evaluating Hg control technologies. These test programs included a range of fuel types with varying trace element concentrations, along with different combustion systems and particulate control devices. The results show that the majority of the trace element HAPs are associated with the particulate matter in the flue gas, except for Se. However, for five of the six projects, Se partitioning was shifted to the particulate phase and total emissions reduced when Hg control technologies were applied. (author)
Photoacoustic technique applied to the study of skin and leather

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vargas, M.; Varela, J.; Hernandez, L.; Gonzalez, A.

1998-01-01

In this paper the photoacoustic technique is used in bull skin for the determination of thermal and optical properties as a function of the tanning process steps. Our results show that the photoacoustic technique is sensitive to the study of physical changes in this kind of material due to the tanning process
Novas técnicas de reometria aplicadas a suspensões cerâmicas Novel rheometric techniques applied to ceramic suspensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. D. dos Anjos

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Suspensões cerâmicas com adequado comportamento reológico são imprescindíveis para a aplicação, adequação do processamento e otimização das propriedades finais dos produtos. No entanto, o uso de técnicas de reometria para análise de suspensões cerâmicas foi pouco explorado na literatura, quando comparado a outros sistemas, tais como polímeros fundidos. Desse modo, pretende-se demonstrar que o emprego de técnicas mais modernas de reometria permite uma nova compreensão desses materiais e das interações entre seus componentes. Neste trabalho foi estabelecida uma metodologia de análise para sistemas cerâmicos tendo como objeto de pesquisa uma suspensão de alumina e sol de sílica. Foi realizada uma série de medidas de viscosidade (eta, módulos de armazenamento (G' e de perda (G" e de força normal (Fn, cujos resultados servirão de base para estudos posteriores no mesmo sistema, visando aplicação em concretos refratários.Ceramic suspensions with suitable rheological properties are essential on application, process control and optimization of end products and properties. Nevertheless, the use of rheometric techniques to analyze such suspensions has been scarcely studied when compared to other systems, such as molten polymers. Therefore, in the present work, novel rheometric techniques will be presented which can allow a further understanding regarding these materials and the interaction among their components. A systematic study applying these techniques was established and the viscosity, storage modulus, loss modulus and normal force measurements were evaluated in a ceramic suspension containing alumina and silica sol. These results will be the fundaments for further studies, aiming their application on refractory castables.
A survey on control schemes for distributed solar collector fields. Part I: Modeling and basic control approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camacho, E.F.; Rubio, F.R. [Universidad de Sevilla, Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Departamento de Ingenieria de Sistemas y Automatica, Camino de Los Descubrimientos s/n, E-41092, Sevilla (Spain); Berenguel, M. [Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Lenguajes y Computacion, Area de Ingenieria de Sistemas y Automatica, Carretera Sacramento s/n, E-04120 La Canada, Almeria (Spain); Valenzuela, L. [Plataforma Solar de Almeria - CIEMAT, Carretera Senes s/n, P.O. Box 22, E-04200 Tabernas, Almeria (Spain)

2007-10-15

This article presents a survey of the different automatic control techniques that have been applied to control the outlet temperature of solar plants with distributed collectors during the last 25 years. Different aspects of the control problem involved in this kind of plants are treated, from modeling and simulation approaches to the different basic control schemes developed and successfully applied in real solar plants. A classification of the modeling and control approaches is used to explain the main features of each strategy. (author)
Application of the Sampling Selection Technique in Approaching Financial Audit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Munteanu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In his professional approach, the financial auditor has a wide range of working techniques, including selection techniques. They are applied depending on the nature of the information available to the financial auditor, the manner in which they are presented - paper or electronic format, and, last but not least, the time available. Several techniques are applied, successively or in parallel, to increase the safety of the expressed opinion and to provide the audit report with a solid basis of information. Sampling is used in the phase of control or clarification of the identified error. The main purpose is to corroborate or measure the degree of risk detected following a pertinent analysis. Since the auditor does not have time or means to thoroughly rebuild the information, the sampling technique can provide an effective response to the need for valorization.
Some new techniques in tritium gas handling as applied to metal hydride synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nasise, J.E.

1988-01-01

A state-of-the-art tritium Hydriding Synthesis System (HSS) was designed and built to replace the existing system within the Tritium Salt Facility (TSF) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This new hydriding system utilizes unique fast-cycling 7.9 mole uranium beds (47.5g of T at 100% loading) and novel gas circulating hydriding furnaces. Tritium system components discussed include fast-cycling uranium beds, circulating gas hydriding furnaces, valves, storage volumes, manifolds, gas transfer pumps, and graphic display and control consoles. Many of the tritium handling and processing techniques incorporated into this system are directly applicable to today's fusion fuel loops. 12 refs., 7 figs
Coalgebra, concurrency and control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.J.M.M. Rutten (Jan)

1999-01-01

textabstractCoalgebra is used to generalize notions and techniques from concurrency theory, in order to apply them to problems concerning the supervisory control of discrete event systems. The main ingredients of this approach are the characterization of controllability in terms of (a variant of)
Minimal-Learning-Parameter Technique Based Adaptive Neural Sliding Mode Control of MEMS Gyroscope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Xu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates an adaptive neural sliding mode controller for MEMS gyroscopes with minimal-learning-parameter technique. Considering the system uncertainty in dynamics, neural network is employed for approximation. Minimal-learning-parameter technique is constructed to decrease the number of update parameters, and in this way the computation burden is greatly reduced. Sliding mode control is designed to cancel the effect of time-varying disturbance. The closed-loop stability analysis is established via Lyapunov approach. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
Resonance control for a CW accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, L.M.; Biddle, R.S.

1987-01-01

This paper describes a resonance-control technique that has been successfully applied to several cw accelerating structures built by the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the National Bureau of Standards and for the University of Illinois. The technique involves sensing the rf fields in an accelerating structure as well as the rf power feeding into the cavity and, then, using the measurement to control the resonant frequency of the structure by altering the temperature of the structure. The temperature of the structure is altered by adjusting the temperature of the circulating cooling water. The technique has been applied to continuous wave (cw) side-coupled cavities only but should have applications with most high-average-power accelerator structures. Some additional effort would be required for pulsed systems
Application of artificial neural networks with backpropagation technique in the financial data

Science.gov (United States)

Jaiswal, Jitendra Kumar; Das, Raja

2017-11-01

The propensity of applying neural networks has been proliferated in multiple disciplines for research activities since the past recent decades because of its powerful control with regulatory parameters for pattern recognition and classification. It is also being widely applied for forecasting in the numerous divisions. Since financial data have been readily available due to the involvement of computers and computing systems in the stock market premises throughout the world, researchers have also developed numerous techniques and algorithms to analyze the data from this sector. In this paper we have applied neural network with backpropagation technique to find the data pattern from finance section and prediction for stock values as well.
Artificial Intelligence Applied to the Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence of the U.S. Central Command.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-06-06

these components will be presented. 4.17 °°,. CHAPTER III FOOTNOTES 1. Arron Barr and Edward A. Feigenbaum, eds., Te Handbook gf Artificial Inteligence ol...RD-R137 205 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLIED TO THE COMIMAND CONTROL i/i COMMUNICATIONS RND..(U) ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS U PA J N ENVART 06...appropriate mlitary servic or *swesmment aency. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLIED TO THE COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE U.S. CENTRAL
Linear and nonlinear schemes applied to pitch control of wind turbines.

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Hua; Yang, Geng

2014-01-01

Linear controllers have been employed in industrial applications for many years, but sometimes they are noneffective on the system with nonlinear characteristics. This paper discusses the structure, performance, implementation cost, advantages, and disadvantages of different linear and nonlinear schemes applied to the pitch control of the wind energy conversion systems (WECSs). The linear controller has the simplest structure and is easily understood by the engineers and thus is widely accepted by the industry. In contrast, nonlinear schemes are more complicated, but they can provide better performance. Although nonlinear algorithms can be implemented in a powerful digital processor nowadays, they need time to be accepted by the industry and their reliability needs to be verified in the commercial products. More information about the system nonlinear feature is helpful to simplify the controller design. However, nonlinear schemes independent of the system model are more robust to the uncertainties or deviations of the system parameters.
Eddy current technique applied to automated tube profilometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobbeni, D.; Melsen, C. van

1982-01-01

The use of eddy current methods in the first totally automated pre-service inspection of the internal diameter of PWR steam generator tubes is described. The technique was developed at Laborelec, the Belgian Laboratory of the Electricity Supply Industry. Details are given of the data acquisition system and of the automated manipulator. Representative tube profiles are illustrated. (U.K.)

The Study on quality control of nuclear power installation project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Jie

2008-01-01

The quality planning, quality assurance and quality control are discussed by applying the quality control (QC) theory and combining the real situation of the Qinshan II project. This paper is practical and plays an active role in instruction of project quality control by applying the above QC theory and control techniques. (authors)
Computer control applied to accelerators

CERN Document Server

Crowley-Milling, Michael C

1974-01-01

The differences that exist between control systems for accelerators and other types of control systems are outlined. It is further indicated that earlier accelerators had manual control systems to which computers were added, but that it is essential for the new, large accelerators to include computers in the control systems right from the beginning. Details of the computer control designed for the Super Proton Synchrotron are presented. The method of choosing the computers is described, as well as the reasons for CERN having to design the message transfer system. The items discussed include: CAMAC interface systems, a new multiplex system, operator-to-computer interaction (such as touch screen, computer-controlled knob, and non- linear track-ball), and high-level control languages. Brief mention is made of the contributions of other high-energy research laboratories as well as of some other computer control applications at CERN. (0 refs).
CRDM motion analysis using machine learning technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Takuya; Nakayama, Hiroyuki; Saitoh, Mayumi; Yaguchi, Seiji

2017-01-01

Magnetic jack type Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM) for pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant operates control rods in response to electrical signals from a reactor control system. CRDM operability is evaluated by quantifying armature's response of closed/opened time which means interval time between coil energizing/de-energizing points and armature closed/opened points. MHI has already developed an automatic CRDM motion analysis and applied it to actual plants so far. However, CRDM operational data has wide variation depending on their characteristics such as plant condition, plant, etc. In the existing motion analysis, there is an issue of analysis accuracy for applying a single analysis technique to all plant conditions, plants, etc. In this study, MHI investigated motion analysis using machine learning (Random Forests) which is flexibly accommodated to CRDM operational data with wide variation, and is improved analysis accuracy. (author)
Dutch Young Adults Ratings of Behavior Change Techniques Applied in Mobile Phone Apps to Promote Physical Activity: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Belmon, Laura S; Middelweerd, Anouk; Te Velde, Saskia J; Brug, Johannes

2015-11-12

Interventions delivered through new device technology, including mobile phone apps, appear to be an effective method to reach young adults. Previous research indicates that self-efficacy and social support for physical activity and self-regulation behavior change techniques (BCT), such as goal setting, feedback, and self-monitoring, are important for promoting physical activity; however, little is known about evaluations by the target population of BCTs applied to physical activity apps and whether these preferences are associated with individual personality characteristics. This study aimed to explore young adults' opinions regarding BCTs (including self-regulation techniques) applied in mobile phone physical activity apps, and to examine associations between personality characteristics and ratings of BCTs applied in physical activity apps. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey among healthy 18 to 30-year-old adults (N=179). Data on participants' gender, age, height, weight, current education level, living situation, mobile phone use, personality traits, exercise self-efficacy, exercise self-identity, total physical activity level, and whether participants met Dutch physical activity guidelines were collected. Items for rating BCTs applied in physical activity apps were selected from a hierarchical taxonomy for BCTs, and were clustered into three BCT categories according to factor analysis: "goal setting and goal reviewing," "feedback and self-monitoring," and "social support and social comparison." Most participants were female (n=146), highly educated (n=169), physically active, and had high levels of self-efficacy. In general, we observed high ratings of BCTs aimed to increase "goal setting and goal reviewing" and "feedback and self-monitoring," but not for BCTs addressing "social support and social comparison." Only 3 (out of 16 tested) significant associations between personality characteristics and BCTs were observed: "agreeableness" was related to
GORE PRECLUDE MVP dura substitute applied as a nonwatertight "underlay" graft for craniotomies: product and technique evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chappell, E Thomas; Pare, Laura; Salehpour, Mohammed; Mathews, Marlon; Middlehof, Charles

2009-01-01

While watertight closure of the dura is a long-standing tenet of cranial surgery, it is often not possible and sometimes unnecessary. Many graft materials with various attributes and drawbacks have been in use for many years. A novel synthetic dural graft material called GORE PRECLUDE MVP dura substitute (WL Gore & Associates, Inc, Flagstaff, Ariz) (henceforth called "MVP") is designed for use both in traditional watertight dural closure and as a dural "underlay" graft in a nonwatertight fashion. One surface of MVP is engineered to facilitate fibroblast in-growth so that its proximity to the underside of the dura will lead to rapid incorporation, whereas the other surface acts as a barrier to reduce tissue adhesion to the device. A series of 59 human subjects undergoing craniotomy and available for clinical and radiographic follow-up underwent nonwatertight underlay grafting of their durotomy with MVP. This is an assessment of the specific product and technique. No attempt is made to compare this to other products or techniques. The mean follow-up in this group was more than 4 months. All subjects have ultimately experienced excellent outcomes related to use of the graft implanted with the underlay technique. No complications occurred related directly to MVP, but the wound-related complication rate attributed to the underlay technique was higher than expected (17%). However, careful analysis found a high rate of risk factors for wound complications and determined that complications with the underlay technique could be avoided by assuring close approximation of the graft material to the underside of the dura. MVP can be used as an underlay graft in a nonwatertight fashion. However, if used over large voids (relaxed brain or large tumor bed), "tacking" or traditional watertight closure techniques should be used. The underlay application of MVP is best applied over the convexities and is particularly well-suited to duraplasty after hemicraniectomy.
Application of benefit/cost analysis to insect pest control using the sterile insect technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mumford, J.D.

2005-01-01

Before embarking on area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes involving eradication, exclusion, or suppression of insect pests using the sterile insect technique (SIT), and/or other area-wide control measures, not only their technical but also their economic feasibility needs to be assessed. They may require significant initial capital investments to achieve long-term returns in subsequent periods, and may raise questions about the distribution of benefits or the justification of public or private pest control efforts. A consistent and transparent system is needed to analyse the benefits and costs of such programmes and to demonstrate their value, or in some cases to assess appropriate contributions to the costs by the various stakeholders who gain the benefits. Benefit/cost analysis (BCA) provides such a framework, and has been applied to many AW-IPM programmes that integrate the SIT, in which it has been used to demonstrate the expected value of area-wide eradication, exclusion or suppression. This chapter outlines the process of BCA in which itemized future costs and benefits are compared in terms of present values. It also provides a review and examples of the application of BCA to the SIT. A checklist of BCA inputs, and some examples of benefit/cost outputs, are also presented. (author)
Multivariable Techniques for High-Speed Research Flight Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Brett A.

1999-01-01

This report describes the activities and findings conducted under contract with NASA Langley Research Center. Subject matter is the investigation of suitable multivariable flight control design methodologies and solutions for large, flexible high-speed vehicles. Specifically, methodologies are to address the inner control loops used for stabilization and augmentation of a highly coupled airframe system possibly involving rigid-body motion, structural vibrations, unsteady aerodynamics, and actuator dynamics. Design and analysis techniques considered in this body of work are both conventional-based and contemporary-based, and the vehicle of interest is the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). Major findings include: (1) control architectures based on aft tail only are not well suited for highly flexible, high-speed vehicles, (2) theoretical underpinnings of the Wykes structural mode control logic is based on several assumptions concerning vehicle dynamic characteristics, and if not satisfied, the control logic can break down leading to mode destabilization, (3) two-loop control architectures that utilize small forward vanes with the aft tail provide highly attractive and feasible solutions to the longitudinal axis control challenges, and (4) closed-loop simulation sizing analyses indicate the baseline vane model utilized in this report is most likely oversized for normal loading conditions.
Applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related analytical techniques. Report on the second research co-ordination meeting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-07-01

A co-ordinated research programme (CRP) on applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related techniques is a global CRP which started in 1992, and is scheduled to run until early 1997. The purpose of this CRP is to promote the use of nuclear analytical techniques in air pollution studies, e.g. NAA, XRF, and PIXE for the analysis of toxic and other trace elements in air particulate matter. The main purposes of the core programme are i) to support the use of nuclear and nuclear-related analytical techniques for research and monitoring studies on air pollution, ii) to identify major sources of air pollution affecting each of the participating countries with particular reference to toxic heavy metals, and iii) to obtain comparative data on pollution levels in areas of high pollution (e.g. a city centre or a populated area downwind of a large pollution source) and low pollution (e.g. rural area). This document reports the discussions held during the second Research Co-ordination Meeting (RCM) for the CRP which took place at ANSTO in Menai, Australia. (author)
Applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related analytical techniques. Report on the second research co-ordination meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

A co-ordinated research programme (CRP) on applied research on air pollution using nuclear-related techniques is a global CRP which started in 1992, and is scheduled to run until early 1997. The purpose of this CRP is to promote the use of nuclear analytical techniques in air pollution studies, e.g. NAA, XRF, and PIXE for the analysis of toxic and other trace elements in air particulate matter. The main purposes of the core programme are i) to support the use of nuclear and nuclear-related analytical techniques for research and monitoring studies on air pollution, ii) to identify major sources of air pollution affecting each of the participating countries with particular reference to toxic heavy metals, and iii) to obtain comparative data on pollution levels in areas of high pollution (e.g. a city centre or a populated area downwind of a large pollution source) and low pollution (e.g. rural area). This document reports the discussions held during the second Research Co-ordination Meeting (RCM) for the CRP which took place at ANSTO in Menai, Australia. (author)
Developments in surface contamination and cleaning fundamentals and applied aspects

CERN Document Server

Kohli, Rajiv

2015-01-01

Developments in Surface Contamination and Cleaning, Vol. 1: Fundamentals and Applied Aspects, Second Edition, provides an excellent source of information on alternative cleaning techniques and methods for characterization of surface contamination and validation. Each volume in this series contains a particular topical focus, covering the key techniques and recent developments in the area. This volume forms the heart of the series, covering the fundamentals and application aspects, characterization of surface contaminants, and methods for removal of surface contamination. In addition, new cleaning techniques effective at smaller scales are considered and employed for removal where conventional cleaning techniques fail, along with new cleaning techniques for molecular contaminants. The Volume is edited by the leading experts in small particle surface contamination and cleaning, providing an invaluable reference for researchers and engineers in R&D, manufacturing, quality control, and procurement specific...
Intelligent control schemes applied to Automatic Generation Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dingguo Chen

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Integrating ever increasing amount of renewable generating resources to interconnected power systems has created new challenges to the safety and reliability of today‟s power grids and posed new questions to be answered in the power system modeling, analysis and control. Automatic Generation Control (AGC must be extended to be able to accommodate the control of renewable generating assets. In addition, AGC is mandated to operate in accordance with the NERC‟s Control Performance Standard (CPS criteria, which represent a greater flexibility in relaxing the control of generating resources and yet assuring the stability and reliability of interconnected power systems when each balancing authority operates in full compliance. Enhancements in several aspects to the traditional AGC must be made in order to meet the aforementioned challenges. It is the intention of this paper to provide a systematic, mathematical formulation for AGC as a first attempt in the context of meeting the NERC CPS requirements and integrating renewable generating assets, which has not been seen reported in the literature to the best knowledge of the authors. Furthermore, this paper proposes neural network based predictive control schemes for AGC. The proposed controller is capable of handling complicated nonlinear dynamics in comparison with the conventional Proportional Integral (PI controller which is typically most effective to handle linear dynamics. The neural controller is designed in such a way that it has the capability of controlling the system generation in the relaxed manner so the ACE is controlled to a desired range instead of driving it to zero which would otherwise increase the control effort and cost; and most importantly the resulting system control performance meets the NERC CPS requirements and/or the NERC Balancing Authority’s ACE Limit (BAAL compliance requirements whichever are applicable.
Flash radiographic technique applied to fuel injector sprays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vantine, H.C.

1977-01-01

A flash radiographic technique, using 50 ns exposure times, was used to study the pattern and density distribution of a fuel injector spray. The experimental apparatus and method are described. An 85 kVp flash x-ray generator, designed and fabricated at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, is utilized. Radiographic images, recorded on standard x-ray films, are digitized and computer processed
Use of Random and Site-Directed Mutagenesis to Probe Protein Structure-Function Relationships: Applied Techniques in the Study of Helicobacter pylori.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitmire, Jeannette M; Merrell, D Scott

2017-01-01

Mutagenesis is a valuable tool to examine the structure-function relationships of bacterial proteins. As such, a wide variety of mutagenesis techniques and strategies have been developed. This chapter details a selection of random mutagenesis methods and site-directed mutagenesis procedures that can be applied to an array of bacterial species. Additionally, the direct application of the techniques to study the Helicobacter pylori Ferric Uptake Regulator (Fur) protein is described. The varied approaches illustrated herein allow the robust investigation of the structural-functional relationships within a protein of interest.
The 7 basic tools of quality applied to radiological safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez F, J.A.

1991-01-01

This work seeks to establish a series of correspondences among the search of the quality and the optimization of the doses received by the occupationally exposed personnel. There are treated about the seven basic statistic tools of the quality: the Pareto technique, Cause effect diagrams, Stratification, Verification sheet, Histograms, Dispersion diagrams and Graphics and control frames applied to the Radiological Safety
Digital Control Techniques Based on Voltage Source Inverters in Renewable Energy Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sohaib Tahir

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the modern era, distributed generation is considered as an alternative source for power generation. Especially, need of the time is to provide the three-phase loads with smooth sinusoidal voltages having fixed frequency and amplitude. A common solution is the integration of power electronics converters in the systems for connecting distributed generation systems to the stand-alone loads. Thus, the presence of suitable control techniques, in the power electronic converters, for robust stability, abrupt response, optimal tracking ability and error eradication are inevitable. A comprehensive review based on design, analysis, validation of the most suitable digital control techniques and the options available for the researchers for improving the power quality is presented in this paper with their pros and cons. Comparisons based on the cost, schemes, performance, modulation techniques and coordinates system are also presented. Finally, the paper describes the performance evaluation of the control schemes on a voltage source inverter (VSI and proposes the different aspects to be considered for selecting a power electronics inverter topology, reference frames, filters, as well as control strategy.
Technical and economic benefits of nuclear techniques in ore processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-08-01

This report is the outcome of an Advisory Group Meeting organized by the Agency and hosted by the Institute of Physics and Nuclear Techniques, the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow, Poland. The purpose of the meeting was to assess the technical and economic benefits of applying nuclear techniques in ore processing industry. Nucleonic control systems and nuclear on-line analytical techniques as well as radioisotope tracer tests and their applications in metallic ore-processing, coal production, and cement fabrication were discussed. This report contains a summary and the presentations dealing with nuclear techniques for process control made at this meeting. Using a number of case-histories as examples, it illustrates technical and economic benefits obtainable by the installation of nuclear process control instrumentation. It is expected to be useful for everybody dealing with ore and coal production, but especially for administrative personnel and engineers who plan and implement national development programmes related to mineral resources. Refs, figs and tabs
Quality control tools applied to a PV microgrid in Ecuador

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camino-Villacorta, M.; Egido-Aguilera, M.A. [Ciudad Univ., Madrid (Spain). Inst. de Energia Solar - UPM; Gamez, J.; Arranz-Piera, P. [Trama Tecnoambiental (TTA), Barcelona (Spain)

2010-07-01

The Instituto de Energia Solar has been dealing with quality control issues for rural electrification for many years. In the framework of project DOSBE (Development of Electricity Service Operators for Poverty Alleviation in Ecuador and Peru), a technical toolkit has been developed to implement adapted integral quality control procedures for photovoltaic systems (covering all components and equipment, installation and servicing), applicable at a local and regional scale, with the overall aim of increasing the confidence in photovoltaic systems. This toolkit was applied in the evaluation of an existing microgrid in Ecuador, which is described in this paper. The toolkit and the detailed results of its application are presented in a published document which is being widely distributed among the stakeholders of rural electrification in Ecuador and Peru. It can be downloaded from the web page of the DOSBE project: www.dosbe.org (orig.)
Balancing Training Techniques for Flight Controller Certification

Science.gov (United States)

Gosling, Christina

2011-01-01

Training of ground control teams has been a difficult task in space operations. There are several intangible skills that must be learned to become the steely eyed men and women of mission control who respond to spacecraft failures that can lead to loss of vehicle or crew if handled improperly. And as difficult as training is, it can also be costly. Every day, month or year an operator is in training, is a day that not only they are being trained without direct benefit to the organization, but potentially an instructor or mentor is also being paid for hours spent assisting them. Therefore, optimization of the training flow is highly desired. Recently the Expedition Division (DI) at Johnson Space Flight Center has recreated their training flows for the purpose of both moving to an operator/specialist/instructor hierarchy and to address past inefficiencies in the training flow. This paper will discuss the types of training DI is utilizing in their new flows, and the balance that has been struck between the ideal learning environments and realistic constraints. Specifically, the past training flow for the ISS Attitude Determination and Control Officer will be presented, including drawbacks that were encountered. Then the new training flow will be discussed and how a new approach utilizes more training methods and teaching techniques. We will look at how DI has integrated classes, workshops, checkouts, module reviews, scenarios, OJT, paper sims, Mini Sims, and finally Integrated Sims to balance the cost and timing of training a new flight controller.
Development of Energy Management System Based on Internet of Things Technique

OpenAIRE

Wen-Jye Shyr; Chia-Ming Lin and Hung-Yun Feng

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an energy management system for university campuses based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technique. The proposed IoT technique based on WebAccess is used via network browser Internet Explore and applies TCP/IP protocol. The case study of IoT for lighting energy usage management system was proposed. Structure of proposed IoT technique included perception layer, equipment layer, control layer, application layer and network layer.
Applying CFD in the Analysis of Heavy-Oil Transportation in Curved Pipes Using Core-Flow Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Conceição

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Multiphase flow of oil, gas and water occurs in the petroleum industry from the reservoir to the processing units. The occurrence of heavy oils in the world is increasing significantly and points to the need for greater investment in the reservoirs exploitation and, consequently, to the development of new technologies for the production and transport of this oil. Therefore, it is interesting improve techniques to ensure an increase in energy efficiency in the transport of this oil. The core-flow technique is one of the most advantageous methods of lifting and transporting of oil. The core-flow technique does not alter the oil viscosity, but change the flow pattern and thus, reducing friction during heavy oil transportation. This flow pattern is characterized by a fine water pellicle that is formed close to the inner wall of the pipe, aging as lubricant of the oil flowing in the core of the pipe. In this sense, the objective of this paper is to study the isothermal flow of heavy oil in curved pipelines, employing the core-flow technique. A three-dimensional, transient and isothermal mathematical model that considers the mixture and k-e turbulence models to address the gas-water-heavy oil three-phase flow in the pipe was applied for analysis. Simulations with different flow patterns of the involved phases (oil-gas-water have been done, in order to optimize the transport of heavy oils. Results of pressure and volumetric fraction distribution of the involved phases are presented and analyzed. It was verified that the oil core lubricated by a fine water layer flowing in the pipe considerably decreases pressure drop.

Technical note: Ruminal cannulation technique in young Holstein calves:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Niels Bastian; Engbæk, Marie; Vestergaard, Mogens

2010-01-01

Ruminal cannulation techniques are frequently used to study fermentation in the ruminant forestomach. Unsatisfactory results with the traditionally applied procedure for cannulation of young calves stimulated the development of a simpler and more robust procedure; this procedure was tested for ef...... no major effect on apparent animal health and performance traits, and the cannula proved useful for multiple samplings of ruminal contents in young calves.......Ruminal cannulation techniques are frequently used to study fermentation in the ruminant forestomach. Unsatisfactory results with the traditionally applied procedure for cannulation of young calves stimulated the development of a simpler and more robust procedure; this procedure was tested...... for effects on performance traits and gross anatomy of the gastrointestinal tract compared with a control group not undergoing surgery. Five calves were ruminally cannulated at approximately 10 d of age and 5 matching calves were used as controls. All calves were fed milk replacer and a diet based on clover...
Effectiveness of relaxation techniques before diagnostic screening of cancer patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Montserrat Aiger

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Psychophysiological arousal was observed in cancer patients during the application of relaxation techniques prior to a diagnostic scan (PET-CT. The aim of the study is twofold: firstly, it is sought to establish whether such techniques can minimize patient arousal before diagnostic screening begins, and secondly to measure which of them are most effective. The dependent variable is electrodermal activity, recording the attentional level and emotional response, and the independent variable comprises the relaxation techniques used, namely Jacobson, breathing and visualization. The 39 patients were split into experimental groups to whom the relaxation techniques (Jacobson, breathing exercises, and visualization were applied before they went for the PET-CT. An activity-module procedure was applied to track electrodermal activity during the relaxation sessions, consisting of instructions, timeout; wait, task; relaxation and end of the recording session. The control group received no relaxation techniques before the PET-CT. Session-end results show that patients who perform relaxation techniques achieve greater attentional focus using Jacobson's technique (M = .212 and enhanced emotional containment using visualization (M = .206. It is concluded that relaxation techniques minimize the state of activation during the waiting period before a diagnostic scan.
L2-gain and passivity techniques in nonlinear control

CERN Document Server

van der Schaft, Arjan

2017-01-01

This standard text gives a unified treatment of passivity and L2-gain theory for nonlinear state space systems, preceded by a compact treatment of classical passivity and small-gain theorems for nonlinear input-output maps. The synthesis between passivity and L2-gain theory is provided by the theory of dissipative systems. Specifically, the small-gain and passivity theorems and their implications for nonlinear stability and stabilization are discussed from this standpoint. The connection between L2-gain and passivity via scattering is detailed. Feedback equivalence to a passive system and resulting stabilization strategies are discussed. The passivity concepts are enriched by a generalised Hamiltonian formalism, emphasising the close relations with physical modeling and control by interconnection, and leading to novel control methodologies going beyond passivity. The potential of L2-gain techniques in nonlinear control, including a theory of all-pass factorizations of nonlinear systems, and of parametrization...
ASDTIC control and standardized interface circuits applied to buck, parallel and buck-boost dc to dc power converters

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenfeld, A. D.; Yu, Y.

1973-01-01

Versatile standardized pulse modulation nondissipatively regulated control signal processing circuits were applied to three most commonly used dc to dc power converter configurations: (1) the series switching buck-regulator, (2) the pulse modulated parallel inverter, and (3) the buck-boost converter. The unique control concept and the commonality of control functions for all switching regulators have resulted in improved static and dynamic performance and control circuit standardization. New power-circuit technology was also applied to enhance reliability and to achieve optimum weight and efficiency.
Controlling absence seizures by deep brain stimulus applied on substantia nigra pars reticulata and cortex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Bing; Wang, Qingyun

2015-01-01

Epilepsy is a typical neural disease in nervous system, and the control of seizures is very important for treating the epilepsy. It is well known that the drug treatment is the main strategy for controlling the epilepsy. However, there are about 10–15 percent of patients, whose seizures cannot be effectively controlled by means of the drug. Alternatively, the deep brain stimulus (DBS) technology is a feasible method to control the serious seizures. However, theoretical explorations of DBS are still absent, and need to be further made. Presently, we will explore to control the absence seizures by introducing the DBS to a basal ganglia thalamocortical network model. In particular, we apply DBS onto substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) and the cortex to explore its effects on controlling absence seizures, respectively. We can find that the absence seizure can be well controlled within suitable parameter ranges by tuning the period and duration of current stimulation as DBS is implemented in the SNr. And also, as the DBS is applied onto the cortex, it is shown that for the ranges of present parameters, only adjusting the duration of current stimulation is an effective control method for the absence seizures. The obtained results can have better understanding for the mechanism of DBS in the medical treatment.
Analysis results for the stereotypes regarding colors applied to the nuclear power plant control room

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Seok; Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Hyun Chul [KAERI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Dhong Ha [Suwon Univ., Suwon (Korea, Republic of)

2003-01-01

The general public not engaged in the nuclear power plant industry have no idea of the color usage in the nuclear control room. So we converted the specific color usage situation into similar but general situations. In questionnaire, we gave subjects the general situation where color coding is applied and alternative colors which were applied to the HF010 guidelines. And we asked the subjects to choose the colors proper to the situation and to rank the colors according to the degree of suitability. Two hundred fifty college students participated in the experiment. The results suggest that we can use any color coding system in the conventional control room and the CRT in the control deck because most people have no special previous color-meaning association but red-emergency relation.
Analysis results for the stereotypes regarding colors applied to the nuclear power plant control room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jung Woon; Oh, In Seok; Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Hyun Chul; Lee, Dhong Ha

2003-01-01

The general public not engaged in the nuclear power plant industry have no idea of the color usage in the nuclear control room. So we converted the specific color usage situation into similar but general situations. In questionnaire, we gave subjects the general situation where color coding is applied and alternative colors which were applied to the HF010 guidelines. And we asked the subjects to choose the colors proper to the situation and to rank the colors according to the degree of suitability. Two hundred fifty college students participated in the experiment. The results suggest that we can use any color coding system in the conventional control room and the CRT in the control deck because most people have no special previous color-meaning association but red-emergency relation
Performance Values for Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) Technique Applied to Wastes: Evaluation by the ESARDA NDA Working Group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rackham, Jamie; Weber, Anne-Laure; Chard, Patrick

2012-01-01

The first evaluation of NDA performance values was undertaken by the ESARDA Working Group for Standards and Non Destructive Assay Techniques and was published in 1993. Almost ten years later in 2002 the Working Group reviewed those values and reported on improvements in performance values and new measurement techniques that had emerged since the original assessment. The 2002 evaluation of NDA performance values did not include waste measurements (although these had been incorporated into the 1993 exercise), because although the same measurement techniques are generally applied, the performance is significantly different compared to the assay of conventional Safeguarded special nuclear material. It was therefore considered more appropriate to perform a separate evaluation of performance values for waste assay. Waste assay is becoming increasingly important within the Safeguards community, particularly since the implementation of the Additional Protocol, which calls for declaration of plutonium and HEU bearing waste in addition to information on existing declared material or facilities. Improvements in the measurement performance in recent years, in particular the accuracy, mean that special nuclear materials can now be accounted for in wastes with greater certainty. This paper presents an evaluation of performance values for the NDA techniques in common usage for the assay of waste containing special nuclear material. The main topics covered by the document are: 1- Techniques for plutonium bearing solid wastes 2- Techniques for uranium bearing solid wastes 3 - Techniques for assay of fissile material in spent fuel wastes. Originally it was intended to include performance values for measurements of uranium and plutonium in liquid wastes; however, as no performance data for liquid waste measurements was obtained it was decided to exclude liquid wastes from this report. This issue of the performance values for waste assay has been evaluated and discussed by the ESARDA
Performance Values for Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) Technique Applied to Wastes: Evaluation by the ESARDA NDA Working Group

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rackham, Jamie [Babcock International Group, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria, (United Kingdom); Weber, Anne-Laure [Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire Fontenay-Aux-Roses (France); Chard, Patrick [Canberra, Forss Business and Technology park, Thurso, Caithness (United Kingdom)

2012-12-15

The first evaluation of NDA performance values was undertaken by the ESARDA Working Group for Standards and Non Destructive Assay Techniques and was published in 1993. Almost ten years later in 2002 the Working Group reviewed those values and reported on improvements in performance values and new measurement techniques that had emerged since the original assessment. The 2002 evaluation of NDA performance values did not include waste measurements (although these had been incorporated into the 1993 exercise), because although the same measurement techniques are generally applied, the performance is significantly different compared to the assay of conventional Safeguarded special nuclear material. It was therefore considered more appropriate to perform a separate evaluation of performance values for waste assay. Waste assay is becoming increasingly important within the Safeguards community, particularly since the implementation of the Additional Protocol, which calls for declaration of plutonium and HEU bearing waste in addition to information on existing declared material or facilities. Improvements in the measurement performance in recent years, in particular the accuracy, mean that special nuclear materials can now be accounted for in wastes with greater certainty. This paper presents an evaluation of performance values for the NDA techniques in common usage for the assay of waste containing special nuclear material. The main topics covered by the document are: 1- Techniques for plutonium bearing solid wastes 2- Techniques for uranium bearing solid wastes 3 - Techniques for assay of fissile material in spent fuel wastes. Originally it was intended to include performance values for measurements of uranium and plutonium in liquid wastes; however, as no performance data for liquid waste measurements was obtained it was decided to exclude liquid wastes from this report. This issue of the performance values for waste assay has been evaluated and discussed by the ESARDA
Rovibrational controlled-NOT gates using optimized stimulated Raman adiabatic passage techniques and optimal control theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugny, D.; Bomble, L.; Ribeyre, T.; Dulieu, O.; Desouter-Lecomte, M.

2009-01-01

Implementation of quantum controlled-NOT (CNOT) gates in realistic molecular systems is studied using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) techniques optimized in the time domain by genetic algorithms or coupled with optimal control theory. In the first case, with an adiabatic solution (a series of STIRAP processes) as starting point, we optimize in the time domain different parameters of the pulses to obtain a high fidelity in two realistic cases under consideration. A two-qubit CNOT gate constructed from different assignments in rovibrational states is considered in diatomic (NaCs) or polyatomic (SCCl 2 ) molecules. The difficulty of encoding logical states in pure rotational states with STIRAP processes is illustrated. In such circumstances, the gate can be implemented by optimal control theory and the STIRAP sequence can then be used as an interesting trial field. We discuss the relative merits of the two methods for rovibrational computing (structure of the control field, duration of the control, and efficiency of the optimization).
The x-rays fluorescence applied to the analysis of alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutierrez, D.A.

1997-01-01

This work is based on the utilization of the Fluorescence of X Rays. This technique of non destructive trial, has the purpose to establish a routine method, for the control of the conformation of industrial samples used. It makes an analysis with a combination of the algorithms of Rasberry-Heinrich and Claisse-Thinh. Besides, the numerical implementation of non usual techniques in this type of analysis. Such as the Linear Programming applied to the solution of super determined systems, of equations and the utilization of methods of relaxation to facilitate the convergence to the solutions. (author) [es
Run control techniques for the Fermilab DART data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oleynik, G.; Engelfried, J.; Mengel, L.; Moore, C.; Pordes, R.; Udumula, L.; Votava, M.; Drunen, E. van; Zioulas, G.

1996-01-01

DART is the high speed, Unix based data acquisition system being developed by the Fermilab Computing Division in collaboration with eight High Energy Physics Experiments. This paper describes DART run-control which implements flexible, distributed, extensible and portable paradigms for the control monitoring of a data acquisition systems. We discuss the unique and interesting aspects of the run-control - why we chose the concepts we did, the benefits we have seen from the choices we made, as well as our experiences in deploying and supporting it for experiments during their commissioning and sub-system testing phases. We emphasize the software and techniques we believe are extensible to future use, and potential future modifications and extensions for those we feel are not. (author)
Run control techniques for the Fermilab DART data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oleynik, G.; Engelfried, J.; Mengel, L.

1995-10-01

DART is the high speed, Unix based data acquisition system being developed by the Fermilab Computing Division in collaboration with eight High Energy Physics Experiments. This paper describes DART run-control which implements flexible, distributed, extensible and portable paradigms for the control and monitoring of data acquisition systems. We discuss the unique and interesting aspects of the run-control - why we chose the concepts we did, the benefits we have seen from the choices we made, as well as our experiences in deploying and supporting it for experiments during their commissioning and sub-system testing phases. We emphasize the software and techniques we believe are extensible to future use, and potential future modifications and extensions for those we feel are not
THE PERFORMANCE OF UPLAND RICE ESTABLISHED ON ALANG-ALANG DOMINATED AREA AFTER VARIOUS TECHNIQUES OF ALANG-ALANG CONTROL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. TJITROSEMITO

1992-01-01

Full Text Available Pot experiment to investigate the performance of upland rice in a previously alang-alang dominated area was conducted under greenhouse condition at BIOTROP, Bogor, Indonesia from November 1986 to May 1989. The treatments were factorially combined, replicated 5 times and randomized completely. The first factor was alang-alang control consisting of 5 different techniques, i.e. (1 glyphosate applied at 2.2 kg a.e./ha; (2 imazapyr applied at 1.5 kg a.e./ha; (3 dalapon applied twice at 7.4 + 7.4 kg a.i./ha; (4 slashing followed by soil cultivation; (5 slashing of alang-alang only; while the second factor was nitrogen fertilizer at 4 different levels, i.e. (1 0 kg N/ha, (2 60 kg N/ha, (3 120 kg N/ha given twice, 60 kg N/ha at planting time and 60 kg N/ha at 38 dap, (4 180 kg N/ha given twice, 90 kg N/ha at planting and 90 kg N/ha at 38 dap. Plant height (cm, tiller number/pot, productive tiller (%, panicle length (cm, spikelets/panicle, empty spikelet (%, weight 1000 grains (g and grain yield (ton/ha were observed. Upland rice grown with zero tillage technique using glyphosate (2.2 kg a.i./ha or dalapon (14.8 kg a.i./ha performed as good as or even better than manual cultivation. Imazapyr at 1.5 kg a.e./ha was phytotoxic to rice planted 1 month after spraying. The application of N fertilizer lower than 60 kg N/ha was not sufficient, but more than 60 kg N/ha was too high; it stimulated the production of too many tillers, with high percentage of unproductive tillers and empty grains.
Real-time emergency forecasting technique for situation management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kopytov, V. V.; Kharechkin, P. V.; Naumenko, V. V.; Tretyak, R. S.; Tebueva, F. B.

2018-05-01

The article describes the real-time emergency forecasting technique that allows increasing accuracy and reliability of forecasting results of any emergency computational model applied for decision making in situation management systems. Computational models are improved by the Improved Brown’s method applying fractal dimension to forecast short time series data being received from sensors and control systems. Reliability of emergency forecasting results is ensured by the invalid sensed data filtering according to the methods of correlation analysis.
Remotely controlled cutting techniques in the field of nuclear decommissioning. Overview of effectively applied thermal and non thermal cutting methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bienia, H.

2008-01-01

Remote disassembly of radiologically burdened large components is among the most sophisticated and complex activities in the dismantling of nuclear installations. The required space for the technical equipment during the dismantling operations, especially for the removal of larger components is often an additional problem. Conventional cutting technologies like sawing with a disk saw or band saw require large and heavy frameworks as well as guiding systems with high rigidity. These solutions are expensive and sometimes not applicable. The essential question of all cutting and dismantling tasks is the physiological constitution of the component which will be dismantled. That means size, material and structure of the component. All these points are primarily technological questions. The last question is about the estimated costs of the used dismantling technology. Therefore following questions must be answered. How much are the investments for the cutting equipment itself and how much are the investments for the supporting equipment (e.g. necessary handling equipment)? Can I use this cutting equipment only for one special task or is it applicable for many tasks and therefore saves money because other cutting or dismantling technologies are dispensable? How long is the cutting time and what is the to control this technique required personnel? Four different cutting and dismantling technologies will be introduced and described. These four technologies differ in their principle of operation but all of them are used by cutting and dismantling tasks in nuclear power plants. (author)
PID Controller Design for FES Applied to Ankle Muscles in Neuroprosthesis for Standing Balance.

Science.gov (United States)

Rouhani, Hossein; Same, Michael; Masani, Kei; Li, Ya Qi; Popovic, Milos R

2017-01-01

Closed-loop controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES) applied to the lower limb muscles can be used as a neuroprosthesis for standing balance in neurologically impaired individuals. The objective of this study was to propose a methodology for designing a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for FES applied to the ankle muscles toward maintaining standing balance for several minutes and in the presence of perturbations. First, a model of the physiological control strategy for standing balance was developed. Second, the parameters of a PID controller that mimicked the physiological balance control strategy were determined to stabilize the human body when modeled as an inverted pendulum. Third, this PID controller was implemented using a custom-made Inverted Pendulum Standing Apparatus that eliminated the effect of visual and vestibular sensory information on voluntary balance control. Using this setup, the individual-specific FES controllers were tested in able-bodied individuals and compared with disrupted voluntary control conditions in four experimental paradigms: (i) quiet-standing; (ii) sudden change of targeted pendulum angle (step response); (iii) balance perturbations that simulate arm movements; and (iv) sudden change of targeted angle of a pendulum with individual-specific body-weight (step response). In paradigms (i) to (iii), a standard 39.5-kg pendulum was used, and 12 subjects were involved. In paradigm (iv) 9 subjects were involved. Across the different experimental paradigms and subjects, the FES-controlled and disrupted voluntarily-controlled pendulum angle showed root mean square errors of controlled balance were significantly smaller or tended to be smaller than those observed with voluntarily-controlled balance, implying improved steady-state and transient responses of FES-controlled balance. At the same time, the FES-controlled balance required similar torque levels (no significant difference) as voluntarily-controlled
Applications of chaos control techniques to a three-species food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomes, A.A.; Manica, E.; Varriale, M.C.

2008-01-01

We achieve control of deterministic chaos in an ecosystem model, involving three first-order nonlinear differential equations with a control parameter, recently proposed by Hastings and Powell (HP) in order to describe the dynamical behavior of a three-species food chain. After identifying a chaotic attractor corresponding to a particular value of the parameter of this ecological model, we locate periodic saddle orbits embedded in it. By applying the Ott-Grebogi-Yorke (OGY) method of controlling chaos, which introduces small time-dependent perturbations on the system parameter, we stabilize two of the saddle orbits. Furthermore, we check the versatility of the OGY method, as the system behavior is allowed to switch between 'no control' and 'control' about one or other of different stabilized periodic orbits
Effectiveness of teaching cognitive-behavioral techniques on locus of control in hemodialysis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehrtak, Mohammad; Habibzadeh, Shahram; Farzaneh, Esmaeil; Rjaei-Khiavi, Abdollah

2017-10-01

Many of the cognitive behavioral models and therapeutic protocols developed so far for psychological disorders and chronic diseases have proved effective through clinical research. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of teaching cognitive-behavioral techniques on locus of control in hemodialysis patients. This controlled clinical trial study was conducted in 2015 with 76 patients selected by census and treated with a hemodialysis machine in the dialysis department of Vali-Asr Hospital in the city of Meshkinshahr. A total of four patients were excluded because of their critical conditions while the rest, who were recruited, were randomly divided into two equal groups of 36 patients as the intervention and control groups. First, the locus of control was measured in both groups through a pretest, and cognitive-behavioral techniques were then taught to the intervention group during eight 45 to 90-minute sessions. The locus of control in patients of both groups was finally re-measured through a posttest. Data were collected using Rotter's Locus of Control Inventory. The Wilcoxon test and Mann-Whitney U test were respectively used in SPSS18 for data analysis. In the pretest and posttest stages respectively, 4.8% and 14.3% of samples in the control group as well as 14.3% and 33.3% of samples in the intervention group enjoyed internal locus of control. The difference between the pretest and posttest scores of internal locus of control in the intervention group was significant (p=0.004), which indicates the positive effect of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic intervention on internalization of locus of control in this group. Given the external locus of control in most of the study patients and also the positive significant effect of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy on internalization of locus of control in this group of patients, it appears necessary to have a psychology resident present in the hemodialysis department to teach the necessary cognitive
Neutron Filter Technique and its use for Fundamental and applied Investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gritzay, V.; Kolotyi, V.

2008-01-01

At Kyiv Research Reactor (KRR) the neutron filtered beam technique is used for more than 30 years and its development continues, the new and updated facilities for neutron cross section measurements provide the receipt of neutron cross sections with rather high accuracy: total neutron cross sections with accuracy 1% and better, neutron scattering cross sections with 3-6% accuracy. The main purpose of this paper is presentation of the neutron measurement techniques, developed at KRR, and demonstration some experimental results, obtained using these techniques

Model predictive control based on reduced order models applied to belt conveyor system.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Li, Xin

2016-11-01

In the paper, a model predictive controller based on reduced order model is proposed to control belt conveyor system, which is an electro-mechanics complex system with long visco-elastic body. Firstly, in order to design low-degree controller, the balanced truncation method is used for belt conveyor model reduction. Secondly, MPC algorithm based on reduced order model for belt conveyor system is presented. Because of the error bound between the full-order model and reduced order model, two Kalman state estimators are applied in the control scheme to achieve better system performance. Finally, the simulation experiments are shown that balanced truncation method can significantly reduce the model order with high-accuracy and model predictive control based on reduced-model performs well in controlling the belt conveyor system. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Preparation of quality control samples for thyroid hormones T3 and T4 in radioimmunoassay techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, F.O.A.

2006-03-01

Today, the radioimmunoassay becomes one of the best techniques for quantitative analysis of very low concentration of different substances. RIA is being widely used in medical and research laboratories. To maintain high specificity and accuracy in RIA and other related techniques the quality controls must be introduced. In this dissertation quality control samples for thyroid hormones (Triiodothyronine T3 and Thyroxin T4), using RIA techniques. Ready made chinese T4, T3 RIA kits were used. IAEA statistical package were selected.(Author)
VIDEOGRAMMETRIC RECONSTRUCTION APPLIED TO VOLCANOLOGY: PERSPECTIVES FOR A NEW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE IN VOLCANO MONITORING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuelle Cecchi

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This article deals with videogrammetric reconstruction of volcanic structures. As a first step, the method is tested in laboratory. The objective is to reconstruct small sand and plaster cones, analogous to volcanoes, that deform with time. The initial stage consists in modelling the sensor (internal parameters and calculating its orientation and position in space, using a multi-view calibration method. In practice two sets of views are taken: a first one around a calibration target and a second one around the studied object. Both sets are combined in the calibration software to simultaneously compute the internal parameters modelling the sensor, and the external parameters giving the spatial location of each view around the cone. Following this first stage, a N-view reconstruction process is carried out. The principle is as follows: an initial 3D model of the cone is created and then iteratively deformed to fit the real object. The deformation of the meshed model is based on a texture coherence criterion. At present, this reconstruction method and its precision are being validated at laboratory scale. The objective will be then to follow analogue model deformation with time using successive reconstructions. In the future, the method will be applied to real volcanic structures. Modifications of the initial code will certainly be required, however excellent reconstruction accuracy, valuable simplicity and flexibility of the technique are expected, compared to classic stereophotogrammetric techniques used in volcanology.
Dosimetry techniques applied to thermoluminescent age estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erramli, H.

1986-12-01

The reliability and the ease of the field application of the measuring techniques of natural radioactivity dosimetry are studied. The natural radioactivity in minerals in composed of the internal dose deposited by alpha and beta radiations issued from the sample itself and the external dose deposited by gamma and cosmic radiations issued from the surroundings of the sample. Two technics for external dosimetry are examined in details. TL Dosimetry and field gamma dosimetry. Calibration and experimental conditions are presented. A new integrated dosimetric method for internal and external dose measure is proposed: the TL dosimeter is placed in the soil in exactly the same conditions as the sample ones, during a time long enough for the total dose evaluation [fr
Control of dengue vector by the sterile insect technique considering logistic recruitment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esteva, L.; Yang, H.M.

2006-01-01

We propose a mathematical model to assess the effects of irradiated male insects introduction in a previously infested region, taking into account the logistic recruitment of sterile male insects. The release of sterile male insects aims to displace gradually the natural (or wild) insect from the habitat. We discuss the suitability of this release technique when applied to peridomestic adapted Aedes aegypyti mosquitoes which are transmitters of Yellow Fever and Dengue disease. (author)
Control of dengue vector by the sterile insect technique considering logistic recruitment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Esteva, L. [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F. (Mexico). Facultad de Ciencias. Dept. de Matematicas; Lab-Epifisma, Mexico, D.F. (Mexico); Yang, H.M. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Matematica, Estatistica e Ciencia da Computacao. Dept. de Matematica Aplicada; Lab-Epifisma, Campinas, SP (Brazil)

2006-07-01

We propose a mathematical model to assess the effects of irradiated male insects introduction in a previously infested region, taking into account the logistic recruitment of sterile male insects. The release of sterile male insects aims to displace gradually the natural (or wild) insect from the habitat. We discuss the suitability of this release technique when applied to peridomestic adapted Aedes aegypyti mosquitoes which are transmitters of Yellow Fever and Dengue disease. (author)
Spectroscopic analysis technique for arc-welding process control

Science.gov (United States)

Mirapeix, Jesús; Cobo, Adolfo; Conde, Olga; Quintela, María Ángeles; López-Higuera, José-Miguel

2005-09-01

The spectroscopic analysis of the light emitted by thermal plasmas has found many applications, from chemical analysis to monitoring and control of industrial processes. Particularly, it has been demonstrated that the analysis of the thermal plasma generated during arc or laser welding can supply information about the process and, thus, about the quality of the weld. In some critical applications (e.g. the aerospace sector), an early, real-time detection of defects in the weld seam (oxidation, porosity, lack of penetration, ...) is highly desirable as it can reduce expensive non-destructive testing (NDT). Among others techniques, full spectroscopic analysis of the plasma emission is known to offer rich information about the process itself, but it is also very demanding in terms of real-time implementations. In this paper, we proposed a technique for the analysis of the plasma emission spectrum that is able to detect, in real-time, changes in the process parameters that could lead to the formation of defects in the weld seam. It is based on the estimation of the electronic temperature of the plasma through the analysis of the emission peaks from multiple atomic species. Unlike traditional techniques, which usually involve peak fitting to Voigt functions using the Levenberg-Marquardt recursive method, we employ the LPO (Linear Phase Operator) sub-pixel algorithm to accurately estimate the central wavelength of the peaks (allowing an automatic identification of each atomic species) and cubic-spline interpolation of the noisy data to obtain the intensity and width of the peaks. Experimental tests on TIG-welding using fiber-optic capture of light and a low-cost CCD-based spectrometer, show that some typical defects can be easily detected and identified with this technique, whose typical processing time for multiple peak analysis is less than 20msec. running in a conventional PC.
Leading research on artificial techniques controlling cellular function; Saibo zoshoku seigyo gijutsu no sendo kenkyu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

Advanced research and its applicability were surveyed to apply the advanced functional cells to industry. The basic target was set to develop, produce, control and utilize the functional cells, such as intelligent materials and self-regulation bioreactors. The regulation factors regarding apotosis, which is a process of cell suicide programmed within the cell itself of multicellular organisms, cell cycle and aging/ageless were investigated. Furthermore, the function of regulatory factors was investigated at the protein level. Injection of factors regulating cellular function and tissue engineering required for the regulation of cell proliferation were investigated. Tissue engineering is considered to be the intracellular regulation by gene transduction and the extracellular regulation by culture methods, such as coculture. Analysis methods for cell proliferation and function of living cells were investigated using the probes recognizing molecular structure. Novel biomaterials, artificial organ systems, cellular therapy and useful materials were investigated for utilizing the regulation techniques of cell proliferation. 425 refs., 85 figs., 9 tabs.
A Survey on Optimal Signal Processing Techniques Applied to Improve the Performance of Mechanical Sensors in Automotive Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Wilmar

2007-01-01

In this paper a survey on recent applications of optimal signal processing techniques to improve the performance of mechanical sensors is made. Here, a comparison between classical filters and optimal filters for automotive sensors is made, and the current state of the art of the application of robust and optimal control and signal processing techniques to the design of the intelligent (or smart) sensors that today's cars need is presented through several experimental results that show that the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques is the clear way to go. However, the switch between the traditional methods of designing automotive sensors and the new ones cannot be done overnight because there are some open research issues that have to be solved. This paper draws attention to one of the open research issues and tries to arouse researcher's interest in the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques.
Design and Simulation of Control Technique for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Using Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mansoor; Yong, Wang; Mustafa, Ehtasham

2017-07-01

After the rapid advancement in the field of power electronics devices and drives for last few decades, there are different kinds of Pulse Width Modulation techniques which have been brought to the market. The applications ranging from industrial appliances to military equipment including the home appliances. The vey common application for the PWM is three phase voltage source inverter, which is used to convert DC to AC in the homes to supply the power to the house in case electricity failure, usually named as Un-interrupted Power Supply. In this paper Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation techniques is discussed and analysed under the control technique named as Field Oriented Control. The working and implementation of this technique has been studied by implementing on the three phase bridge inverter. The technique is used to control the Permanente Magnet Synchronous Motor. The drive system is successfully implemented in MATLAB/Simulink using the mathematical equation and algorithm to achieve the satisfactory results. PI type of controller is used to tuned ers of the motothe parametr i.e. torque and current.
Two fiber optics communication adapters apply to the control system of HIRFL-CSR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dan; Zhang Shuocheng; Jing Lan; Zhang Wei; Ma Yunhai

2006-01-01

The authors introduced two kinds of fiber adapters that apply to the engineering HIRFL-CSR. Including design of two adapters, operational principle, and hardware construction, field of application. How to control equipment which have the standard RS232 or RS485 interface at long distance by two adapters. Replace the RS485 bus with the fiber and the 485-Fiber Adapter, solved the problem of communication disturb. The requirements of control in the national great science engineering HIRFL-CSR are fulfilled. (authors)
Burn Control in Fusion Reactors via Nonlinear Stabilization Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuster, Eugenio; Krstic, Miroslav; Tynan, George

2003-01-01

Control of plasma density and temperature magnitudes, as well as their profiles, are among the most fundamental problems in fusion reactors. Existing efforts on model-based control use control techniques for linear models. In this work, a zero-dimensional nonlinear model involving approximate conservation equations for the energy and the densities of the species was used to synthesize a nonlinear feedback controller for stabilizing the burn condition of a fusion reactor. The subignition case, where the modulation of auxiliary power and fueling rate are considered as control forces, and the ignition case, where the controlled injection of impurities is considered as an additional actuator, are treated separately.The model addresses the issue of the lag due to the finite time for the fresh fuel to diffuse into the plasma center. In this way we make our control system independent of the fueling system and the reactor can be fed either by pellet injection or by puffing. This imposed lag is treated using nonlinear backstepping.The nonlinear controller proposed guarantees a much larger region of attraction than the previous linear controllers. In addition, it is capable of rejecting perturbations in initial conditions leading to both thermal excursion and quenching, and its effectiveness does not depend on whether the operating point is an ignition or a subignition point.The controller designed ensures setpoint regulation for the energy and plasma parameter β with robustness against uncertainties in the confinement times for different species. Hence, the controller can increase or decrease β, modify the power, the temperature or the density, and go from a subignition to an ignition point and vice versa
Development of welding technique by remote control at the JMTR Hot Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Michio; Iwamatu, Sigemi; Takada, Humiki

2000-03-01

Several kinds of welding techniques have been systematically developed using the remote controlled procedures in the JMTR Hot Laboratory. These are as follows, (1) re-instrumentation's of FP gas pressure gauge and thermocouple to an irradiated fuel rod for the centerline temperature measurement, (2) welding of the un-irradiated/irradiated specimen and machining process to produce tensile test specimens, (3) fabrication of Co-60 radiation source from materials for reactivity adjustment in JMTR core, (4) re-capsuling of irradiated materials in the different types of irradiation facilities. These research and development of circumferential and sealed welding for capsuling and welding of irradiated specimen for re-irradiation were implemented under the remote-controlled conditions in the Hot Cell. These techniques will be very indispensable for supporting the irradiation experiments to be conducted in the JMTR. (author)
Radial oil injection applied to main engine bearings: evaluation of injection control rules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Estupiñan, EA; Santos, Ilmar

2012-01-01

, the dynamic behaviour of the main bearing of a medium-size engine is theoretically analysed when the engine operates with controllable radial oil injection and four different injection control rules. The theoretical investigation is based on a single-cylinder combustion engine model. The performance......The performance of main bearings in a combustion engine affects key functions such as durability, noise and vibration. Thus, with the aim of reducing friction losses and vibrations between the crankshaft and the bearings, the work reported here evaluates different strategies for applying...... controllable radial oil injection to main crankshaft journal bearings. In an actively lubricated bearing, conventional hydrodynamic lubrication is combined with controllable hydrostatic lubrication, where the oil injection pressures can be modified depending on the operational conditions. In this study...
Directional tip control technique for optimal stent graft alignment in angulated proximal aortic landing zones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toshio Takayama, MD, PhD

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Angulated anatomy in the aorta, such as tortuous infrarenal aortic necks or steep aortic arches, is a significant challenge for endovascular aortic repair because it often causes inadequate sealing and fixation, which may lead to treatment failure. We have developed a technique using off-the-shelf equipment to precisely control the deployment of stent grafts in challenging landing zones. The key of this technique is to create a through-and-through wire between two access sites and to use a guiding device over the wire. This technique is best used with stent grafts without nose cones. We present an endovascular aneurysm repair case and a thoracic endovascular aortic repair case with challenging proximal landing zones treated by this technique. In both cases, technical success was attained, and follow-up imaging demonstrated well-aligned stent grafts. Our directional tip control technique is easy and effective. It can be a good technical solution for endovascular aortic treatment in angulated anatomy.
A comprehensive overview of hybrid electric vehicle: Powertrain configurations, powertrain control techniques and electronic control units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cagatay Bayindir, Kamil; Goezuekuecuek, Mehmet Ali; Teke, Ahmet [Cukurova University, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Balcali, Saricam, Adana (Turkey)

2011-02-15

The studies for hybrid electrical vehicle (HEV) have attracted considerable attention because of the necessity of developing alternative methods to generate energy for vehicles due to limited fuel based energy, global warming and exhaust emission limits in the last century. HEV incorporates internal composition engine, electric machines and power electronic equipments. In this study, overview of HEVs with a focus on hybrid configurations, energy management strategies and electronic control units are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of each configuration are clearly emphasized. The existing powertrain control techniques for HEVs are classified and comprehensively described. Electronic control units used in HEV configuration are also elaborated. The latest trends and technological challenges in the near future for HEVs are discussed. (author)
Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, C K; Mietus, J E; Liu, Y; Khalsa, G; Douglas, P S; Benson, H; Goldberger, A L

1999-07-31

We report extremely prominent heart rate oscillations associated with slow breathing during specific traditional forms of Chinese Chi and Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques in healthy young adults. We applied both spectral analysis and a novel analytic technique based on the Hilbert transform to quantify these heart rate dynamics. The amplitude of these oscillations during meditation was significantly greater than in the pre-meditation control state and also in three non-meditation control groups: i) elite athletes during sleep, ii) healthy young adults during metronomic breathing, and iii) healthy young adults during spontaneous nocturnal breathing. This finding, along with the marked variability of the beat-to-beat heart rate dynamics during such profound meditative states, challenges the notion of meditation as only an autonomically quiescent state.
Assessment of ground-based monitoring techniques applied to landslide investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlemann, S.; Smith, A.; Chambers, J.; Dixon, N.; Dijkstra, T.; Haslam, E.; Meldrum, P.; Merritt, A.; Gunn, D.; Mackay, J.

2016-01-01

A landslide complex in the Whitby Mudstone Formation at Hollin Hill, North Yorkshire, UK is periodically re-activated in response to rainfall-induced pore-water pressure fluctuations. This paper compares long-term measurements (i.e., 2009-2014) obtained from a combination of monitoring techniques that have been employed together for the first time on an active landslide. The results highlight the relative performance of the different techniques, and can provide guidance for researchers and practitioners for selecting and installing appropriate monitoring techniques to assess unstable slopes. Particular attention is given to the spatial and temporal resolutions offered by the different approaches that include: Real Time Kinematic-GPS (RTK-GPS) monitoring of a ground surface marker array, conventional inclinometers, Shape Acceleration Arrays (SAA), tilt meters, active waveguides with Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring, and piezometers. High spatial resolution information has allowed locating areas of stability and instability across a large slope. This has enabled identification of areas where further monitoring efforts should be focused. High temporal resolution information allowed the capture of 'S'-shaped slope displacement-time behaviour (i.e. phases of slope acceleration, deceleration and stability) in response to elevations in pore-water pressures. This study shows that a well-balanced suite of monitoring techniques that provides high temporal and spatial resolutions on both measurement and slope scale is necessary to fully understand failure and movement mechanisms of slopes. In the case of the Hollin Hill landslide it enabled detailed interpretation of the geomorphological processes governing landslide activity. It highlights the benefit of regularly surveying a network of GPS markers to determine areas for installation of movement monitoring techniques that offer higher resolution both temporally and spatially. The small sensitivity of tilt meter measurements
Applying dynamic mold temperature control to cosmetic package design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsiao Shih-Wen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Owing to the fashion trend and the market needs, this study developed the eco-cushion compact. Through the product design and the advanced process technology, many issues have improved, for instance, the inconvenience of transportation, the lack of multiuse capability, the increase of costs, and the low yield rate. The eco-cushion compact developed in this study was high quality, low cost, and meets the requirements of the eco market. The study aimed at developing a reusable container. Dynamic mold temperature control was introduced in the injection modeling process. The innovation in the product was its multi-functional formula invention, eco-product design, one-piece powder case design, and multifunctional design in the big powder case, mold flow and development of dynamic mold temperature control. Finally, through 3D drawing and modeling, and computer assistance for mold flow and verification to develop and produce models. During the manufacturing process, in order to solve the problems of tightness and warping, development and manufacture of dynamic mold temperature control were introduced. This decreased the injection cycle and residual stress, and deformation of the products has reduced to less than 0.2 mm, and the air tightness increased. In addition, air leakage was less than 2% and the injection cycle decreased to at least 10%. The results of the study can be extended and applied on the future design on cosmetic package and an alternative can be proposed to solve the problems of air tightness and warping. In this study, dynamic mold temperature control is considered as a design with high price-performance ratio, which can be adopted on industrial application for practical benefit and improvement.
Application of pattern recognition techniques to the detection of the Phenix reactor control rods vibrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zwingelstein, G.; Deat, M.; Le Guillou, G.

1979-01-01

The incipient detection of control rods vibrations is very important for the safety of the operating plants. This detection can be achieved by an analysis of the peaks of the power spectrum density of the neutron noise. Pattern Recognition techniques were applied to detect the rod vibrations which occured at the fast breeder Phenix (250MWe). In the first part we give a description of the basic pattern which is used to characterize the behavior of the plant. The pattern is considered as column vector in n dimensional Euclidian space where the components are the samples of the power spectral density of the neutron noise. In the second part, a recursive learning procedure of the normal patterns which provides the mean and the variance of the estimates is described. In the third part the classification problem has been framed in terms of a partitioning procedure in n dimensional space which encloses regions corresponding to normal operations. This pattern recognition scheme was applied to the detection of rod vibrations with neutron data collected at the Phenix site before and after occurence of the vibrations. The analysis was carried out with a 42-dimensional measurement space. The learned pattern was estimated with 150 measurement vectors which correspond to the period without vibrations. The efficiency of the surveillance scheme is then demonstrated by processing separately 119 measurement vectors recorded during the rod vibration period

Quality assurance techniques for activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, D.A.

1984-01-01

The principles and techniques of quality assurance are applied to the measurement method of activation analysis. Quality assurance is defined to include quality control and quality assessment. Plans for quality assurance include consideration of: personnel; facilities; analytical design; sampling and sample preparation; the measurement process; standards; and documentation. Activation analysis concerns include: irradiation; chemical separation; counting/detection; data collection, and analysis; and calibration. Types of standards discussed include calibration materials and quality assessment materials
Novel temperature control technique for a medicinal herb dryer system powered by a photovoltaic array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abd El-Shafy A Nafeh; Hanaa M Fargali; Faten H Fahmy; Mohamed A Hassan

2006-01-01

Each plant has its own optimal drying temperature, especially for the medicinal herbs, because they are sensitive to heat. If the drying temperature becomes more than the optimal value, some chemical reactions will occur and influence the quality of the dried herb, such as color, taste, and aroma. While if the drying temperature becomes lower than the optimal value, the drying process will slow down; and consequently an expected degradation in the quality of the herb may occur, due to insects and fungi infestation which increase in moist conditions. This paper presents a new temperature control technique for a medicinal herb dryer system. The technique fixes the drying temperature of the medicinal herbs at 40 degree C, even in cases of rapidly changing atmospheric conditions. The control of the dryer temperature is achieved through using the proportional integral (PI) controller. The designed dryer contains two systems, which are the thermal and the electrical systems. The thermal system is designed to heat the drying air by using the solar energy and bio-gas fuel. Whereas, the electrical system, which contains a photovoltaic (PV) modules and a battery, is designed to supply the different electrical loads of the dryer system. The control technique is investigated through simulation work by using MATLAB-SIMULINK. The simulation results indicate the high capability of the proposed technique in controlling the drying temperature, even in cases of rapidly changing atmospheric conditions
A Survey of Congestion Control Techniques and Data Link Protocols in Satellite Networks

OpenAIRE

Fahmy, Sonia; Jain, Raj; Lu, Fang; Kalyanaraman, Shivkumar

1998-01-01

Satellite communication systems are the means of realizing a global broadband integrated services digital network. Due to the statistical nature of the integrated services traffic, the resulting rate fluctuations and burstiness render congestion control a complicated, yet indispensable function. The long propagation delay of the earth-satellite link further imposes severe demands and constraints on the congestion control schemes, as well as the media access control techniques and retransmissi...
Supervisory Control Technique For An Assembly Workstation As A Dynamic Discrete Event System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Cristina CERNEGA

2001-12-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a control problem statement in the framework of supervisory control technique for the assembly workstations. A desired behaviour of an assembly workstation is analysed. The behaviour of such a workstation is cyclic and some linguistic properties are established. In this paper, it is proposed an algorithm for the computation of the supremal controllable language of the closed system desired language. Copyright © 2001 IFAC.
Flight Flutter Testing of Rotary Wing Aircraft Using a Control System Oscillation Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, J. G.; Viswanathan, S.; Matthys, C. G.

1976-01-01

A flight flutter testing technique is described in which the rotor controls are oscillated by series actuators to excite the rotor and airframe modes of interest, which are then allowed to decay. The moving block technique is then used to determine the damped frequency and damping variation with rotor speed. The method proved useful for tracking the stability of relatively well damped modes. The results of recently completed flight tests of an experimental soft-in-plane rotor are used to illustrate the technique. Included is a discussion of the application of this technique to investigation of the propeller whirl flutter stability characteristics of the NASA/Army XV-15 VTOL tilt rotor research aircraft.
Experimental evaluation of optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation technique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alirezaei, M.; Kanarachos, S.A.; Scheepers, B.T.M.; Maurice, J.P.

2013-01-01

Development and experimentally evaluation of an optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) strategy based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control technique is presented. The proposed nonlinear controller is based on a nonlinear vehicle model with nonlinear tire characteristics. A novel
Tracer techniques in food industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pertsovskij, E.S.; Sakharov, Eh.V.; Dolinin, V.A.

1980-01-01

The appicability of radioactive tracer techniques to process control in food industry are considered. Investigations in the field of food industry carried out using the above method are classified. The 1 class included investigations with preliminary preparation of a radioactive indicator and its following introduction in the system studied. The 2 class includes investigations based on the introduction in the system studied of a non-active indicator which is activated in a neutron flux being in samples selected in or after the process investigated. The 3 class includes studies based on investigations of natural radioactivity of certain nuclides in food stuff. The application of tracer techniques to the above classes of investigations in various fields of food industry and the equipment applied are considered in detail [ru
C code generation applied to nonlinear model predictive control for an artificial pancreas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boiroux, Dimitri; Jørgensen, John Bagterp

2017-01-01

This paper presents a method to generate C code from MATLAB code applied to a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithm. The C code generation uses the MATLAB Coder Toolbox. It can drastically reduce the time required for development compared to a manual porting of code from MATLAB to C...
Manipulation of biological samples using micro and nano techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo, Jaime; Dimaki, Maria; Svendsen, Winnie Edith

2009-01-01

The constant interest in handling, integrating and understanding biological systems of interest for the biomedical field, the pharmaceutical industry and the biomaterial researchers demand the use of techniques that allow the manipulation of biological samples causing minimal or no damage to their natural structure. Thanks to the advances in micro- and nanofabrication during the last decades several manipulation techniques offer us the possibility to image, characterize and manipulate biological material in a controlled way. Using these techniques the integration of biomaterials with remarkable properties with physical transducers has been possible, giving rise to new and highly sensitive biosensing devices. This article reviews the different techniques available to manipulate and integrate biological materials in a controlled manner either by sliding them along a surface (2-D manipulation), by grapping them and moving them to a new position (3-D manipulation), or by manipulating and relocating them applying external forces. The advantages and drawbacks are mentioned together with examples that reflect the state of the art of manipulation techniques for biological samples (171 references).
Controller Design of DFIG Based Wind Turbine by Using Evolutionary Soft Computational Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. P. Bharti

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This manuscript illustrates the controller design for a doubly fed induction generator based variable speed wind turbine by using a bioinspired scheme. This methodology is based on exploiting two proficient swarm intelligence based evolutionary soft computational procedures. The particle swarm optimization (PSO and bacterial foraging optimization (BFO techniques are employed to design the controller intended for small damping plant of the DFIG. Wind energy overview and DFIG operating principle along with the equivalent circuit model is adequately discussed in this paper. The controller design for DFIG based WECS using PSO and BFO are described comparatively in detail. The responses of the DFIG system regarding terminal voltage, current, active-reactive power, and DC-Link voltage have slightly improved with the evolutionary soft computational procedure. Lastly, the obtained output is equated with a standard technique for performance improvement of DFIG based wind energy conversion system.
PID Controller Design for FES Applied to Ankle Muscles in Neuroprosthesis for Standing Balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Rouhani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Closed-loop controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES applied to the lower limb muscles can be used as a neuroprosthesis for standing balance in neurologically impaired individuals. The objective of this study was to propose a methodology for designing a proportional-integral-derivative (PID controller for FES applied to the ankle muscles toward maintaining standing balance for several minutes and in the presence of perturbations. First, a model of the physiological control strategy for standing balance was developed. Second, the parameters of a PID controller that mimicked the physiological balance control strategy were determined to stabilize the human body when modeled as an inverted pendulum. Third, this PID controller was implemented using a custom-made Inverted Pendulum Standing Apparatus that eliminated the effect of visual and vestibular sensory information on voluntary balance control. Using this setup, the individual-specific FES controllers were tested in able-bodied individuals and compared with disrupted voluntary control conditions in four experimental paradigms: (i quiet-standing; (ii sudden change of targeted pendulum angle (step response; (iii balance perturbations that simulate arm movements; and (iv sudden change of targeted angle of a pendulum with individual-specific body-weight (step response. In paradigms (i to (iii, a standard 39.5-kg pendulum was used, and 12 subjects were involved. In paradigm (iv 9 subjects were involved. Across the different experimental paradigms and subjects, the FES-controlled and disrupted voluntarily-controlled pendulum angle showed root mean square errors of <1.2 and 2.3 deg, respectively. The root mean square error (all paradigms, rise time, settle time, and overshoot [paradigms (ii and (iv] in FES-controlled balance were significantly smaller or tended to be smaller than those observed with voluntarily-controlled balance, implying improved steady-state and transient responses of FES-controlled
Resonance control for a cw [continuous wave] accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, L.M.; Biddle, R.S.

1987-01-01

A resonance-control technique is described that has been successfully applied to several cw accelerating structures built by the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the National Bureau of Standards and for the University of Illinois. The technique involves sensing the rf fields in an accelerating structure as well as the rf power feeding into the cavity and, then, using the measurement to control the resonant frequency of the structure by altering the temperature of the structure. The temperature of the structure is altered by adjusting the temperature of the circulating cooling water. The technique has been applied to continuous wave (cw) side-coupled cavities only but should have applications with most high-average-power accelerator structures. Some additional effort would be required for pulsed systems
Radioscopy applied to the improvement of industrial processes of quality control in the Brazilian footwear production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandes, Marcela Tatiana Fernandes; Mello Filho, Mauro Otto de Cavalcanti, E-mail: mbeserra@cefet-rj.br, E-mail: maurootto@cefet-rj.br [Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Raupp, Fernanda Maria Pereira, E-mail: fraupp@puc-rio.br [Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Industrial

2013-07-01

According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, China has the last five years in the Brazilian footwear market for imports, representing 70% of total imports. Brazil has been recording declines in footwear exports; in 2011 there was an average reduction of 21.5% compared to 2010. Thus, Brazil has moved to the eighth position in the export market. Moreover, Asians have been improving the quality and technological level of their footwear for niche markets. It is well known that the introduction of new technologies into industrial organizations enables adding value to their products, making the organizations more competitive in the global market. In this work, we present a study on the use of radioscopy technique to improve quality control of the Brazilian footwear industry. Being already used by some international footwear manufactures, aiming at the identification of strange bodies, control jumps, among other aspects, this technique brings innovation to the referred industry, since it is a non-destructive test approach that makes use of X-rays. We also propose a tool for the application of radioscopy technique to improve quality control processes of footwear production, employing concepts of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). (author)
Radioscopy applied to the improvement of industrial processes of quality control in the Brazilian footwear production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes, Marcela Tatiana Fernandes; Mello Filho, Mauro Otto de Cavalcanti; Raupp, Fernanda Maria Pereira

2013-01-01

According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, China has the last five years in the Brazilian footwear market for imports, representing 70% of total imports. Brazil has been recording declines in footwear exports; in 2011 there was an average reduction of 21.5% compared to 2010. Thus, Brazil has moved to the eighth position in the export market. Moreover, Asians have been improving the quality and technological level of their footwear for niche markets. It is well known that the introduction of new technologies into industrial organizations enables adding value to their products, making the organizations more competitive in the global market. In this work, we present a study on the use of radioscopy technique to improve quality control of the Brazilian footwear industry. Being already used by some international footwear manufactures, aiming at the identification of strange bodies, control jumps, among other aspects, this technique brings innovation to the referred industry, since it is a non-destructive test approach that makes use of X-rays. We also propose a tool for the application of radioscopy technique to improve quality control processes of footwear production, employing concepts of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). (author)
Monitoring by Control Technique - Compliant (Low/No VOC/HAP) Inks and Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Stationary source emissions monitoring is required to demonstrate that a source is meeting the requirements in Federal or state rules. This page is about Compliant (Low/No VOC/HAP) Inks and Coatings control techniques used to reduce pollutant emissions.
Active lubrication applied to radial gas journal bearings. Part 2: Modelling improvement and experimental validation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pierart, Fabián G.; Santos, Ilmar F.

2016-01-01

Actively-controlled lubrication techniques are applied to radial gas bearings aiming at enhancing one of their most critical drawbacks, their lack of damping. A model-based control design approach is presented using simple feedback control laws, i.e. proportional controllers. The design approach...... by finite element method and the global model is used as control design tool. Active lubrication allows for significant increase in damping factor of the rotor-bearing system. Very good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained, supporting the multi-physic design tool developed....
Applied techniques for high bandwidth data transfers across wide area networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jason; Gunter, Dan; Tierney, Brian; Allcock, Bill; Bester, Joe; Bresnahan, John; Tuecke, Steve

2001-01-01

Large distributed systems such as Computational/Data Grids require large amounts of data to be co-located with the computing facilities for processing. Ensuring that the data is there in time for the computation in today's Internet is a massive problem. From our work developing a scalable distributed network cache, we have gained experience with techniques necessary to achieve high data throughput over high bandwidth Wide Area Networks (WAN). In this paper, we discuss several hardware and software design techniques and issues, and then describe their application to an implementation of an enhanced FTP protocol called GridFTP. We also describe results from two applications using these techniques, which were obtained at the Supercomputing 2000 conference
Implementación de un Control Predictivo Basado en Modelo Aplicado a un Sistema de Control de Caudal de Agua Didáctico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edwin H. Lopera

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The proportional-integral-derivative controller -PID- has become the most used tool of regulation of process variables, and so it has been applied indiscriminately on linear and nonlinear dynamic systems, resulting in control problems in the industry, occurring loss of efficiency in productivity and decreased quality of manufactured products. Among the modern control techniques that have emerged to respond to those applications in which the PID controller has not operated satisfactorily, there is the model based predictive control -MPC-. This control algorithm has been characterized by its great capacity to respond, however, its expansion in the industrial sector has been slow, as it has been commercialized for specific applications. This paper presents an application of MPC on the regulation of water flow in a laboratory system using commercial control equipment and instrumentation, describing the formulation process control algorithm, the technical assistance required for the execution of experimental tests necessary to obtain the mathematical model of the plant and finally implementing the proposed control technique. The results evidence the great possibilities of applying effectively this control technique in variable regulation of general dynamic systems.
Reviews on Physically Based Controllable Fluid Animation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pizzanu Kanongchaiyos

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In computer graphics animation, animation tools are required for fluid-like motions which are controllable by users or animator, since applying the techniques to commercial animations such as advertisement and film. Many developments have been proposed to model controllable fluid simulation with the need in realistic motion, robustness, adaptation, and support more required control model. Physically based models for different states of substances have been applied in general in order to permit animators to almost effortlessly create interesting, realistic, and sensible animation of natural phenomena such as water flow, smoke spread, etc. In this paper, we introduce the methods for simulation based on physical model and the techniques for control the flow of fluid, especially focus on particle based method. We then discuss the existing control methods within three performances; control ability, realism, and computation time. Finally, we give a brief of the current and trend of the research areas.
The support-control continuum: An investigation of staff perspectives on factors influencing the success or failure of de-escalation techniques for the management of violence and aggression in mental health settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Owen; Baker, John; Bee, Penny; Lovell, Karina

2018-01-01

De-escalation techniques are recommended to manage violence and aggression in mental health settings yet restrictive practices continue to be frequently used. Barriers and enablers to the implementation and effectiveness of de-escalation techniques in practice are not well understood. To obtain staff descriptions of de-escalation techniques currently used in mental health settings and explore factors perceived to influence their implementation and effectiveness. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews and Framework Analysis. Five in-patient wards including three male psychiatric intensive care units, one female acute ward and one male acute ward in three UK Mental Health NHS Trusts. 20 ward-based clinical staff. Individual semi-structured interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a qualitative data analysis software package. Participants described 14 techniques used in response to escalated aggression applied on a continuum between support and control. Techniques along the support-control continuum could be classified in three groups: 'support' (e.g. problem-solving, distraction, reassurance) 'non-physical control' (e.g. reprimands, deterrents, instruction) and 'physical control' (e.g. physical restraint and seclusion). Charting the reasoning staff provided for technique selection against the described behavioural outcome enabled a preliminary understanding of staff, patient and environmental influences on de-escalation success or failure. Importantly, the more coercive 'non-physical control' techniques are currently conceptualised by staff as a feature of de-escalation techniques, yet, there was evidence of a link between these and increased aggression/use of restrictive practices. Risk was not a consistent factor in decisions to adopt more controlling techniques. Moral judgements regarding the function of the aggression; trial-and-error; ingrained local custom (especially around instruction to low stimulus areas); knowledge of

A control technique for integration of DG units to the electrical networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pouresmaeil, Edris; Miguel-Espinar, Carlos; Massot-Campos, Miquel

2013-01-01

This paper deals with a multiobjective control technique for integration of distributed generation (DG) resources to the electrical power network. The proposed strategy provides compensation for active, reactive, and harmonic load current components during connection of DG link to the grid...
A Survey on Optimal Signal Processing Techniques Applied to Improve the Performance of Mechanical Sensors in Automotive Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilmar Hernandez

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a survey on recent applications of optimal signal processing techniques to improve the performance of mechanical sensors is made. Here, a comparison between classical filters and optimal filters for automotive sensors is made, and the current state of the art of the application of robust and optimal control and signal processing techniques to the design of the intelligent (or smart sensors that todayÃ¢Â€Â™s cars need is presented through several experimental results that show that the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques is the clear way to go. However, the switch between the traditional methods of designing automotive sensors and the new ones cannot be done overnight because there are some open research issues that have to be solved. This paper draws attention to one of the open research issues and tries to arouse researcherÃ¢Â€Â™s interest in the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques.
Robust Control and Motion Planning for Nonlinear Underactuated Systems Using H infinity Techniques

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Toussaint, Gregory

2000-01-01

This thesis presents new techniques for planning and robustly controlling the motion of nonlinear underactuated vehicles when disturbances are present and only imperfect state measurements are available for feedback...
Nuclear analytical techniques applied to forensic chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicolau, Veronica; Montoro, Silvia; Pratta, Nora; Giandomenico, Angel Di

1999-01-01

Gun shot residues produced by firing guns are mainly composed by visible particles. The individual characterization of these particles allows distinguishing those ones containing heavy metals, from gun shot residues, from those having a different origin or history. In this work, the results obtained from the study of gun shot residues particles collected from hands are presented. The aim of the analysis is to establish whether a person has shot a firing gun has been in contact with one after the shot has been produced. As reference samples, particles collected hands of persons affected to different activities were studied to make comparisons. The complete study was based on the application of nuclear analytical techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X Ray Electron Probe Microanalysis and Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The essays allow to be completed within time compatible with the forensic requirements. (author)
Ion beam analysis techniques applied to large scale pollution studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohen, D D; Bailey, G; Martin, J; Garton, D; Noorman, H; Stelcer, E; Johnson, P [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia)

1994-12-31

Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques are ideally suited to analyse the thousands of filter papers a year that may originate from a large scale aerosol sampling network. They are fast multi-elemental and, for the most part, non-destructive so other analytical methods such as neutron activation and ion chromatography can be performed afterwards. ANSTO in collaboration with the NSW EPA, Pacific Power and the Universities of NSW and Macquarie has established a large area fine aerosol sampling network covering nearly 80,000 square kilometres of NSW with 25 fine particle samplers. This network known as ASP was funded by the Energy Research and Development Corporation (ERDC) and commenced sampling on 1 July 1991. The cyclone sampler at each site has a 2.5 {mu}m particle diameter cut off and runs for 24 hours every Sunday and Wednesday using one Gillman 25mm diameter stretched Teflon filter for each day. These filters are ideal targets for ion beam analysis work. Currently ANSTO receives 300 filters per month from this network for analysis using its accelerator based ion beam techniques on the 3 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. One week a month of accelerator time is dedicated to this analysis. Four simultaneous accelerator based IBA techniques are used at ANSTO, to analyse for the following 24 elements: H, C, N, O, F, Na, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co, Zn, Br and Pb. The IBA techniques were proved invaluable in identifying sources of fine particles and their spatial and seasonal variations accross the large area sampled by the ASP network. 3 figs.
Ion beam analysis techniques applied to large scale pollution studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohen, D.D.; Bailey, G.; Martin, J.; Garton, D.; Noorman, H.; Stelcer, E.; Johnson, P. [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia)

1993-12-31

Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques are ideally suited to analyse the thousands of filter papers a year that may originate from a large scale aerosol sampling network. They are fast multi-elemental and, for the most part, non-destructive so other analytical methods such as neutron activation and ion chromatography can be performed afterwards. ANSTO in collaboration with the NSW EPA, Pacific Power and the Universities of NSW and Macquarie has established a large area fine aerosol sampling network covering nearly 80,000 square kilometres of NSW with 25 fine particle samplers. This network known as ASP was funded by the Energy Research and Development Corporation (ERDC) and commenced sampling on 1 July 1991. The cyclone sampler at each site has a 2.5 {mu}m particle diameter cut off and runs for 24 hours every Sunday and Wednesday using one Gillman 25mm diameter stretched Teflon filter for each day. These filters are ideal targets for ion beam analysis work. Currently ANSTO receives 300 filters per month from this network for analysis using its accelerator based ion beam techniques on the 3 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. One week a month of accelerator time is dedicated to this analysis. Four simultaneous accelerator based IBA techniques are used at ANSTO, to analyse for the following 24 elements: H, C, N, O, F, Na, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co, Zn, Br and Pb. The IBA techniques were proved invaluable in identifying sources of fine particles and their spatial and seasonal variations accross the large area sampled by the ASP network. 3 figs.
Applying Toyota production system techniques for medication delivery: improving hospital safety and efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Newell, Terry L; Steinmetz-Malato, Laura L; Van Dyke, Deborah L

2011-01-01

The inpatient medication delivery system used at a large regional acute care hospital in the Midwest had become antiquated and inefficient. The existing 24-hr medication cart-fill exchange process with delivery to the patients' bedside did not always provide ordered medications to the nursing units when they were needed. In 2007 the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) were applied to the system. Project objectives were to improve medication safety and reduce the time needed for nurses to retrieve patient medications. A multidisciplinary team was formed that included representatives from nursing, pharmacy, informatics, quality, and various operational support departments. Team members were educated and trained in the tools and techniques of TPS, and then designed and implemented a new pull system benchmarking the TPS Ideal State model. The newly installed process, providing just-in-time medication availability, has measurably improved delivery processes as well as patient safety and satisfaction. Other positive outcomes have included improved nursing satisfaction, reduced nursing wait time for delivered medications, and improved efficiency in the pharmacy. After a successful pilot on two nursing units, the system is being extended to the rest of the hospital. © 2010 National Association for Healthcare Quality.
Application of micro blasting technique to demolition of biological shield wall of reactor building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kontani, Osamu

2016-01-01

Although heavily reinforced concrete structures in nuclear facilities could be dismantled effectively with the controlled blasting technique, the noises and vibrations caused by blasting were matters of concern. Recently, in the building replacement at urban areas, there are increasing cases of demolition of large reinforced concrete members below ground. Instead of applying heavy weight breakers, the micro blasting technique that enables to lower noises and vibrations has developed and applied to demolition work of large reinforced concrete members in urban areas. In this report, the features of the micro blasting technique is reviewed by comparing with existing controlled blasting technique and its applicability to demolition work of nuclear facilities is investigated. The results of those study find that it is confirmed that the micro blasting technique could be applicable to large reinforced concrete structures in nuclear facilities because of the low levels of noises and vibrations. However, it is recommended to perform mock-up tests to confirm the demolition efficiency and levels of the noises and vibrations since the rebar used in nuclear facilities is larger in diameters and in rebar ratio compared with ordinary reinforced concrete structures. (author)
A novel and alternative approach to controlled release drug delivery system based on solid dispersion technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tapan Kumar Giri

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The solid dispersion method was originally used to improve the dissolution properties and the bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs by dispersing them into water soluble carriers. In addition to the above, dissolution retardation through solid dispersion technique using water insoluble and water swellable polymer for the development of controlled release dosage forms has become a field of interest in recent years. Development of controlled release solid dispersion has a great advantage for bypassing the risk of a burst release of drug; since the structure of the solid dispersion is monolithic where drug molecules homogeneously disperse. Despite the remarkable potential and extensive research being conducted on controlled release solid dispersion system, commercialization and large scale production are limited. The author expects that recent technological advances may overcome the existing limitations and facilitate the commercial utilization of the techniques for manufacture of controlled release solid dispersions. This article begins with an overview of the different carriers being used for the preparation of controlled release solid dispersion and also different techniques being used for the purpose. Kinetics of drug release from these controlled release solid dispersions and the relevant mathematical modeling have also been reviewed in this manuscript.
Reinforcement learning techniques for controlling resources in power networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kowli, Anupama Sunil

As power grids transition towards increased reliance on renewable generation, energy storage and demand response resources, an effective control architecture is required to harness the full functionalities of these resources. There is a critical need for control techniques that recognize the unique characteristics of the different resources and exploit the flexibility afforded by them to provide ancillary services to the grid. The work presented in this dissertation addresses these needs. Specifically, new algorithms are proposed, which allow control synthesis in settings wherein the precise distribution of the uncertainty and its temporal statistics are not known. These algorithms are based on recent developments in Markov decision theory, approximate dynamic programming and reinforcement learning. They impose minimal assumptions on the system model and allow the control to be "learned" based on the actual dynamics of the system. Furthermore, they can accommodate complex constraints such as capacity and ramping limits on generation resources, state-of-charge constraints on storage resources, comfort-related limitations on demand response resources and power flow limits on transmission lines. Numerical studies demonstrating applications of these algorithms to practical control problems in power systems are discussed. Results demonstrate how the proposed control algorithms can be used to improve the performance and reduce the computational complexity of the economic dispatch mechanism in a power network. We argue that the proposed algorithms are eminently suitable to develop operational decision-making tools for large power grids with many resources and many sources of uncertainty.
Quality Control Procedures Applied to the CMS Muon Chambers Built at CIEMAT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fouz, M. C.; Puerta Pelayo, J.

2004-01-01

In this document the quality control procedures applied to the CMS muon drift chambers built at CIEMAT are described. It includes a description of the high voltage and front electronics associated to the chambers. Every procedure is described with detail and a list of the more common problems and possible solutions is given. This document can be considered as a chamber test handbook for beginners. (Author) 3 refs
Centrifuge Techniques and Apparatus for Transport Experiments in Porous Media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Earl D. Mattson; Carl D. Paler; Robert W. Smith; Markus Flury

2010-06-01

This paper describes experimental approaches and apparatus that we have developed to study solute and colloid transport in porous media using Idaho National Laboratory's 2-m radius centrifuge. The ex-perimental techniques include water flux scaling with applied acceleration at the top of the column and sub-atmospheric pressure control at the column base, automation of data collection, and remote experimental con-trol over the internet. These apparatus include a constant displacement piston pump, a custom designed liquid fraction collector based on switching valve technology, and modified moisture monitoring equipment. Suc-cessful development of these experimental techniques and equipment is illustrated through application to transport of a conservative tracer through unsaturated sand column, with centrifugal acceleration up to 40 gs. Development of such experimental equipment that can withstand high accelerations enhances the centrifuge technique to conduct highly controlled unsaturated solute/colloid transport experiments and allows in-flight liquid sample collection of the effluent.
Second-Order Harmonic Reduction Technique for Photovoltaic Power Conditioning Systems Using a Proportional-Resonant Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hae-Gwang Jeong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a second-order harmonic reduction technique using a proportional-resonant (PR controller for a photovoltaic (PV power conditioning system (PCS. In a grid-connected single-phase system, inverters create a second-order harmonic at twice the fundamental frequency. A ripple component unsettles the operating points of the PV array and deteriorates the operation of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT technique. The second-order harmonic component in PV PCS is analyzed using an equivalent circuit of the DC/DC converter and the DC/AC inverter. A new feed-forward compensation technique using a PR controller for ripple reduction is proposed. The proposed algorithm is advantageous in that additional devices are not required and complex calculations are unnecessary. Therefore, this method is cost-effective and simple to implement. The proposed feed-forward compensation technique is verified by simulation and experimental results.
Site-controlled quantum dots fabricated using an atomic-force microscope assisted technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakuma Y

2006-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractAn atomic-force microscope assisted technique is developed to control the position and size of self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots (QDs. Presently, the site precision is as good as ± 1.5 nm and the size fluctuation is within ± 5% with the minimum controllable lateral diameter of 20 nm. With the ability of producing tightly packed and differently sized QDs, sophisticated QD arrays can be controllably fabricated for the application in quantum computing. The optical quality of such site-controlled QDs is found comparable to some conventionally self-assembled semiconductor QDs. The single dot photoluminescence of site-controlled InAs/InP QDs is studied in detail, presenting the prospect to utilize them in quantum communication as precisely controlled single photon emitters working at telecommunication bands.
AN OVERVIEW OF POWER DISSIPATION AND CONTROL TECHNIQUES IN CMOS TECHNOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. B. ROMLI

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Total power dissipation in CMOS circuits has become a huge challenging in current semiconductor industry due to the leakage current and the leakage power. The exponential growth of both static and dynamic power dissipations in any CMOS process technology option has increased the cost and efficiency of the system. Technology options are used for the execution specifications and usually it depends on the optimisation and the performance constraints over the chip. This article reviews the relevant researches of the source or power dissipation, the mechanism to reduce the dynamic power dissipation as well as static power dissipation and an overview of various circuit techniques to control them. Important device parameters including voltage threshold and switching capacitance impact to the circuit performance in lowering both dynamic and static power dissipation are presented. The demand for the reduction of power dissipation in CMOS technology shall remain a challenging and active area of research for years to come. Thus, this review shall work as a guideline for the researchers who wish to work on power dissipation and control techniques.
Diffusing wave spectroscopy applied to material analysis and process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lloyd, Christopher James

1997-01-01

Diffusing Wave Spectroscopy (DWS) was studied as a method of laboratory analysis of sub-micron particles, and developed as a prospective in-line, industrial, process control sensor, capable of near real-time feedback. No sample pre-treatment was required and measurement was via a non-invasive, flexible, dip in probe. DWS relies on the concept of the diffusive migration of light, as opposed to the ballistic scatter model used in conventional dynamic light scattering. The specific requirements of the optoelectronic hardware, data analysis methods and light scattering model were studied experimentally and, where practical, theoretically resulting in a novel technique of analysis of particle suspensions and emulsions of volume fractions between 0.01 and 0.4. Operation at high concentrations made the technique oblivious to dust and contamination. A pure homodyne (autodyne) experimental arrangement described was resilient to environmental disturbances, unlike many other systems which utilise optical fibres or heterodyne operation. Pilot and subsequent prototype development led to a highly accurate method of size ranking, suitable for analysis of a wide range of suspensions and emulsions. The technique was shown to operate on real industrial samples with statistical variance as low as 0.3% with minimal software processing. Whilst the application studied was the analysis of TiO 2 suspensions, a diverse range of materials including polystyrene beads, cell pastes and industrial cutting fluid emulsions were tested. Results suggest that, whilst all sizing should be comparative to suitable standards, concentration effects may be minimised and even completely modelled-out in many applications. Adhesion to the optical probe was initially a significant problem but was minimised after the evaluation and use of suitable non stick coating materials. Unexpected behaviour in the correlation in the region of short decay times led to consideration of the effects of rotational diffusion
Controlled, all-position, butterbead-temperbead welding technique for nuclear repairs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, J.N.; Lambert, J.A.

1986-01-01

Sections III and XI of the ASME boiler and pressure vessel code describe a half-bead temper repair welding technique specifically designed for in-service BWR and PWR repair applications without postweld heat treatment. The method relies on deposition of two layers of weld beads. Prior to deposition of the second layer, half the first layer is ground away. As a result, the first layer HAZ is tempered or retransformed by the second layer heat input. It is on the basis of this tempering that a concession is granted to omit postweld heat treatment. The grinding stage is difficult to control, time consuming, and can involve long exposure of personnel to a radioactive environment. Consequently, there has been pressure to find a viable alternative to the half-bead technique. Much interest has been shown in the butterbead-temperbead technique, which is essentially the CEGB two-layer HAZ refinement technique. This does not require grinding of the first layer and achieves HAZ retransformation by increasing the heat input of the second layer. The elimination of the grinding stage considerably reduces repair time and, consequently, radiation exposure. The method has now been included as an acceptable alternative to the half-bead technique in section XI of the ASME code. The CEGB method has been used successfully in the U.K. power industry, mainly for prevention of stress relief cracking, but also to improve HAZ toughness for low temperature service. Two-layer HAZ refinement is achieved by retransformation of the first layer HAZ by the thermal field of the second layer
Application of Linear Quadratic Gaussian and Coefficient Diagram Techniques to Distributed Load Frequency Control of Power Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarek Hassan Mohamed

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presented both the linear quadratic Gaussian technique (LQG and the coefficient diagram method (CDM as load frequency controllers in a multi-area power system to deal with the problem of variations in system parameters and load demand change. The full states of the system including the area frequency deviation have been estimated using the Kalman filter technique. The efficiency of the proposed control method has been checked using a digital simulation. Simulation results indicated that, with the proposed CDM + LQG technique, the system is robust in the face of parameter uncertainties and load disturbances. A comparison between the proposed technique and other schemes is carried out, confirming the superiority of the proposed CDM + LQG technique.
Field tests applying multi-agent technology for distributed control. Virtual power plants and wind energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaeffer, G.J.; Warmer, C.J.; Hommelberg, M.P.F.; Kamphuis, I.G.; Kok, J.K. [Energy in the Built Environment and Networks, Petten (Netherlands)

2007-01-15

Multi-agent technology is state of the art ICT. It is not yet widely applied in power control systems. However, it has a large potential for bottom-up, distributed control of a network with large-scale renewable energy sources (RES) and distributed energy resources (DER) in future power systems. At least two major European R and D projects (MicroGrids and CRISP) have investigated its potential. Both grid-related as well as market-related applications have been studied. This paper will focus on two field tests, performed in the Netherlands, applying multi-agent control by means of the PowerMatcher concept. The first field test focuses on the application of multi-agent technology in a commercial setting, i.e. by reducing the need for balancing power in the case of intermittent energy sources, such as wind energy. In this case the flexibility is used of demand and supply of industrial and residential consumers and producers. Imbalance reduction rates of over 40% have been achieved applying the PowerMatcher, and with a proper portfolio even larger rates are expected. In the second field test the multi-agent technology is used in the design and implementation of a virtual power plant (VPP). This VPP digitally connects a number of micro-CHP units, installed in residential dwellings, into a cluster that is controlled to reduce the local peak demand of the common low-voltage grid segment the micro-CHP units are connected to. In this way the VPP supports the local distribution system operator (DSO) to defer reinforcements in the grid infrastructure (substations and cables)
Field tests applying multi-agent technology for distributed control. Virtual power plants and wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffer, G.J.; Warmer, C.J.; Hommelberg, M.P.F.; Kamphuis, I.G.; Kok, J.K.

2007-01-01

Multi-agent technology is state of the art ICT. It is not yet widely applied in power control systems. However, it has a large potential for bottom-up, distributed control of a network with large-scale renewable energy sources (RES) and distributed energy resources (DER) in future power systems. At least two major European R and D projects (MicroGrids and CRISP) have investigated its potential. Both grid-related as well as market-related applications have been studied. This paper will focus on two field tests, performed in the Netherlands, applying multi-agent control by means of the PowerMatcher concept. The first field test focuses on the application of multi-agent technology in a commercial setting, i.e. by reducing the need for balancing power in the case of intermittent energy sources, such as wind energy. In this case the flexibility is used of demand and supply of industrial and residential consumers and producers. Imbalance reduction rates of over 40% have been achieved applying the PowerMatcher, and with a proper portfolio even larger rates are expected. In the second field test the multi-agent technology is used in the design and implementation of a virtual power plant (VPP). This VPP digitally connects a number of micro-CHP units, installed in residential dwellings, into a cluster that is controlled to reduce the local peak demand of the common low-voltage grid segment the micro-CHP units are connected to. In this way the VPP supports the local distribution system operator (DSO) to defer reinforcements in the grid infrastructure (substations and cables)

Simultaneous multislice echo planar imaging with blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration: a promising technique for accelerated diffusion tensor imaging of skeletal muscle

OpenAIRE

Filli, Lukas; Piccirelli, Marco; Kenkel, David; Guggenberger, Roman; Andreisek, Gustav; Beck, Thomas; Runge, Val M; Boss, Andreas

2015-01-01

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of accelerated diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of skeletal muscle using echo planar imaging (EPI) applying simultaneous multislice excitation with a blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration unaliasing technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS After federal ethics board approval, the lower leg muscles of 8 healthy volunteers (mean [SD] age, 29.4 [2.9] years) were examined in a clinical 3-T magnetic ...
Integrated structure/control design - Present methodology and future opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Weisshaar, T. A.; Newsom, J. R.; Zeiler, T. A.; Gilbert, M. G.

1986-01-01

Attention is given to current methodology applied to the integration of the optimal design process for structures and controls. Multilevel linear decomposition techniques proved to be most effective in organizing the computational efforts necessary for ISCD (integrated structures and control design) tasks. With the development of large orbiting space structures and actively controlled, high performance aircraft, there will be more situations in which this concept can be applied.
Applying of Reliability Techniques and Expert Systems in Management of Radioactive Accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldaihan, S.; Alhbaib, A.; Alrushudi, S.; Karazaitri, C.

1998-01-01

Accidents including radioactive exposure have variety of nature and size. This makes such accidents complex situations to be handled by radiation protection agencies or any responsible authority. The situations becomes worse with introducing advanced technology with high complexity that provide operator huge information about system working on. This paper discusses the application of reliability techniques in radioactive risk management. Event tree technique from nuclear field is described as well as two other techniques from nonnuclear fields, Hazard and Operability and Quality Function Deployment. The objective is to show the importance and the applicability of these techniques in radiation risk management. Finally, Expert Systems in the field of accidents management are explored and classified upon their applications
Applying NISHIJIN historical textile technique for e-Textile.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuroda, Tomohiro; Hirano, Kikuo; Sugimura, Kazushige; Adachi, Satoshi; Igarashi, Hidetsugu; Ueshima, Kazuo; Nakamura, Hideo; Nambu, Masayuki; Doi, Takahiro

2013-01-01

The e-Textile is the key technology for continuous ambient health monitoring to increase quality of life of patients with chronic diseases. The authors introduce techniques of Japanese historical textile, NISHIJIN, which illustrate almost any pattern from one continuous yarn within the machine weaving process, which is suitable for mixed flow production. Thus, NISHIJIN is suitable for e-Textile production, which requires rapid prototyping and mass production of very complicated patterns. The authors prototyped and evaluated a few vests to take twelve-lead electrocardiogram. The result tells that the prototypes obtains electrocardiogram, which is good enough for diagnosis.
Classical linear-control analysis applied to business-cycle dynamics and stability

Science.gov (United States)

Wingrove, R. C.

1983-01-01

Linear control analysis is applied as an aid in understanding the fluctuations of business cycles in the past, and to examine monetary policies that might improve stabilization. The analysis shows how different policies change the frequency and damping of the economic system dynamics, and how they modify the amplitude of the fluctuations that are caused by random disturbances. Examples are used to show how policy feedbacks and policy lags can be incorporated, and how different monetary strategies for stabilization can be analytically compared. Representative numerical results are used to illustrate the main points.
Quality control for total evaporation technique by surface/thermal ionization mass spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Seikou; Inoue, Sinichi; Yamaguchi, Katsuyuki; Tsutaki, Yasuhiro

2007-01-01

For the measurement of uranium and plutonium isotopic composition, the surface/thermal ionization mass spectrometry is widely used at the both nuclear facilities and safeguards verification laboratories. The progress of instrument specification makes higher sensitivity. The total evaporation technique is one of the latest measurement techniques by using this progress, in which all of uranium or plutonium on the filament would be evaporated by increasing the filament current. The accuracy and precision of this technique is normally checked by using the certified isotope reference materials measurement. But the fluctuation of ion beam is very different by each filament, depending on the chemical form of evaporation. So, it should be considered how to check the measurement quality of unknown samples which has no certified values. This presentation is focused on the monitoring of ion yields and pattern of isotope ratio fluctuation to attain the traceability between reference material and unknown sample as quality control approach of total evaporation technique. (author)
Measurements of the gap/displacement and development of the ultrasonic temperature measuring system applied to severe accidents research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koo, Kil Mo; Kang, Kyung Ho; Cho, Young Ro; Park, Rae Jun; Kim, Sang Baik; Sim, Chul Moo

2001-02-01

This report, in order to measure quantitative LAVA experimental results, focuses on measuring the gap formed on the lower head vessel using a ultrasonic pulse echo method and neutron radiography, measuring displacement of the lower head vessel using capacitance method, building a measuring system and developing high temperature measurement system using ultrasonic method. The scope of gap measurement and system development using the ultrasonic method is 2-dimensional image processing using tomographical B scan method and 2- and 3-dimensional image processing using C scan methods based on the one dimensional time domain A scan signal. For some test specimen, the gap size is quantitative represented apply C scan methods. The important ultrasonic image processing technique is on the development of accurate position control system. The requirements of the position control system are a contact technique on the test specimen and a fine moving technique. Since the specimen is hemispherical, the contact technique is very difficult. Therefore, the gap measurement using the ultrasonic pulse echo method was applied developing the position controlling scanner system. Along with the ultrasonic method, neutron radiography method using KAERI's neutron source was attempted 4 times and the results are compared. The fine displacement of the hemispherical specimen was measured using a capacitive displacement sensor. The requirements for this measuring technique are fixing of the capacitance sensor to the experimental facilities and a remote control position varying system. This remote control position varying system was manufactured with a electrical motor. The development of a high temperature measuring system using a ultrasonic method the second year plan, is performed with developing a sensor which can measure up to 2300 deg C
Technical management techniques for identification and control of industrial safety and pollution hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, R.; Dyer, M. K.; Hoard, E. G.; Little, D. G.; Taylor, A. C.

1972-01-01

Constructive recommendations are suggested for pollution problems from offshore energy resources industries on outer continental shelf. Technical management techniques for pollution identification and control offer possible applications to space engineering and management.
Comparative study of abdominal cavity temporary closure techniques for damage control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARCELO A. F. RIBEIRO JR

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The damage control surgery, with emphasis on laparostomy, usually results in shrinkage of the aponeurosis and loss of the ability to close the abdominal wall, leading to the formation of ventral incisional hernias. Currently, various techniques offer greater chances of closing the abdominal cavity with less tension. Thus, this study aims to evaluate three temporary closure techniques of the abdominal cavity: the Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy - VAC, the Bogotá Bag and the Vacuum-pack. We conducted a systematic review of the literature, selecting 28 articles published in the last 20 years. The techniques of the bag Bogotá and Vacuum-pack had the advantage of easy access to the material in most centers and low cost, contrary to VAC, which, besides presenting high cost, is not available in most hospitals. On the other hand, the VAC technique was more effective in reducing stress at the edges of lesions, removing stagnant fluids and waste, in addition to acting at the cellular level by increasing proliferation and cell division rates, and showed the highest rates of primary closure of the abdominal cavity.
Applying a nonlinear, pitch-catch, ultrasonic technique for the detection of kissing bonds in friction stir welds.

Science.gov (United States)

Delrue, Steven; Tabatabaeipour, Morteza; Hettler, Jan; Van Den Abeele, Koen

2016-05-01

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a promising technology for the joining of aluminum alloys and other metallic admixtures that are hard to weld by conventional fusion welding. Although FSW generally provides better fatigue properties than traditional fusion welding methods, fatigue properties are still significantly lower than for the base material. Apart from voids, kissing bonds for instance, in the form of closed cracks propagating along the interface of the stirred and heat affected zone, are inherent features of the weld and can be considered as one of the main causes of a reduced fatigue life of FSW in comparison to the base material. The main problem with kissing bond defects in FSW, is that they currently are very difficult to detect using existing NDT methods. Besides, in most cases, the defects are not directly accessible from the exposed surface. Therefore, new techniques capable of detecting small kissing bond flaws need to be introduced. In the present paper, a novel and practical approach is introduced based on a nonlinear, single-sided, ultrasonic technique. The proposed inspection technique uses two single element transducers, with the first transducer transmitting an ultrasonic signal that focuses the ultrasonic waves at the bottom side of the sample where cracks are most likely to occur. The large amount of energy at the focus activates the kissing bond, resulting in the generation of nonlinear features in the wave propagation. These nonlinear features are then captured by the second transducer operating in pitch-catch mode, and are analyzed, using pulse inversion, to reveal the presence of a defect. The performance of the proposed nonlinear, pitch-catch technique, is first illustrated using a numerical study of an aluminum sample containing simple, vertically oriented, incipient cracks. Later, the proposed technique is also applied experimentally on a real-life friction stir welded butt joint containing a kissing bond flaw. Copyright © 2016
Microbiological evaluation of sludge during an improvement process applying the washing technique (selective pressure)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molina P, Francisco; Gonzalez, Maria Elena; Gonzalez, Luz Catalina

2001-01-01

In this investigation, the microbial consortiums were evaluated by using characterization by trophic groups and related groups by their sensibility to oxygen, as well as the specific methanogenic activity (SMA) of an acclimated sludge, starting from an aerobium sludge corning from a residual water treatment plant. Later, the technique of improvement by washing was applicated to this sludge, getting inoculum for the starting of an anaerobic reactor of the kind UASB (treatment reactor). At the same time, a control reactor was operated, inoculated with acclimated sludge. Both reactors were operated during 120 days, using brown sugar as substrate, the experimental phase included dates up to 70 operation days, characterizing the sludge at the end of this period. The SMA was analysed using acetic and formic acids as substrates. The results showed activities between 0,45 and 1,39 g DQO-CH 4 /SSV -d. for both substrates. At the end of the experimental phase of the UASB reactor, the sulphate reducer bacteria from the acetate and the lactate were observed as predominant group, followed by the methanogenic hydrogenophilic bacteria. It is important to notice that, with the application of the sludge washing technique, all the tropic groups were increased, with the exception of the lactate fermentative bacteria
Applied computing in medicine and health

CERN Document Server

Al-Jumeily, Dhiya; Mallucci, Conor; Oliver, Carol

2015-01-01

Applied Computing in Medicine and Health is a comprehensive presentation of on-going investigations into current applied computing challenges and advances, with a focus on a particular class of applications, primarily artificial intelligence methods and techniques in medicine and health. Applied computing is the use of practical computer science knowledge to enable use of the latest technology and techniques in a variety of different fields ranging from business to scientific research. One of the most important and relevant areas in applied computing is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health and medicine. Artificial intelligence in health and medicine (AIHM) is assuming the challenge of creating and distributing tools that can support medical doctors and specialists in new endeavors. The material included covers a wide variety of interdisciplinary perspectives concerning the theory and practice of applied computing in medicine, human biology, and health care. Particular attention is given to AI-bas...
Learning mediastinoscopy: the need for education, experience and modern techniques--interdependency of the applied technique and surgeon's training level.

Science.gov (United States)

Walles, Thorsten; Friedel, Godehard; Stegherr, Tobias; Steger, Volker

2013-04-01

Mediastinoscopy represents the gold standard for invasive mediastinal staging. While learning and teaching the surgical technique are challenging due to the limited accessibility of the operation field, both benefited from the implementation of video-assisted techniques. However, it has not been established yet whether video-assisted mediastinoscopy improves the mediastinal staging in itself. Retrospective single-centre cohort analysis of 657 mediastinoscopies performed at a specialized tertiary care thoracic surgery unit from 1994 to 2006. The number of specimens obtained per procedure and per lymph node station (2, 4, 7, 8 for mediastinoscopy and 2-9 for open lymphadenectomy), the number of lymph node stations examined, sensitivity and negative predictive value with a focus on the technique employed (video-assisted vs standard technique) and the surgeon's experience were calculated. Overall sensitivity was 60%, accuracy was 90% and negative predictive value 88%. With the conventional technique, experience alone improved sensitivity from 49 to 57% and it was predominant at the paratracheal right region (from 62 to 82%). But with the video-assisted technique, experienced surgeons rose sensitivity from 57 to 79% in contrast to inexperienced surgeons who lowered sensitivity from 49 to 33%. We found significant differences concerning (i) the total number of specimens taken, (ii) the amount of lymph node stations examined, (iii) the number of specimens taken per lymph node station and (iv) true positive mediastinoscopies. The video-assisted technique can significantly improve the results of mediastinoscopy. A thorough education on the modern video-assisted technique is mandatory for thoracic surgeons until they can fully exhaust its potential.
Performance improvement of a slip energy recovery drive system by a voltage-controlled technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tunyasrirut, Satean [Department of Instrumentation Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Pathumwan Institute of Technology, 833 Rama1 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 (Thailand); Kinnares, Vijit [Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut' s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520 (Thailand); Ngamwiwit, Jongkol [Department of Control Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut' s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520 (Thailand)

2010-10-15

This paper introduces the performance improvement of a slip energy recovery drive system for the speed control of a wound rotor induction motor by a voltage-controlled technique. The slip energy occurred in the rotor circuit is transferred back to ac mains supply through a reactor instead of a step up transformer. The objective of the voltage-controlled technique is to increase power factor of the system and to reduce low order harmonics of the input line current. The drive system is designed and implemented using a voltage source inverter in conjunction with a boost chopper for DC link voltage, instead of a conventional drive using a 6 pulse converter or a Scherbius system. The slip power is recovered by the help of a voltage source inverter (VSI) based on a space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique. In order to keep the speed of the wound rotor induction motor constant over a certain range of operating conditions, the servo state feedback controller designed by a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) is also introduced in this paper. The overall control system is implemented on DSP, DS1104'TMS320F240 controller board. The performance improvement of the proposed system is tested in comparison with the conventional Scherbius system and the modified conventional Scherbius system by a 12 pulse converter in conjunction with a chopper at steady state and at dynamic conditions. A 220 W wound motor is employed for testing. It is found that the motor speed can be controlled to be constant in the operating range of 450-1200 rpm at no load and full load. It is also found that the efficiency of the proposed system is remarkably increased since the harmonics of the input ac line current is reduced while the ac line input power factor is increased. (author)
The constrained discrete-time state-dependent Riccati equation technique for uncertain nonlinear systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Insu

The objective of the thesis is to introduce a relatively general nonlinear controller/estimator synthesis framework using a special type of the state-dependent Riccati equation technique. The continuous time state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique is extended to discrete-time under input and state constraints, yielding constrained (C) discrete-time (D) SDRE, referred to as CD-SDRE. For the latter, stability analysis and calculation of a region of attraction are carried out. The derivation of the D-SDRE under state-dependent weights is provided. Stability of the D-SDRE feedback system is established using Lyapunov stability approach. Receding horizon strategy is used to take into account the constraints on D-SDRE controller. Stability condition of the CD-SDRE controller is analyzed by using a switched system. The use of CD-SDRE scheme in the presence of constraints is then systematically demonstrated by applying this scheme to problems of spacecraft formation orbit reconfiguration under limited performance on thrusters. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy and reliability of the proposed CD-SDRE. The CD-SDRE technique is further investigated in a case where there are uncertainties in nonlinear systems to be controlled. First, the system stability under each of the controllers in the robust CD-SDRE technique is separately established. The stability of the closed-loop system under the robust CD-SDRE controller is then proven based on the stability of each control system comprising switching configuration. A high fidelity dynamical model of spacecraft attitude motion in 3-dimensional space is derived with a partially filled fuel tank, assumed to have the first fuel slosh mode. The proposed robust CD-SDRE controller is then applied to the spacecraft attitude control system to stabilize its motion in the presence of uncertainties characterized by the first fuel slosh mode. The performance of the robust CD-SDRE technique is discussed. Subsequently
Controllability of multi-partite quantum systems and selective excitation of quantum dots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schirmer, S G; Pullen, I C H; Solomon, A I

2005-01-01

We consider the degrees of controllability of multi-partite quantum systems, as well as necessary and sufficient criteria for each case. The results are applied to the problem of simultaneous control of an ensemble of quantum dots with a single laser pulse. Finally, we apply optimal control techniques to demonstrate selective excitation of individual dots for a simultaneously controllable ensemble of quantum dots
Consumer and Commercial Products, Group IV: Control Techniques Guidelines in Lieu of Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

EPA has determined that control techniques guidelines (CTGs) will be substantially as effective as regulations in reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in ozone nonattainment areas for certain consumer and commercial product categories.
Aircraft applications of fault detection and isolation techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Marcos Esteban, Andres

In this thesis the problems of fault detection & isolation and fault tolerant systems are studied from the perspective of LTI frequency-domain, model-based techniques. Emphasis is placed on the applicability of these LTI techniques to nonlinear models, especially to aerospace systems. Two applications of Hinfinity LTI fault diagnosis are given using an open-loop (no controller) design approach: one for the longitudinal motion of a Boeing 747-100/200 aircraft, the other for a turbofan jet engine. An algorithm formalizing a robust identification approach based on model validation ideas is also given and applied to the previous jet engine. A general linear fractional transformation formulation is given in terms of the Youla and Dual Youla parameterizations for the integrated (control and diagnosis filter) approach. This formulation provides better insight into the trade-off between the control and the diagnosis objectives. It also provides the basic groundwork towards the development of nested schemes for the integrated approach. These nested structures allow iterative improvements on the control/filter Youla parameters based on successive identification of the system uncertainty (as given by the Dual Youla parameter). The thesis concludes with an application of Hinfinity LTI techniques to the integrated design for the longitudinal motion of the previous Boeing 747-100/200 model.
Trends in microbial control techniques for poultry products.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Filomena; Domingues, Fernanda C; Nerín, Cristina

2018-03-04

Fresh poultry meat and poultry products are highly perishable foods and high potential sources of human infection due to the presence of several foodborne pathogens. Focusing on the microbial control of poultry products, the food industry generally implements numerous preventive measures based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety management system certification together with technological steps, such as refrigeration coupled to modified atmosphere packaging that are able to control identified potential microbial hazards during food processing. However, in recent years, to meet the demand of consumers for minimally processed, high-quality, and additive-free foods, technologies are emerging associated with nonthermal microbial inactivation, such as high hydrostatic pressure, irradiation, and natural alternatives, such as biopreservation or the incorporation of natural preservatives in packaging materials. These technologies are discussed throughout this article, emphasizing their pros and cons regarding the control of poultry microbiota and their effects on poultry sensory properties. The discussion for each of the preservation techniques mentioned will be provided with as much detail as the data and studies provided in the literature for poultry meat and products allow. These new approaches, on their own, have proved to be effective against a wide range of microorganisms in poultry meat. However, since some of these emergent technologies still do not have full consumer's acceptability and, taking into consideration the hurdle technology concept for poultry processing, it is suggested that they will be used as combined treatments or, more frequently, in combination with modified atmosphere packaging.
An automatic regulating control system for a graphite moderated reactor using digital techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho Goncalves Junior, J. de.

1989-01-01

The work propose an automatic regulating control system for a graphite moderated reactor using digital techniques. The system uses a microcomputer to monitor the power and the period, to run the control algorithm, and to generate electronic signals to excite the motor, which moves vertically the control rod banks. A nuclear reactor simulator was developed to test the control system. The simulator consists of a software based on the point kinetic equations and implanted in an analogical computer. The results show that this control system has a good performance and versatility. In addition, the simulator is capable of reproducing with accuracy the behavior of a nuclear reactor. (author)

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.